"Maureen!" Claudia, my short blonde colleague said and I rushed to her.
"What's the matter?" I asked in confusion as her face bore sadness and it lingered on it.
"Maureen! Please help me!" She called out and I became worried.
"What?" I exclaimed.
"It's my friend," she said and paused thereby keeping me in suspense before she spoke again.
"It's Hannah, my childhood friend. Her mother called and informed me that Hannah hasn't called since she left for Tokyo. Marise confirmed that she didn't get any phone calls from Hannah when she arrived at the airport which became a norm since Hannah had been traveling. She wasn't even honoured with a message. She also said that her flight took off by 9:30 a.m."
"Calm down!" I admonished.
"How can I? I'm worried about her. I'm more scared because it's been a long time since she left. She didn't even send a message or a pic. What if it's serious?"
"You don't need to be bothered. She could have forgotten, don't let this weigh you down, c'mon. It could be that her phone was stolen before she arrived at the airport or has been misplaced. Worse, her sim card could have been destroyed by the thieves. You don't need to take this to heart. Please don't." I begged and wiped the tears off her face but she didn't yield my words and she kept crying.
"What if she was abducted? Marise said she was having a weird feeling and believe me a mother's instincts shouldn't be disregarded.
"It hasn't gotten to that. Relax a little." I continued.
"Look at me, Claudia. You need to calm down; everything will be alright."
Done with drying her tears, I turned her to face me.
"The only thing you can do is have faith that all will be well. You shouldn't welcome negative thoughts because they won't help– not even a little bit. Please think positively and I promise you will be surprised." I said as I glared at her.
"You're right. I shouldn't be like this over a phone call besides she travels often to Japan for business and like you said her phone could be stolen. I hope that's the case." She said, sniffing and wiping her face.
"That's more like it," I said as I watched her wake up.
"Thanks."
"Oh c'mon, don't thank me. I'm glad that you feel better. I'd head back to the kitchen okay." I said.
"Okay," she said and I left.
*****
A FEW HOURS EARLIER
It was 11:30 a.m. when Airstay A245 MAX - one of Westland Airlines' passenger aeroplanes basked in the warmth of the clouds. Then suddenly, it developed a fault.
The plane was to travel to Tokyo Narita (NRT), Japan 5,487 miles from Los Angeles (LAX), The United States but just around The North Pacific Ocean - a few kilometres from its destination, the pilots lost control over it. The plane started losing balance and the air controllers lost contact with the pilots.
"Fasten your seat belt and use your masks immediately." The air hostesses instructed as they walked along the aisle.
"What's the essence when we will all die? There's no use of it if we won't survive." one of the middle-aged passengers said in a sad tone.
"Please be calm and follow our instructions." a blonde hair hostess replied as she understood the old lady's feelings.
"What do you mean by I should be calm." the lady yelled and the hostess became angry.
"Can you be calm? You're not the only one on this plane and I'm young, I don't want to die. All we can do is cooperate and hope a miracle happens." the hostess replied.
"Fasten the band to your masks and ensure it's tight." Other hostesses advised.
Some hostesses could be seen assisting the passengers to wear protective masks. Tension sprawled in the plane and the passengers started panicking.
The tension intensified as well as the panic and screams filled the plane through the voices of weeping children and yelling adults. Innocent babies cried as though they understood the gravity of the situation at hand, that they were all going to die.
Mothers clutched at their children imagining the pain, torment and screams of them being burnt to ashes. Soon, the adult's cry of anguish overpowered that of the children.
Speedily, the plane went down through the nose and the passengers screamed as it happened. The force at which it moved was strong and the turbulence increased as the weather made the flight a more difficult one.
One of the right engines caught fire, and then so did the other, thereby making it go lower. Soon, the remaining engines of the plane, the power plant as well as the wings caught on fire and it made the plane fly into the wind.
Realizing the danger of what was happening, some people said their last prayers while others closed their eyes to embrace death. As the plane moved freely in the air, other parts (empennage and fuselage) caught fire and it dived into the ocean with the water splashing as it did.
Quickly, the plane exploded and all the lives were lost.
All this took place in the early hours Of Christmas Eve.
*****
Dallas Fort–Worth, Texas, USA.
24th December 2021.
Charles Jackson - the Chief Executive Officer of WestLand Airlines stood in the cemetery bearing the saddest look on his face at 11:57.
It became a norm after the tragedy struck his heart. The atmospheric condition of his surroundings depicts and symbolizes his unhappiness.
He stood like the loneliest man, crushed and betrayed by all as agony surfaced throughout his whole life. A feeling that resurfaces every time he visits the cemetery. He held a bouquet of red roses looking at the tomb which bore an epitaph:
"Teresa Jackson
16th April 1940
24th December 2005
She lives on."
Looking straight at it, he felt emotional and he shed a tear in his left eye. Surprisingly, he wasn't over the death of his paternal grandmother even after sixteen years had passed.
Many believed that he must have been over the tragedy since he suffered from it as a 12 years old boy. Well, they are unaware that he lives in his past. He wished she was here with him and that he could bring her back but unfortunately, she lies six feet underneath the earth.
Still looking, he wipes his face and bends to drop the flower on the tomb. Afterwards, he kneels, bends some more and kisses the tomb with his eyes closed.
Bending, his height does not betray him and his body gives it away that he's 6.3 feet tall.
His shoulder is in action as he whimpers, weeping softly.
Standing up, his tears are visible on his face and the tomb. His concentration is broken by the beep of his phone which is laid in his suit's inner pocket. Quickly, he picked it up and spoke into the phone.
"Sir, flight A245 MAX is missing. It dropped from the radar, sir."
The person at the other end spoke. With this, it's obvious that the plane has failed the flight plan. Charles has just been informed about the disappearance of the plane which took off at 9:30 a.m. A missing plane entails that it has crashed and hundreds of lives will be lost.
"What!!" He said, cut the call and rushed out. He walked to his car, the chauffeur opened the door and he sat anxiously.
"Set up a conference meeting immediately." He engaged in another call and quickly hung up. Afterwards, he started breathing heavily as he stared blankly with his chin propped on his palm.
"Drive fast!" He ordered as the car started.
In the car, he was worried and it dangled on his face as he stared out the window. Charles arrived at West Land Airlines- a company owned by the Jackson family.
His grandfather Thomas Jackson founded WL and passed it on to James Jackson, Charles's father. As a result, he had the majority of shares in the company.
WL was first known as TJ, an acronym for Thomas Jackson. For some years, Charles has taken charge of the company and it has improved massively.
People respect him because he has achieved a lot at the age of 28 while others took almost twenty years to build a legacy. As the head of affairs, he approves contracts for the construction of aeroplanes and multi-billion dollar deals that have yielded the business.
He has a degree and an MBA in Business Administration. No wonder why the stocks skyrocketed yearly.
Westland Airlines profited daily, every minute counts for thousands of US dollars. It gained accolades as the best airline in the whole of America.
Their airplanes were properly maintained and many prefer to board on WL. Charles had a good reason to be proud. With all the achievements, why wouldn't he?
He was worshipped for the heights which WL reached globally. WL had global recognition besides, anything for the Americas is for the world.
So, Charles was the dream of every girl in the United States because of who he was- the hot, sexy, handsome, famous, wealthy guy. And apart from that, he was an intelligent man with power adding to the reason why girls will keep drooling for him.
Arriving at WestLand Airlines, he stormed out of the car without being serviced, heading for his office which was on the last floor. As he ran, some employees looked his way in surprise but he didn't feel bothered. He rushed into the lift and pressed the button to be taken to the 20th floor.
Arriving, Ethan Bauer- his dutiful personal assistant who works at a desk outside Charles's office stood up. Standing, it's evident that he's a slim and tall young man, although shorter than Charles.
"What exactly happened and how can a plane go missing? It has never happened before." He yelled.
Anger was laced on his face and he couldn't control his feelings because he was fully aware of the implications of this kind of incident as well as the dangers that might affect the company when the public comes into knowledge of it.
"Sir," Ethan said as the words weren't forming.
He bent his head sadly, unable to face Charles's anger although the incident had nothing to do with him since it is unrelated to his job.
Hastily, Charles rushed to his office and placed a call to the General Manager concerning the conference meeting he instructed her to organize and soon, she arrived.