Brady in Cairo

She was leaving when I met her

We were in the airport in Chicago
And I stole her luggage

I didn't mean to

We both had the same suitcases

If anything, she should have felt bad

She was a girl with ratty brown luggage
She should have been sheepish, at least

But instead she bit me

It was a...light bite

But it was still a bite

She bit my arm
Then slapped me

I...

I fell madly in love with her

Because, you know

Who does that?

We spent the weekend in the O'Hare airport

No, seriously, we did

We kept meaning to get a room or something

But we just kept talking
And walking
And eating at Applebee's
And falling asleep next to baggage check

Nobody bothered us

It was really...cool

She had just broken up with her boyfriend
And she was just really raw, you know?

It was like hanging out
With a really cool embryo

God, that sounds messed up

Anyway, after the two days were over
And we'd missed our flights
Obviously
We decided to meet somewhere
That neither of us had ever been before

The only problem was
I'm an army brat
And she's a rich girl with commitment issues

So between the two of us
We'd pretty much covered the globe

We settled on Cairo

I might have been there when I was two
Because I have a distinct fear of camels
That I can't quite place
But I said 'Yes' anyway

Jenna said she had to make a quick stop-over in Vegas first
To get some money from this Polish girl
Who apparently is madly in love with her

I guess the girl is loaded
And Jenna thinks if she sleeps with her for a week
She can score a couple thousand from her
And we can use that to start our new life
Here in Cairo

I know it seems like I should have had a problem with that
But I'm broke, so I'm really not in any place to judge

And she'd been cut off from her family
When she took off the first time
On a trip to London
That she never came back from

Besides it's not like she was headed off
To bang some guy

We kissed, and she got on a plane for Vegas
And my job was to get to Cairo
And get us a cheap hotel room
Until she got here

That was a month ago

I don't know why I thought she'd come

Maybe there was no ex-boyfriend
Maybe there was no Polish girl
Maybe she never read David Foster Wallace
And just said she did to make me happy

I don't know

I don't know a lot of stuff

It's crazy

I'm going to wait another day here for her
And then I'm going to fly to Vegas
And see if I can find her

If she's not there, I'll go back to Chicago
And if I don't find her waiting for me at the baggage claim

I'll...

I'll have to give up, I guess

The thing about meeting a stranger
When you're traveling
Is that you're in such a good mood
Because you've got the adrenaline from being in a new place
And the joy from being somewhere other than the shitty place you're from
And you want to fall in love because then your life would officially be like
One of those stupid romance movies
And you're just a prime target
For some insane girl
To take advantage of you

Except...

She didn't really take advantage of me

I bought her a few airport Applebee's appetizers
And peanut M&M's every day
And soda, and that plane ticket to Vegas
But that's it

She could have gotten way more out of me
If she'd come to Cairo

I should go out and explore
But I'm scared I'll run into a camel

I'm scared if I leave her
I'll be the victim of a car bombing
And she'll show up
And wonder where I went

I'm afraid we'll pass each other
At opposite ends of the hotel lobby
And not even notice

I wonder if for the rest of my life
I'll be terrified
That with every step I make
I'm stepping past her

Moving away from her

Because the thing is
When I was with her
I really felt like myself

Like this settled person

We were in that airport
Surrounded by people coming and going
And taking off
And arriving
And for the first time in my life
I felt still

I felt calm

So when I feel like I'm moving away from her
It feels like moving away from that person
That calm person I didn't know I could be

So maybe I should stay here, you know?

Maybe I should stay
Right where I am