Xavier landed at 5:30 a.m., exhausted from a sleepless red-eye flight and still reeling from a painful phone call with his estranged mother. He second-guessed taking the red-eye due to his physical fatigue, but seeing Samantha waiting by her car immediately lifted his mood.

They embraced outside the airport, and Xavier reflected on how being with Samantha made the crowded setting feel intimate and how deeply he missed physical closeness in their long-distance relationship. He acknowledged the emotional toll of getting only a short visit before another long stretch apart and decided he wanted to tell Samantha about the call with his mother in person, with the comfort of being together.

When Samantha asked about his sleep, Xavier admitted he hadn’t slept at all. Samantha cheerfully proposed a nap at home, teasing that she had been dreaming of napping together naked; Xavier relented, agreeing to a short nap.

They got into Samantha’s Dodge Dart. She shared that she had found another old cassette tape in the “carmuda triangle” between the seat and console and suggested they listen to it. She also proposed driving with the top down since it was still dark and warm.

As they drove on an empty freeway in the mild seventy-two-degree California morning, Jon Secada’s “Just Another Day Without You” played from the single speaker. Samantha held Xavier’s hand while the wind blew through his hair, creating a serene, cinematic moment that contrasted with his mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion.

Xavier felt a brief respite in the perfection of the drive and the comfort of being with Samantha, even as he knew the visit would be short and that he still needed to share the difficult news about his mother with her face-to-face.