Together in Stockholm

Chapter 3; Flying

The days passed unbelievably swiftly but at the same time, unbearably slowly for our dear friends. Saturday turned to Friday in a blink of an eye and Pelageya found herself in the airport waiting for her flight to Moscow. She was sitting on a bench next to the café, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. December in Russia was always cold -more like freezing as Dima used to say- but that specific morning Polya felt like she would freeze to death. The airport areas were heated 24/7 in order to maintain a pleasing temperature but it seemed like nothing could make her feel warm and cosy. Her group would stay in Novosibirsk for one more day in order to attend a music festival in which Pelageya was not interested. As a result, she would travel alone after a pretty long time. She liked being in a plane by herself. It gave her time to think and enjoy the view. She'd always pick a seat by the window and gaze outside during the whole trip -or at least until she'd fall asleep-.

Polya loved planes and she was intrigued by anything that had to do with flying. Since she was a little girl she envied the birds for being able to open their graceful wings and fly in the pastel sky. She envied their freedom. Since the phone call she felt like they had chained her to the microphone and obliged her to sing and dance while pretending to be happy and shiny. Undoubtedly she had enjoyed all her concerts. The warm applause of her fans made her feel better every night and the passion she radiated through her music helped her to forget the matter that was eating her alive. But after the party was over, when she got back to her cold faceless hotel room, all she wanted to do was take the first plane for Moscow and get to Dima's doorstep. Unfortunately, she couldn't be where she truly wanted. Not until today. In about 4 hours she would be back to the capital ready to keep the promise she had made. She had to call him and arrange a date to discuss about the flaming topic. She let a giggle out at the thought of the word "date".

"Just friends...don't be stupid, he doesn't see you like you wish he did..."

She reminded that to herself and her crooked smile faded from her pale, tired face. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Her buggy pink sweater was itchy but it was the first thing she found in the morning and she didn't have the privilege to give a second thought to her outfit. As usually, she overslept and was 20 minutes late. Apparently, it was our Polya's lucky day because if it wasn't for the two hours delay, she would have missed her flight. She lazily checked the large oval window on the wall.

-10.23 am-

It wouldn't be long now till the megaphones would ask the attendants of her flight to board the plane. She checked the screen with information for the upcoming flights next to the huge clock and figured that she would have to get on board in about 10 minutes.

After finishing her beverage she licked her lips playfully, to clean the brown tasty leftovers, and got up. It took her 5 minutes till she finally managed to find her ticket in the mess of her chaotic handbag. Now she had to hurry. With clumsy, quick moves while trying to balance all the smaller bags on the beige suitcase, she made her way to the gate. When all the checking in procedures were done, she followed her co-travellers to the plane. It was a completely normal one, with hardly working televisions and horrible snacks but at least the seats were cosy and the air hostesses seemed nice. And more importantly, she was placed on a seat next to the window as she wished. She gazed dreamily outside. Soon the view of the grey, boring airport would be replaced by the beauty of the never ending sky. All the passengers secured their seat belts and shortly the plane took off. Now she would have 4 hours of peace to make a plan and prepare her words with every detail. She pictured Dima, shipping his coffee, pacing around his living room dressed in pajamas while muttering about the same thing.

He was her last thought before falling asleep for the rest of the trip.