Please, Remember Me

Chapter Seven - Heartbeat

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will soon be landing at Louisville International. Please fasten your seatbelts make sure your carry-on baggage is in the designated areas and move your seatback into the upright position," came the stewardess's voice over the general noise in the plane.

Oh shit. How long will it be now? Half an hour? An hour?

I didn't need to check any of those things since I'd been sitting stock-still since I got on the plane in Chicago.

I'd had to wait for an hour in Chicago for my connection to Louisville and I'd sat my arse down at the gate and simply stared at a screen, waiting for boarding. Since then I'd been sat in an uncomfortable chair – not actually feeling the discomfort – and hyperventilated my way through the flight.

I was a wreck. Truly and utterly shattered from the anticipation, suspense, nerves... Shit, I was so filled with anxious adrenaline they could probably draw my blood and transfuse it into a coma patient and have them wake up from the mix of chemicals.

I was, to say the least, fucking shitting myself.

The plane made an achingly slow decent and I refused to look anywhere other than the seatback in front of my face. I was sweating profusely even though the temperature inside the plane was pleasantly cool. I was hyperventilating, shaking...

The guy sitting next to me couldn't have been less thrilled at his seating partner and had made that abundantly clear throughout the flight, sighing and groaning every once in a while. I hoped he thought I was a really scared flyer and that my sweating, shaking and hyperventilating went with a crippling fear we were going to crash. Hell, at this point a part of me wanted the plane to crash because then I wouldn't have to deal with this.

I heard the wheels lower beneath the plane and I closed my eyes.

God, he's so close now, ridiculously so. What if this was all a figment of our imagination? What if this will be the most awkward encounter I've ever had? What if he smells like cheese and chews really loudly when he eats? Oh god!

The plane landed smoothly and taxied to a stop, the seatbelt light went out and passengers all around me started shuffling into the aisle, impatient to get into the airport. I, on the other hand, toyed with the idea of asking the personnel if I could stay on the plane and if they could turn it back around and bring me back to England.

I wiped a hand over my clammy face and stood on shaky legs. I idly thought that I really wanted to find a loo and a mirror before I went into that airport. I was sure I looked a complete mess, blotchy and sweaty, frantic eyes and wrinkly clothes. And I smelled like airplane food, sweat and the crisps I'd had on my first flight. Hardly an aphrodisiac.

I shuffled along the aisle behind the other passengers, tried to smile at the cheery attendants at the door and made my way out onto the rickety steps and out of the plane.

The sun beat down on me relentlessly and the heat was almost staggering to my already wired system. The heat could do nothing but make me even more smelly and disoriented and I suddenly longed for the rainy clouds of London.

I made it into the airport in one piece and almost sighed when the cool air-conditioned air met my clammy skin. I walked along the line of passengers towards arrivals while flicking my eyes all around to look for a toilet. I needed a wee, I needed to check on my appearance and possibly hide for a few hours until I could catch a flight back to Britain where everything was safe and comfortable.

I finally made it into the huge room full of luggage-carousels and people.

I forgot all about finding a mirror, a loo and a breath mint as reality hit me.