"....Yabs....." Maine whispered to Rj as they settled in their airplane seats en route to Italy.
"...hmm?..." Rj had his eyes closed. He was a seasoned traveller so he was just readying himself to relax and enjoy the long flight to Europe.
"...it's....it's my...." Maine leaned back on her seat, both hands on the arm rest. She was seated beside the plane's window.
"....hmmm?"
"It's my first time to travel...on...a....plane..." Maine spoke slowly, her voice above a whisper.
Rj sensed her nervousness and heard what she said so he gently placed his hand over hers and rubbed it. "We can't change seats now...the plane is moving na....just close your eyes and breathe....here.....hold my hand...."
Maine nodded. The plane continued to taxi along the runway then it shook slightly as it began lift off. Maine closed her eyes tighter and gripped on Rj's arm, burying her face into his chest. Mommy Chat, who was seated next to Rj on the opposite side, saw what was happening and smiled concernedly.
When the plane reached its cruising altitude and was back to its "normal" position, Maine had fallen asleep on Rj's shoulder. Both Rj and Maine had fallen asleep with Rj's head resting on Maine's head, their fingers intertwined.
A few minutes later, Mommy Chat nudged Rj to wake up for meals. He stretched and looked to his side. Maine was curled up on her seat, her head still resting on Rj's arm.
"....Sungs....Love.....wake up muna...." he gently nudged her.
Maine stirred and opened her eyes. "Are we there na?" she said sleepily.
Rj chuckled, "....not yet..." he tucked her hair behind her ear.
They ate their meals. Rj threw amused glances at Maine who excitedly chatted about everything she saw around her. Nanay and Mai were seated behind them so Maine would glance back at them several times and chatted with them too. Like Maine, it was their first time to travel abroad.
When meal time was over and people settled down again, Rj asked, "....you have a passport but never travelled?"
".....when Tatay started working abroad, we thought that he would be able to petition us or something.....then, when I started working, the first company I worked for said that they'd send me to train in their Japan office but it never pushed through....then I started working for your company na...."
"Ah okay....I get it.....so, you've never been to Boracay or anywhere outside Manila?"
"....hmm....only to places that can be reached by bus....Batangas, Tagaytay, Baguio...."
"I see...."
"You? Where have you been na?"
"Hmm....locally, Bacolod, Cebu, Palawan....abroad, the States, .Japan, HongKong, London....dami na...."
"Hmm...have you been to Italy?"
"Yes....to Rome and Venice...."
"Nice"
"But there are other nice places pa I want to visit there....I want to go to Como...."
"Como?"
"Yes....they shot several movies there na....Star Wars....Ocean's Eleven...."
"Wow!"
"Yeah! Hmm....we're spending 3 days there actually...."
"Okay....Tatay is in Milan....how far kaya is it from Como?"
