Tangled Dreams

CHAPTER 2: A FAMILY NURTURED WITH LOVE (Part 2) | Athirah Mansor

Glamourous. The first word on everybody's lips every time I told them that I was a flight attendant. What exactly was so glamourous about being a flight attendant? It was beyond me. Was criss-crossing several continents in a week considered glamourous? Was continuous jetlag that unceasingly challenged the ageing body thought of as glamourous? Or was it because of my unregulated lifestyle in comparison to those who worked nine to five? Did it meant flexibility or simply trying to keep up with time?

It was really difficult for me to keep in touch with friends and family when my life was like that of a nomad. One day I was in Malaysia, the next in Dubai, London, Tokyo, Seoul, Hanoi, Singapore, or wherever the flight I had been assigned took me. I felt it was a battle to maintain some sense of normality and had long since raised the white flag. I admitted defeat. I was well and truly beaten.

I did not have many friends, other than crew members who became temporary companions. Sometimes I would join them for dinner or sight-seeing when we were in transit somewhere before the next flight. If Khalid was around, he would always follow me anywhere. He might be the one and only person whom I would term as my friend. I also hardly contacted my family in London, except when necessary. Whenever I was in London, I would stay in the hotel room reserved by the airline and meet my parents for dinner. I never went home. Mother knew how to contact me if necessary.

I was used to being alone. I went shopping alone at Rodeo Drive, Los Angeles. I went dining at the bottom of the tallest building in the world alone. I went sightseeing and shopping in Bangkok alone. My job made me a loner. However, I was not bothered. I was contented. I liked the freedom that had become mine all this while.