The Eleventh Hour

Chapter 10

[Picture of Tanya on the side]

“I’m going to miss you so much.”

A teary Liv hugged me tightly outside the airport as I prepared to leave. I squeezed her back.

“Me too. But it’s only two weeks.” I pulled out of the hug and smiled at her.

I tried to put on a brave face, but I was just so tired. I’d been ‘working’ constantly. And when I say working, I mean appearing in all sorts of interviews and having my picture taken in various shoots, over, and over, and over ... and over, again.

“Call me as soon as you get there, okay?”

“I will, mom.” I joked, giving her the biggest grin I could manage.

“Hey, that was pretty good! Your American accent’s rockin’, you sound like you’re from LA.”

“I don’t know what that means.” I half joked. “I have to go.”

I hugged her again before making my way through the crowded airport. I was so glad I knew my way around this place, and knew the best places to go when it was this crowded.

I waved as enthusiastically as I could manage when I’d see an old work colleague, but I was completely drained. I hope I’d be able to sleep on this flight.

I met Tanya at check-in and again tried to be as enthusiastic as possible, but I couldn’t help everything I did being half-hearted. I began to think my drained mood was rubbing off on her though as she started to look like I felt – tired.

Tanya was originally from New York but moved over here when she was 18 and she’s now 24. I loved her from the moment I met her, she was so positive and enthusiastic, but also fiery. She reminded me a lot of Liv, which was probably why I took such a liking to her.

She had long vibrant red hair and bright blue eyes. Oddly, she reminded me of Emma Stone. It took me a moment to notice she’d actually cut her hair shorter. I really was overdone.

We checked our bags in and decided to wait in one of the quieter lounges for a bit. As soon as we were seated, I could tell there was definitely something up with her. I didn’t like seeing my friends like this, and I definitely considered her my friend. She’d helped me so much over the last couple of months, and she clearly wasn’t herself now, so I wanted to help in any way I could.

I turned to face her awkwardly in my seat, contemplating what to say. “Hey, are you alright? You don’t seem yourself.”

She glanced up at me for a second before looking down again, but that second glance was all I needed. Something was definitely wrong.

“I’m fine.” She looked up again and smiled, but I was in no way fooled.

“Tanya, I know you’re not fine.” I shuffled in my seat to face her. “Listen, you can talk to me. You can tell me anything. We have a long flight ahead in case you give me the ‘it’s a long story’ line.” I grinned to try to lighten things up. I hated it when people were sad.

She looked me square in the eye for a second and then burst out in tears, just like that. I did not see that coming.

“Hey! Hey, shh. What’s the matter? What’s happened?” I put my arms around her in a tight embrace as she sobbed into my shoulder.

“I’m so... I’m so... s – sorry.” She managed to choke out.

“What are you sorry for?” I asked, but I didn’t expect an answer. Whatever this was, she needed to cry it out.

After about a minute, her sobbing quietened and we stayed there, hugging, until she finally became still. She leant away and looked up. “I feel like such an idiot. I didn’t mean to burden you with this. I told myself I’d stay strong for you and our trip, yet I didn’t even make it on the plane.”