<div class="floatleft">(http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h357/daniellex28/evolved%20char%207_zpsvbxkwizk.png)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Julie Lancaster (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=250173.msg12381790er#msg12381790)<br/><strong>City | Date | Time:</strong>San Francisco International Airport, CA | August 9, 2017 | 03:31 PM<br/><strong>Tagging | Mentioning:</strong>Elena<br/><strong>Content:</strong>Waiting anxiously<br/><hr/><br/>The steady flow of people that crossed the big arrivals hall, largely came in the shape of oddly clad tourists and suit-wearing business men walking in everywhich direction; the swell of the crowd came to a peak in the middle of the afternoon here, making the International Airport of San Francisco a beehive of confused looking human beings, trying their hardest to get out of the massive building as quickly as possible. In the middle of summer there were few weather-related delays and yet Julianne had been eyeing the departures board with such resentful anxiety, as if she were convinced that the red digital numbers that depicted the time were solely out to get her.<br/><br/>But no, there was no mention of any late arrivals from Albany,  New York, just an expected arrival time that her eyes seemed to be glued to. People would barge into the girl every few moments, no doubt because she was standing in the dead centre of the hall, oblivious to the people who were trying to manoeuvre their suitcases, travel bags and their hordes of children past her. Julie held her phone clenched tightly against her chest, both hands clasping around the tiny object as if her life depended on it. She wasn't sure that the handheld device was truly able to live up to the expectations the girl clearly had of it; it would not give away any of the secrets the near future held any more than that cursed board she'd been staring down for the past forty five minutes. Still, it offered a certain amount of comfort, as it symbolized the one link she currently had to Nicole, no, to<em>Elena</em>.<br/><br/>Julianne didn't think she understood. She wasn't sure if she could to begin with, and that very thought made waiting for Elena's arrival all the more frightening. She didn't know if she would be meeting with a stranger or with the very woman who had sent her on such an emotional rollercoaster that even now, months later, she couldn't even think of her without her insides tying into a painful knot immediately. There were so many questions, but Julie knew she would gladly leave them unanswered if it meant just seeing<em>her</em>again. She didn't know who the woman hopefully walking through those frosted glass double doors would be; a stranger or someone who knew Julianne from the inside out and who had shared so many of her own secrets in return. Maybe both.<br/><br/>Her phone buzzed in the very same moment the announcement on the digital board switched from 'Expected Arrival Time' to 'Landed', and Julianne literally jumped, a sudden nausea assaulting her senses, her throat dry and rough like sandpaper. Uncertainly she lifted the smart phone from the cozy spot nestled against her breast, seeing the pop up message that told her the exact same thing. Her face slowly settled into a complicated frown as she shifted the way she held the device, her finger idly swiping across the screen. The crowded room around her all but seemed to fade as she opened her contacts list, finding a number that had become so important to her and yet had been left unused until now. The little picture besides it really did not do the real Nicole...<em>Elena</em>justice, and yet it had her mesmerized all the same. Julianne scowled, knowing there was absolutely no use in calling when the person the number belonged to was going through passport control right now. Still she found herself selecting the number then pressing the phone to her right ear, listening for the tone. It went straight to voicemail, and nothing could have quite prepared her for the sudden sweet melody of a voice she was all too familiar with, apologizing so politely for being unable to answer the phone right now. The very sound caused something to shatter in the glow of her irises, something fragile.<br/><br/>The sudden harsh sound of a mechanical beep caused Julie to shudder, and her eyes regained their focus, darted about uncertainly. She wasn't sure why she had called but to just hang up felt like it just wasn't an option, and though her words much felt like incoherent drivel, she spoke all the same. "Hi,"  was the none too eloquent start. "I mean, hello Elena. I don't really know you, or maybe I do. I don't think I understand yet and maybe I never will..."  Julianne scraped her throat, her voice almost lost to the noise around her. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm glad you came. No matter what, I'm so grateful that you came and...<em>Oh</em>."<br/><br/>She hadn't expected the arrivals of flight 3064 to go through checkout so quickly. Not for a moment had she considered the fact that maybe, the message that she'd been waiting for on the arrivals board was slow. Julianne didn't think she could have mentally prepared herself for this, but she could have done with a moment of bracing herself for what was to come. Instead the vision of golden hair and the sweetest smile assaulted her as a girl she knew so intimately appeared through automatic sliding doors, parting so eagerly it seemed. she was looking around, and Julie knew that she should walk closer to the gate, make herself known by waving or calling out or ... or<em>anything.</em>But she stood there, petrified as her entire body no longer seemed able to function in its most basic way. She wasn't even fully turned towards the gate beside her, but the look in her eyes spoke volumes. The sound of the automated voice on the end of the line telling Julie her message had been recorded was all but ignored, as feelings washed over her like a tsunami at full force. She hadn't known what to expect when she'd see Elena, and she still didn't know how to separate her from Nicole, how they tied together at all. But there was one thing she knew with irrevocable certainty about this girl, who would never be a stranger to Julianne Lancaster.<br/><br/><em>She already loved her.</em><br/><br/>