The 28 Day Race

Chapter 4

VALE

It's been a few hours since we boarded our private jet and left for our next destination, Singapore. I look across from my chair to notice Mikey has fallen asleep in his. His head was starting to slide off the back rest and towards the aisle, while his body was slumped and unbothered by the turbulence we were flying through. 

After the turbulence had stabilised, I slowly make my way over to his chair and gently nudge his head towards the window, so that his head could rest on the side of the jet if it ever slips off the seat again. I check again to make sure he didn't stir awake, and thankfully, he was still sleeping peacefully.

I look out the window and admire the clouds and the waters we flew by. The clouds so white and fluffy, it looked like you could stick out your tongue and taste it like cotton candy. The waters were so blue and crystal clear, it looked like something straight out of a fairytale. It was majestic, and I could imagine dolphins jumping gracefully or whales skimming the surface of the water to release large spurts of water. If you dived in, maybe you could find some colourful corals laying on the bottom of the seabed. Picturesque.

My best friend, Jamai, who I had invited as my plus one to this race before the Monza Grand Prix started, walked down the aisle after using the washing room. He slowly makes his way back to his seat and faced himself at me.

"How long more until we reach Singapore?" I ask, before pulling out another game of Connect 4 for us to play. We were getting bored from playing Chess and Checkers during the start of the flight, so we started to play games like Unscrambled and Blackjack. And not too long ago, we decided to play Connect 4 for one whole hour.

"About another 5 hours?"

My eyes widen and my head hits the headrest of my seat. I let out the biggest sigh as I stretch out my legs across the floor as much as possible. Long flights are usually not my forte as I can get a little sick from being confined in a small fixed space for too long, but I don't have a choice when it comes to it being part of my job.

Commercial flights have it worse, so I shouldn't complain too much, right?

"Fuck."

And Jamai couldn't help but laugh at my demise.

"Take a nap or something, you look tired. Besides, it helps to pass time, so the flight will be over before you know it." Jamai smiled and offered me a blanket, in which I gladly accepted. Indeed, I realised that I have been feeling a little tired. Maybe a little nap is what I need after all. We've been on this flight for at least 6 hours and I have not let myself rest at all.

Jamai swapped seats, so that he could sit next to me instead of directly in front of me. He knows that I struggle with sleeping on an airplane sometimes, so him sitting next to him helps me to relax a little. As I close my eyes and try to sleep, I felt him move my head from the headrest to his shoulder, so that it would be more comfortable for me.

"Thanks, Jamai." I mumbled.

I felt him squeeze my shoulder three times, before I dozed off.

===

Another turbulence hits us, which jolts me awake. I look around to find Jamai still next to me, watching some movies he had downloaded on his laptop.

"You don't want to take a nap or something?" I asked, as I rubbed my eyes to wake myself up completely.

He shakes his head, before giving me a reassuring smile. "You need the rest more than me. You've got practice sessions, a qualifying and a big race to do. I'm only a spectator. I can even take a nap midrace, but you can't. So don't worry about me."