A Quiet Kismet

Chapter One

AGE 26

I always get severe anxiety when I have to fly. It's one of my many phobias, along with clustered holes, clowns, and bridges. The older gentleman next to me, ignores the fact that I'm practically clawing into the seat rests.

Instead he turns away and motions for the stewardess. "Are you serving drinks already? I think my seatmate might need a strong one."

At this I turn to the stewardess and man and smile tightly. The stewardess frowned sympathetically and shook her head. "We'll serve drinks after take off. I'm sorry ma'am." She said before moving onto the next waiting passenger.

"Thanks anyway." I said to the man next to me. He waved me off.

"First time flying?" He asked.

I wish, then I'd have an excuse for being so freaked out. But no, I've flown a couple times before. At first I used to believe it would get better over time. Of course, like most things in my life, I was wrong.

Everyone told me I should get a xanax prescription to help with the nerves. But I hated taking medications. It wasn't something I took lightly. Drugs, prescribed or otherwise were basically off limits for me. Drinking was a small exception but only during special occasions. I liked to be of sound and mind for the most part. It was a principal thing in my life.

So no, even though it could help, I would not take anything to calm my nerves. But I didn't want to sit here and explain that to a stranger. So I lied.

"Uh, yeah. That obvious?" I laughed but it came out all strangled.

The man chuckled and handed me a cube. I looked at him and then at the cube perplexed. "It's a busy cube." He explained, "You just fiddle with the buttons, and switches and it'll distract you. My wife has ten of those at home, she has severe anxiety spells. Especially when my mother comes to visit."

We both laughed and I started fiddling with the cube. After a while we were in the sky and my seatmate had knocked out. Still I fiddled with the cube until the plane landed in Dallas. I let out a huge sigh of relief and handed the cube back to the older gentleman.

"No, you keep it." He shook his head, "You'll probably need it again. It was nice talking to you-" He trailed off, putting his hand out.

"Amelia."

"I was nice meeting you Amelia." He said, "Well I have to get going. Good luck young lady." Then he was off.

***

My niece was picking me up. She was sixteen and just getting used to driving. Now, I would have chosen anyone else to pick me up from the airport, but this was my sister's way of teaching her how to get comfortable behind the wheel.

"Hey tia!" She said with a shaky smile, stepping out of the car to help put my luggage up. She hugged me tightly and I wondered how in the world she got taller than me. "How was your flight?"

"Crappy, but I'm better now." I said honestly. We clambered back into the car and hit the road. "Look at you Iris, you're driving now! This is crazy to me, I remember changing your diaper."

Iris groaned. "My friends are going to be over for the wedding. Can you please axe the embarrassing talk?" She begged.

I agreed. Only because if I wasn't going to embarrass her, I knew someone else would. In our family, no one came out unscathed from embarrassing family stories. Not even me, and you'd think moving across the country would exempt me from family gossip too. But alas, gossip doesn't have a certain mile radius.

That's how I know that my return back to Texas was sort of a hot topic. Not that I stayed away intentionally. I worked better away in isolation. Too much noise equaled too many distractions from meeting deadlines. I had already published two books since I graduated college, and was working on my first book not in the realm of fantasy.