Love At First Flight (Short Story)

Chapter 1

I'm so excited to finally get to travel to the UK. I have wanted to travel around the world since I was twelve years old. When I was twelve, I was offered to be taken on a three week trip around Europe with a group of ambassadors, but I never got to go because of how expensive it was. From the day I walked out of the meeting with those ambassadors crying because I knew my dad wouldn't be able to afford it, I vowed to myself that I would save my money to visit the place I wanted to the most, Europe.

At the age of twenty-five, I have finally saved up enough from every paycheck to achieve part of my goal to travel the world. Plane tickets and transportation took up half the amount I saved for this trip, but it should all be fine. I've got everything planned out for each day for the next three weeks.

The taxi pulls up to the curb in front of the Newark International Airport, and the driver gets out to help me unload my bags from the trunk. I thank him and hand him the money for the ride as he sits the last bag next to me on the sidewalk. I put my backpack on, hang my purse across my shoulder, and grab ahold of my suitcase handle. I take a deep breath as I glance at the time on my phone. Oh no, it's 8:30 am; I'm thirty minutes behind on my schedule. It'll take like three hours to get through baggage and security and then I need to eat breakfast before my plane boards at 11:45 and takes off at 12 pm.

I slightly jog through the sliding doors and right into the back of a person.

"I'm so sorry sir, I wasn't watching where I was going," I apologized as the man turned around and made eye contact with me.

I shyly turn my face downwards to hide my blushing cheeks as I keep eye contact with him. The man is tall, maybe 5'11", with reddish-brown hair, crystal blue eyes, and a strong jawline. How can a person on this earth be so good looking?

He is about to speak, probably to tell me it was okay, but I put my head down and quickly walk away. Gosh, that was embarrassing.

I find the desk for the airline I am flying with, and I get in the line to get my plane ticket and check in my baggage. The line moves slowly, and I'm finally called up to one of the desks after forty minutes. A short, cranky looking old woman, probably in her late fifties or sixties, asks me for my information. She types some stuff on the computer for a while and then asks me to place my luggage that will be stored under the plane onto the scale. She places the tag she printed out around the handle of the case, and then she hands me the matching paper to go with it. She hands me back my passport and airplane ticket then tells me to have a good day.

As I turn to walk away she rudely shouts, "Next!"

I glance back towards the long line of people and spot the man that I bumped into. I think he felt my stare because he made eye contact with me, and I quickly turned away and walked towards the security check.

It took an hour and a half to reach the conveyor belt that you place your bags on. I put my purse, backpack, and jacket in the tiny tub on the belt and then I waited for the security guard to tell me to walk through the metal detector. As I walk through, red lights blink on and then a beeping noise sounds from the machine. I'm confused, I don't have anything on me. I look down to see what it might be. Oh my gosh, I forgot to take off my necklace. I guess I'm so used to it that it just feels like a part of my body. A woman guard walks closer to me ready to do a body check, but I quickly tell her what I just realized.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I forgot to take off my necklace. I think that is what set off the alarm. Can I go put it in a bucket and then walk back through?"

She nods her head, watching me closely. As I walk back through, the alarm doesn't go back off, and I sign in relief because I really didn't want to be patted down. I retrieved my things from the container and got in the line for customs. I eventually made it to the front of the line, and I was called up to a booth by a middle-aged man. He asked for my passport and my purpose for travel. I told him I was touring around Europe by myself. He nodded and let me thru.