[At CHANGI International Airport]
"I need a ticket to New York. ASAP", asked
a barely-there frail voice.
"Give me a moment to check Ma'am."
The stewardess said politely and looked
back at the screen, typing into the
computer.
"Ma'am the earliest is CS airlines, but the
economy is full. Would you like to opt for
the business class in CS airlines or shall I
schedule you for tomorrow?"
Tomorrow?"
There was no way in which she could
possibly bear to stay there for another
night. Tomorrow was not an option for her.
"Can you please check for any last-minute
cancellations? I really need to go back."
She asked with a pair of pleading eyes and
a quivering voice.
Seeing her plight, the stewardess asked,
"Would you like to book a ticket in
business class then?"
All Akira could do was to nod because
right now that was the only choice that
she had.
The girl who always Compared the yogurt
brand prices to save a couple of cents
didn't even flinch for a second as she
swiped her credit card and shelled out
3700 US$. She tried to restrain the tears
prickling her eyes but it was becoming
next to impossible to contain them. The
pain she felt in her heart hounded her. Al
she wanted was a quick escape.
An escape from the cruel and harsh
reality of this world.
She gripped her boarding pass tightly in
her hand and rushed towards the security
checkpoint. All she wanted to do was to
get far away from this place, as soon as it
was humanly possible. She didn't think
she belonged there, she was not meant to
stay.
After clearing her immigration, she went
to the nearest information panel for flight
information. As soon as she reached
there, the huge screen flickered with an
update. Red letters sprung out beside the
flight number and destination.
China Southern Airlines
Flight to JFK - Delayed. New Boarding
Time 03:30
Her flight was delayed by 2 hours.
Two hours !!
Even the universe seemed to have
contrived to imprison her. Just like
everyone else, even fate was standing
against her, thwarting her free will.
She didn't bat an eye as she stared at the
screen. With each passing second, her
spirit crushed further, lying in the dust on
the ground... shattered into trillions of
fragments. She took in a deep breath,
trying to control her emotions, to
compose herself, but she failed miserably.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she fled
away from the information panel. She was
desperate to be alone, to find a hidden
corner where she could unburden her
tears, away from prying eyes.
So when she saw the sign to the
washroom, she dashed towards it.
She clutched her purse and started
sprinting. But before she could even enter
the lounge area she bumped against
someone.
A head-on collision.
His built was rock solid, so he didn't move
an inch but she fell down because of the
impact of the collision. His musky
fragrant smell which she had just inhaled
was suddenly overpowered with the smell
of coffee within a split of a second. He was
wearing an expensive suit and from the
look of his shoes, she knew that he meant
business. His coffee had spilled and thee
documents that he was holding were
scattered all over the place.
am so sorry. I am really really sorry."
Saying that she immediately started
collecting a few of the sheets which were
strewn all over the floor, but she had no
courage to lift her head up and look at him
as she didn't want him to see her in her
messed-up state.
She didn't want to be pitied. So she stood
up in a hurry, bowed to apologize, and
proceeded to run into the washroom
before he could utter a word to her. As
soon as she found an empty stall in the
washroom, she rushed in to cry her heart
out.
Seconds became minutes.
But the stream of tear didn't stop for quite
some time.
Finally, after she was able to tame them,
she came out and started wiping her face
in front of the mirror. At that moment only
did she realize how disheveled she looked.
She was in the pajamas she had changed
into yesterday night and her hair was tied
in a messy bun that looked more like a
rat's nest than anything that should be on
a human head. All this crying had left her
looking like an absolute mess. But she
didn't care.
She took out her phone which was in
silent mode till now.
57 missed-calls. 2 from her brother and
the rest from Anthony. She kept staring at
the screen and then decided to check her
Whatsapp messages. She had 220
unread messages. All from Anthony. She
started reading them one by one.
"Babe listen to me. It's not what you think."
"Can you please pick up my phone? Can
we talk like adults?"
"Do not jump into assumptions ok? At
least hear me out. Do not overthink babe.
Please just pick up my call babe."
"Where is your trust? Can you just trust
me this once? It's all in your head. I have
nothing to do with her. She is just a friend
and you know that."
"I knew that you would prepare something
for me and stay up late in the night. Sol
didn't tell you that I was back in the city.
Trust me, babe, I had no other intention.
had no idea that Becky would come to
Surprise me. It was all her"
"Where are you, babe? Please talk to me."
"I love you and only you babe."
Akira kept on scrolling down reading the
messages.
She wanted to believe in his words and his
logic. It hurt her to even wonder if all his
feelings for her were false. Even though
she had seen it with her own eyes, her
heart refused to believe it.
She had come all the way from New York
to Singapore to surprise her boyfriend.
Little did she know that she would be the
one receiving the shock of her life. Instead
of surprising him, she found her life falling
apart in front of her eyes.
She gasped for air as she recalled that
horrendous sight. But she knew that now
was not the right time or the right place.
So she tried hard to recompose herself
and dialed a number.
"Bro !! l am coming back. And yes, you
were right. Anthony is an asshole."
And the dam broke again. Tears rolled
down her eyes and she let the grief
Consume her.
[AUTHOR - Dear reader, please do not
forget to rate and review for me! Happy reading!]