You Come Here Often?

Hey baby, you come here often?

I was a little late leaving my office the other day and The Pilot was going to be landing a few minutes later.  My office is right across the street from the airport so I decided to surprise him.

Usually when he lands, I get a text stating something along the lines of "Cbus" (meaning he's on the ground and I should see him in about an hour), "on the bus" (meaning he's on his way to his car and I will see him in about 50 minutes) or "leaving the lot" (meaning he's in the car and about to head home and I have 30-45 minutes before I see him).

So this time I sent a text to tell him to text me when he was leaving the plane.  I figured he would assume I was trying to gauge what time he'd be home so I could start dinner.  He was deadheading (riding in the back of the plane) and I got a text that the plane had parked.  Due to the delay though, he got my request after his text so he called to tell me he was walking up the jetway.  I debated on whether to answer or not because I was standing just outside of the terminal and it was noisy.  I thought for sure that would give me away.  I answered anyways and told him I'd see him soon.  I hung up as I bust into giggles. Of course I would see him soon.  Very soon. I am HORRIBLE at surprises.

So there I stood with the other families and friends waiting to pick up loved ones.  Has anyone seen Love Actually?  The opening and closing scenes of that movie make me cry every.time.  The first time I saw the movie, I was living in Florida, 1,200 miles from everyone I loved.  I had just returned to FL after spending some time in Ohio with family.  When my mom dropped me off at the airport, we caused a scene.  Both of us were crying.  I didn't want to leave and she didn't want me to go.  Then I went and saw Love Actually with my roommate in FL and cried at those scenes.  There is something about watching people say hello and goodbye to people at airports that is very emotional.

And then I married a pilot.

I watched as people greeted their loved ones and waited for The Pilot to make his way through the terminal...and tried not to get weepy.  Cheese ball.

I finally saw him, chatting with two of the flight attendants whom he had just spent the past 4 days with.  I know I was grinning like an idiot.  As he got closer, I knew he didn't see me.  Of course he wouldn't.  He spends days in airports, dodging travelers who aren't paying attention.  So just as he was about to pass me, I stepped beside him and matched his pace.  He looked at me all creeped out (he later told me he was wondering why some lady was walking so close to him), looked away and then looked back.  Ah ha!  He recognized me, smiled and introduced me to his crew.  

He later shared with me that the FAs thought he was getting the "princess treatment."  Apparently the airline industry calls it the princess treatment when a crew members gets dropped off/picked up at the airport by a significant other.  They quickly realized it wasn't like that as The Pilot got on the employee bus with them and explained that (my words) his wife is a cheese ball, works across the street from the airport and decided to surprise him.

As we parted ways to go to our respective cars, he was still smiling.  It was a very brief interaction but that smile alone was worth the $3 I paid to park.