When He Loved Me

Ch.11 I've Been Waiting

I entered the airport and found myself engulfed in chaos. The place was practically filled to the brim with people frantically lining up to the airline counters, all seeking to take the last flight out.

I approached the Philippine Airlines counter and found myself at the end of a queue with at least a hundred people in it.

As I waited for my turn, the girl in front of me turned aroud. She's maybe around 16 or 21, honestly I couldn't really tell girls' ages these days because they all look so mature.

She's on a video call with a boy on the other end of the line and I can't keep but overhear her end of the conversation.

"Yeah, I'm here now, I'm still waiting for my turn."

The boy said something and she replied, "No, I don't think so." She looked around and she added, "There aren't a lot of people, no. I think I can rebook my flight." An outright lie.

The boy said something else and the girl said her goodbye, telling him that she has a poor reception.

A few moments later, I heard her let out a rather deep sigh and I turned around, only to see her face red and wet with streaks of tears. She then started to wipe her tears and her nose so hard with the sleeves of her hoodie, making it worse.

I rummaged through my bag for a pack of Kleenex and handed it over to her. "Hey, take this."

"Oh, thank you," she responded. "I'm sorry if I was bothering you. I think my crying has become a little too loud." She said.

"Oh, no, no. It's ok." I waved my hands in front of her, indicating that she's not bothering me.

"It's just that this lockdown is such a hassle, you know?" She said, indicating her annoyance as she blows her nose intermittently.

"Yeah, I know right." I stated in agreement.

"Where are you headed, by the way?" she asked.

"Well, I'm hoping I can get a flight back to New York," I replied.

"New York? Wow, me too," she said. "I hope we can grab a seat, right?"

"Yeah, I'm just hoping to rebook my ticket actually. My flight's supposed to be on the 15th, but...you know..." I said, shrugging.

"Oh wow, I think you have a better chance than I do."

"Yeah, you think so? Why?" I asked.

"Well, compared to me, at least you have a ticket to rebook. For me, I'm a text book definition of a chance passenger..." she said, trailing off a bit.

"Hmmm.." I said with an obligatory smile, feigning interest.

"How about you?" She asked.

"Well, I work there."

"Oh really, good for you?" She said, her head bobbing in a nod.

Returning the courtesy, I also asked her about the purpose of her travel to New York and I was floored with her response.

"I need to go there because my boyfriend is...kinda sick..." she began shakily "...and I really want to see him before he dies." With this statement, the girl started tearing up again.

"Oh, I'm really sorry...I---I don't---I---uhmm" I stammered.

"No, it's ok. It's just that, I just got my US visa yesterday and we were so happy because I can finally fly there and see him, but then this..." she looked around the crowd, gesturing at the pandemonium around us.