KARMA COLADA

Chapter Eleven

IF NOT for the busy commotion rousing Naomi to finally wake, she might've laid in slumber for the next millennia.

Her eyelids flitted open to the sight of her fellow passengers rising from their seats and retrieving their respective carry-ons, the ungraceful flurry of their limbs betraying their eagerness to exit the aircraft.

Naomi stretched her arms out in the air like a cat, as a satisfied yawn rushed out of her lungs.

That was the best sleep she had in years.

And she had Leon to thank for it.

Beaming with lifted spirits, Naomi turned to Leon, only to grimace at the sight of his zombified expression. It was like all the life had been sucked out of his transparent blue eyes, and unfortunately, the dark bags under his sockets only served to emphasize his weariness.

With a blank expression, Leon stared through her, as if she were a thin sheet of glass.

"What happened to you?" It was difficult to keep the shock from her voice.

Leon shook his head, his lips pressing into a thin, quivering line. "Nothing."

"Sure doesn't look like nothing," she retorted.

He broke into a frustrated groan before issuing a clear warning, " Just drop it."

Weird.

Before she fell asleep, Leon was being perfectly cordial; friendly, even, when he offered her Ambien so she could rest during the flight. She wondered what had changed since then. Naomi mentally shifted through all the possibilities in her head, but she couldn't come to a plausible reason for Leon's shift in behavior.

"Did you get any sleep at all?" Naomi asked and Leon shot up from his seat like a rocket, ignoring her query. He waited for the queue of passengers to thin before jumping out into the aisle and yanking both their luggage out from the overhead compartment with the grace of an angry caveman.

Naomi was about to thank him when he stopped her.

"Let's go," Leon barked and rushed down the aisle towards the exit, with her luggage in tow. Not once did he bother to turn back and check whether she was following.

Could someone be both a rude ass and a gentleman at the same time?

Because this man was dangerously straddling the fence between the two categories.

Bristling, Naomi unbuckled her seatbelt and lopped the strap of her leather satchel over her shoulder, muttering to herself, "No need to take it out on me."

She deduced that Leon was likely cranky from lack of sleep.

He should've popped an Ambien himself then.

Nevertheless, Naomi glided through the empty aisle wearing a radiant smile, determined not to let Leon's sour mood destroy her day. After all, she was in another continent for the first time in her life.

Thailand was dubbed The Land of Smiles; but from all her last-minute Google searches on the way to the airport, it could very well be called The Land of Sunshine, Coconut Trees and Sandy-white Beaches too, if you asked her.

She was close to the exit when a male flight attendant appeared out of nowhere, blocking her way. He had a plastic smile etched on his face, those pearly whites glinting at her condescendingly.

"I hope you had a pleasant flight with us," he uttered in a phony, saccharine tone.

"Uh..." Naomi blinked, confused. "Yes, I did. Thanks."