Well, We're Not Alone Now - Book One - Alex Turner

Not As Kind On The Eyes

-Not As Kind On The Eyes-

"I'll do whatever it takes

When I'm with you I get the shakes

My body aches when I ain't

With you I have zero strength

There's no limit on how far I would go

No boundaries, no lengths"

-Spacebound-Eminem-

-5th April 2012-

Tiredness thrummed through my body, mixed with excitement and a dash of fear. My nails skimmed the skin on my arm, and my lip was a nervous wreck under teeth that continuously gnawed at it. Colours were blurred in my vision that took nothing in, except the time, and I stared at the line between my dress and the seat that had held me for the last thirteen hours. My body was stiff and sore, shaped in the curve of the seat and I longed to get up and stretch. Turns out that soon I would be getting my wish, as in twenty minutes we would be landing in Ezeiza International Airport, Argentina. Bringing my hand up to my teeth I started to chew on my nails before pulling them away, mentally telling myself off. I had kept it going for this long, I wasn't going to give up now. It had all started when he had left and now thirty eight days later they were beautiful and strong, covered in silver that sparkled in the light. Thirty eight days since they had dug into his skin. Thirty eight days since I had held him to me, touched his lips to mine, woken up to him beside me. And now like an addict who had been ripped away from her drug, I was so far down in the hole of withdrawal people were glad to get rid of me. The phone and Skype calls had only teased me into a frenzy of need. Like watching someone else snort that drug through a glass screen. I needed him.

The call for seatbelts came and went. I did as I was asked, clipping myself down, as we hurtled to the ground. Down to him. It was finally the day that I would see him again. There had of course been second thoughts about coming out to meet him. I was going to be away for fifteen days, and some people hadn't been so happy with me being away for so long. Yet, the ones who mattered had seen what the distance between us did to me and let me go. I licked my lips, the air was stuffy around me and I couldn't wait to take a breath of fresh air. The fine hairs at the back off my neck were stuck to the skin, and I lifted it up fanning myself with the book I had tried to read. I had kept the hair long so that it now fell well past my breasts. It had been a beautiful asset to my photoshoot. The photographer had complimented it, the make up artists decided to leave it be, saying it was perfect just the way it was. When I had been in front of them, I could feel the barrel of the camera on me, I could already feel all the eyes on me, judging. The tips of the blond ends had brushed the bare skin on my exposed back as I had lifted my hands up above my head, reaching for the hoop. Lifting myself up onto the round metal, I had looked into that camera and dared anyone to make assumptions about me. Flash after flash blinded me to everything but who I was and what I was doing. A certain thrill had filled me. Then it had been over. Make up off, clothes on, hands shaken, cheeks kissed, and away, back to the real world. Back to missing him. Back to the emptiness that had settled into my stomach the moment he'd waved goodbye.

My body shuddered as we hit land, and my breath escaped my lips. I reached over and stuffed my belongings back into my bag, fingers shaking. We wouldn't have much time alone. As soon as I was getting off this plane, we were on the tour bus, driving to Brazil. We would manage though. A smile pulled at my lips and it quickly turned into a grin. I let out a small laugh and sat up straight as we rolled towards the airport. Energy buzzed around me and my stomach was a mess of nerves. I unclipped myself on command and stood, pulling the rest of my hand luggage down to me, readying to move away from my seat. I was too early though, and had to wait a while for the rest of the world to move catch up. I tapped my foot against the floor in impatience, my eyes flitted around the plane, watching but not seeing a thing in front of me. All I could see was the future, the one I had dreamt about for the last week. Eventually the door was thrown open and the people around me started to walk towards the exit. I moved in to the flow of bodies, most of whom were shorter than me. The sun had darkened their skin to rich browns that made my Welsh skin stand out. My feet stumbled on the flat floor and I stopped, making everyone behind push past. I stayed there, the flow of people parting around me, until I was at the back of the crowd. And breath. Now there was space to move, I carried on towards the exit, my mouth dry.