What happened?

Part 14: Expected Flight

Amy

Today is the day. August 2nd. It's the date of the flight ticket I've sent to Christina. If she  got it, she might be on the plane that arrives in about 6 hours. I took a day off from work. It was hard to get it, but I had to go to the airport. This day would change everything. I dressed up, grabbed my purse and walked to the train station. It was about an hour to be there, but I wanted to make sure I was there on time. I didn't want to be late.

My head was full of thoughts like "What if she's not in the plane?" "What if she didn't get the letter?" "What if she refused to come?" "What if she missed the plane?". I needed to calm down, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't stop shaking. I started walking up and down in the train, which wasn't a problem because it was an international train, which means there was a board shop and board restaurant on it. Nobody would think I'm crazy. The only problem was my paralyzed leg, because this made it difficult to keep balance in the moving train. And frick, there was it: I fell. In front of other people on the train. I had a hard time getting up which made it even more embarrassing.

"Are you okay?" a deeper but calm voice appeared from behind me and grabbed my shoulder attempting to help me. I turned around and looked in the eyes of a honestly really cute and stunning guy. I literally froze because on the one hand I blushed because of his kindness and on the other hand I was still embarrassed.

"Hello? Do you understand me?" he said. I must've stared at him. Damn!

"I'm fine thanks." I replied and he helped me up.

"I'm Tuma. What about you?" he asked with a smile on his face. Omg, he talked to me after this. I literally thought he would walk away because of this awkward situation.

"Um.. I'm Amy." I replied and before I could say anything else I heard the speakers say:

"We will arrive at the Cape Town International Airport in approx. 10 minutes."

"Um, I have to get out here. Sorry." I smiled and was about to walk away when he touched my shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong, Amy? Did I do something wrong?" he asked with a disappointed tone in his voice. Okay Amy, that really wasn't nice. I turned around once again.

"No, I'm sorry... Tuna? It was Tuna, wasn't it? Well, I'm just a little nervous today. I will pick up my sister at the airport today.. well hopefully... I haven't seen her for nearly 6 years."  I apologized - even though I knew this was not the right version of what exactly happened.

"Tuma. With an M," he laughed, "that sounds amazing. I guess you are really excited. I haven't seen my Mom in about three years." he added. Wow, I did not expect that. Suddenly, the train stopped. That weren't 10 minutes, I swear. Everyone looked around. That was not the airport. That was nowhere.

"We're sorry, but there is an technical issue we have to solve. We hope to continue the journey soon. We'd like to apologize for any delay. Thanks for your understanding."

Coincidence? Destiny?

"Oh seems like you have a few minutes left." he laughed up, but really quiet. "Hope you don't miss your sister's arrival though." he said, getting quieter and suddenly worried.

"Em, yeah, no." I said and shook my head.

"Good. Sorry for laughing. Wanna sit until this journey continues?" he asked. I nodded and I was actually glad that he asked, because we were still standing in the middle of the people. We walked to my seat and sat down.

"What happened to your leg if I may be asking?" he came up with first.

"I was involved in... something." I said. He shouldn't know about everything just yet.

"It's okay if you don't wanna talk about it, don't worry." he smiled and put a strand of hair out of my face behind my ear. Too far? Or just cute? I wasn't exactly sure.

"So, where are you going today?" I tried to save the situation.

"I'm going to a training programme in Charlesville." he politely answered my question.

"What are you working as?" I asked. I really didn't think about this, I just asked.

"I'm an elementary school teacher." Wow, I did not expect that at all.

"Really?? I'm a teacher too!" I shut out. We talked for a while until the train finally started moving again. I was actually okay with how it was. I grinned. When I got up to grab my purse and my jacket, he stopped me.

"We should meet up some day. It was nice meeting you." he smiled and gave me a piece of paper with his phone number on it. Well, nice offer, but I don't know if that will ever happen...

"Thank you, I agree." I said. "...when everything's over.." I added quietly. I don't think he heard that. I went off the train and walked into the huge hall. I went to the information desk to get info about Christina's flight. I wish they could give me information about if Christina checked in. At least she told me that the plane was on time. Okay, about 3.5 hours to wait.

It felt like hours that passed within only like 30 minutes. How could waiting be that long?... I watched planes taking off and landing. I counted them. Only 2 hours passed and we already had 30 planes down. I was bored way too quickly. My nervousness grew every 5 minutes, which was enormous for me. I was partly scared, partly nervous, partly excited. Meanwhile, I've seen a girl breaking up with a guy in front of my eyes, someone whose luggage was missing and a group of fangirls waiting for a celebrity to arrive. This remembers me on something. Did I forget being a fangirl about someone? Maybe. I could read one of the girl's sign. "MKTO"... mh, never heard.

Finally, only like ten minutes left and there was still no delay displayed on the monitors. I was so nervous. I walked down to the arrivals hall, where I could still see the planes landing behind a huge window. My heart was beating more than fast. I thought it's gonna jump out of my breast. My eyes were stuck to the window facing the sky. The plan must arrive every minute. And there it was. I saw the red rudder and the sun on it. I checked back on the monitor. "Expected" I read, which means the plane is about to land, so this is it. The plane from India. I breathed in deeply and checked if I was able to see anything from behind the glass. It successfully landed and moved to the entrance area. Now it's time. Was Christina on there?

I walked to their arrival gate. I waited for a while... many people entered the hall. They rushed to the luggage point and I could barely see any single person. No one. The crowd terminated. I was so sad when I already saw the staff coming out. I thought Christina wasn't on the plane. But I didn't lose hope. I stood there, still checking if I could see anyone. One or two more minutes passed until I saw a thin girl with brown long hair and a backpag on her shoulders walking behind some of the last people who came out. Was it... Christina? Yes, it was her! I ran past her and she ran past me. She dropped her bagpack on the way to me. The hall was almost empty. We hugged each other really tight. I heard her crying on my shoulders, that's when I think I started crying too. I was so shocked that I didn't have any physical reaction on my face until that point. We just stood there and didn't move for a few minutes.

Christina actually got my letters and came to me. I was just unbelievable happy. I remember how two ladies - stewardesses - started clapping behind us. They must have come out later than everyone else. That was really sweet.