Take Home a Baggage

099

Part 099 (Narration)

Marchienne.

On most occasions, you would sit back and think life rolled by so quickly you had no room to even relish a second of what seemed to be a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Like the day I had that flight to Norway and got the chance to see the Northern Lights from the clouds but was unfortunate because it only seemed like a split-second viewing. They were fleeting moments you'd come across—once in a lifetime if you were unlucky.

But I was lucky because from what I've heard, we'd get to see them again soon. Honestly, for the most part, I loved my job. I loved the idea of searching for the ends of the earth even though it was already a sound fact that it didn't have one.

"Himala at hindi ka sinundan ng jowa mo ngayon?"

Lumingon ako sa gilid ko. I matched gazes with Riesse. I was quite lucky enough na mayroon akong Pilipinong ka-close na FA rito. It felt dreading to blabber in French all the time.

"Wala, 'no. Baka sakalin ko na siya kapag sumunod pa siya ulit."

She scoffed like she wasn't buying my sane argument. Sinamaan ko na lamang siya nang tingin bago hinatak ang maleta ko papasok ng hotel room ko. Riesse only winked at me—we were still in both of our uniforms—before waltzing inside of hers. Her face was screaming 'Nako, mamaya makakasalubong ko na naman sa hallway ang jowa mo!'.

Ewan ko rin ba kay Silas. He was insane dahil alam niya lahat ng layovers ko... and sinasakto niyang day off niya tuwing susundan niya ako—surprise na lang na nasa bansa na rin siya! Even though isang araw lang naman ang layover, he would still pay for a trip to, let's say, Singapore just to see me in person for less than 24 hours.

Basta whenever natataon na sa Asia ang layover ko, oftentimes, sinusundan niya ako. Maybe because France was excruciatingly tiresome to travel to (kaya sinasabi ko sa kaniyang ayaw ko)... considering he was in the Philippines and madalang ding tagpo ang day-offs namin.

Kaya he was taking advantage of my Asia layovers. Tapos after that 24-hour (or less) rest, bye na ulit kasi back to work na.

And what were we doing during those less-than-24-hour meet-ups? Nothing. Silas would just lie down on the bed beside me and help me get through my jetlags, giving me hugs or back rubs until I doze off. He basically paid thousands just to... see me sleep.

Later that night, I had decided to send him a message... but coming across his recent IG story postponed me from doing so. It was a selfie of him wearing his FA uniform too with the airport in the background. Gwapo. He wasn't technically smiling—I guess it was supposed to be just a shot of the populated airport behind him, pero nahagip naman ang mukha niya.

There was a caption. It said, "Clocked in. Work... :)"

I only smiled a little to myself before liking his story. A few minutes later, I posted a story too of the city lights view from the hotel window with the caption that said, "Hello, Taiwan! 🇹🇼".

Nibbling on my lower lip, I watched my viewers grow in numbers. Five minutes later, Silas' name appeared. Napaayos ako sa kinauupuan ko.

Usually, he would reply and we would converse until midnight. I waited. But after a few moments... he only did the same, liking my story and replying with a heart emoji to it. Nothing more.

I see. I sighed, smiling to myself as I powered off my phone. The usual couldn't dictate regularity, and I was fine with that.