I groaned and rolled to the side hoping whoever was poking me would stop.
The poking sensation didn't stop instead it got stronger and stronger and even more irritating.
I snapped my eyes open and glared at the person responsible for her harsh irritation.
Couldn't someone just sleep in peace? Why couldn't the person leave me alone and why poke my ribs, why not somewhere else? Someone with a little more flesh than bones.
I blinked confused as I took in my surroundings.
"Umm, I'm still on a plane. How long have I been on this plane?" I tried to reconnect what I thought, to what I was seeing.
"Are you alright?" I turned my head to stare curiously at my neighbor who was watching me keenly with his hand suspended midair.
The brute. He was the one poking me, I'll forgive him just because he was handsome looking.
His face was half covered by the bangs of his soft brown hair but what they didn't cover were the brown eyes twinkling softly in the sunlight that streamed in from the airplane window next to me. He was older than me but I could tell by not too much, he was well dressed in a white shirt and a tie secured in place with a golden tie clip, probably vintage, those types that sold for about thousands of dollars. He gave off a friendly vibe, the popular kids in school, and was a heartthrob.
"Where are we?"
How long did it take to deliver people from Spain to the U.S.?
"On a plane" my neighbor answered raising his eyebrows ever so slightly, a teasing grin just inches away from his lips.
"I know we're on a plane, I'm not stupid, but shouldn't we have gotten to America by now?"
I took an early morning flight, expecting to reach by noon, the sun was already setting and I was still on the plane.
My neighbor couldn't help the teasing smirk that graced his lips, "We'll soon be there in about fifteen minutes", he raised his diamond-encrusted wristwatch to a few inches away from his face, checked the time and then covered it again with the sleeves of his shirt.
"Weird, really weird. How long does it usually take to travel from Spain to the U.S., it can't be that long? I mean, they do say, flight is the fastest means of transportation nowadays" My rambling budded when I was either confused or anxious. A lot of people displayed different signs when anxiety set in, signs like stuttering or wetting, mine just had to be me saying a load of crap that didn't make any sense to the ears.
"What? You talk like you have seen a lot of centuries but you look like twenty-three ... twenty-four" The guy next to me coughed trying to hide his laughter.
"Never mind"
I dismissively waved him away and buckled my seatbelt.
A few minutes later, the pilot's voice sounded through the speakers.
"Buckle up people, we're going to take a bumpy landing"
The air hostess moved around ensuring people were strapped in before heading to their seats at the back of the plane and strapping in.
I leaned back and tried to get as comfortable as possible as the plane slowly descended onto the runway. It shook my core and I was extremely glad I was asleep when it took off, I didn't trust myself not to make a scene and delay the flight even more.
"Want to hold my hand?" My neighbor noticed my growing agitation.
"No thank you, I'm fine. How long have I been asleep?"
Polite conversation was the only way to get my mind off my nervousness, what if we crashed? I slapped that thought far away from my mind and focused on thinking positive thoughts.
"For so long" he commented still wearing his teasing smile.
"Okay? On a scale of one to ten, how long would it be?"
"Fifteen should be the most accurate"
Fifteen? Wasn't that a bit exaggerated?
"I'll explain. When I boarded, you were already asleep. You slept through the minor hitch in our flight plus to America. It's either your stress level is way too high or you just have a thing to do with sleep"
"I've just been excited that I missed sleep on several occasions. So this hitch thingy, I'm guessing it took what... twenty minutes to solve, right?"
He threw his head backward and laughed attracting all the passengers' attention.
"The minor hitch took about one to two hours if I should estimate correctly" he chuckled lightly as I looked even more confused.
Pardon me for looking confused but this was my first time on a plane, and I didn't know how it worked.
"How does a hitch that takes one to two hours be regarded as minor?"
"Because a major hitch would delay your flight until sometime next week"
"So I slept one to two hours during the hitch and then several hours from Spain to America"
"Yes. I have never seen anything like it" he added dramatically.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the land of the free, home of the brave. Welcome to America" the pilot's voice sounded once again over the speakers.
We stopped talking as the plane stopped and the door snapped open.
After making sure I wasn't swapping my bags with someone else's, I proceeded to leave the plane.
"You coming?"
The man looked hesitant but then he shook his head.
"I have something to do and I don't know how long it would take, I want to be selfish and ask you to wait for me but you're tired and need sleep, and not to forget about the jetlag. You should go"
"Okay"
I inhaled the slightly cold air and stretched my aching legs before heading into the airport terminal.
I looked around hoping to spot Kelvin in the crowd.
"I remember what he looks like from the picture but will I be able to identify him when I see him" I could only send him a text and wait.
"Umm, excuse me?" A tap on my shoulder had me whirling around on my heels almost snapping my ankles.
For the love of God!
I let out a light breath when I discovered it was my neighbor on the plane.
"Were you waiting for me?"
"No. Didn't you say I shouldn't wait, and you startled me"
"Sorry"
"Are you done with whatever?"
"I skipped it, I don't care anymore"
I shook my head.
"I didn't get your name by the way"
"I'm Felix" he gave me his most charming smile.
"Selene, nice to meet you"
We walked to the entrance.
A red Corvette was packed a few paces away.
A classy and sexy woman hopped down and ran to hug Felix.
"I've missed you so much Mio Amore" she purred and rubbed her cheeks on his clothes like a cat.
"Let go of me, you oaf! You're rubbing your pancake all over my shirt" He tried to push her away but her grip around him was so tight that after a while of trying, he gave up.
"Okay? Are you satisfied now?"
"How can you say that, didn't you miss me, Cara?" She sniffed dramatically and I sighed.
It took about three seconds for it to register that they were looking at me.
"Who is this, Felix?" The classy woman walks around me, sizing me from head to toe.
"This is my newest friend Selene and Selene, this is Rose" I waved a shy hello.
'Your first time in America?"
"Yes, kind off, I don't know. It must be something about the weather..." I rambled on again. My nerves weren't relaxing, the hum of the airplane engines still rattled my legs. My brain couldn't fully process that I was standing on the floor, was this how the first flights were?
"Tropical girls and a thing about our weather" Felix sniggered.
"I like you" the classy woman spoke while Felix was clutching his stomach, laughing. "You're the first woman to make him laugh like this in several years" she smiled at me warmly.
"Aren't you jealous?" I asked puzzled.
Maybe I was talking to a nutcase, the type that smiled in front of their boyfriend but was total psycho behind them, best be careful.
"Jealous?" She raised her eyebrow subtly.
"Yes, you know. What girlfriends do when their man laughs more with another woman than them or spends more time with another woman than them, you know..."
The woman burst out laughing followed by Felix and I just stood there looking completely lost.
"I'm his sister, not his girlfriend, silly. I don't know who would want to be this pipsqueak's girlfriend" the classy woman managed to squeak out from all her laughter, lightly nudging Felix in the ribs.
Well, that's one way to break it to me.
"Hey, all my friends say I'm quite a charmer" Felix grinned then threw a wink at his sister.
"All your blind friends"
"My bad" I apologized sincerely, and with that, they were laughing again.
A loud beep and Rose stops laughing.
She pulls out her expensive phone, scrolls through her message, and then frowns.
"We got to go back Felix. Dad's asking where we are now"
"That old man and his never-ending meddling"
Felix growled annoyed.
Rose stuck out her tongue childishly as she pulled Felix's luggage to the back of her car and dumped it there.
"Our little conversation leads to one conclusion, you're extremely rich"
"Why that conclusion?"
"The vintage tie clip, the crusted watch, the car, your body language–"
"You seem to be watching me a lot, did I catch your eye?"
Low-level skills at flirting, I'd give him a five because handsomeness was a passive way to flirt and so was being rich.
"You wish. I just deduced. What's wrong with your private jet?"
The smile spreads over Felix's lips and reaches his soft brown eyes.
"Let's just say, it's better off where it is. I'd rather enjoy a normal plane ride with my beautiful neighbor than its luxurious quiet interior"
"You don't know what you have till it's gone"
"I couldn't agree with you more" his warm smile was still there and the glowing sunset made his brown irises look molten, almost like molten chocolate.
Something about those words was unbalancing, coupled with the smile that he was directing at me, it almost sounded like underlying flirting, hiding true meanings under strange words.
A horn sounded and we turned.
"A minute" he said to Rose, who just smirked.
"I know but please hurry up. Dad's going to blow up my phone with all his messages, I don't know why he won't contact you directly" she tapped her phone angrily. I felt deep pity for the screen, I didn't like to be poked, if it had feelings, it wouldn't like to be poked either.
"Can I have your number?" My mind was turned from Rose back to Felix. "It's not that I want to stalk you or anything, I'm going to be far too busy for that. I just want to be a friend, we can be friends, can't we?"
There was nothing wrong with being friends with a rich and handsome guy like Felix, except that handsome guys like him probably had a lot of girls after him, adding me to the group was like adding a drop of water into the ocean, and who knows how many of them were crazy for him.
They'd probably be rich and influential, Lord save me if I get on one of their nerves, I might never live long enough to marry a decent husband, not talk more of graduating from College.
"Here's my number"
It didn't matter, he was a friend, so giving him my number wasn't that big of a deal, I'd just have to avoid his love interests and everything would be fine.
Nice joke...
I could hear my inner thoughts laugh at me.
He saved my number on his phone before smiling and heading towards the red Corvette, he paused and then gestured me over.
"I'm going to call you tomorrow. That's okay with you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's fine. Bye Felix, bye Rose"
With that, the red Corvette sped down the road but I could still feel Felix's gaze on me until it turned and disappeared left.
A white pickup truck pulled over to my left and out jumped a young man who looked surprisingly like me. He was dressed casually in a flannel shirt with joggers.
He was a male model with luscious black hair. It was cut to an undercut with a spiky quiff. His crescent-of-moon eyebrows were thin and narrow. He carried an imperious nose well and his angular cheekbones carved down towards a flinty jaw. Unusually for a model, he had a manly, Samson physique. He glided with an athletic grace without skipping a beat.
His mariner-blue eyes were orb round and darted constantly, a-gleam with delight and the vigor of youth. They were soft yet daring, they sparkled with authority and shone brightly like two sapphires dipped in milky pools.
His gaze locked with mine, he grinned and walked over.
"You must be my sister, we truly do look alike. Sorry to keep you waiting"
I quietly studied the man in front of me, it was almost like I was looking at my male version.
He was also checking me out.
"I can't believe that if I was born a girl, I would look like this, sexy by the way"
Perhaps he was a little outspoken.
"Hi, I'm Kelvin Dustin Rodrigo Orlando, you?" he stretched out his hand for a handshake.
"Selene" I shook his hand.
"Selene?"
"Selene Fernandez Rodrigo Orlando"
"Fernandez..." he muttered the name. "Let's get going, shall we? my place is far from here"
"Okay"
He picked up my luggage and gently placed it in the back seat. I sat in the passenger seat and strapped the seatbelt securely.
Kelvin started the engine and stomped the gas pedal.
The car ride was silent.
"Can I turn on the radio?"
"Sure"
I felt as though Kelvin was peeking at me from the corner of his eyes but when I turned to face him, he'd have his eyes straight on the road.
"If you have anything to say, just do it and stop peeking at me, you're making me very uncomfortable"
He hesitated before asking something that I should be prepared for but wasn't.
"How was Dad like? I was nine when he left my mom. You should know him better since he lived with you until the accident. He was barely home and I can count the number of times he came home on one hand–"
"I don't know him better than you" I managed to croak out.
"What do you mean?"
"Dad and mom, my mom were never at home, they left me at my, maybe our aunt's place, Dad only showed up once when mom had cancer and needed treatment in Britain and that was the last time I heard from both of them"
Kelvin's hand hovered over mine before he grabbed it and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"You still have me" I gave him a weak smile.
"What of your mom?"
Kelvin's face contorts to that of anger.
"She's a party freak, a wild party freak, she has always been since the years my dad left, she couldn't handle the depression so she resulted to drinking her sorrows away"
"Still a mom is a mom. Blood is thicker than water"
"I guess that's true, it's true"
We allowed the gentle purring of the engine to drown the silence. The drive was long and soon I closed my heavy lids and gave to sleep.