shouldâve been at the airport already.â
âWhat time is the concert?â
âI think it starts at eight.â I grabbed my suitcase, purse, and keys and headed out the door. âMy plane makes it to Orlando at six. All Iâll have time to do is pick up the rental car and head to the site. I wonât even be able to check into my hotel until after the concert and interview.â
âWhen do you come back?â
I boarded the elevator. âTomorrow night.â
I really didnât want to go, but in order for me to move into a better spot at the station, I had to bite the bullet and do what other people didnât want to do. A new country artist was debuting in Orlando, but Garth Brooks was performing in Miami the same night. Instead of being invited to the American Airlines Arena for the GB concert, I was taking an American Airlines flight to Orlando to interview a no-name crooner.
âMy flight gets in around six or something.â
âWhy didnât they just rent you a car to drive from here to there? Itâs only a little over a three-hour drive.â
âWho?â I rolled my eyes. âIâm not driving to Orlando, unless Iâm going to Disney World. If Iâm going to a country-ass concert, I donât want a three-hour drive ahead of me. Iâm liable to turn my black ass around or miss the exit and take the highway all the way to ATL,â I joked.
âWell, have a safe trip. The weather is looking a liâl crazy, though.â
âI didnât even look at the Weather Channel.â I sighed. âWhatâs going on?â
âWell, itâs not raining here, but there is a little system moving north.â
âDamn.â I hated flying. âThatâs all I need.â
âWell, Iâm not going to cash this check just yet,â India said. âYou might need it back.â
I couldnât believe her. âFuck you, India,â I said jokingly, though I really meant it.
âNo. Iâm fucking with you.â She giggled again. âCall me when you get in. Letâs have drinks.â
âI will.â I hung up and raced through the parking garage to find my car.
Â
Â
By the time I made it to the American Airlines gate, the passengers were boarding. I was last in line, but I had a first-class seat. I would never pay for a flight from Miami to Orlando on my own. It seemed as if as soon as we hit cruising altitude, the pilot announced that we were preparing for landing. The flight couldnât have been longer than an hour. The only problem was the tremulous turbulence due to the storm hovering over the area.
When the plane landed, I was one of the first people off. Being a Budget FastBreak customer got me in and out of the car rental office in five minutes.
The sky was the darkest shade of gray Iâd ever seen, without becoming black. Not only was it raining, there was hail and talk of tornadoes in surrounding towns.
When I learned that the concert was supposed to be an outside event, I pretty much knew that it was off. I made a few phone calls and learned that I was right. The show was off and not being rescheduled. The artist was already heading to Georgia for his performance the next day, so I couldnât even do the interview.
Without an umbrella, I sat in the parking lot of the Marriott hotel for twenty minutes. The rain wasnât letting up. I jumped each time a lightning bolt flashed across the sky, and trembled when the thunder rumbled. At only eight oâclock, I didnât want to be stuck in my hotel room for the night, but with weather like this, I wouldnât dare go anywhere besides the hotel restaurant.
My cellular phone rang in the midst of the crackling of a thunderclap and frightened me so bad that my foot slammed on the gas pedal. Thankfully the car was still in park. âHello!â I didnât look at the caller ID.
âHi, sweetness.â
âHi,