Easing Heimweh (Heim, #1) ✓

24: Familiarity

"Ladies and gentlemen, good day. This is Captain Evadne Alonzo speaking. Welcome aboard."

Beside me, First Officer Miles Serrano, my co-pilot, gave a thumbs up. I returned the gesture before switching the mic back on. "Flight time is 14 hours. Arrival in Manila, Philippines is 7:00 P.M. following Philippine Standard Time. Weather is decent with very little chance of rain," I continued, reciting the speech I'd known by heart for many years. "I wish everyone a pleasant time aboard, and if in need of assistance, our cabin crew is always at the ready. Thank you."

This flight was a peaceful one, save for a few chit-chats with Cali here and there. Not that I was expecting a disaster to happen, or a major turbulence. I thought about it earlier, but my best friend scolded me for having such thoughts when I was supposed to be taking a break after this.

Right. I shouldn't wrap my head around too much negativity. It was still 5 in the morning, for gods' sake.

"You're stressing yourself too much," I remembered her saying as the plane left the runway. "Calm down and enjoy the ride."

I wasn't sure what that meant, to be honest. I never really enjoyed flights. I cared more about safely leading my passengers thousands of feet above vast oceans than relaxing and amusing myself with the views outside.

I leaned back when we reached 40,000 feet and ordered Miles to turn on autopilot. "I'm gonna take a nap," I announced, my eyes already fluttering close. "Wake me up if we're about to crash."

"Didn't sleep last night?" Cali asked and ruffled my hair, chuckling as I groaned in annoyance.

"Correction: couldn't." I clicked my tongue. "Dammit, Campbell, I made a nice bun and you ruined it."

"I'll fix it later," she said. "Loosen up, Captain. You're too anxious."

I guessed the gesture helped. It took my mind off the possibility of the plane plummeting straight to the Bermuda Triangle because of some random turbulence.

As the plane did its descent 14 hours later, I imagined we entered a new dimension of some sort. But I couldn't blame myself for the sentiment. It had been a full year since I last went to this country. I wasn't supposed to ever go here for a couple more years unless it concerned matters of emergency.

It was silly to consider this an emergency, though Cali thought otherwise. She seemed more than ready to have my worries fly back to San Francisco with Serrano, beginning the first day of my week break in a way I didn't expect.

I had no memory of telling her where Oasis was located, but when we drove there with her beloved black scooter—she likely had this shipped here last night—and I was giving her directions, she told me to "just enjoy the ride", because apparently, she knew about our destination.

"You're confusing me," I said—no, shouted to her ear as the wind carried my voice away. "Have you gone there alone 'cause of my ban?"

"Maybe?" she shouted back, giggling. "Wait, hold on tight. I think it's gonna rain soon."

As if on cue, the heavens slowly dimmed into warm gray, and wisps of salty breeze enveloped us. To our right, a barren seashore made for some short-lived sightseeing moment. "Ah, this is nice."

"As it should be!" Cali exclaimed, and our laughter soared past the falling tears of the sky.

She parked the scooter near the small garden of the café. The wheels dragged across the pavement when she halted in dramatic fashion, causing me to nearly fall off if I wasn't holding onto her waist for dear life. "Oh, gods, you have to stop it with the stunts."

"But I'm good."

"No."

"I am!"

"No!"

"Ladies."

I stilled upon hearing the voice that echoed familiarity. Frantic, my head spun around. There was Achilles inside Oasis, holding a white mug of cappuccino, eyes forming small crescents as he smiled at us. "I expected you to arrive in the afternoon. That was fast."

"Well, duh, smart guy. We have my bike." Cali ran past me to greet the Italian man with a peck on the cheek. "Hi," I heard her greet him in a hushed tone.

"You didn't tell me he'd be here, too," I said after I'd finally collected myself from my surprise, following the trail of my best friend who now had been stealing sips from her boyfriend's drink. "She invited you to the party, Achilles. Consider that a privilege."

He chuckled. "I am."

"I wouldn't say he was invited, Captain," Cali chimed in, taking another sip of the coffee. "He...kinda initiated this whole thing."

I stopped before the entrance, frowning in confusion. He did what?

"I-I mean, I called him after you got your permission from Tito Ellis a-and he said he'll be closing—he'll close Oasis for a few days if we stay here," Cali explained, stumbling here and there when the creases on my brow ran deeper.

"What do you mean, closing?" I blurted out. "Is he the manager or something?"

Cali turned to Achilles when she couldn't answer, and the latter let out a sigh as if he'd gotten caught in a crime he committed. Now my confusion increased tenfold, if not more. Nothing was making sense. I never met the guy the whole time I was here, and I'd had my share breakfasts, lunches, and dinners in Oasis.

"I'm the chef, Signora," he confessed. "I had this place built after working as the head chef in—"

"In Royal Allure," I muttered, finishing the sentence with widened eyes.

Perhaps those were all I needed to hear to finally have the hints dawn on me: that one dish that Aelius was familiar with, the reason behind Achilles leaving Lucius in San Francisco to stay here, the sudden disappearance of the notes...

Oh, gods, the notes.

"Excuse me." The two made way just as I was about to barge inside with them blocking the entrance. I ran towards the near empty freedom wall, my last notes still pinned on the corners. I could hear my heart aggressively thrum in my chest as my fingertips touched the collection of square papers. "You're..."

"I'm the man on the other line, yes," Achilles said behind me. "I'm sorry I didn't leave behind an explanation."

"I wouldn't have read it on time." Memories of the night my sister and Lucius got into an accident flashed in vivid imagery. "We flew back to the U.S. the same day."

Achilles cleared his throat, approaching the freedom wall and staring at my handwriting. "I figured that much."

"Some small world we have, huh?"

Another chuckle erupted from him again. Maybe he recalled the same phrase I commented when we met on The Captain's Ball a year ago. Maybe not.

My gaze peeled away from the notes and straight to Cali who watched us from behind with a small smile. It was easy to tell she was pleased by what she was seeing. I rolled my eyes when she giggled.

"Dad will kill us if he finds out about this," I warned, but even then I couldn't paint my smile with something other than genuine gratitude. "Thank you."

"This is the least I can do for you, Eva." She reached forward to trap me in her arms. "I thought you badly needed a sense of familiarity to breathe," she whispered in my ear before pulling away from the hug. "You're free. You got us, okay?"

Okay. Of course it was. Calista Campbell, my best friend in the world whom I soared the skies with, got me. The silent promise of making every second of my week of freedom count had, for some reason, brought back that foreign feeling I carried on the plane, replacing it with the realization that it was my homesickness withering away because I was finally here again.

"Do you trust me?" I nodded at Cali whose head turned to where Achilles was. "Where's our next stop?"

Even before he uttered the words, I already knew.

And I stood by my decision. I trusted them anyway.

Achilles' eyes twinkled in delight. "Italy."