no matter what decision your heart makes, I will be waiting for you...

Part 43

The journey to the airport was a long one. And I don't mean in the sense of having to drive a long way, but in the sense of total chaos. We had to drive back to the flat 3 times before we had everything. First because Harrison forgot his passport. Then because I forgot my neck pillow, which is very important for a comfortable flight, and then because Tom forgot something. But after 2 hours of driving, which was supposed to take only 45 minutes, we finally arrived at the airport. Luckily, we had planned our clumsiness into the time.

"Okay alright, first Y/N, here is your ticket" Harrison handed me my ticket and rummaged through the other three for Tom, him and Jenna. "Thomas, yours" was all he said to Tom before giving him his ticket. I felt a little sorry for Tom. Harrison spoke to him in a really derogatory way, and since the incident he can't talk to anyone in our troupe anymore.
Even Jenna, who always abstained and never took sides, was now practically forced by Harrison not to talk to Tom.

With his black jumper drawn over his face and his grey sweatpants hanging loosely around his waist, he took a step back, suitcase in hand.
Finally, as Harrison handed the ticket to his girlfriend, my eyes wandered over to Tom, who was now standing 5 metres away from us. His eyes were looking at the ticket between his fingers, searching for the seat number. I couldn't figure out which seat he had, but from his loud sigh and the tilt of his head back, I assumed he didn't have a good seat. So I looked at mine afterwards. Mine was right at the front, first row with legroom. It couldn't have been better!
I wondered which seat Tom had, and Tom, he stared over at me, curious which seat I had.
"Hello seatmate !" I jumped back at the unexpected voice of oliver in my ear. It seemed like he was standing behind me, taking a gleam of my seat. "Woah, relax, it's just me" He gave a little laugh, making me turn to him so he didn't notice my glance at Tom, but as curious as he is, he next glanced his eyes over my shoulder, where he made straight eye contact with Tom. "What's up with him?" Oliver asks, nodding over to Tom and not breaking the tense eye contact with him.
"Maybe annoyed by his seat reservation..." I state. Oliver nods. Understanding.
"But everyone could choose where to sit" He said, eyes still fixed on Tom.
"Harrison did it for us" I explained.
"Mr.Osterfield?" he questioned, finally turning his full attention towards me.
"Yeah, right." I totally forgot that oliver is my brother's assistant. But he doesn't seem to care that much, because shortly afterwards his eyes wander back over my shoulders to Tom, giving him a sceptical look.
"he seems off.. you should talk to him." he states.
Talk to him?! What's the point? I'm sure the last thing he wants is to talk to me, especially when I have a better seat. It's practically like I'm trying to rub my perfect seat reservation right into his face!
"What?" so 'what', was all I could reply.
"Talk to him. I am sure that will improve his mood. Plus, I'm pretty sure he's been staring at you the whole time." With a slight blush on my cheeks, I turned to him with a jerk. He was staring angrily at Oliver, but the second I turned around and drew his eyes to mine, his gaze loosened... maybe even softened. Well fine, I should talk to him, it seems like he wants to talk to me too.
"if that's what you think... I'll be right back." So I took a few steps towards Tom until I could already slowly inhale the scent of his perfume. Sweet-woody. Durability and sillage. It calmed one down, but that didn't stop my palms from sweating with every step I took closer, and with every second his eyes roamed longer on me. When I finally stood in front of him, and his eyes were still on mine, I mustered up all my courage to ask him which seat he had. Giving him my sincerest smile.

"Row 30, seat D." And although he was sad, he gave me a smile back. Only now did I understand why his seat was so bad. Row 30, seat D, was the aisle edge in the last row by the toilets. No one liked to sit there, so all the seats at the back were mostly empty, except for the window seats. These were almost always occupied.

"I-I'm sorry..." I apologised.
"For what?" He questioned, giving me a soft look with a hint of concern, concern because he didn't want me to feel bad about anything.
"I don't know, the way my brother treats you, I guess. You don't deserve that... Only I should be allowed to treat you like that." He let out a pained giggle, knowing how much he was hurting me. For a brief moment, he avoided eye contact, staring off into the distance at our work colleagues, all of whom couldn't wait to travel to LA.
"No I think I deserve it, every bit.." I shook my head, also with a giggle so as not to make the situation too awkward and deep.
"You don't, Tom." His head just nodded slowly, looking down at the floor.  Silence reigned for a moment. I knew Tom didn't think the same of himself. That probably wouldn't change for the time being, he'd have to figure out for himself how to sort it all out, and who knows how long that might take.

Luckily the silence between us didn't even get the chance to become awkward, because shortly afterwards the announcement came that the passengers could now board the plane. Of course we got in line. Gave me another overview of who would be flying with us. There was david, johnson, mike, my brother with his girlfriend, and last but not least I saw Markus with a group of other colleagues. The others had their backs to me, or I simply didn't know them yet. It felt weird standing at the airport with so many work colleagues all waiting to get on the plane to Los Angeles.

Fortunately, everything worked out and we were able to take our seats in peace. My seat was at the other end of Tom's, but therefore right next to Oliver's, who was already stowing my suitcase and hand luggages above us.

"You know, one hand luggage bag would have done as well" he complains after stowing my suitcase and 2 small bags. Please...
"Oh don't be like that, you offered to put them up!" Slowly, everyone took their places and began to fasten their seatbelts safely. Oliver and I did the same, but I couldn't help myself and looked behind just to see what Tom was doing.
Grey hair, blond hair, a few bald heads, but there wasn't enough space to find the little brown head I was looking for. As small as he is, you probably couldn't even see his hair over the seats anyway.

Well, not so important Y/N, just sit back and relax! Instead of sweating, my hands now started to shake. They always did before the start of a flight. It wasn't that I was afraid of flying, just simple fear of taking off, when the plane starts to go faster and faster, and starts to shake like crazy.
That has never been my thing...

I'm sure there are a lot of spelling mistakes, but I'll have a look tomorrow because my eyes hurt so bad because I'm so tired.