Rogue

Chapter 3

Rogue sat in the coveted A boarding line for a flight that flew from Los Angeles to Boston.

The guy in front of her turned around said, "You goin' to Boston?"

She jerked her head up to look at him but she stayed silent.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked again, tilting his head. His tousled blonde hair with brown highlights fell along the sides of his face in complete disarray. "I feel like I've seen you before."

His friends burst out laughing.

"And what is so funny?" he huffed, slightly deterred by their reaction.

"How is that going to work?" the guy with a guitar chuckled.

"You couldn't come up with an excuse to talk to her, let alone a clever pick-up line, man!" The black curly haired guy with an Irish accent teased him.

Rogue was just about to retort with a snarky comment but she opted to shrug, hoping he'd take it as a sign that she didn't want to talk though her plump lips pinched together in an adorable smile.

"Mikael, she's a minor. Pick your own age," the guy who looked like their father scolded and turned to her, "I'm sorry darling."

Rogue just gave him a polite smile.

Mikael that was his name. She liked the sound of it.

"That was definitely the bright face of a young woman just breaking out into the real world, ready to take over the East Coast," fatherly looking dude remarked.

Atty. Hammond who's sitting on her side cleared his throat.

"Clinton Monroe," he extended his hand. I'm the Road Manager of Invisible Dick and these are the members of the band, Mikael, Leonard, Johnson, Rodney, and Floyd." He pointed at them one by one.

Atty. Hammond instantly lifted his gaze and Rogue tried her hardest to suppress her laughter.

"What? Something wrong with our band's name?" Clinton asked innocently. "Did I say something funny? It's true, I'm the Road Manager of thes—"

"Cool handsome guys," the guy who was dressed in yellow preppy with glasses sitting on the far end butted in. "Clint, we really should change our name. Dick will understand. Your dog will not haunt you, man."

"Hey shut your mouth Pooh Bear. No way," Clinton rapidly shook his head back and forth. "By the way, is she your daughter?" chatty Clinton, just the like rest of his boys, asked Atty. Hammond.

Atty. Hammond just shook his head.

"How old is she?" he pressed on.

"She's in middle school," he simply replied without taking his eyes off from the newspaper he was reading.

"You hear that Mikael, you're partying every night with your friends and throwing down booze while she snuggles up with her cat and drinks milk before bed," Clinton tapped his shoulder and tsked.

"Clint, don't be so judgmental," Mikael said. "I doubt she even has a cat."

Rogue deadpanned, distractedly playing a game on her phone though his stare made her feel somewhat uneasy.

"Flight WL153 to Boston is now ready for boarding." A voice came over the loudspeaker, announcing their flight.

"C'mon Mikael, I need to stow our guitars safely," guitar guy from Invisible Dick said.

"Let's go Rogue."

They boarded the flight and Rogue found herself, sitting down across to the families with crying babies.

She dropped to her seat. It doesn't look like she'll have someone to sit with so she plunked her bag on the seat next to her.

She dug through her bag, searching for her book. She was so engrossed in her search that she didn't notice the shadow that stopped in the aisle next to her row until she heard a throat clearing.

Her eyes shot up, expecting the flight attendant, and then widen in shock. The annoying cute guy from Invisible Dick was gazing down at her. She felt the blush start in the tips of her ears and spread down her face but she immediately composed herself.

She sat upright and raised a brow at him, as they are now even in their mutual ogling.

"Your bag is in my seat," Mikael said. She didn't move. "Your...bag...is...in...my...seat," he said slower, making some hand gesture. "Damn, how someone as beautiful as her is a deaf mute," he murmured quite loud.

Judge me all you want. I don't care what you think of me, Rogue thought.

As soon as this plane landed, we'll go our separate ways and I'll never see your gorgeous green eyes, beneath your heavy brow and obscenely long lashes. The brown stubble on your chin and above your lip. Unkempt hair, as if you run your hand through it repea—.

Her thoughts were halted abruptly when he took the bag, placed it in the overhead bins and claimed his seat.

Rogue glanced behind her and shocked to see the rest of the seats were filled.

She curled up into the corner of her seat, trying to put as much distance between them as possible in the confined space.

As soon as the plane begun moving into position for takeoff, Rogue's heart-rate increased.

The seat beneath her jolted and she suddenly tensed.

"What's the matter?" he asked cautiously. "You, okay?" Mikael asked again with his thump up.

Her face must register her panic.

"It's okay, nothing to be afraid of," he said softly.

Oh God, he's staring at me. Rogue just look at the clouds. Focus on the clouds. She murmured to herself.

One of the airline' attendants stood in the middle and said, "Welcome to the airline of peace and love! Greet those around you with a kiss on the cheek and spread the love and peace!"

Some of the passengers were momentarily taken aback but the frequent flyers started giving a kiss to those at arms reach.

The flight attendant turned to the lady with a bassinet on her side, giving her both cheeks a kiss. "May you find peace and love once you get off this flight." The lady beamed as if those words hold a lot of meaning.

She turned to the rest and said, "It's an indirect way of bidding your fellow passengers a safe flight and claiming we'll all arrive safe and sound. So everybody, repeat after me..." she moved on to the next seat which was occupied by a grubby old man and gently kissed his cheeks that he returned with a tight hug. "May you find peace and love once you get off this flight."

The passengers nodded their heads and so the kissing began.

One of the flight attendants turned to Mikael and brought his hands to the side of Rogue's face. "Go on," the attendant urged.

Rogue searched for any sign of teasing or deceit, but his eyes were earnest as they gaze at her.

He started to lean in.

"Stop!" Rogue squealed.

"Now you're talking," Mikael only pinched her cheek and leaned comfortably back to his seat wearing a self-satisfied smirk.