Monday January 14, 2025, London
Julien has been waiting for his connection at the airport for several hours now. He must return to France. Julien works for a large international company specializing in IT security. He travels often, which was a cause of argument within his relationship before their separation. Marie, Julien's wife always criticized him for being absent and even when he was there, he was not attentive enough. The truth, Julien thinks, is that his passion for his relationship has gradually faded over time. The flame of his feelings is slowly extinguished and it is therefore to hide his face that he accepts all the business trips offered by his company.
Julien sits at the counter of the airport bar and drinks whiskey to give himself courage, the courage to take a plane which will lead him to his insipid and meaningless life now. He always aspired to be someone different, living by his words. His absolute dream is that one of the many novels he has written will be published one day, even though he has never had the courage to share them with publishing houses. Not even to his own wife. Thanks to his travels, Julien has a lot of time to think. Sometimes his moments are inspiring but more often they make him sink into the darkest places of his thoughts.
Caught in his dark thoughts, Julien did not realize that a young girl was sitting next to him. She cried. And after a few minutes her tears brought Julien out of his thoughts. Usually very shy, Julien feels sad for this young girl, which is why he hands her a handkerchief embroidered with his initials and says to her:
- Are you okay, miss?
Stupid question because she was crying, but she answered:
- My boyfriend left me during our stopover here to join his mistress.
- Oh I'm so sorry to hear that. Julien replied, feeling stupid for making such banalities.
- I'm really too stupid to always fall in love with men like him, I'm too naive. They promise me worlds and wonders but once they get what they want, they leave and break my heart. Replied the young girl.
Julien wonders how old she could have been, but probably half his. He is 45 years old and has been married since he was 25. Marie was in many areas his first. He had met her when they were even younger than the girl sitting next to him.
- Can I offer you something to drink? Asked Julien
- I don't know if it's wise to accept a drink from a stranger. She replied to him
- So let me introduce myself, my name is Julien.
- I'm Gwen, she said to him, holding out her hand.
- Nice to meet you Gwen, he said, shaking her hand.
- Nice to meet you Julien, she replied, feigning a smile through the tears covering her face.
- So would you like to eat or drink something, Gwen?
- I could definitely use a pick-me-up, I'll have an apple vodka please.
By the time they both ordered drinks and were served, they had already started talking about their romantic experiences although Julien didn't have much experience in this area other than Marie. Gwen seemed to have had many partners in her life despite her young age even if few seemed serious unfortunately for her.
Julien didn't usually open up much about his life but strangely he felt at ease with Gwen even though it had barely been thirty minutes since he met her. Both were at the airport to return to their respective homes. Gwen was born in Thailand but currently lives in California to follow her boyfriend.
They were exchanging small talk about their lives when suddenly a message came through the airport loudspeakers. The message indicated that due to the poor weather, all flights were canceled for the remainder of the day. They advised passengers to contact the flight attendants for more information.
Strangely, Julien felt relieved after this message. He was having a good time with Gwen and he didn't want to go back to her empty apartment since his separation. Gwen didn't seem perturbed by this announcement either so they continued talking.
