In the spotlight

19

Sofia Christensen

A flock of people were passing by and around me as I entered the moderate-sized airport terminal. It wasn't nearly as huge as what I was used to in Paris, Los Angeles, or even Seoul, which meant fewer people, which meant less chance for me to be spotted by anyone around here.

I adjusted my black sunglasses by pushing them back and repeated the same process with my equally black baseball cap, which covered my face just enough to not be recognizable by anyone, but let my blonde waves fall freely around my shoulder.

Once I reached the gate where I was supposed to wait until landing, I spotted many empty seats around me. Very few people traveled right on New Year's Eve, and even less of them chose to travel in first class; therefore, I only spotted three or four people near me, all of them engrossed in their phones.

I sat down on a cream-colored couch facing the runways through a huge glass wall that covered half of the first-class longue. The sun was high in the sky above me, shining as bright as it could without having any clouds covering its light. The day was beautiful; hot, salty breezes warmed up the ground, and anyone who was walking on it saw palm trees rocking along the sandy French beaches and the beautiful blue ocean next to them. I felt in my bones that today was going to be great.

After examining the weather and the lake connected to the ocean, which is not so far away, loud noises were audible from the speakers on top of the walls. A gentle voice informed us that a new plane was right about to arrive from Santa Cruz.

Excitement was bubbling inside my stomach upon hearing the familiar city name. I felt as though my palms were getting sweatier with each passing second. The very faint sight of a plane was already visible in the sky, and I couldn't wait for it to finally land so I could lay my eyes upon the man I had been yearning to meet again for weeks.

I approached the exiting gate with great haste, my footsteps echoing on the walls of the mostly empty hall around me. I lay my back against the very cold white wall, carefully examining every single face that has walked through the gate not so far from me.

When most of the passengers were long gone, I spotted a very familiar brown haircut. I followed closely as he politely handed over his passport to the woman examining them, then took it back with a gorgeous smile on his face.

In a careless moment, I found myself staring into those beautiful, piercing green eyes of his. He seemingly recognized me instantly, even through my incognito. He approached me with great haste and with a smile on his face, which drew one on mine as well.

"Excuse me, have you seen a gorgeous girl around here?" He suddenly stopped in front of me when I had already straightened up from the wall. He placed his hand above his eyes like he was shielding them from the sun, looking to the sides, imitating that he was searching for me.

I let out a laugh at his act, which made him break character as well. I took off my sunglasses and hung them at the hem of my long-sleeved t-shirt before tracing my eyes upon his face.

"Oh look, I just found her!" He finished his little act with a cocky smile on his face, an expression that did unimaginable things to me. Without saying anything else, we embraced each other in a quick but respectful hug before heading on towards the holiday villa.

My face flushed with red, and my heart flattered once his skin made contact with mine as he placed his hands on my back. Sometimes I wish these moments could last longer.

We walked down the airport terminal straight towards the underground garages, picking up Matteo's huge sidebag on the way while I was trying not to check his tensing muscles through the white suit shirt he was wearing as he lifted up the luggage.