You Got Me (JenLisa)

Chapter 49

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Suvarnabhumi Airport. Local time is 12:30 AM and temperature is at 33°C. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened while we..."

Pranpriya woke with a start. She didn't realize she had fallen asleep midway through the flight until she heard the voice announcement over the speakers. The wildlife magazine she was scanning aimlessly prior to her dozing off was still lying on her lap. It was still flipped open on the page where she left it, where a tiger cub zeawas staring at her. It reminded her of her cats, somehow.

She stirred on her seat while making sure that her seatbelt was securely fastened while the aircraft was now running on the runway for parking. She checked the time on her watch. The tiny hands on her Rolex were pointing at twelve and six, like what the captain said on his announcement. If she would hurry, she could make it to Pathum Wan by three. Or she could check herself in to a hotel in Rattanakosin, which was more convenient because she would just be barely a kilometer away from the palace complex, should she finally decide to choose which of the two was a more reasonable option.

Pranpriya was sitting on the single seat beside the small window. Outside, she could see the terminal and the tiny figures of people inside the large airport still bustling and moving about even at midnight. Which didn't surprise her at all because Suvarnabhumi Airport was one of the busiest airport in the world, which also housed the world's tallest control tower.

"You might wanna loose the jacket, you know?" the man sitting on the seat next to the aisle said to her.

Pranpriya thought she heard a bit of a sneer on his voice but still paid him a glance out of courtesy. After all, she had finally arrived in her homeland and they, the Thai people (herself, included) was known not to hold a grudge or whatever negativity they feel on any situation.

Mai pen rai.

"Yeah," said Pranpriya with a slight nod and brought her attention back again to the small window.

Of course, it should be hot out there. Pranpriya wanted to tell the stranger but thought against it. The temperature in her country during the month at this time of the year was usually, if not always, hot. That even with a chance of rainfall, the reading would still hit as high as thirty-six degrees. No wonder the man was already in his curdoroy shorts, slippers and flower-printed shirt. He already looked prepped up to survive the heat already. He probably changed his clothes before descent, because he was wearing something thicker when they left Gimpo. Pranpriya wanted to tell him that his choice of fashion won't guarantee him of a sweat-free Thailand getaway. But then again, who was she to chastise when she, herself, was covered in a thick, woolen jacket, a cap and a mask. She looked like a complete joke next to him.

Pranpriya did not intend to take her jacket off, though, even when she would surely drench in sweat out there, once she would step outside the gates of the terminal exit. Or her cap and the mask on her face. She planned to endure the heat until she would hail a cab and until she would reach her still-undecided destination.

Travelling in discreet was a bothersome and it only made her feel like an idiot. It was stupid, really. She had repeatedly been telling herself that while she was glued on her seat, discomfitted and disgruntled, while everyone else on their cabin was moving about freely just moments after take off. She hadn't even touched her food or the wine being served on her accommodation, which she just left lying untouched in front of her before the cabin crew had collected them back, probably while she was sleeping.