Meetings

The anticipation was high,  that was like saying Niagara falls was a little waterfall.  The anticipation was palatable.  You could cut it like a knife.  It was a living, breathing thing with its own ideas.  He took a deep breath.  It was going to be alright.  You don't travel all this way to not go through with it.  It wasn't that hard.  All he had to do was open his mouth.  Hello.  How are you doing?  Five simple words.  Except,  nothing was ever simple for him. 
Sigh.  It wasn't supposed to be like this,  this nerve wracking,  this tense.  It was supposed to be smiles and hellos.  Greetings,  pleasantries.  Nice to meet you.  How are you doing?  But in his mind,  it was all the negatives, all down side.  He could feel the spiral building,  it was so easy now to just step on and ride it down.  Doubt,  self loathing,  depression,  anxiety,  they all lay ahead. 
He took a deep breath.  Calm down.  Breath.  It was her words in his mind.  The way they had been for weeks.  Calming him,  bringing him back to his ground.  How could someone he had never met have this effect on him?  How could he know someone he had never met? Life was full of questions.  Some had answers,  some didn't.  He could ponder the possibilities for decades. They were endless.  Instead,  he focused on the good.  The positive things.  The reason he was here,  the reason he climbed onto a plane to begin with.  She was this reason.  A new chance,  a new hope,  a possibility that he never expected to exist.  It scared him as much as it excited him. 
But all that was the past.  Right now was the future.  Just a few more moments and she would be there.  In the flesh,  right on front of him.  He swallowed hard,  the nervousness wouldn't go away.  Would she like him,  would she smile? Would she laugh,  would she dance? So many questions.  He had no answers,  no plan.  This scared him more.  Fear was trying to conquer him,  to control him again.  But if he still gave in to fear,  he would be back home sitting on the couch.  No,  he was going to win this time. 
He heard the crunch of gravel as she approached.  He had been so lost in his own mind that he had lost track of what was going on.  He looked up,  there she was.  Beautiful,  serene,  here.  He knew he appeared calm,  but that was just a facade.  Inside, his mind was spinning furiously.  What to say,  what to do.  Now was the moment,  now was the time to set the whole tone.  She stopped directly in front of him. Mere inches separated them.  She gazed into his eyes,  expectantly.  He started to speak,  but stopped.  His hand raised on its own accord,  brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.  Then not stopping there,  his hand slid behind her head and pulled her to him.  His mouth found hers,  and then they were kissing.  Deep,  intimate,  completing a connection that he thought only existed in his head. Wrapping his arms around,  still kissing,  he took her weight as he leaned get back.  It was they kind of kissing souls do when meeting their match. 
Finished,  he stood her up,  and whispered gently,  "hello".