Indebted to You

Chapter 1

I sigh as I gaze out of the plane's window, watching the ground coming towards us rapidly. I could hear the mumbled speech of the other passengers on the plane but paid little attention, keeping my eyes on the dark asphalt hurtling towards me.

"Dakota?" A scratchy, yet feminine voice calls out above the rest and I turn my attention towards Leanna, my manager and, as she refers to herself, travel- buddy. I take in her ever present look of annoyance before responding.

"Hmm?" I ask, running a hand through my wavy waist-length blonde hair, attempting to tame it. I hadn't had time to fix it this morning due to the fact that I had a 6 AM flight and I had finished shooting last night at 11.

"Don't get up yet, but start collecting your things. We're going to have to get off of here as fast as we can if we're going to stay on schedule. Apparently, your brother has something to do today and if you take too long getting off the plane, he is going to leave you." She rambles before finally stopping to take a breath, returning her piercing gaze to her silver iPhone that was constantly in her hand. I let out a dry laugh thinking about how that sounded exactly like something my brother would say.

The hostess's voice comes over the intercom just as I began folding the beige blanket that had been keeping me warm the entire trip. The petite woman standing at the front of the plane informs us that we have landed in New Orleans and that we should fly with the again sometime soon. I had been on 3 plane trips in the last 5 days and to say the very least, I was totally over it.

I stood quickly, leaning back in an attempt to pop my aching back that was cramped in the small chair I was sat in for 5 hours. It didn't matter that it had been first class, it was still uncomfortable. I shove all of my belongings into my carry-on before feeling a delicate hand firmly grip the upper part of my arm.

I look up quickly, meeting Leanna's dull brown eyes. She gestures towards the front of the plane with the hand that was still clutching her phone for dear life and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I turn to check our aisle making sure that we didn't leave anything behind before I start walking swiftly after her. Just as I reach the door of the plane, a high-pitched voice registers to me and I turn my head to see a small girl standing behind me.

I blink at her before smiling widely in an attempt to seem friendly, but in reality I was too tired to be this happy. I couldn't be mad at her though, it wasn't her fault that she was excited to see me.

"Are you Dakota Williams?" The girl asks me cautiously as though I may lie to her. I smile even wider at her before nodding quickly.

"Yeah, I am! Can I sign anything for you or take a picture?" I question her in an attempt to get off the plane and to Leanna before she blew a gasket. The small girl's face broke into a large smile as she nodded excitedly.

"Can you take a picture with me?" She all but screams as she pulls her phone from her back pocket. I flinch but laugh, amusedly at her before going to stand next to her. I keep the smile on my face as she snaps the picture. "Thank you so much!"

"It's my pleasure." I tell her honestly before jogging down the stairs, my eyes searching for my manager. I let out a sigh of relief as I take her in. She stands by the door with her arms crossed over her chest and taps her expensive heel against the pavement.

"Finally!" She exclaims as she throws her hands in the air, exasperated. "Did I not tell you that your brother had somewhere to be?" She chastises before speed-walking towards the entrance of the airport. I laughed before running to catch up with her.

"There was a girl who wanted to take a picture with me." I tell her as we continue our fast pace towards the doors. She scoffs as we step out of the sweltering heat and into the heavily air conditioned building.