A Flight's Desire

Chapter 4: Waiting

"You can't do that!" Robin whispered hastily as she tried to keep the Kindle far away from her, knowing that her eyes would ache afterwards - perks of having good eyesight but sort of hypermetropia. She could read whether the words were near her eyes or far away, but within the range of eyesight. It was her preference to read things from far away because it seemed to do wonders for her eyes when she was half asleep. The family doctor of the Hale siblings told her that it was nothing to worry about and that it was her comfort that made her subconscious assume that she had a different form of hypermetropia.

Robin was well aware that she was surrounded by the other passengers that were also awaiting the arrival of the plane. She said a tearful goodbye to her small house early that morning and walked the bridge once on the way to the airport. She thanked her Saints because the cab driver was sweet enough to understand her attachment to the beautiful city.

Almost an hour had passed by since she had arrived and she was further into the book that she was reading than she thought she could be. Boredom could make her get through Shakespeare for all she knew. She tried not to show the emotions on her face as she read and mentally made the remarks that she would have normally made out loud if she was alone in the comfort of her house.

"You can't do that!" She exclaimed in her head.

The book that she was reading was a recommendation from Goodreads, and it was a damn good suggestion. She had been sucked into the series so much that she borrowed the original trilogy from her library and finished it within two days. The unfortunate situation that she was forced into was that she had to wait a few months before she could read the next book in the duology series, but it was definitely going to be worth the wait. There was a tinge of sadness that hit her when she thought about her library. Mendoza Library wasn't going to be her library anymore for a really long time. "Put that aside for now. Oh, please be safe baby." She prayed for the main character. "Even though I have a love-hate-admire feeling for this guy....can I call him an anti-hero? Would that make sense?"

It was the early flight that she had to catch and she was waiting at the airport lounge, buying her time away from boredom. There were a lot of people drinking coffee and the smell was everything. She stood up for the first time since checking-in and walked over to the little coffee shop at the end of the long hallway.

"Good morning. How may I help you?" The young man asked politely with a smile on his face.

"Good morning. May I please have a steaming cup of the biggest gift that this world could have?" His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "One coffee please," she said, reminding herself to keep her writer-self in control.

"Coming right up."

Holding the hot cup between her cold palms was equal to smelling petrichor. She hadn't realised how numb she had been feeling until the caffeine started to fill her body. Once she sat back down after looking at the details on the overhead announcement board, Robin continued trying her best to concentrate on what was happening to her favourite character and not worry about how the overall plot was going to unfold. The story was going really well. It was written by a female author named Lee Gastrell. She became Robin's favourite author quite instantly, making her break her vow of never having a favourite among talented writers. But Lee's writing, her way of thinking and the portrayal of their characters inspired Robin. Meeting her would have been a dream come true for her.

Despite her efforts of hiding her emotions, a young man a few rows over seated facing her was smirking over her undue concentration on the story that she was reading.

Ben scolded himself for not packing his Kindle at the beginning of the trip when he caught the beautiful young woman sitting a few rows in front of him pulling hers out. He wanted to ask her if he could borrow it but wondered if he wanted to face the whole 'I'm a huge fan. Can I have an autograph?' at five in the morning. But he couldn't help but admire her efforts of acting to hide her emotions that the book was making her feel. Her long hair was plaited and despite that, a few loose locks threatened to fall over her eyes. He could sense that she wanted to sit with her legs criss-crossed and he could relate to the anxiety that she was feeling when she closed her mouth and her eyebrows furrowed together.

He hoped that he wasn't being a creep but nobody cared. Everyone was busy with keeping their minds occupied and even after his efforts with the daily crosswords and going over his methodology of acting, the best way to watch the time pass was by watching the woman read, who was reacting to the words as though the characters were real people. In a way, they really were.

Robin was unaware of her surroundings and of the young man that was admiring her from a distance. She was in her fantasy world and only the sound of her phone buzzing in the right pocket of her coat brought her out of the trance. She thanked herself for putting her phone on vibrate because the silence that was surrounding her was deafening enough.

Her jaws hurt from having them clenched for a while but the way the book was written made it impossible to set it down. "Hey," she said after picking the call, without having to look at the caller ID because she knew exactly who it was.

It was none other than Lincoln, who had promised to check on her to make sure that she didn't miss the final flight out of Budapest by mistake or by forgetting from the built-up anxiety. He had known her to do so in the past and his promise to her teenage self was lifelong. "All set?" Lincoln asked.

"All set," she smiled at his punctuality.

"I know that it's going to be hard. Two days of flying is going to make you mad but think about what awaits you here."

"Are you making your special cake for me?"

"My lips are sealed."

"I really cannot wait now."

Ben, who was glad for the woman's phone to have rung, looked anxiously at the boarding column on the wall. He was waiting for the number of the flight to be shown on the top along with the red triangle to turn green. It took only one blink for that to happen and he sighed with relief. "Oh, thank God!" He hadn't been able to sleep unlike the other passengers that sat in the same room as him. He pondered over the timings of the boarding and when it finally arrived, he awaited the comfort of a soft pillow. Hopefully, his fellow passengers were silent and....civilised, really.

The security guards made way for the passengers to board their flight after double checking their tickets, and both our young characters were waiting to hug their family soon.

They were going home.