I'll Meet You There

21

November 2017

TFIL Egypt/Dubai (Australia w/Colby)

Poppy's POV:

We took an Uber to LAX. As soon as we arrived, Colby helped me pull my suitcase out of the back and gave it to me.

We got our boarding passes, and I found out Elton had put me next to Colby, which I was thankful for.

Our flight landed in Paris and we walked over to a vending machine. Heath struggled with it, then Colby smacked it, and it did nothing. I frowned and said, "Smacking airport property will do nothing to get you a drink. Just be patient."

We boarded our next flight, and once again, I was next to Colby; and a guy that stunk. Colby glanced to me and whispered, "Do you want to sit by the window?"

"Please."

He stood up and we switched seats. I rested against the window and put headphones in. The stench was still present, but it was slightly better.

The flight landed in Egypt and Elton commented about Colby's suitcase; well, duffel bag. I've told him time and time again to get a suitcase, but he refuses listen to me, which meant complaining about how heavy his duffel bag was. He shrugged. "My back will tell you otherwise. Cause this is painful."

I placed a hand on the rubbery part of the walkway before saying, "You wouldn't be complaining as much if you had a suitcase. But you won't listen to me, so all you can do now is suck it up."

Colby shrugged again and we walked to the car waiting for us outside the terminal. We noticed a man in a wheelchair holding onto the side of the car before being rolled away.

We drove to a restaurant and Colby, unsurprisingly, wanted nuggets.

There were no nuggets, so we got sandwiches instead, which I was okay with. Colby was being weird, earning an uncharacteristic amused look from me. We made our way to Cairo, and I kept looking around at the sights passing by. People kept coming up to our window and cheering. We got to our hotel, the Hilton, and noticed that Elton had gotten a suite with a balcony complete with a cool Nile view. Elton pointed out the ashtrays on the balcony.

I stared warily at the balcony. I tried to avoid heights in case I stupidly decided to do something.

Colby walked up next to me and said softly, "I'll always save you, Poppy. If you feel the need to, talk to me."

I met his eyes and nodded, saying quietly, "Okay."

We walked out to the streets, and the guys were nervous while I was relatively relaxed. Colby, Elton and I got across the road while Sam and Heath remained on the other side. They ran halfway across and caught up with us, then we all walked to the river side together. According to the guys, the Nile was scary to explore at night. Colby winked at me and took my hand before we ran, he more dragged me, down to the water. "Colby! Poppy!" Elton yelled.

The others joined us, and Colby picked up some sand and let it sift through his hand. We made our way back to the curb and rushed across the street.

Back on the other side, Elton saw that a dog was barking at us. He saw a litter of puppies and made a comment about how they were literal baby Circas. He decided he wanted to take one home, but based on how the mom was barking, that wouldn't happen.

We walked away from the dogs, and almost immediately, we were surrounded by a group of kids. A girl walked up to me and started playing with my hair. In broken English, she asked, "What your name?"

I gave her a small smile. "Poppy. And yours?"

"Aya."

"That's a pretty name."