AARVI
“Can I see your passport, Ma’am?” the ground staff asked. The name tag on her read Lisa, as I smiled and handed her my passport. Right at that moment, a realization hit me. There was something absolutely liberating about doing something for yourself after putting others above you for your entire life.
You are not scared of ruining it. You are not biting your nails, spiraling, or wondering if it will go right. You are not doubting your self-worth every other second. And most importantly, you are not trying to live up to anybody else’s expectations other than yours. Which means there is no right or wrong way to do what you are about to do.
“Have a nice flight.” Lisa smiled at me warmly as she placed my passport back on the counter along with my boarding passes. My adrenaline spiked up as I saw the two white and red rectangles peeking out of my passport. “Thank you,” I smiled at her again and marched towards my boarding gate.
I looked through the crowd before my eyes landed on the signs pointing towards my gate. I followed them and sat on one of the empty seats available in front of my boarding gate. Everybody looked busy. Some were on their phone, while some were trying to shush their whining children. A few others ran through the walking space, trying to reach their boarding gates, I assumed.
I exhaled a long breath before I put my earbuds in and played You Are on Your Own Kid by Taylor Swift. This song was like a booster drug for me. Every time I felt a little unsure, a little insecure, and anxious, I would put this one on loop. It reminded me of the countless times I have done and excelled at things I initially dreaded, which would bring me out of my head.
Soon enough, the boarding for flight 6E875 to Dubai started, and I almost sprinted to secure my place in the queue. The attendant checked my boarding pass at the gate before I flashed her a wide grin and proceeded towards the aircraft.
The plane hit the land of Dubai right on time, and I found myself sitting in front of the next boarding gate. There weren’t many people initially, but by the time I settled into my seat and pulled out my phone to call Maa, the seating area had filled up except for the one right next to mine.
I released a breath I didn’t realize I was holding before I dialed Maa. My knee bobbed as I waited for her to pick up. A couple of seconds passed before the automated voice started speaking. I shook my head and dialed again. But this time, I could tell she rejected it as it rang twice before declaring that the number was busy. I didn’t try again. She was mad. It was obvious. Because I was finally doing something that she didn’t want me to do.
A corner of my lips tugged up at how bizarre it was. She was my mother. She was supposed to be my support system. She was supposed to be happy that I was finally looking out for myself. She was supposed to be— Something hot splashed against my face and my chest, seeping through my t-shirt. It took me a couple of seconds to realize what just happened before my skin started burning. Okay, that’s way too hot.
“What the fuck?”
“I’m so sorry.”
My words overlapped with the stranger who just spilled his hot coffee on me. I got up, pulling the fabric away from my body, which had gotten stuck to my skin. I looked up to deliver a few more nice words, but nothing came out of my mouth as soon as my gaze met the eyes of the person standing in front of me.
A remarkable shade of blue eyes stared back at me, and for some reason, my throat dried up. He looked horrified. Concern was evident in his face, but it wasn’t enough to numb the burn I was feeling both on my skin and in my mind.
He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn’t give him the chance. I rushed towards the restroom and turned on the tap. I took out my handkerchief and soaked it in the water before dabbing it on my t-shirt where the coffee had spilled. Slowly, the brown shade became unnoticeable, but the big watermark on my chest wasn’t something I was looking forward to boarding my flight with.
“Ughhhh!” I growled, resting my hands against the granite counter as the water kept running. Luckily, nobody else was there yet to witness my outburst, but just as I thought that, a lady entered and went straight inside one of the stalls. What was I supposed to do now? Walk out like this? I didn’t even bring my backpack, or I could have at least put something on until my tee dried up.
I spent the next fifteen minutes in the restroom, waiting for the fabric to dry somewhat before I went out. And when I did, my teeth voluntarily ground against each other. The man who almost burned me was sitting right next to where I was sitting.
I looked all around the place, and nope! Not one single seat was available in any other corner of the aisle. What kind of sick joke is that, Universe?
I looked down at my watch before closing my eyes briefly and taking a deep breath. Only 49 minutes to go! I could handle forty-nine minutes. I will just simply ignore him. With a few long strides, I reached my chair and picked up my backpack to sit without sparing a glance at the man sitting beside me.
I hoped. I literally prayed for him not to speak with me. Because I knew I wasn’t in the right mood and engaging in any kind of conversation was pointless when I knew that my mouth would only spit out poison.
“Hey… Are you okay? I’m so sorry for what happened. I should have been more careful.” I winced. Of course, he couldn’t mind his business. Because where is the fun in that?
“It’s fine.” I managed to say, but didn’t bother looking at him.
“Doesn’t look like it. Look, I will make it up to you. Just let me know—”
“I said it’s fine.” My voice rose up a little as I finally looked at him. His eyes widened at my words, and I swear I felt sick enough to throw up.
And yet, it didn’t stop me from adding another piece of advice, as I said, “Please don’t talk to me again if you really want to make it up to me.” He closed his open mouth as his expression looked like my words had hurt him.
I cursed myself internally. This is why I avoid speaking to anybody when I am in a bad mood. I know I will say something to somebody who doesn’t deserve it. He could be having a bad day as well, or he might be casually clumsy. But I didn’t have to be a total jackass about it.
He didn’t utter another word before he shifted in his chair and focused back on his phone. I exhaled a tired breath as I plucked out my earbuds and put my playlist, which I specifically made for this trip, on shuffle. I closed my eyes, trying to collect myself and my thoughts, but snippets of my interaction with this man kept coming up like a reel, making me feel even more horrible.
I opened my eyes and tried to watch through my peripheral vision what he was doing, and right at that moment, he got up and went towards the aisle, putting his phone to his ear.
I quickly busied myself on my phone in case he noticed, but when he started pacing back and forth, I looked up, shamelessly taking the opportunity to check him out.
From the looks, I could tell he was English. He had to be six feet at the very least. Broad shoulders, long legs. One could tell he maintained his physique even with all that fabric. He wore a crème button-down shirt along with a pair of coffee brown trousers. The combination looked really good on him. An analog watch with a leather belt settled on his left wrist, along with rings on his index finger of the hand. The fingers on his right hand had a few rings too. His hair wasn’t blonde but wasn’t brown either, something in between. There is a term for that…
What do they call this?
Brown-blonde? Dark golden? No, dirty-blonde…
I was so busy figuring out the right term for his hair color that I missed when he stopped pacing and was staring back at me. Fuck my life!
I quickly brought my eyes back to my phone and looked through the playlist to play an upbeat song. Something that would drown the sound of my frantically beating heart. I didn’t look that way for the rest of the time that I sat there.
Soon, the boarding for my flight started. I hung my bag over my shoulder as I got up to stand in the queue that was forming.
My heart thudded. This was it. This was the moment I was anticipating since last week, and now that it was time, I almost forgot how to feel. I was excited, but I guess I was a little scared too. In the next 10 hours, I will be in London. Living my dream vacation with nobody but me to take care of. I won’t be running around my manager. I will be out of reach for my stupid ex-boyfriend, who doesn’t know how to take a no for an answer. And most importantly, I will be far away from Maa to let her toxicity drawn my love for life. I know I took a big step, but it’s mine to take.
That being said, I got my boarding pass checked before proceeding towards the aircraft again. I was grinning, thinking of all the places that I had saved in my Pinterest board and how I will be in these places in the next three weeks.
The air hostess standing at the door greeted me while I nodded and smiled. My seat was towards the end of the aisle, so I kept walking until I spotted it.
This aircraft had a three-column seating arrangement. Two seats on either side of the aisle and three in the middle. While I was happy that I didn’t get one in the middle column, not getting a window seat was a little disappointing too, but I cheered myself up. I got an aisle seat, but it was better than sitting uncomfortably between two strangers who didn’t know how to mind their business.
Moreover, I’ll be in London in less than 12 hours. The destination mattered more than where I sat during my journey.
I put my bag in the overhead bin and settled in, watching people enter and settle into their seats as well.
An old couple slowly walked and stopped a row ahead of me. From their look, they looked very English. Both tall and fair. The lady had grey hair, which looked freshly trimmed, dancing right above her shoulder blades. Her sunglasses sat above her head. The gentleman placed their bags in the bin and helped her settle into her seat. She didn’t need it, but he still kept his hand around the small of her back in case she needed it, before he settled into his seat.
That’s what love looks like, doesn’t it? That’s how it should be.
I sighed and looked ahead when I spotted the same pair of blue eyes again. His gaze met mine just at the right time before he started looking at the seat numbers on both sides. He kept walking closer and closer to this end while I prayed for his seat not to be next to mine again.
Minutes later, when I looked up again, I found him placing his tiny trolley in the bin a row behind me. I heaved a sigh of relief. An elderly lady came and stood right beside my seat, looking back and forth at the seat number and her boarding pass.
“Do you want to go in, Ma’am?” I asked, noticing her confused face.
“Huh?” she looked at me through her glasses before she looked back at another grey-haired lady who was already on her way to sitting next to the blue-eyed man. However, seconds later, I watched the lady standing beside me go and approach him. I couldn’t really hear what they spoke, but my eyes widened as I saw him flash a devastatingly gorgeous smile as he gestured towards the aisle seat, which I assumed was his, for the lady.
If he was offering his seat to the lady, that meant…
I paled a little at the thought as I watched him look at me before his smile slipped away too. His head hung low as he came and stopped beside my seat, towering over me.
“Absolutely no freaking way!” I blurt out.
He let out a scoff before he said, “Believe me, you are the last person that I’d want to sit next to as well.” Okay. Rude. “She wanted to sit with her sister, and I agreed before I realized what I was agreeing to.” He added.
Now that I wasn’t raging inside, I could notice the very prominent accent he had. It was good. So good that I felt a flutter in my stomach as he spoke to me. He was attractive.
That’s what you’re focusing on right now? The one sane brain cell that I had taunted and I felt my cheeks grow warmer at the realization. So, without wasting any more time, I got up to give him the space because it didn’t look like I had any other option to get out of this.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
My brows curved. “What does it look like? I’m giving you way.”
“No, I mean, you can take the window seat if you want. I’ll be fine on the aisle.”
My mouth formed an O as my brows smoothed out. Did he just offer me the window seat? Without me even asking? Why would he do that? Especially after I kind of yelled at him.
Because he is not an inherently bad person? And the coffee fiasco was really a mistake?
Right. “Um… no, thank you. I’m fine in my seat as well. You can take the window.”
“I know. But I insist.” He spoke firmly before I could negotiate any further.
I agreed to his words and shifted backwards, dropping onto the window seat. Internally, I was squealing, but I’d mastered the act of nonchalance over the years. I didn’t let it show just how happy I was and, honestly, grateful to this stranger who just made my journey memorable too. The flight attendants started giving their instructions as I felt the craft move.
Well, now I can officially say that I am going to London with the confirmation that nothing will jeopardize it.
Author's note: Or so she thinks. But do you really believe her journey would be untroubled? Especially with her taking this trip against everyone's wishes?
Find out in the next chapter!
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