The Arrival #AtoZChallenge

Where was she?

Trey walked the length of the baggage claim one more time, then texted into his phone. I'm here. Don't see her.

Kelly was supposed to arrive at 8:15. That was all the information he was given. "Go to the airport and collect your cousin." He was in the dark as to her purpose, or why it was so urgent. It all seemed secretive. No flight number provided, just "She's supposed to land at 8:15."

Keep looking. The text came back from his mother.

It was already 8:45 and Trey was annoyed. No one ever told him anything. He didn't go to college like his older siblings, and because he still lived in their hometown and drove for Uber, his family acted like he was their personal chauffeur. It was all annoying.

Now Kelly was randomly showing up? If she ever arrived. He didn't even have a number to call her, but had to go back and forth through his mother. Did they think about what a headache that would be for him? Of course not.

A flight number would help. Really Mom, not like it's classified. Unless it was. What was Kelly doing these days?

Can't say. Aargh! Maybe it really was classified?

Airline?

Sorry. Be patient. Typical Mom words. "Be patient." He could be out in the city, getting an actual, paying fare, but no. Trey found a seat on a bench across from the baggage carousels, where he could easily see the three central ones, and the two on the far ends were just a stretch and a squint away.

Fine. Leave it to Kelly and Mom to sort out where she was and when. He opened a game on his phone and started playing.

A text pinged. He ignored it while he finished that level, then looked. Where are you? She's been looking for you for 20 minutes. It was Mom. Ah crap. Trey let out a sigh. He had just lost an hour on that stupid game.

On a bench across from baggage carousel 3. Great. She could come to him.

It took 10 minutes for a reply. She doesn't see you. This back and forth was killing him. Trey turned around so his back was to the baggage carousels, held up his phone and took a selfie of himself in front of number 3. He refrained from flipping off his mom. Hopefully this would end it. A picture was worth a thousand words.

This time a faster reply came. Trey, you are at the wrong airport! Go home. She'll take a taxi.

Thank you for visiting my first #AtoZChallenge post! My theme is "Audience Participation" (read about it, here) and now it is your turn. All month, I will write daily flash fiction based on suggestions from your comments. Suggest anything: a word, a scenario, a possible character, a location... Suggestions don't have to coincide with any letter of the alphabet. I will fit it where I can. Have fun, but keep it clean!