The Fatal Price

Chapter 5- An Unexpected Event

So here I am, positioned by the window, 30,000 feet above the Indian Ocean. There's no going back now. I wish I had brought some entertainment, at least my headphones, but people like me travel light. Can't be tied down by a lot of baggage, literally or figuratively. I cannot rest because of a crying baby in the seat behind me, so I stare out the window, blocking out everything else...

A pillowly white shrouds a crystalline blue, serene and breathtaking, even under the current circumstances. Oh, how I feel so much like the wind, ever drifting from moment to moment, never resting nor ceasing to be on the run. What I wouldn't give to just come to a standstill, have a life that wasn't controlled by secrets and assigments and perpetual motion. Just to look around and be able to appreciate what comes my way, however unexpected it may be.

Just as I'm about to daze off into my own little world, I feel a figure plunk down into the empty seat beside me. Dare I look? For all I know, it could be someone working against me, undercover. However, calming my sensitive reactions, I turn my face, almost bumping it into the rather muscular shoulder of the handsome fella next to me. "Oh, pardon me, miss! Is it alright that I sit here? The only other empty seat was the one next to the loo, and...yeah...the stench was becoming quite unbearable," he says with flushed cheeks. "It's not a problem," I smile,  "I wasn't saving it for anyone."

What are you doing? You don''t know this man! My mind is telling me to keep my distance, but it's kind of hard to do on a plane, even in first class. Besides, I don't believe in love, so I'm safe... right? Is it possible for someone to fall in love when they're dead set against it? Does love even really  exist anymore? I guess since I've been hurt by past circumstances, maybe it's not that I don't believe in it, but more so that I'm afraid of the possibility. Unknown territiory is automatically dangerous in my book. Which is probably why I just surprised even myself by asking "Well, Stranger, you got a name?"

Did that just come out of my mouth? Oh no... what have I done? I've broken the code. The one rule I've always followed... no ties. And yet here I am... "Hello? Earth to the daydreamer?" "Oh! I'm sorry, I tend to think a lot," I embarresingly reply. "It's alrighty, I live on dreams." He stated, "The name's Niles, by the way. No last name required, am I right? I don't think you heard me say it a minute ago. So, mystery girl, you know mine, tell me yours."

"I.. um... Amia." I hesitantly mumble. "How intriguing," he replies ,"It means greatly beloved, you know." I smile, though it is odd that he knows that fact, and I find myself getting lost in his eyes. They're greenish-grey, gorgeous and unique. I know it's pointless to get attached to someone I will most likely never see again, especially just after a few hours on a plane. But I can't help myself, something about him makes me feel safe, almost normal, even. And for the remaining six hours of this flight, I can pretend to be the normal that I'm sure he sees. After all, being an assasian isn't something people tend to guess. To me, it's not a matter of malice or cold-heartedness anymore, but of duty. I cannot change my past, nor what I've been taught to do- and do well, in all modesty- any more than I can bring my parents back. 

Just this once, I'm  letting my guard down. After all, we'll go our separte ways and I'll return to my former emotionless and unstoppable self. Niles won't make that much of a difference. Or so I thought, until now, steppping off the plane. I feel... empty... like a piece of me is missing, a piece didn't know existed. As if Niles reawakened the humanity in me, the girl capable of love, and now i must go on about my life wondering what might have been. If only I were ordinary.