Raymond slowly finished his coffee and
walked toward Gate number 19. Boarding
was just starting and as he was a
Business class passenger, he went in
ASAP. He kept his laptop out and stowed
his bag. He again immersed himself into
his laptop, planning new strategies as to
how to poach in new investors.
The flight was about to take off and
Raymond was really glad to see the seat
to his left was empty. He really hated it
when people snored around him or tried
to be excessively chatty. Since it was a 23
hours flight he just wanted to relax and
focus on his work. He was just about too
hibernate his laptop as per the takeoff
protocol when he saw a flight attendant
escorting a girl inside the cabin.
She was the same girl, who had left him all
intrigued. The same girl with whom he
had the coffee spilling encounter today.
She looked pretty distant and broken just
like before. She looked pretty tired too.
Dark circles had started crawling in onto
her pretty face. There was something
about her that drew his attention.
Something very sincere. She looked very
frail and sank into her seat immediately
and then she started looking out of the
window.
Raymond was shocked to find himself
drawn towards her.
"What is wrong with her?"
"Why is she in sucha state?" all these
questions were swirling inside Raymond's
head.
Raymond, in general, was never
interested in women. Never preferred to
speak with them until it was related to
work. He was once involved in a romantic
relationship before and it didn't end well
for him.Ever since he always felt that
falling in love was just a waste of time.
And according to him, there were far
better things to do in life than just to fall in
love and then to eventually get hurt. He
literally loathed women and he had his
own reasons to do so.
Just then the flight attendant came and
asked the girl to put the seatbelt on. It
was only then that Raymond realized she
was still crying. He saw her putting a fake
plastered smile on her face for the
attendant as she was worried about her.
She told her that she was ok when clearly
she was not.
After a few minutes, the flight took off.
Raymond moved his glance and started
to re-focus on his pending work.
A few seconds later the seat belt signs
were turned off and he switched on to full
work mode. As it was a super early flight
the lights were switched off for people to
sleep. Raymond had his reading light on
to complete his work on the laptop. Even
though his fingers were swiftly moving on
his keyboard and his entire focus was
channeled onto his laptop, he was still
stealing occasional glances at her every
now and then.
He was unsure whether he was worried or
just curious about her.
Tears were finding their path down her
cheeks. But even in pain she still looked
beautiful. Her hair was messy with
strands falling all over her face. She was a
nobody for him, but her tears were
shaking him to the core. The moment he
saw her wiping her tears with her sleeves
he felt a lump in his throat.
"Why is she affecting me so much?",
Raymond wondered. And in the next
moment, he called the flight attendant
and asked for some water and tissues for
the damsel in distress.
He was himself surprised with his own
actions for he was aman who considered
women 'morally repugnant.
Chivalry' was so not him.