The airport was packed with people heading off to different places. It was the end of May, and the schools appeared to be off for half term. I scanned the room for a sign leading me to my plane, but I could I could barely see over the mass of people. There were kids of all ages running around the building manically, pushing the luggage trolleys as their parents tried to keep them under control, elderly people sat on the plastic seats, reading newspapers, and couples, sat together holding hands, smiling, talking, kissing. I felt a pang of pain as I thought of Zoe, but I tried to push it down as I pushed onwards through the crowd.
Eventually, I found my gate, checked in and boarded the plane. I was in a spot by the window, seated next to a rather large man, who promptly fell asleep as soon as we took off, his side pressed against mine, pushing me into the wall. I was supposed to be travelling business class, but because my decision was quite last minute, there was only space in economy left. Normally I'd be fine with that, but I couldn't help but feel suffocated by all of the people around me. And even in this massive huddle, I'd never felt more alone.
Knowing that I wasn't going to anywhere soon, I settled into my chair and pulled out my laptop to continue editing my most recent video. I was focused on the screen, absorbed in my work, pushing away thoughts of what I was leaving behind, which I relished, as it took my mind off of things, but once I'd finished on that, I started to sort my vlog, which had several clips of Zoe in, every second of her beautiful face causing my stomach to knot even tighter.
The plane landed nine hours later, and after a full nine hours of thinking about my girlfriend and listening to the man next to me snoring, I was ready to get off and never fly again.
The first thing that I noticed when I stepped off of the massive piece of metal was the heat. Nothing could have prepared me for its strength. It seemed to radiate off of every surface, causing my shirt to stick to my back the second that my feet touched American soil. My jeans and beanie suddenly felt like way too much, even though at home I'd been really cold, and I wished that I could just tug all my clothes off and throw myself into a pool.
I rushed inside as soon as I could, and once I'd collected my cases, I headed inside. The cold was another shock compared to the stifling heat of outdoors, and I found myself tugging my beanie down to cover my ears.
I wandered through to the duty free, pulling my heavy bag behind me. On one of the shelves was one of Zoe's favourite perfumes, so I grabbed it paid for it without thinking and popped the box in my bag, not caring that I wouldn't be able to give it to her. I'd post it to her if I had to.
When I reached the main doors, I took a last deep breath of the cold conditioned air, before stepping outside.
Even though I'd already felt it, I was still overwhelmed by how hot it was. The sun seemed to bounce off of everything, every building, every car, straight into me, and within seconds I felt beads of sweat running down my back.
Quickly, I hopped into a taxi to the hotel that I was to stay in for the night, until my apartment was ready, and despite the coolness of the vehicle, I was still sweating like a pig.
"So, how's it going?", the taxi driver said, causing me to jump. He sounded incredibly bored, like he'd rather be anywhere else but here. I wasn't expecting him to even bother to socialise, but I guess I was in America now, and things were different.
"I'm fine thanks", I replied simply. I wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone, and I was just hoping that no one would try to talk to me before I made it to my hotel room to change.
The rest of the journey was carried out in an awkward silence. Normally, I wouldn't be traveling alone, and even if I was, I would be on my phone, on Twitter, talking to thousands of others all at once, but the phone company hadn't switched my contract to one that allows use abroad, so until 3 this afternoon, my device would be useless without any wifi connection unless i was willing to pay ridiculous amounts.
Eventually, after what felt like hours, the car pulled up outside the hotel. I reached for my wallet and pulled out a wedge of dollar notes, but when I passed them to the driver, he pushed my hand away.
"Your journeys pre-payed for sir", he told me, before looking back to the sat- nav that he was reprogramming.
Stuffing the notes into my pocket, I climbed out of the vehicle, and grabbed my cases from the boot, trying to ignore the sweat running down my forehead.
It turns out that two large cases and a small bag are not easy to carry alone, in the scorching May heat of Orlando, Florida. The car had driven off as soon as I'd shut the boot, so I was alone. By the time I'd reached the front doors, my shirt was soaking, and my arms were aching.
"Hello there sir", the bellboy said in a thick American drawl, leaning over to pick up my cases. His name tag read 'Jamie', and it was pinned to his crisp white shirt. He didn't even seem slightly bothered by the heat. I guess he must be used to it. He carried the bags over to the desk without any difficulty, and then looked over at me as I trudged over to join him in awe and embarrassment.
The man at the desk handed over the keys, as Jamie smiled at me, then picked up the cases again, his muscles flexing, then carried them straight to the lift, waiting for me to catch up. I stepped in behind him, and the silver doors shut behind us.
The quiet in the compartment was quite awkward, so I just spent the short journey staring at marble floor, whilst Jamie stood there holding my bags.
Finally the lift came to a stop, and we walked out into the hallway. As he headed down the long corridor, I trailed behind.
He came to stop outside one of the rooms, and slotting the key into the hole, he pushed the wooden door open. The room was large, with a huge king sized bed in the centre. On one wall was a full length built in wardrobe with a mirror covering the doors, and facing the bed were two floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the huge town. In one corner was a door identical to the front one, that led through to the vast bathroom, that had marble walls and floors, with a huge bathtub and a shower taking up half of the space.
Jamie put my bags down and shut the door behind me with a smile and a quick "hope you enjoy your stay".
Placing my smaller bag down on the bed, I pulled out my phone and checked the time, which read ten past 3.
I quickly dialled Zoe's number, and waited for the call to connect.
"Alfie?", I heard once the ringing stopped.
"Hey", I replied.
YOU ARE READING
Many Miles Apart
Fanfiction"Are you ok?", she whispered, even though there was no way that anyone else would be able to hear her. "I'm fine", I replied. She took my hand and gave it a little squeeze, instantly calming my anger. She had that effect on me. No one else could m...
