Risk

Twenty Nine

James' flight would get him to Hawaii around 12pm, if everything went to plan, which meant he had a lot of time to sit and think. He considered calling ahead, checked she actually wanted to see him, or maybe so she wasn't blind sided by his appearance, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He owed her as much to speak to her in person, see how she was getting on since it was harder for her to hide what she really felt if he was there in front of her... There was also the part of him that wanted to quit right now and head home that discouraged him from calling and looking for any reason not to go.

He drank from a bottle of water as he waited for his flight to board, a book clutched in his lap as he absentmindedly scrolled through his phone. After a little hesitation, he searched up her Instagram, curious to see a glimpse into her life for the past few weeks they'd been split up for.

The most recent picture was of a dramatic sunset over a beach, with white sand and deep purple and pink colours in the sky almost too good to be real, and underneath there was no caption, just a love heart emoji posted by Wanda.

The next picture was of her and Clint, from her birthday party almost 2 months ago, one arm around each other as they made faces to one another instead of the camera. He'd stuck his tongue out in response to her middle finger raised in salute to him. The caption said - Kind of fond of this Loser -

He scowled and scrolled further, realising it was the only photo of just her and Clint, every other one he appeared in included Wanda or someone he didn't recognise. Then there were the ones of her and Wanda alone, hugging while dressed for a night out, clinking cocktail glasses together or singing along to the radio. she was always smiling in her pictures, every last one of them.

He felt a small surge of happiness that Clint was in very few, and he did notice it was out of sorts for her not to post something at least once a week. It softened his mood to see that each photo from the past year always having something related to him in it. Almost all of them, even though he wasn't directly in them, and that settled his jealousy.

A mug of coffee resting in her lap that he'd made her. A selfie in his bathroom mirror. One of her reading a book she'd borrowed from him while wearing his T-shirt she'd definitely stolen. A short boomerang video he'd taken of her holding up a stack of pancakes to show how much bigger than her head it was. That one made him smile a little.

"Is that's your girlfriend?" The woman beside him asked, a sly smile on her lips as he looked up at her. Her friends sniggered and shook their head in response to her boldness, and he just gave a small nervous laugh in response.

"No, eh, it's not," he replied, locking his phone and he glanced up at the boarding times of his flight.

"Good, That means you're single," she said breezily, making him raise his eyebrows slightly in response to her confidence. She was an attractive woman, early 30s, and clearly went for what she wanted. "Where are you flying to?"

"Hawaii, Kona." He grinned.

"That's a shame, I'm heading to LA." She huffed a small sigh. "Are you going for business or pleasure?"

He laughed again at the smirk she gave him and reached for his bag. "Business, I suppose."

She scoffed audibly. "Boring." She teased. "Good looking guy like you travelling alone? Shame I can't be your travel companion."

"Maybe another time." He smiled politely, getting up once his gate appeared on the terminals screen.

"Well, if you change your mind and need a layover on your way back," she held out a piece of paper with her number attached. He took it without much though and put it in his pocket.