September 11th 2001 - Fictional Short Story

She awoke with a feeling of anxiety. This morning was not going to be easy. She lay in bed and allowed her thoughts to drift back to a conversation at her parent's house the evening before.
"I'll pick you up at 8 in the morning" said Ciara
Her mother sighed. "The flight's not until 10.30 you know".
"Yes, mum, I know but it's the morning rush hour and the motorway can be a nightmare"
"Look, Ciara, you can be here at 8 if you want but we won't be leaving until 9", her mother replied
Ciara's father took her to one side and spoke quietly into her ear. "She's having one of her bad days, love.  Maybe I can persuade her to be ready for 8.30 if you can get here for then"
Ciara nodded discretely and reluctantly agreed. "Half 8 it is then".

She looked again at the clock. 06.55. Her agenda for the next few hours included driving her husband to work, then taking her elderly parents to the airport in time to catch a flight to Cork. She quickly showered, dressed, then gulped a few mouthfuls of coffee. Breakfast was going to have to wait today.  She opened the front door and walked briskly down the front path into a cool September morning. Her husband locked the door behind them and joined her in the car.
"I'm not looking forward to this at all, Andrew", said Ciara
"Just take a few deep breaths and take your time" replied her husband of 7 years
"Lack of time IS the problem today, though",
He shook his head and gave her a knowing look.
They reached his workplace with few further words spoken.  He brushed back her long, black hair and gently kissed her cheek.
"I'll see you later, darling"
"Yeh, see you later", she replied disconsolately

She checked the clock on the dashboard. 08.04. She headed straight for her parent's house.Upon arrival at 8.20, for the second time that day, a strange, unexplained feeling of foreboding overwhelmed her. She quelled her emotions, composed herself, and knocked on the door. Her stressed looking father opened the door and she stepped inside. "Sorry, love, we're not quite ready yet"
As she entered the front room, she sensed a frosty atmosphere. Her parents had clearly had an altercation with the aftermath now delaying her proposed departure time. 

The following half hour passed in a frenzy of last minute packing and short, sharp exchanges of words.
Despite Ciara's best efforts, they departed the house at 0900 as her mother had intended. With ideal traffic conditions, it was a 20 minute drive to the airport. This particular morning, however, conditions were far from ideal. They reached the motorway at 09.15 and joined a long tailback of traffic. The flight departure time was now only 75 minutes away. Ciara seethed for a few moments then could no longer contain her frustration.
"This is exactly why we should have left at 8!", she exclaimed.  Her parents sat in silence.
Ciara maneuvered the car from lane to lane, to gain a few hundred yards, then gradually picked up speed as the vehicles started moving again.
"It looks like we're going to miss the flight" said her agitated mother.
"I'll get you on that bloody flight if it's the last thing I do!", she retorted.

They arrived at the airport at 09.45. She ignored all the parking restrictions and abandoned the car as close to the flight departures entrance as she could.  She grabbed 2 items of her parent's luggage and ran with them, shouting behind her for them to follow her.  As they reached the departure area, she looked around again and a warden was already looking at her car. "Oh for God's sake", she muttered under her breath.  Without ceremony, she shouted "See you in 2 weeks!", to her bewildered parents as she ran back to the car.  She explained her predicament to the warden, who reluctantly, and not without warning, accepted it. As she drove off, she had no idea whether her parents would make the flight or not.  At this point on this day, she couldn't care less. She had important errands to run and had to be in work for 1pm.

She arrived back home around 10.30, made a cup of coffee, buttered 2 slices of toast, then tried to settle her nerves.  She made a short shopping list, then finished her refreshment.  Her next destination was the local town.  As she walked down the hallway, she paused momentarily to brush her hair in the mirror.  "Oh Ciara, pull yourself together.  You look worse than you feel", she said to her reflection.

As she walked along the high street, her mind was still in a state of flux. She just couldn't understand why she was so wound up today. It wasn't the first time in her life her mother had been difficult and traffic problems in this city were the norm. There was just something different in the air today. She paused momentarily outside a well known store. She hadn't planned on going in there but, for reasons unknown to her, felt compelled to enter.  She browsed the shelves, then as she was leaving without purchasing anything, she glanced across to the payment counter. A tall, dark haired, square shouldered man stood with his back to her. He was speaking to the assistant in a barely audible, but remarkably, distinctive and recognisable voice. She stopped in her tracks. Her heart started to palpitate.  Her palms were sweating and her spine tingled.  "Is that who I think it might be", she thought to herself. She was rooted to the spot as he slowly turned around.  Suddenly, his familiar piercing blue eyes met with hers as they stood facing each other only yards away. In unison they both exclaimed, "OH MY GOD!"....

"Joe, is that really you?!"
"You look really well, Ciara", said Joe
"Ha ha, you should see me on a good day then"
A broad smile crossed his face
"Let's go outside and chat for a minute, I'm on a flight to Barcelona in 3 hours, though, so I haven't got long", said Joe
"Oh, I'm due in work shortly anyway."
"Are you still with Andrew?"
"Yes, we finally got married ,7 years ago now"
"That's grand news, I'm in a new-ish relationship now.  Her name's Fiona, that's who I'm flying off to Barcelona with today"
"Listen, Joe, I'm really sorry with happened with Lucy...."
"No, No", Joe interrupted her.  "That was 15 years ago now, Ciara.  It wasn't meant to be in the end.  It's all in the past.  I've moved on."
"I heard you'd had a daughter together, though?"
"Yes, her name's Tara.  She's beautiful.  She lives with her mam now though"
Ciara was hanging on his every word .  Hearing him say "mam" again reminded her of his roots.  Joe left Ireland with his family aged 10, but traces of his Donegal accent still shone through.  Ciara's own family had Irish roots and they had swapped many similar stories of their upbringing when they were at college together.

"Listen, Ciara, I really do have to go now but here's my mobile number.  Text me and I'll get in touch when I'm back from Barca"  He warmly embraced her then walked away briskly and was gone.  She stood where he left her for a few moments trying to absorb what had just happened.  On numerous occasions over the years she had practiced what she would say if ever she saw him again, but she never envisaged this scenario. She rushed around the shops for her provisions and then returned home.  It was now 12.15. She quickly changed into her office clothes and was soon back on the road to her place of work.  She had studied chemistry at college with Joe but in all the madness of the last few hours had neglected to ask him how he was employed now during those precious few moments when their worlds collided again.

She arrived at work slightly late.  There was some gentle teasing from her colleagues regarding her tardiness which she responded to with "Don't even get me started on the morning I've had!"  Her mind was not on the job this afternoon.  Part of her brain space was taken up with her parent's late arrival for their flight, the rest of it was taken with the 5 minutes spent with Joe and what he had told her.  She never  previously knew his daughter's name, Tara.  She was genuinely happy for him that he appeared to have found a new love.  She always knew her erstwhile friend, Lucy, was not meant for him.

As she thought back to those college days again and just how much she was in love with Joe at the time, a colleague suddenly shouted across the office.  "F****** Hell !  Have you heard this?!".  Their music radio station of choice had been interrupted with some extraordinary breaking news.  Her colleague shouted her over to him.  As Ciara chastised him for his profanity, he shouted over the top of her.  "They were reporting on a plane crashing into the side of the World Trade Center in New York when another plane crashed into the other tower !  They'll have the TV on in the canteen, let's go and have a look what's going on".  Ciara followed him into the crowded canteen and watched the unfolding events from the United States with her colleagues.

They were reporting more planes had been hijacked but currently couldn't locate them.  They weren't even sure at this stage if planes in other countries had also been targeted.  This, on a day when both her parents and a former love were all on flights, left her cold.  The rest of the afternoon passed with very little work done in Ciara's office.  A general feeling of doomsday had taken hold of proceedings.  As the towers collapsed and the other tragedies of the day unfolded, a feeling of great sadness enveloped her.  She couldn't wait to be home and in the arms of her loving husband.

Ciara and Andrew spent the evening, like most of the rest of the world that day, glued to the TV.  The human death toll was mounting and by late in the evening, it was apparent that in one way or another, the world would never be the same again. Footage of the towers' collapse was replayed over and over again.  In Ciara's world, the symbolism of this day was not yet apparent.  Her thoughts eventually turned to Joe again.  She opened her bag and found the phone number he had given her.  Now was not the time to decide what to do with it.

The feelings she had for him were 15 years ago, many years before she had even met Andrew.  The actions she had taken back then had catastrophic consequences on those around her at the time but her reaction to seeing him today had shocked her to the core.  For a fleeting moment those dormant feelings had stirred once more.  The battles between her head and her heart was a war yet to be won.

She would make her own decisions in her own time.