"Huaaaaaahhh..." Alex yawned as Henry returned from his scavenger hunt: eggs royale for Alex and eggs florentine for him, as well as dishes for both: shakshuka and fruit salad.
"Rough night?" Henry asked.
"How can't it be when I'm only sleep for four hours? I usually need eight," Alex grumbled as he picked a melon from his fruit salad bowl. "I can't believe that you can still looking bright and aware."
"Even before marrying you, love, I worked very hard building the company into what it is now. So, I sometimes sleep only few hours."
"And then the next day, I'm ended up being a widow," Alex sarcastically replied, while dipping the sourdough into the shakshuka.
"Still can't believe you can still eat something, right after you ate that huge plate of Indomie Goreng," Henry commented.
"What can I say?" Alex retorted. "You overpowered me. I was almost finishing it."
Let's just say that Alex was defeated from the mini battle of the Indomie Goreng back in Garuda's First Class cabin.
Unlike their coitus activity, which took hours and hours due to being always steaming hot and heavy thanks to foreplay and stuff, Henry took the plate of noodles from Alex's hands in less than ten seconds and putting the contents into his cheeks in less than five.
"Well, you can't escape my nose," Henry grinned. "And by the way, your way of cooking those instant noodles are much better than what I ate, at least its passable in my book."
Alex blushed. "Awww, thanks."
He then took bite of his piece of shakshuka-laced sourdough.
"Mmmm..." Alex hums as he tasted the spices: paprika, cumin, chili powder, followed by the juices from the tomatoes. "This is good, at least for me."
"Agreed," Henry nodded as he take his own bite. "Your version is much better, though. I still remember your Indian-spiced shakshuka. It was really delicious."
"Well, I worked with what we have in the fridge..." Alex replied bashfully.
He looked around the Clubhouse lounge, technically where they are today. As a passenger of Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class, they were eligible to access the exclusive lounge.
"And I gotta say," Henry said as he sliced the egg on his eggs florentine. The egg yolk is perfectly runny. "For a luxury lounge like this, this reminds me of W Hotel somewhere."
"Too bad the wellness center isn't opened," Alex sighed. "I could use some back cracking and face ripping."
Henry cackled at the sentence. "You mean facial exfoliation, babe? I believe you do need it more than I do."
Alex raised his left eyebrow. "You do need it too."
Henry gasped. "I do not!"
"Hello? SK-II already do wonders on your face, I don't want to lose the momentum," Alex retorted. "Your wrinkles around the eyes are less noticeable than it was months ago. Your cheeks are more bouncy and elastic, those smiling lines are starting to dissipate. All thanks to my SK-II treatment."
Henry look like he was lost in his thoughts before replying seconds later: "You're right. Maybe I do need some skin treatment."
"I'll pat your face with SK-II before bed like usual. Alright?"
Henry kissed his husband's forehead before replying, "Alright."
Alex said as he sips his tea, "Also, you're right. My worries about our luggage will be lost are baseless."
It turned out that since they arrived at 1 am in the cold dark November morning of Heathrow, Alex and Henry inevitably had to take their baggage from the Arrivals. Since Alex's only worry is that their baggage will be lost during their transit in London, so it was only natural for Alex to be relieved, to know something like that didn't happen.
"See? I told you our luggage will be alright." Henry said as he digests his eggs florentine. "Besides, no one wants to operate a red-eye flight at that hour. It would only make sense if they operate at least from 6 in the morning. Otherwise, the neighbors around the airport will complain for Heathrow being too noisy in between the middle of the night and early morning."
"Now that you mentioned it," Alex suddenly remembered last night's events. "I was surprised that the airport is rather deserted when we arrived. Good thing they opened two immigration booths for others, though."
As a First Class passengers and members of Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Diamond Medallion, Alex and Henry are entitled to SkyPriority services, which includes priority immigration booth. In other words, their immigration process took less than 5 minutes instead of 2 hours waiting in line like the other plebeians.
"To be rather fair," Henry said, "Heathrow was not supposed to have any scheduled arrivals between 10:55 pm to 04:40 in the early dawn. Our Garuda flight should not be allowed because it disturbs neighbors around the airport. It's a miracle that they don't complain about it."
Alex nodded at the revelation. "True."
*******
"... by this time we would like to invite Upper Class passengers to board first. Thank you for your attention," the airport staff announced.
"Oooh! Henry! That's us! That's us!" Alex jumped up and down.
"Hold your horses, love," Henry chuckled. "The plane isn't going anywhere. Everything's going to be fine."
"Honey, I'm a virgin for the Virgin. I am nervous and excited to see what their cabin looks like," Alex was giddy with excitement.
"This is why I love you," Henry mumbled.
It didn't take long time for them to board the A350 aircraft. Out of all 44 seats, due to COVID precautions, the plane was allowed to fill 22 seats.
Which is fine for both of them.
"Waaah," Alex breathed with amazement as he stepped into the cabin. "This looks like I'm in the Space Mountain in Disneyland."
Henry cackled at his husband's first impression. "Oh wow, love! You sure do love Disneyland!"
"I'm serious! This looks like we're going for a ride at Space Mountain, except everywhere I see is pink, coral, and red instead of blue."
"I am very certain that Mr. Branson didn't like hearing that, but OK."
Walking towards their designated seats, Alex peered over and saw something peculiar behind the seats.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"Yes. That's the lounge, honey."
"Woaaah... amazing!" Alex gasped. "I can't wait to hangout there!"
"Slow those tractors, love." Henry chuckled. "We need to get to our seats first."
They finally found their seats: 7A and 7D.
The seat is quite odd. It's position was tilted following how herringbone tiles were arranged (but in reverse). According to some flight reporters, this form of business class seat is quite popular today.
Henry settled in his 7A seat, with his feet lined up towards the window while Alex settled in his 7D seat with his feet lined up towards the hallway.
"This is odd," Alex said as he sat down and put his seatbelt on. "I'm not familiar with this kind of seat."
"I am guessing that you're more familiar with straightforward seats?"
"Well, I grew up in Economy Class. Besides, ever since I married you, we only ride either SQ's Suite or angle lie-flat ones."
"True." Henry nodded. "By the way, did you remember? Etihad Airways A380 The Residence from Abu Dhabi. I still remember the flight attendant's face when she found us naked."
"Oh yeah, I remember." Alex grinned as he remembered the stewardess' face when she wanted to ask their breakfast choice but ended up finding them naked on the bed. "I still feel bad for her but the whole thing was hilarious."
*******
Once airborne, the plan was: Alex and Henry waltzed towards the lounge, requesting one of the passing flight attendants for their meals to be served on the lounge along the way.
Nope. That's not what happened.
What happened was: shortly after the flight reached cruising altitude, they started serving dinner on their respective seats.
"This is really speedy," Alex comments as he wiped his face with a hot towel that was given by one of Virgin's stewardesses.
"Have you decided what you wanted to order, love?"
"I don't know. Maybe I pick the same ones as you. What do you choose?"
"I picked citrus seared prawns with watermelon salsa, coriander, mint, sweet chili and lime dressing for the starter, seared honey and thyme chicken linguine with broccoli, mangetout, pistachio, and mint pesto sauce for the main course, and buttermilk malabi with rose and cardamom syrup, pistachios, and tahini cookie for dessert."
Alex looked at the menu before finally said, "I changed my mind for the main and dessert. I want the short ribs with portobello mushrooms, fondant potatoes and red wine sauce for the main course and chocolate lava cake with vegan cremé anglaise for the dessert."
"Ooh that sounds fun. Maybe we can share."
"Oh yes. That's true."
The food then arrived, preceded by lemon water for Henry, green tea for Alex and Himalayan salt dusted Bohana popped water lily seeds. Both of them decided shared their dishes to each other except the appetizers because they ordered the same thing.
Each of their appetizers didn't need notes. The seasoning was perfect, the shrimps were cooked perfectly, the combination was harmonious... it was done deal for them.
The main course, however, were mixed reviews.
Henry ate his pasta, but his tongue felt something odd.
'Is it just me or my pasta's a bit overcooked?' he thought. 'It's kinda mushy.'
Meanwhile, Alex tried to cut his short ribs. Good thing it falls off from the bone, so he can separate the meat and the bone with ease. But as he tasted it...
'Umph!' He closed his eyes as the hint of excessive salt hits the tongue. 'Is red wine sauce always this salty?'
Henry and Alex looked at each other and said, "Let's switch."
They did so, and realized the same thing as they tried the dishes.
Alex looked at Henry and asked urgently, "Henry, is your pasta overcooked?"
"So my tongue isn't wrong!"
"Wait! It is?!" Alex exclaimed.
"It is. The pasta was kinda mushy. Maybe overcooked a minute or two? I don't know, but it's that what my taste buds feel."
"Damn! I thought I was delusional. What about my short ribs?"
"Very close to salt lick." Henry grimaced. "At least the meat is cooked."
*******
After a passable dessert (and an attempt to buy the collectible salt and pepper shakers), the husbands strolls along to the lounge.
"What are you going to do while we're in the lounge?"
"Probably working while standing up."
"Ha ha. Very funny."
"With pina coladas, babe," Henry affirmed. "What about you?"
"Well, I'm just hanging around, probably if I can, sneaking into the cabin crew's galley and steal those cute salt and pepper shakers."
"What a naughty little baby boy you are," Henry said cheekily. "I should bend you over and spank your pillow-like ass hard. But looks like those Virgin attendants love their passengers do silly things like that, so at least you'll get a leeway."
Alex grinned at that playful tone. Finally arrived at the lounge, which in this case, called "The Loft", there are so many people sitting, standing, and mingle.
"Do you think there's a space for you to work?" Alex whistled. "It looks like a madhouse in here."
Henry looked around and found a spot. Didn't wait for a second for him to occupy that spot.
"I'm just gonna stay here," he said.
"I'll get the drinks," Alex said as he walked away to the galley.
As he arrived in the galley, the attendants are chatting but they look like they have sensors because they whirled around and smiled at Alex immediately.
"Hello, sir. What can I get you?" she said.
"Uuh, my partner and I wanted glasses of cocktails while hanging in The Loft. Any recommendations?"
She beamed, "Well. You came to the right place."
She showed Alex the menu and said, "We recommend you and your partner the taste of Virgin Voyages. Most of our passenger's favorite is 'Seas The Skies' while some of us love this one."
She pointed at the words 'The Daring Spritz', adding, "It tastes like nothing else before."
Alex nodded at her suggestions.
"Interesting," he said. "Can I have one each?"
"Sure!"
Suddenly, another flight attendant piped in. "By the way, we understand you wanted to purchase instead of pinch?" He said.
Alex's eyes went round. "How do you know?"
"One of our colleagues told us," he replied.
He then ruffled something and showed him all five colors of their salt and pepper shakers.
Red, silver, black, gold, and purple.
"Wow," Alex gasped.
"We know," The other flight attendant grinned. "Truth to be told, you are the first passenger onboard since COVID to ever asked for buying this. Others are just pinching it. They think we'll never know, but we know eventually."
"For your reward, you will be getting all these versions of our very own Wilbur and Orville."
Alex was amazed by this revelation. What a luck! He thought this is a dream, but he pinched himself and it actually hurt.
Alex picked the golden pincher and whispered, "Wow."
All the flight attendants chorused, "We know."
"By the way, which one is Wilbur and which one is Orville?"
"It doesn't matter which one is which."
"Is it cleaned?"
"We'll clean it for you right now."
Alex then nodded in confidence. "I'll take it!"
*******
Henry can only shook his head in amazement as he watched his beautiful omega husband smiling like a mad man while he's taking pictures of the five-colored salt-and-pepper shakers with his treasured Doraemon and Dorami plushies in his seat.
"I can't believe you," Henry said.
"I know," Alex grinned as he takes another picture of the smiling brother-sister gadget cat plushies that got surrounded by multi-colored little planes.
"I still can't believe your luck," Henry said.
"I know."
*******
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to John F. Kennedy International Airport, Terminal 4. Local time is 12:29 pm Eastern US time and the temperature is 59 degrees Fahrenheit, or 15 degrees celsius.
For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign. This will indicate that we have parked at the gate and that it is safe for you to move about and use Wi-Fi on your smartphones. We advise you to not use your phones without Wi-Fi unless you have a US-registered SIM card already installed inside your phones.
Please check around your seat for any personal belongings you may have brought on board with you and please use caution when opening the overhead bins, as heavy articles may have shifted around during the flight.
If you require deplaning assistance, please remain in your seat until all other passengers have deplaned. One of our crew members will then be pleased to assist you.
At this time, we would like to invite our Flying Club Gold and SkyTeam Elite Plus members and Upper Class customers to unwind in our Clubhouse Lounge at Concourse A and our partner Delta Air Lines' Delta Sky Club at Concourse B, where you can dine, unwind, and refresh before heading off to your next journey.
On behalf of Virgin Atlantic and our codeshare partners Garuda Indonesia, Delta Air Lines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and the entire cabin crew, we would like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice stay, and welcome to New York."