Paper Planes Back Home

BOARDING . FOUR

"That's so regressive," Skylar says. There are no butterflies on his nose or any part of his body now. Strangely, they have all disappeared into his tree after a time, and he resorted to blowing his whistle again just to see if more would come out. Alas, no butterflies. "I mean—that still happens at this day and age?"

Gianna looks up from her plane-building and nods. "My brother had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at his young age...and his symptoms progressed very quickly. I guess I could blame his busy lifestyle too—dad had foisted so much responsibility on him, I suspect he neglected his health."

"There are only two of us in the family, and because he's the first-born—and a male at that—it was only natural for him to take my father's place. It was what made it easier for me to run away from home, after all—nobody expected anything from me."

She secures one wing and takes a break on the park bench that appeared on her cloud earlier. "But when my brother's health deteriorated, so did the business. Things went wrong left and right. We lost investors, suppliers, distributors...everything crashed. It was my dad's best friend, a bigger entrepreneur, who held him up.

"My dad's best friend is my fiancé's father."

"So it's a business deal more than a marriage."

Gianna just nods.

Skylar calls bullshit, making Gianna chuckle. "Marriage isn't just a contract you make for money. You marry someone because you love them, because life is going to be so dull without them, because you're willing to do anything and everything for them—because there's mutual trust, and respect, and affection."

You sound so much like someone I know, Skylar.

"Gianna...do you really wanna marry that guy?" Skylar's eyes are full of concern when he asks her that question, and she finds comfort in the fact that—wherever ethereal plane they may be at this time—someone actually understands and cares. It probably would have been so lonely without him around.

She shakes her head, a quick answer. "I had no choice, though. I had to wear the ring."

"You always have a choice."

And Skylar is right. She would have chosen Aaron in a heartbeat, but in the end she was presented a choice between the love of her life and her duty to her family. When she wouldn't have cared about the family business years ago, Gianna did a double-take only recently, heavily swayed by her brother's circumstance. Even with a five-year age gap, they had always been close, and it was her brother who encouraged her to pursue her dreams. "New York," he'd said. "Book a flight to New York and never look back."

"It's enough that one of us has to carry this burden. The other has to fly."

"Yeah..." is all she manages to say, and a flurry of new paper planes come falling onto her cloud again. Gianna registers a fleeting look of envy in Skylar's eyes before he smiles at her once more.

"Guess you'll be out of here in no time."

* * *

Aaron leaves the hospital that night, walking sluggishly down the street with reluctant steps. Gianna's going to be fine, he tells himself quietly and vows to come visit her early the next day. He huddles up in his coat, digs into his pockets to keep his hands warm. Winter seems to have arrived early this year.

He picks up his pace and reaches an intersection. Just before he makes his way across the street, he sees the red pedestrian sign flash on the street light in front of him. Stopping in his tracks, he notices someone in white crossing to where he is. Normally, he wouldn't have been too concerned about someone trying to cross the road quickly while oncoming traffic is still a safe distance away, but this one alarms him. He squints. The lady doesn't seem to be the least bit focused.