I had about 3 hours to wait until my flight to New York. I was at the boarding gate still confused about Kyle. Where is he? Did he already leave for Paris? In fact, I did not talk to him at all yesterday. Could it be that he already left? I needed someone to help me understand. I called Karen, one of my best friends who lives in New York.

"Karen, do you know anything about this?" I asked. "What's with the panic voice?" she answered. Since I had 3 hours to kill, I explained everything without leaving any detail. "Wow!" she said, "Oh my gosh, this is so incredible! Are you sure you're not on an MTV reality show or something? Check behind you, there might be video cameras!" She and I joked for about an hour, trying to come up with ways to get Kyle back someday. She obviously didn't know anything about this. She was just as surprised and excited as I was. "Karen", I said seriously, "my stop-over is JFK in New York, if I chicken out, I'll call you again and ask you to pick me up at the airport." She giggled and said "Relax, have fun, and enjoy the ride! This is a once in a lifetime experience, enjoy every moment of it!" She was right. Maybe I should.

But how am I supposed to enjoy my anniversary if Kyle is not going with me? I had to know more. I had 30 minutes before boarding and I was still not sure if I was going on this grand vacation with him. So, I called his work and tried to get some answers.

One of the girls, Dina, picked up. "Hi Dina, do you know where Kyle is?" I asked. "I'm not sure, I just got in, but I think he's with John running some errands in Olympia." Incredibly shocked I asked, "Do you mean he's in town? He went to work this morning?" "Yep" she answered quickly. "Really? Dina, are you sure?" She replied "What's going on Jamie? Is everything okay?" Once again, I told her the entire story and told her that I don't want to go Paris if Kyle was not going with me. Her voice was sincere and she truly wanted to help "Let me try to get in touch with John and Kyle, I'll call you right back."

I also tried to call John's cell phone, but he didn't pick up. No one wanted to talk to me! I was getting upset. I have 20 minutes left to decide if I should still go. Dina called me back and said "Okay, I got a hold of John. He's with Kyle in Olympia. But he said he talked to Kerwin in Paris, and he has a message for you - Trust Kerwin, and follow every instruction, now go."

With those words, I boarded the plane. Trust Kerwin, I repeated in my head. Of course I trusted Kerwin. Why wouldn't I? He's my cousin who knows everything about me. He lives between Seattle and Paris, and as of the moment, he was vacationing in Paris. He left Seattle about a week ago. If anything, I can hang out with Kerwin in Paris. That would be fun too! But if it was an anniversary gift, then, shouldn't Kyle be with me? I tried not analyzing it too much. I should stop making myself more nervous. My stomach was already flip-flopping from the strong turbulence. But there was one thing that could answer all my questions - the second letter. I dug it up from my purse and stared at the words "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL PARIS!" Should I open this and end all my doubts? Or should I follow every instruction? I left the letter alone and trusted Kerwin.