Rayanne woke up on a plane for the third time in less than a day. Once again it was the pilot’s voice that pulled her away from her dream. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She looked around and remembered where she was.

“On a plane to London.” she remembered out loud.

She look on the seat next to her and saw her phone laying on top of her bag. She remembered that Nick sang her to sleep...how long ago was that? So, how did the phone get turned off and put on the seat?

“Oh well, must have done it in my sleep.” she reasoned with herself.

She peered into the seat behind her. It appeared to Rayanne to be a mom with her toddler son.

“Excuse me ma’am, do you know how long till we land?”

“We’re coming in right now, that’s what the pilot just said. So I guess it should be about 15 more minutes.”

Rayanne’s stomach immediately knotted. 15 more minutes until she got off the plane and walked through that gate to look for Michael and go to the hotel to be with Nick. She had never been so excited in all her life.

She put her phone, CD player, magazine and book into her bag and zipped it up. She made sure her carry on was secure and plopped it on top of her big bag. She put her shoes on and lay the computer and pillow on the far seat next to the aisle. After a flight attendant came to take them away, the pilot came on requesting all seats be put in an upright position and seatbelts be put on. They would be landing in London in approximately 7 minutes.

Rayanne looked at her watch for only the second time since she got on the plane. 5:12. She had to do some quick math to figure out in her head that that meant it was 11:12 in London. They were almost right on time. A little late, so Michael should be there waiting for her.

She closed her eyes and tried to get the butterflies in her stomach to go away. She kept her eyes closed until the plane was on the ground. She took her seatbelt off, stood up, grabbed her bags and walked off the plane.

She followed the hallway to the gate at the end and walked through the door. As soon as she did she saw Michael. He was off to the left a little. He grabbed her gently by the arm.

“Rayanne?” he asked with a smile.

“Yes Michael.” she smiled back.

“Your car awaits.” he said as he swept his arm out to the side.

He took her big bag off her arm and she followed him out of the airport. He led her to a black Expedition and opened the door for her. She climbed in and he put her bags in the back. Michael pulled away from the curb, driving down the left hand side of the road.

“Hey! Watch out!” Rayanne yelled.

“What?” He gave her a confused look.

“Oh, nevermind. I thought you were driving down the wrong side of the road. I’m a little tired.” she said sheepishly with a little laugh.

The ride to the hotel was about 15 minutes long. Michael was very nice and she didn’t feel ackward around him at all. She had been a little worried that he was not going to like Nick having a girl on tour with them. He acted quite the opposite actually, asking Rayanne how she had met Nick and how long they had known each other. They talked openly and a few minutes later, Michael pulled the car into a small driveway and parked. He got out and opened Rayanne’s door for her.

Rayanne looked up. She couldn’t see the top of the hotel it was so big. She just started at it with her mouth hanging open.

“Wow.” was all she could say. She had never seen a hotel so big. She couldn’t ever remember seeing any building so big, except when she went to Boston.

“Come on, you’ll be even more impressed with the inside.” Michael said as he put his arm around her shoulder and coaxed her through the door.

They entered the lobby of the hotel. There were a few people mingling around, but not too many. Rayanne and Michael found the elevator and took it to the 42nd floor. When they got to their floor, he picked up both of her bags.

“Now, Nick is in Room 28. They’re back up from the show, so I don’t know why he wouldn’t be in there. I’ll take your bags and put them in my room for now, so you can surprise him.”

“OK. Thanks Michael.” Rayanne smiled at him.

She watched Michael walk down the hallway. She looked at the room on her left. 20. He should be four doors down. She was so excited she almost couldn’t move. She felt as if he feet were glued to the floor. As she stood there trying to get herself to move, she heard a door open. A figure stepped out a room farther down the hall.

“Rayanne?!” came a voice.