Standing at the BizJet Terminal, I saw Andy walk up the steps and blow me a kiss. I silently cried harder as I already missed the guy that I loved in many ways so soon after meeting him: his respect and care for me manifested within a minute of me arriving at the altar in the Up and Down. He deepened my respect for him when he had playfully tried it on at the kiss: he showed that he was attracted to me but also respected me, as I was to him. But the deeper message he had conveyed was How do you feel and how to do this?
I loved his intellect, even if he had sunk the vows I'd planned. We had spent the week gently getting to know each other, feeling gently around personalities, likes and dislikes, though not feeling around! We knew that this would happen, but when we were ready for that. It was too soon to be In Love, but love is a spectrum and there was much we loved about each other already.
My phone pinged: Andy: Miss U
I replied: You are needed there. Counting down til we hold each other xxx
I saw the plane's engines spool up and quickly, it taxied off.
A waiter-uniformed guy came up to me and said, "Please come with me," and placed his hand on my suitcase.
Still crying, I followed The Uniform around the corner to an area of plush banquettes. He motioned to one and said, "You probably want Vodka now, but maybe Red or White?" then pointed up at a large TV. He had a device in his hand and the TV turned from off to showing a white bizjet: NX4235 - Andy.
My heart said Vodka, but my head knew otherwise and I stifled my cry and whispered, "Red please."
On the TV, I saw the plane move down the taxiway, briefly stop at the turn-on, and then the powerful turbofans accelerated the Montreal-made jet down the runway and quickly into the sky. My tears resumed: we were no longer on the same ground.
The waiter returned with a tray containing a half-glass each of red and white and a small cheese platter. There were labels on the plate advising what was before me,
I drank half of the red. It was a Central Otago Two Paddocks Pinot. Its rich silkiness slid down my throat, bathing and soothing my soul like a warm blanket, or Andy's embrace, I smiled. The sweet brie and the salty mature cheddar settled my stomach, then I took the rest of the soothing Pinot. My soul was at peace, my eyes dry.
The waiter reappeared with a menu saying, "Vegetarian?" I shook my head and he continued, "You've just seen a good friend go away, Lamb Shanks?"
I replied, "Friend? Yes to the Shanks."
He smiled and said, "We have three types of associations here: colleagues, family and friends." You two are No.3," smiled, tapping the order into his device. "You are deep in thought. It’s not busy here: I can sit until Shanks are ready if you need to bounce ideas? When patrons leave, I forget everything about them," he smiled a knowing smile.
I smiled wanly and told him how we had met, the Honeymoon and that he'd been pulled away to help those in true need, which I understood immediately and had near-completely accepted.
He said, "So you're supposed to get a taxi to a hotel where there are some randoms also on TLS? You're thinking that maybe your known, comfy house and maybe a hug from your Mum is a better bet?"
I nodded and he put out his hand. I placed my passport in it and he made a call, "Fred from BizJet Terminal here: There is a taxi waiting for a Sarah and Andy at International. Can you nab him and send him here."
I had an emergency mobile number for the TLS crew. I sent a brief text advising what had happened, that we were still In but I would be at home for the week, and that they could ring me tomorrow. I asked them to email me the JPEGs and RAWs from the shoot as I wanted something to occupy myself. Doing this, I felt in control of The Pests as we called them.
I texted Mum: Come to my place, 3hrs. NQA [No Questions asked}. AOK My phone pinged: Mum AOK:3 xxx
The Shanks arrived and I ate slowly. The softness of the meat and the red wine jus settled my stomach, sating my soul. The soft polenta gave me a final, soft embrace, like Andy's, I happily realised.
I understood when I was down, remembering Up and Down and our embrace would soothe my soul and I could look forward to them in a week. The sorrow pages had been written, for my anticipation ones the pen was on the paper. I knew that Andy's pages would be going hard and fast over the week, hopefully with side notes to and from me.
The taxi arrived surprisingly fast and I drank the zingy Awatere Sauvignon which cleansed my palate and freshened my soul. Upon entering the taxi, I muted the phone, then quickly collapsed into a deep slumber, though missing one thing: Andy's cushioning.
I woke just as we entered my town. I noticed an OMessage from a new ID: Wing (Annie). I work with Andy at Rapid: he asked me to call you asap. Please call me when you are free.
The ledger says I owe him, I thought.
I called Wing (Annie). An oldish lady with a gentle smile appeared on the screen, and she said that Andy's flight was now heading to Mojave outside of LA where he'd board another plane with extra kit, then he'd then head straight down to the base they'd got. I picked up that she referred to him as Bat, rather than Andy but let it slide. He'd asked Wing to put [his] breakfast and dinner times in my calendar so we could have time to speak. She said he was keen to chat during his brief layover at Mojave and had put that in my diary too and concluded saying firmly but reassuringly, “We are all in this, together,” with the emphasis on Together.
I cried gentle, happy tears from how, despite how busy he was likely to be, he'd already made time for me.
After exiting the taxi, I opened the door, seeing Mum. Seeing just me, her face dropped like a brick, and she enveloped me in her warm, loving embrace that until last week, I had known of nothing better.
I explained to Mum that we'd had a very happy honeymoon, but he'd been called to support people with affected by the Quake and that I'd likely be heading over for his off week. I set my alarm for five hours for his layover call. I made the decision that, on our calls, I would never say explicitly that I missed him as that would distract him from his duty, but there are other words that express appreciation for our time together, and between them were the words Miss You.
Our first call was brief as he was rushing, and we were both tired. He explained that they'd got sign-off for a place to base themselves and the authorities definitely needed the assistance, despite being a reasonably wealthy country. The Falcons as he called them were already mid-flight down and that they'd borrowed a hangar which would make his Day 1 somewhat easier. I concluded the call with, “We want, others need, this is our best for now,” and then it was time for him to board his next plane and both of us to sleep, apart and in different countries.
Over the next day, we exchanged a number of Messages and grabbed several, very welcome, brief voice calls. We concluded them with words such as “nice,” “valuable,” and “appreciated,” acknowledging meaning and dodging the Miss You elephant.
I decided that I would work from home until Thursday, then head down to my sister Ellie's house which is near the studio for The Dinner. Mum left later on, knowing that I was relatively good, but my happiness would return when I embraced Andy.
Thankfully, the crew emailed me the wedding shots the next day. Typical ones, I thought: formal and stiff: mostly close-up and all on a tripod, perfectly lit. My wedding style is a few formals, then free hand and a mix of zooms and exposures as I want to capture the atmosphere as well as just the couple. My friends loved this and preferred them to the paid pro's shots. Our shots didn't capture the fun we had with the funnies, but probably Thew Pests’ attitude to our attitude.
I suggested that I would make some videos of us while I was away, in part to save having Pests around us and the families. They sent over a small, but expensive Steadicam and one of the operators showed me how to use it. I wasn’t too impressed by it as it seemed simpler than my Z-50 or Andy’s R-50 and, a few play shots later, I got the hang of it rather too quickly for my liking.
I decided when I had some spare time, I would make up some shorts and OMessage them, but I would keep very busy the week to occupy myself.
During the second breakfast Video call, Andy introduced me to the people he was with: Sarah aka Weasel, and Pete aka Dog were the Pilots and looked to be about ten years older than Andy, Fred and Steve were their respective First Officers. There was a Maintainer nicknamed Gopher who when not occupied, Andy delegated tasks to.
I saw that Sarah/Weasel seemed very distracted but was politely engaging in the call.
My phone pinged. The sender was Weasel: Stay on for a quick 1:1?
I replied: OK
On the 1:1, she leaned in, smiling, and said, "Straight up?" I nodded and she continued, "We NEED your guy: without him, we don't fly, we don't find and we can't help. That idiot Dog and I know we have the best looking after us." I smiled at the reinforcement of what I already knew, but what hadn't quite sunk in. We had a brief, friendly chat before it was time for her to don her wings. Like Wing, she referred to Andy as Bat. They all have nicknames!, I thought.
I was at peace now with where he was and what he was doing. With them, with him, and with myself as I had a plan to get through the remaining days.
I called the producers and chatted to them about what I had decided, but they wanted regular videos of us chatting and one of their idiots firing questions at us. I told them bluntly that I would do No.1 but he would be too busy to do No.2.
My OMessage started going hot with family members introducing themselves. David, Weasel’s husband, was the first off and very helpful. We discussed the Filming Problem, as we called it, and set some logical parameters which I later told the producers of in a polite but Take It Or Leave It manner. David agreed to film our meeting at the airfield but warned me that like his wife and the others, Andy would be emotionally shot but, definitely happy to see me.
David and I linked up with Andy to arrange our meet shoot: it wouldn’t be staged, but we wanted to be prepared and make a decent job of it as David would do it quickly. Andy arranged for our plane to park away from the hangar so that we would meet halfway between the aircraft and the hangar and have the amazing mountain-backed lakefront, rather than the utilitarian Apella Project hangar, as a backdrop.
Unfortunately, the next day, they managed to call Andy and coerced him into agreeing on a post-[his] breakfast link-up on Dinner Day as it would work for them and the whole TLS. I was dead against this as I knew that it was possibly the worst time for him as he and Gopher would be prepping 'Bringing Up' the aircraft for the day which had to be done quickly and thoroughly so the aircraft could head out. We discussed this, but he thought that he could manage it, so we went ahead. I tried and failed to get the linkup moved back thirty minutes so that the birds would be airborne and him somewhat freer.
I got regular updates about the Family Trip as we called it: it was very likely that Andy's team would do a second stint, so the families would go out during the down week, rather than the crew flying home. Wing sent me a list of clothing to bring: Formal, beach, casual, hot/cold, and run/bike if I had those. She said that, as she had a key, she would go to Bat's [Andy’s] house to get more clothes for him and put the bag on the plane out, this last detail escaped my attention.