A Flight's Desire

Chapter 9: Detour

The speakers on the inner lining of the bird croaked as the head pilot tried to connect the intercoms together when static threatened not to leave. In a very normal circumstance, the pilot and the co-pilot would have considered to ignore the situation but considering the size of the plane and the number of passengers whose lives were in their hands, they decided to inform them of what they had impromptu planned.

The microphone finally got connected and the captain spoke. "Good afternoon passengers. This is your captain Kishimoto speaking." A dead silence filled the bird. "We will be making a detour at the Schiphol Airport. There is absolutely no reason to worry. It is a precautionary landing. We will resume the transportation in six hours' time. I apologise for any delay that this may cause you. Thank you."

"Precautionary landing?" Robin whispered as passengers started to question the hostesses about the sudden detour.

"I'm sure it is nothing." Ben assured her but more to himself.

"Yeah," she took a deep breath to prevent a lump from forming in her chest. "Well, that does give me a chance to look around Amsterdam!" She looked at it optimistically and Ben wondered how she could do it so easily. He was getting late even though he had nowhere to be but he was upset about the detour.

"Have you been there before?" He wondered if he should choose to stay at the airport and rest his eyes for a while before the plane resumed.

"No, but I've always wanted to. A few years ago, I made plans to visit there but obviously, something happened and the plane got cancelled." She sighed. "What are you going to do?"

"Well...."

"Six hours inside the airport?" She shuddered at the thought. Too many people, she would say. Plus, it would be great to walk about and get a chance to sight-see. Amsterdam was that one city that she had always seen in movies and wondered how one place could hold so many memories. Maybe that was true for all cities as they held different feelings for different people. Paris was known as the 'City of Love' for a reason.

"What do you suggest then? There is not much to choose from but...."

"Amsterdam or airport?" She completed his sentence.

The plane shuddered with the biggest turbulence that it had faced in the past week and the pilot knew it was best to land then. The seat-belt signs were switched on and the air hostesses went back to their designated seats after calming the panicked crowd. Robin and Ben did not know what it was about the take-off and landing that sent a jolt of shock and tension among everyone, but they felt it as well. It was what kept them human - Fear.

She put both her fists forward for him to choose once the plane landed and he knew what she was doing. "It is a game of chance," he pointed out.

"That's why it is reliable." She loved playing Choose because of the 50-50 chances that it held and even if you did not like the first choice, you could always play two-out-of-three.

He looked perplexed at her but after realising her seriousness and practical thought and before he could choose, there was an urgent push out of their seats by passengers. "Let's go quickly and leave the luggage on the plane."

"I hope everything is alright." Someone else said. "I'm hungry. Can we get something to eat?"

"So" Robin started. "Shall we?" She beckoned to the front door with her head.

Ben sighed as he picked up his only hand luggage and swung the bag over his shoulders. "We shall."

They waited for the majority of the people to leave before they stood up to deboard. The head hostess pointed for them to use the left aisle for better coordination and Ben allowed Robin to walk first. "May I?" He asked, motioning to take the guitar case for her.

"I've got it, thank you." She smiled, still not being able to believe that she was talking with him and was sure that it was all a very vague and realistic dream. She was sure of waking up at any moment.

There was an inbound rush at the boarding area as people saw the emergency precautionary landing of a plane, curious and scared if they would face a similar situation. As soon as the passengers of Flight 211 disabled the airplane mode on their phones, a rush of voices greeted everyone as they called their loved ones to inform them about the delay.

Robin called Paige and told her about the delay while Ben did the same with Karen. They didn't call their family because of the wild spread of worry that was already in the air. "No, there is nothing to worry about." They assured their best friends.

"Is everything okay though?" They had asked.

"Should I inform Ma?" Karen asked.

"Lincoln will be worried. I should tell him, right?" Paige confirmed.

"Tell them about the detour but do not mention the landing. I'm sure that the delay is precautionary." The two told them.

Robin turned around and saw Ben do the same as her. They had been talking at the opposite counters of the temporary check-out stations. He waved at her and she waved back with the instinct of a child built up in her.

"Anyway. Enjoy Amsterdam. It is beautiful." Karen told Ben. "I've been trying to get you to take a vacation there, so this situation that you are currently in seems like fate to me."

"I was planning to stay at the airport."

There was a silent moment for a few seconds. "What in the name of the Summers family is wrong with you? Why would you even think of staying inside the closed quarters of an airport, as if you don't spend a lot of time waiting there. Amsterdam is calling your name, Ben! You better send me pictures of you with a scenery in the background or else-"

"Okay okay alright!" He gave in. There was no way to deny Karen what she wanted.

In the other aisle, Paige was asking Robin for more details about the detour. "I mean, obviously you are not going to lose an opportunity to look around Amsterdam. I've already tried to convince you into letting me send you tickets to see the place around but you refused to go without me. But this is a great opportunity for when we can go together again! You won't be able to cover all the areas, of course, but you can cover the basics. Excited?"

"Well, duh!" She chuckled. "And Paige?" Robin wanted to tell her about meeting Ben Summers but she knew that Paige would start planning something and so, she decided to keep her mouth shut. "Can you please tell Mila Anne about the detour?"

"London? Sure. You got it." She noted down the Londoner's email address as Robin said it. "Keep me in the loop."

Once the passengers got out of the regular security checks, they were allowed to roam wherever they wanted to for the next six hours. That was a huge disappointment for many but it was inevitable and necessary. Ben wondered if he should approach Robin about his change of mind but was met with a group of family members and another group of women. "Oh my God! Ben Summers!" They exclaimed in excitement when they caught his presence.

Robin was heading towards the exit when she turned around and saw him happily giving out his autographs. So she refrained from interrupting him, not wanting to spread unnecessary rumours. She looked around and her eyes fell upon the computer of guidance at the intersection of the four hallways, where she searched for the one item that she had forgotten about before - chocolates.