Sunsets and Broken Promises (SPADE Series #1)

Chapter 59

For the whole flight, I couldn't get any sleep, in fact, even blinking feels so wrong to me. It's already 5:45 in the afternoon in the Philippines, I've been sitting here in the plane for almost 10 hours-no, actually, it's more than that. My butt is aching. I feel like my whole body has gone numb.

Since I'm in the air, my phone is basically useless in this flight— I couldn't contact anyone, not even Noelle or my mom. This trip is slowly killing me. Not to mention that I had to sit between two men whose snore is louder than the emergency alert of New york city. I let out a sigh and glanced at the two men, sleeping peacefully.

I was planning on enduring the whole flight, but the snores are just too much to handle for me. I stood up quietly, carefully-trying not to disturb any passengers here in the airplane. The lights are turned off, and the only thing that is helping me from tripping is my phone's flashlight. The flight attendants tried to guide me in the washroom, which is a great help since they were nice and told me that I'm free to call them whenever I encounter some difficulties.

"Excuse me," one of the flight attendant grabbed my shoulder, preventing me from opening the washroom. I turn around to face her, "Are you Engineer Santiago?" she asked with ecstasy— it's as if I'm a celebrity. I didn't have to look up or down at her since we have the same height, but staring at her face reminds me of someone. . . she's familiar.

"Yes?" I said, hesitating to answer. "Yes, I am" still hesitant but went to shrug off the uneasiness. "Do I know you?"

As soon as I confirmed that I am Engineer Santiago, a light bulb popped up on top of her head and immediately wore a jolly smile, "I'm a big fan!" she squeals and took out her phone from her pocket and held my shoulder. "If it's okay with you, can I take a picture with you?" she asks, already setting up the camera angle.

"Do I have an option to refuse?" I teased. After taking a picture with her, she finally let me go inside of the washroom.

Weirdly enough, I can't get out of her in my mind— it really feels like I've seen her somewhere— like in my college days. . . and I just can't seem to remember her, no matter how much I try. I let myself be comfortable inside of this suffocating space. Being far away from those snoring men is enough for me. I don't know for how long I've been staying inside the washroom, but a sudden knock from the outside caught my attention.

I held my breathing, "Excuse me, Engineer?" it was the girl from before, probably checking up on me. "Are you okay? is there something wrong?" she asked, her voice fills with worries.

My hands went to reach the doorknob and opened the door, revealing my knocked up appearance. I heard her let out a small gasp. "I'm fine," my eyes went down to my crumpled clothes. "Mentally," I lied and paused for a second, "Actually— I'm not fine," she pouts, starting to feel pity towards me. "Look," I closed the door behind me. I combed my hair with my fingers before looking at the passengers who are starting to wake up from their slumber.

"How many more hours before we land?" I asked and forced a smile.

She looks at her wrist watch, "We'll be landing exactly 30 minutes," my eyes grew wide and immediately looked at my phone to check the time. What the fuck? it's already 9:13 in the evening here in the philippines! that means it's 8 in the morning there in New York. "Are you sure you're okay, Engineer?" she asks once more.