The queue was long. It was filled with businesspeople, annoying cry babies and their stressed families, couples...basically, it was holiday time at the airport. Camille looked around, having an annoyed look on her face; it was taking so long, and everyone and everything was annoying her. She was at the airport for over five hours now, just to find out her flight got delayed. Going back to her apartment was an option, but it just was a waste of time because no one knew at what time the airplane would leave. Every thirty minutes an hour got added to the delay time, so going back to her apartment wouldn't be a great option.
"Ma'am?"
Camille broke the endless stare at a random point, and her eyes shot up to the person in front of her; it was a middle-aged man. "Yes?"
"I have dropped my passport, and I have a back injure..." The man looked sorry at Camille. "Would you mind grabbing it for me?"
"Yes, of course," she smiled and grabbed the passport of the man. "There you go."
"Thank you so much," the man thankfully said.
Camille gave him a small nod. "Should I get you a wheelchair? It must be tough to stand all the time."
"Oh, no, love. I cannot bend my back, but I can stand perfectly on my legs. And luckily I have people who will help me with my luggage," the man replied; he looked like a caring man. "What is the destination?"
She nodded. "Ah, okay. If you need a chair, just let me know," she offered. "I'm going to Perth. And you, if I may ask?" It was a conversation to kill the time.
"New Zealand, Auckland. And what makes you go to Perth?" The man looked curiously at her. "My name is Thatcher Smith, a pleasure to meet you," he introduced himself.
"Very nice to meet you, Thatcher. I'm Camille van Duyk," Camille widely smiled. Something has changed; a few weeks ago, she wouldn't introduce herself to a stranger, and now she did. "I'm going home, actually. Celebrating Christmas with my family and having time off."
Thatcher nodded. "You work here in England?"
"My work is based in England, but I'm flying all over the world for work."
"What do you do for a living?"
"I work in the motorsport world," Camille proudly told; it just happened, she was proud of it. The eyebrows of Thatcher rose. "I'm an aerodynamics engineer in F1 for Red Bull...no, wait, it's McLaren. Made the switch last week," she chuckled.
Thatcher looked fascinating. "That is really interesting. My grandson is a huge fan of Formula 1. He is a huge fan of Lewis Hamilton," he said and searched for his wallet. "It is really impressive of you to work in the motorsport world; unfortunately, there isn't much room for women yet."
"Unfortunately, there isn't. But we are working on it, we need more women in this world."
Thatcher nodded. "Absolutely." He showed a photo of his grandson. "This is Liam, together with his brother Boris. And my other grandchildren Kylie and Jessy."
A smile curved on Camille's lips. "They are beautiful," she said and looked at Thatcher, who looked really proud. "How old are they?"
"Liam just turned seven years old, Boris is ten years old. Kylie and Jessy are twins, they are fifteen years old." Thatcher looked at them for a bit longer before he put his wallet away. "Wonderful kids..."
"And what makes you go to Auckland?" Camille's eyes glided over the desks of the baggage drop-off, they opened, which meant there wasn't more extra delay. "It's almost Christmas..."
