Gabby sat comfortably in her seat in the first-class section of the airplane, on her way back to Chicago from a meeting she had attended in the United States where her family's business was located. Her parents had been cautious, in case anything were to happen; she wouldn't be caught in the middle.
Gabby glanced around and noticed a few well-known celebrities sitting in the same section. She turned away, as she was not one to fuss over people; she minded her business.
She turned forward in her seat, and adjusted herself to feel more comfortable. Suddenly, she felt penetrating eyes on her, which made her extremely uncomfortable. She glanced around, looking for the unwanted spectator, when her eyes came in contact with those of a stranger who was staring at her imperturbably, as if he had no care in the world.
She raised her brows at him in a questioning manner, silently asking him what his deal was, but the man smirked, shrugged, and winked at her, which really put her off and made her very angry.
She was not one to back down from a staring contest; she maintained a neutral and uninterested facial expression to discourage him from any idea he had brewing in his head. He smiled and winked at her when he noticed she was not shying away from his gaze. He reclined in his seat and closed his eyes in a gesture of going to sleep.
That was a first, thought Gabby. In most cases, some men feel entitled to make their way over to her seat to start up a conversation, which she always declined. At least, this guy had manners; he knew to appreciate good things from afar.
She sighed and sank back in her seat, willing herself to rest for some hours before the plane landed, as she knew she had a lot of work waiting for her back at her company. She just felt that no one could handle things perfectly as they ought to be, except herself, of course. Not that she did not appreciate the effort they put in; she just had a condition that did not allow her to fully trust them.
Not up to thirty minutes later or so, she felt the plane shaking badly, her closed eyes immediately snapped open. She knew what was happening; she had heard, read, and watched a lot of videos on airplane turbulence to prepare her mind for it, because she hated surprises or unexpected events.
But this was going to be the first time she was going to witness one herself. Everyone around her was panicking; suddenly, the pilot's voice was heard over the panic and noises, asking them to be calm and to fasten their seat belts.
He tried to explain that it was a minor case and that he and his copilot had everything under control, but that did not ease or lessen the panic of the passengers, because based on how the plane was jerking from side to side violently, it was not a small turbulence at all.
As the airplane trembled and jolted violently, fear gripped her heart like never before. The cabin now echoed with screams of terror and anguish. Passengers clutched onto their seats, their knuckles turning white from the intensity of their grip.
Gabby could feel her fears growing as the turbulence intensified. The plane seemed to be at the mercy of some unseen force, tossed about like a toy in a tempestuous sea. Her stomach churned with nausea, and a profound sense of dread settled over her like a suffocating blanket.
Amidst the chaos, she glanced around at her fellow passengers, each face contorted with a mixture of fear and despair. A young couple held onto each other, their expression a silent testament to the love they shared, their eyes betraying the fear of being torn apart.
She pictured her parents; they would have looked the same a few minutes before their plane had crashed, and the lights and life were sucked from their eyes.
She looked around, and her eyes landed on the man who had been persistently staring at her. What she saw baffled her. He was still sitting inclined in his seat with his eyes closed. He looked so calm, as if he was not at all disturbed by the commotion happening all around him, and that seemed to strengthen her belief that he was not normal.
She adjusted herself in her seat and tried to control her breathing, and reduce her heart rate because it was really racing. The turbulence seemed to go on forever, each moment stretching into an eternity of terror and uncertainty.
With each violent lurch of the plane, she felt a pang of sorrow deep within her. She had never blamed her parents for their sudden death. She had understood at a tender age that death was inevitable, but now she sorrowed for the pain and fear they might have suffered before they departed. But amidst the despair, there was a glimmer of hope, a flicker of resilience that refused to be extinguished.
As the turbulence gradually subsided and the plane steadied itself, a collective sigh of relief swept through the cabin. Tears of gratitude mingled with tears of joy as they realized that they had survived the ordeal, that they had been given a second chance at life.
The pilot announced that they would be landing in the nearest state for the meantime because of the bad weather. Gabby sighed in relief, though she would have really loved to be in California as soon as possible, but on the other hand, she was glad to be alive and able to make it out of that bad situation.
She looked around, and her eyes came in contact with the man who had been staring at her in the plane. She noticed his face pulled in a grimace while rubbing his head as if he had a bad headache.
Suddenly, he looked up, and their eyes locked for some seconds, and my God, his eyes were beautiful. "Damn," she thought, "he had such beautiful sea green eyes which would certainly attract girls to him." She allowed her eyes to roam all around his face and could not deny that the man was undeniably and utterly handsome.
His looks were so perfect that she would have ranked him a nine out of ten, and that was her definition of a perfect guy. She did not know that she had stared at him for a long time, not until he raised his perfect brows and smirked at her.
She would have rolled her eyes at him, but his smile was so perfect that she could only sigh and turn away before she heard the pilot's voice apologizing for the inconvenience and congratulating everyone on their survival, telling them to enjoy their stay in Nevada, stating that an email would be sent to them to notify them of the new departure date depending on the weather situation.
As they landed safely on solid ground, there were hugs and tears of joy. They had emerged from the plane as survivors, forever changed by the experience.