His passport had grown legs and hidden underneath a pile of bills that needed to be shredded or filed. He got on the freeway just in time to get caught in Boeing’s third-shift traffic. It took four tries to find a long-term parking lot that didn’t look like a shady front for a ring of car thieves. And that was to say nothing about getting through the security cattle line that had no business being that long at three in the goddamned morning. But finally, with his bag thoroughly searched and his passport safely tucked inside his jacket pocket, he made it to his gate. Just in time to find out his flight was delayed due to mechanical problems. He paced beside the window, his stomach turning. The only thing racing faster than his heart was his mind. There wasn’t time for this, damn it. What if the flight was canceled? What if… God, so many what-ifs. Every time another plane sped down the runway and took off, his chest tightened a little more.
