She saw him as she was leaving customs. Fading red hair and graying beard, bright blue eyes with glasses, just like in his picture. When he saw her too he smiled, not big, a little bit shy, but she could tell he was happy to see her. Seeing that, knowing that made her smile too.
He threaded his way through the crowd to her and offered to take her bag. As they left the airport together, he asked about her flight (it was pleasant, everything went smoothly) and getting through customs (that was a royal pain in the ass). As they walked side by side their hands brushed, and his fingers moved as if to take her hand in his, but then shied away.
She received a bit of a shock when they stepped out the building. The cold was forceful, almost aggressive; bundled up as she was still her nipples tightened. In Bogotรก it had been 68 degrees and a sunny day. In Boston it was nighttime and 28 degrees, colder than most nights ever got back home. When she mentioned this to him, he told her sheepishly that January and February nights were even colder here.
They got on the bus that would take them to his car and bundled up as she was, she was still shivering. He took her in his arms, rubbing her shoulders and back to warm her up. She gave him a thankful look even though it didn't really help as much as just being close did, sitting together, thigh to thigh.
They arrived in the parking lot, and once they found his car she had to laugh. It was the only car that could have been his. While so many other cars had stick figure family decals in their back windows, his had a silhouette of the Beatles on the Abbey Road crosswalk.
He laughed with her, then leaned in like he wanted to kiss her. Something held him back though, perhaps only that, despite all they'd shared online he was still quite shy.
She wanly smiled back and shivered hard. "It's cold."
"I'm sorry, yes, let's get going." He rushed around to the passenger door and held it open for her, then closed it behind her after she was settled inside. He took care of her bag, got into the car himself, then started it, keeping the fan on low until the heater could take effect. As they pulled out of the parking lot he turned to her. "There's something I need to tell you."
"Yes?"
"It's going to snow tonight. It's supposed to start any moment now, actually."
She beamed with delight, peering out the windows into the night. She'd never seen snow before.
He continued. "Driving on snowy roads can be dangerous so...I got us a hotel room."
She looked at him slyly. "One bed or two?"
He glanced at her apologetically while focusing on the road. "They only had a single. I was lucky to get a room at all. Sorry."
The thought of sharing a bed with him made her feel a little nervous and a bit excited at the same time. She trusted him, he had always behaved like a gentleman towards her, treated her like a lady -- until she wanted him not to, that is. But they had only interacted with one another online before, this trip was breaking new ground for them both. They had discussed intimacy and sex before, in great detail, going so far as simulating sex as much as the internet allowed, with words and images and toys.
But this would be for real this time. She cared about him a great deal, and knew he felt the same for her. She didn't want to lose or damage their relationship.
Taking all this into consideration, more than anything else, she wanted their first sexual encounter in the real world to be nothing short of amazing for him, for them both.
All these thoughts were pushed into the background when she saw her first snowflakes.