xp_logs | Angelo and Callie: Monday Afternoon (Reply)

A new student arrives from Milan and Angelo is waiting to pick her up.

The international arrivals gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport was abuzz with activity. Families, eager to begin a summer vacation stay in New York, business travelers used to going to sleep in one country and waking up in another, and one lonely little girl. While everyone else was chattering away happily, or making a bee line for a cab to catch a late afternoon business meaning, one very tall, very pink girl was dragging her one overstuffed suitcase behind her. She looked around at the people gathered outside of customs, searching for someone she didn't know. When she had spoken to her father after the plane had landed, he assured her that there would be someone waiting for her, and that everything would be fine.

Her flight was long, and she was tired and weary from traveling. Large sunglasses obscured her face in attempt to hide bleary red eyes. But Callie was happy; she was home, or at least on American soil, for the first time in over a year. As she stood inside the gate separating those arriving from those who were waiting, she scanned the crowd, hoping to find who she was searching for.

He was almost as hard to miss as she was, even when he was making a conscious effort to hold the skin in tightly - it was still grey, after all. Spotting the pink girl, Angelo grinned and waved his name-sign at her.

Callie smiled upon seeing her name, and slowly made her way over to the grey man. She stopped in front of him, and held up her hand to indicate to wait a second before turning her head and yawning into her arm. "Hi," she greeted him as cheerily as she could.She performed an intricate dance to free her right hand to extend for a handshake while keeping her suitcase upright. "I believe that's my name on your card. I'm Callie."

He shook her hand cheerfully, noting the tiredness. "Angelo. I'll be your driver today - just the one bag?" He reached over to take it for her. "Good to meet you."

"Um, ya," she replied, watching as he took it from her. It had taken her a moment to realize was he was saying; she wasn't used to hearing English being spoken around her. "Thanks. Dad's sending more later?" She paused for a moment to think. Had it really been just that morning when he was urging her to finish packing, and that anything she missed he could send? It felt like years had passed.

"Yes. After I settle in." She nodded.

He nodded in return. "Shouldn't take too long, we like to make people welcome... but it can take some gettin' used to, sometimes." He glanced her over. "Hey, did they feed you on the plane?"

Callie stiffled another yawn. "They did, but it wasn't very good." Her stomach gave a gurgle, and without thought she brought her hands to rest upon it. "Sorry," she shrugged.

"Airplane food never is", Angelo agreed easily. "Don't need to apologise for it - you wanna stop an' get somethin' better on the way back?"

At the suggestion of picking up some food, Callie perked up. There was something she had been craving ever since leaving Vermont, and none of Italy's amazing dishes could quite scratch the itch. "CanwepleasestopandgetDunkin'Donuts," she asked excitedly, the combination of exhaustion and excitement causing the words to string together as if they were one.

Angelo blinked at her, then started to laugh. "Right. Very first Dunkin' Donuts we pass it is, then. C'mon, the car's this way."

~~~~~

"Thank you Angelo," Callie beamed upon returning to the car. The heavenly scent of donuts filled the air. She smiled as she pulled a carefully selected Boston Creme donut out of the bag. So maybe it wasn't the healthiest option in the world, but it sure was delicious and that's all that mattered to her right now. The first bite was everything she had remembered, and more.

"You don't know how much I've missed these," she commented after swallowing the doughey morsel. She held out the bag and asked, "Would you like one?"

"All part of the service", he said with a grin, then peered into the bag. "Which kind of these d'you like the least? Don't want to take your favourite."

The response to his question was a shrug as Callie took another bite of her own donut. All four of her choices, including the one currently being inhaled by the girl, had been carefully selected; they were all some of her favorites. However, she felt greedy to eat them all by herself, as well as wanting to thank the man for putting up with her strange request of donuts for lunch. "All of them are good," she explained as soon as she could. "Really. So, erm, yes?"

"Okay", he said, eyeing the choices again. "Guess I'll go for the plain glazed, then. The rest're all yours." He took out his donut and passed the bag back.

With one donut being enough to satisfy her craving for the moment, the bag containing the donuts was folded shut and placed on the floor in front of her. Curious as to who exactly had retrieved her, after all he looked too young to be a teacher but maybe she was, Callie set out to figure out.

"So, erm, Angelo, are you a..." her voice trailed off as she searched for the word. A finger with a glob of creme on it was midway to her mouth as she waited. Callie licked it off, and then it hit her, so she exclaimed, "Mmm. A teacher? Are you a teacher?" Each word was deliberately pronounced as she made sure she meant what she was saying. Once satisfied that yes, this was exactly what she was meaning to ask, Callie smiled.

"Kind of", he answered easily. "I'm not qualified or anythin', but I teach self-defense at the institute. One of the subjects where you don't really need t'take exams if you know it, right?"

Had Callie been in her right mind she might have questioned why a school would teach self-defense; it certainly wasn't part of the normal curriculum at any school she had attended. But in her current state all she could do is smile and nod. Mid nod, her eyes closed and head started to droop more than it should have, and Callie fought to jerk back to an upright position. Her father told her that the best way to prevent jet lag was to try to establish a normal routine as soon as possible. This was proving easier to say than to do as Callie felt herself growing heavy with sleep. She learned her head against the frame of the car's door. "'ma gonna nap," she stated as her eyes closed once more. "Please wake me up when we arrive?"

Angelo wasn't sure if she could still hear him when he glanced over at her, but he nodded and answered, "Sure thing. Sleep well."