The Beginning of the End - Book One

two

Mateo.
  And a woman I don't recognize. He stares at me for a total of three, everlasting seconds.
He breaks my stare by looking over at the flight attendant and saying thank you. I watch, yet I can't move. I'm completely frozen in place, in bafflement, wondering if I'm dreaming.
Mateo looks awkwardly at both me and the woman, back and forth.
The flight attendant kindly asks Mateo and the girl he ran into the plane with, to sit down — she explains that the plane is about to take off — adding that they were very lucky to catch the flight.
Then, she scurries off to continue the usual presentation that informs passengers where to evacuate in case of emergency, where the masks are and so on. I hardly pay attention.
After regaining mobility, I stand up to allow Mateo and the woman to claim their seats. Mateo allows her to take the seat by the window — when she passes me — she offers a small, innocent smile.
I return it blankly, my eyes resorting to the ground straight after. Through the corner of my eye, I watch her sit down and deliberately turn toward the other side, facing out the window.
  My attention shifts to Mateo when he sits down in the middle seat. I do the same, finding myself in the corridor seat once more, letting out an exasperated sigh. I feel like that is the only oxygen I have supplied my lungs in the last few minutes.
Finally, I look over at him to find that he's already looking towards me, with an expression I can't quite pinpoint.
"Hi." Mateo breathes. His tone is calm yet surprised.
  I haven't even responded when he asks. "How—how are you?" He stutters.
  "I'm fine." I reply, to say the least. "How about you?"
A part of me still can't process the fact that I'm talking with this person right now.
  "I'm good, too." He lets out a nervous laugh, looking over at the woman. "I'm being rude! I'm sorry, Lidia, let me introduce you to my fiancé, Maria."
I freeze, once again. Hearing my name on his lips is a whole new feeling. When my mind scans the next words in his sentence, I can't help my jaw from dropping in disbelief.
Fiancé. This is just way too much information to process, but my spinning thoughts are interrupted.
  "Maria, this is Lidia, an old friend." Mateo gestures towards me, we share a look as if to say friend is a slight understatement.
  I muster a smile as I turn to face his fiancé and she eagerly smiles back, offering me her hand. I take it.
She has beautiful big brown eyes, olive skin, long, wavy brown and blonde hair.
  Our introduction is interrupted by the plane, moving abruptly, preparing for ascent. Mateo holds Maria's hand tightly and my stomach clenches instinctively.
  She looks up at him and grins, then moves her spare hand and places it above her stomach. That's when I notice she's pregnant.
The punches just keep coming.
It's too noisy to talk, so thankfully, none of us do. I try my best to look away from Mateo, but I can't.
Remembering what he looks like is too entrancing.
His big, deep blue eyes remain unchanged from the last time I saw him. His hair has grown a significant amount and he has little strands of blonde now, highlighting the brown in soft, loose curls.
I force myself to look away. The plane is about to take off and I refuse to spend my last seconds in London thinking about this very unexpected encounter, and how he's sitting beside me.
  I have to clear my thoughts for just one moment and digest the fact that I'm starting a new chapter in my life. I'm leaving my late teenage years and life behind to start a new one. This is it. This is a new beginning.
The plane lifts from the ground and I feel that  stomach-flipping sensation. But I know that it isn't just flipping because we took off, but also because someone I used to care about — and then some — is sitting centimeters away from me with his almost wife and child.
I wonder, who's stomach wouldn't be flipping with nerves in this situation?
  The plane becomes more silent now, adjusting in the air.
Eventually, Maria motions toward me with a bright smile and asks. "So, where do you two know each other from?"
Mateo turns as well and looks at me as if expecting an answer, too. For some reason I feel like I have to protect his fiancé from the truth, like I have something to hide. So, I just align my story with Mateo's and say that we were old friends in high school — adding the high school part.
"Seems like you were more than friends! You two shared an intense look back there." She laughs innocently.
My cheeks immediately go red. Mateo chuckles nervously.
  Mateo and I are both nervously laughing with her now.  I feel an urge to change the subject.
"What are you guys doing in London?" I ask — trying to sound as calm as possible, even though I can feel just how much my face has heated to resemble a giant, ripe tomato.
Mateo answers this time. "Well we came to London to visit Maria's parents —they live in the city."
  I nod with a forced smile, trying to pretend like this is actually what I want to know, what I'm curious about. When actually all I've wanted to know all these years, is why he didn't fight enough to stay.
  Mateo just left. When there was so much to stay for.
Over time, he became the person I always looked back on, questioning what would've happened if things had gone differently. I never did get over everything.
During senior year, we became close — and without warning, he soon meant everything to me.
I close my eyes for a second and brace myself for the long flight to come.