Plot Twist

2: Ocean Avenue

I sat anxiously in my seat as the plane was manoeuvred to a stop, after a long while we had finally landed. Ever since we took off back in the U.K i wondered how it would feel to be here, to know that you aren't going back after the holiday. "you nervous baby?" my mum asked me as the seatbelt sign switched off. I shook my head as an answer. I stood up in my small compartment, readjusted my jeans and put my hoodie back on. I knew this was a mistake but i couldn't be bothered to hold it. I grabbed my bag from underneath my seat and sat back down as i watched how a middle aged man hurried to grab his bags from the overhead bin, forgetting that during flight the contents may have shifted. Three bags fell above his head which caused anger to fulfil his body. He looked around and searched for an air hostess to complain to but all had seemingly vanished from his sight, huffing he picked up his bag from the floor, leaving two more bags just laying on the floor beside his feet. He stood waiting in the line like nothing had happened, his anger had subsided and just stood in the mess of luggage beneath his feet. I sincerely hoped he wasn't British. "excuse me sir" I overheard an older lady say to the man as she attempted to pick up her smaller bag, his foot standing on the straps. "yes?" he asked her harshly, knowing full well that his accent was familiar to me by this point, he was british. What a let down to our country.

At this point i'd had enough of the way he was treating other passengers around him, i stood up and went over towards the man who was still currently arguing with the older woman about the bags, insisting that he hadn't dropped them on the floor and that he won't move until it's clear in front of him. "It's simple sir" i said the last word like it was bile rising up my throat "You can lift your leg and let this woman retrieve her baggage, just like you did when i watched you leave the baggage you dropped on the floor when you opened the bin, or i can get the attention of the air hostess and she keep you on the aircraft until each passenger has left the plane and i will personally stay here to make sure that happens" attempting to silence me he opened his mouth and started to talk, i purses my lips, raised my eyebrows and waited for his response. Scrunching up his eyes along with the top of his nose crinkling he lifted up his foot for me to retrieve the passengers baggage. "Thank you" the lady smiled to me as she took my hand, it was colder than what i had expected so i jumped slightly, but she held it firmly. "Thank you" she said again, her eyes firmly matched mine as she held my stare. "No problem" i smiled to her, stepping back slightly i made space for her to stand where i had previously stood. I smiled to her and headed back to my seat to collect my bags as the queue started to move. "Could i ask your name?" the older woman asked as i stood behind her. "Of course, its Paige" she smiled, a twinkle in her eye made me smile, a simple but sweet thing to happen. "Hello Paige, I'm Peggy" She swallowed before starting her next sentence. Placing her bag on an empty seat she reached underneath her hair and started to fiddle with her necklace. "In the late forties my boyfriend at the time" she giggled at the word boyfriend. "Gave me this necklace" she put the clasp together and held it from the clasp. I smiled as i admired it. "He brought me it for a pre-wedding gift" I smiled as she picked up her bag and took a couple steps foreword, closer to the exit of the plane. "The last time that i experienced such honour was when he gave this to me, i felt the same way then, that i do now" she explained to me. "We had just finished dancing in the La Monica Ballroom, i remember it like it was yesterday. The late forties and its heyday. We were stood on the hard maple flooring, surrounded by nearly five thousand or more couples dancing and he looked at me and smiled, he had a small glint in his eye and my poor heart went too fast i couldn't comprehend. He dug into his pocket and brought out this beautiful necklace, Single diamond on the end and i was starstruck. It had cost him six months wages and i was so overwhelmed" she said as we carried on talking, we had just got to the steps at this point and my father generously took her arm and led her down the steps. As we reached the bottom she thanked him, and carried on talking to me. "What a lovely man your father is" She smiled and her cheeks came to a rose pink. "I want you to have this" she told me as she placed the necklace in my open hand and closed it after "i haven't felt the happiness that he gave me that day for nearly seventy years, never since he went missing in action nearly sixty years ago anyway" She swallowed "Presumed dead" She shook the thoughts out of her head. "Today, i know it was a small gesture but you helped me and that was more than anyone had done for a long while" I looked into my hand and took over the appearance of the necklace, it was a single diamond. Small, maybe one carat on a silver chain. I caught myself thinking back on its history and how it took her husband six months wages to buy her this, i felt overwhelmed just like she must have felt that day. She took a hold of my chin and said to me "I hope you have as many memories that i have with this necklace" With that she walked off into the crowd of people leaving the aircraft, i was stood there in awe. Opening the clasp i placed it around my neck and fastened it holding it in place. "come on darling" my father said to me as he pushed me slightly on my back, i took a hold of the diamond lightly and held it between my thumb and forefinger. "I will live up to your expectations"