Loop

2

He awakens with a start, surprised to find that the plane is fine and gliding calmly. The flight attendants are distributing snacks and drinks to passengers. Somewhere behind him, a baby is laughing. He peers out the window and sees the clear dark sky. There are no thick clouds; there is absolutely no sign of rain. It is as if there had been no turbulence at all.

A bad dream. It was just a bad dream.

He glances at the the seat beside him. 1E is empty. No lady with the beguiling brown eyes and full lips. He shakes his head as he remembers the kiss. Well, maybe the dream wasn't so bad after all, he thinks as he reaches for the book lodged in the pocket in front of him.

He smiles as he sees the message his boss had scrawled on the first page."To the next big thing of CebuPacific," it says in beautiful penmanship, no doubt written with those fancy MontBlanc pens that cost more than two years of his salary.

RJ Faulkerson, Jr had loved flying all his life but couldn't get enough funds to train as a pilot. Unmoved, he promised himself that he would still work where planes were involved. He opted instead to be an apprentice at CebuPacific Airlines, hoping one day he'd make it to the very top despite never having a formal degree. His drive paid off handsomely, and his relentless energy and work ethic was soon noticed by no less than Malu Solina, the corporate head of training herself. Impressed, she chose him to be her sole protege, and under her guidance, RJ's career skyrocketed from lead trainer to supervisor to training manager in only a little over four years. In fact, his career had progressed so well that he was immediately chosen to lead two massive developmental projects involving over ten thousand people.

Not that he minded.

To say his job was exhausting was an understatement, but he loved the challenge. At only 25, he had all the youthful energy and time to meet the punishing standards and schedules of his job. It also didn't hurt that he was incredibly attractive -- his taut physique only belied his own brand of personal discipline. But much to the chagrin of flight attendants and besotted trainees everywhere, he had chosen to remain single, never once getting attached to anyone they knew. Hahanapin nalang ako ng lovelife na 'yan, he'd insist repeatedly. To him it was simple: work was all. Everything else was a distraction.

So attached was he to his work that he even took a small condo near the airport, only going home to his family in Laguna once a month, if at all. He knew they worried about him constantly, but there was his sister's university education to pay for and his brother's application to Qatar they had to save up for, he'd rationalize.

"Nak, kahit mag-12 hours ka sa trabaho mo kada araw, hindi ka mamahalin ng kompanya mo pag magkasakit ka," his worried father would always admonish. To which RJ would always reply, "Para naman sa atin 'to." His father could only shake his head.

Then there was his mom. He needed to get away from her memories somehow. At least in the cold, sterile lights of the airports and runways, there was nothing here to remind him of his mother who had passed on years ago.

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, now feeling the throb of an impending headache. Maybe his father was right. He had been working too hard lately, clocking in 14-hour days more frequently now, and spending so many nights at the office that Human Resources had to call his attention. But they were all necessary, he reasoned to his boss, if he were to make it all the way to the top. "I'm going to be the first non-family member to hold a board position," he once told Miss Malu. She eyed him skeptically, as if waiting for him to tell her it was a joke. He didn't.

"Make sure you have time for other things," she'd always say.

As usual, he'd respectfully reply, "There are no other things."