Finding Solace

Chapter 8 - The Tissue Stranger

A/N - Hey guys .. its been REALLY long i know but i had a lot going on and because of that i couldn't post so plz bare with my posting schedule.. Thank y'all.

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I accepted the tissue from the man and wiped away my tears as quickly as I could.

It was a really bad idea that I read the letter on the plane!. It made me cry and when I cry I end up with a terrible headache and having a terrible headache on a long flight was not what I had planned for.

I calmed my self down and blinked about a million times, trying to get the tears to go away. My continuous blinking only made the man sitting next to me hand me another tissue.

I mouthed a quick 'thank you' to him, not trusting my voice to sound normal.

He nodded his head acknowledging my gratitude, but I could make out the small smirk on his face,

Of course he was smirking. If I were him and i were seated next to someone who was crying, I too would laugh.

I rolled my eyes and rested my head on my hands as I stared out the window, the words of the letter imprinted in my head and heart forever.

I fell asleep and thankfully remained asleep for the entire flight, only waking up when the plane landed with a jerk.

My eyes shot open in shock as I took in my surroundings. Oh yes, I was on a plane and now that I had landed, there was no turning back.

I gathered my belongings and saw that a pack of tissues was lying on top of my bag. My head snapped to my right where the man sitting next to me was busy putting on his suit jacket, and getting ready to leave the aircraft. I cleared my throat, praying that my voice wouldn't come out in a croaky tone.

'Thank you. For the tissues.'

'You're welcome. Did you sleep okay?' He asked.

'Oh yeah. I did.'

He smiled as if he had a secret joke.

'What?' I asked.

'It's just that, this was the worst plane ride I have ever had. There were crying babies and there was turbulence every five minutes. Yet you managed to sleep through all of that. So I find that quite humorous.' And he chuckled.

I smiled. He had a point.

When I slept, I became oblivious to the world

After getting my passport stamped and after getting my bags, I went in search of the Emirates driver that would hopefully be taking me home. As I walked through the sliding doors, I looked around me.

Families and friends were all waiting to collect and meet their loved ones. I sighed and pushed past those people, walking towards the man with a sign board saying 'Attiya'.

Within ten minutes I was strapped into a black Mercedes and I was being driven back home, and that's when everything went wrong.

Thats when I got nervous knots in my stomach that made me feel like I wanted to puke.

Thats when I started to tremble and shake out of fear of disappointing my family.

My body refused to sit still! My legs jiggled up and down while my fingers played with each other.

Calm down Attiya!

Get a grip. You have to face your family

You have to tell them what happened. It isn't your fault, this isn't your fault.