Steve's Triumphant Return to the States

(Told in the third person, because obviously my body was overtaken by aliens when I inserted myself into this adventure...or perhaps just a little anxious to see my sweetie)

2 days prior to arrival

Tom W.: "Katie, I'd like to meet Steve at the airport what time does he get in?"

Katie: "Let me check - Steve sent me an email with all of the flight info. I'll call you back tomorrow. "

Katie sorts through numerous emails with no luck. She thinks to herself, "Hmm..which email did he sent it to? We definitely need to get better about subject lines. Ok - I'll just go to Air India's website. This is certainly no American Airlines - oh there it is. Flight AI127 with a scheduled arrival of 1605."

Later that evening....

Steve's mom: "Fred (Steve's dad) would like to greet him at the airport and take a picture."

Katie: "Ok - I think Tom W. also wanted to pick him up. I will call him tomorrow to let him know."

Steve's mom: "Well - he will probably just take a bus out there to meet. "

Katie (thinking to herself): "I wish I could leave work early - because I'd really like to meet him. Oh well, sounds like they have got it figured out." She talks to both Tom W. and Fred and have passed along the info. She is also posting/emailing Steve - so he will be on the lookout for them.

Day of Arrival:

10am
Katie looks at the Air India site only to see that the flight is delayed - but no time information is indicated. She calls a 1-800 number and they tell her that the flight is delayed until 4:55pm. She passes that info to Tom W. and tm's Steve to let him know that his dad will also be at ORD.

3pm
Katie sits at work - trying to focus so she can get her work done and get home to meet Steve. Since his flight is "delayed" she decides she may be able to take an early train home, pick up the pup and meet Steve in LaGrange at his parents. Sounds like a plan.

4pm
Katie wraps up her work and realizes what an odd coincidence it is that her co-worker is heading in a cab to ORD in a few minutes to catch her flight. Katie quickly packs up to see if she can catch her in the lobby and tag along.

Now 4:15pm
Katie thinks to herself, "Steve will be so surprised that I made it out to greet him and I am sure it will take him time to get off the plane and through security. I have plenty of time." She hops in the cab and throws out any ounce of common sense she has about 1. time 2. space 3. rush hour traffic 4. the reliability of Air India's phone rep. All she can picture is how happy Steve will be to see her.

4:30pm
Steve unboards the plane and calls his dad as he gets through security. The flight arrived on time and Steve does everything he can to navigate through the airport quickly. Once they meet up - Steve is anxious to go and does not want to wait to meet Tom W. He tries to call him and tell him to turnaround - they will just take a bus.

Katie enroute calls Tom W. and leaves a message that she is on her way. She then tries to get ahold of Steve's dad.

4:45pm
Fred answers the phone and learns of Katie's wherabouts. He passes the phone to Steve.

Steve, "Katie, I really just want to get home. Can you have the cab turn around or meet us at the O'Hare oasis?"

Katie feeling sick to her stomach, "Um, no I can't. I am in the cab with someone else. Can you just wait - the cab driver says it should be another 10-15 mins."

Steve, "Where are you? It's bumper to bumper traffic, isn't it?

Katie, "Near Foster, I think. Yes - it's pretty heavy."

In the meantime, Tom W. arrives to pick them up. They decide to get Steve home and come back for Katie at the airport. Fred ends up having them turnaround and drop him off so he can wait for Katie at the bus stop.

5:30
Katie's coworker gets dropped of at Terminal 3 for her flight.

5:40
Katie's taxi cab driver has no idea on how to get to the bus stop so she gets out at Terminal 5. Katie takes the tram over to the bus stop and meets up with Steve's dad. They wait for the 5:52 bus to LaGrange.

5:52pm
They take the bus to its final stop before heading to the garage. Apparently - this was the one bus that doesn't go the rest of the route. They transfer to another stop and wait for the next bus.

6:45pm
Steve greets Katie at 409. His right ankle is bandaged and swollen and his left is not much better. He has at least 3 days of stubble and smells of a man who has not showered for a few days and was camping in Berlin.

7:45pm
Katie and Steve arrive at 108 North. His flight from Germany took him 9 hours and his journey from O'Hare took 3.5. Steve is weary and worn - but exactly where he belongs. Home.