One foot in front of the other. Gwen repeated the mantra in her head as she walked, dragging her suitcase behind her. It was all she could do to keep from panicking. She knew what she had to do. First, she needed to find the correct airline counter. In order for her to do this, she needed to focus on one task at a time. If she let herself think about all of it at once, she might lose her mind.
The one thing that kept her from worrying too much, was her trust in her friend. Stacy would not have led her astray. Sure enough, Gwen found the correct airline counter and took a deep breath. With quite a bit of people already ahead of her, she had time to check her documents. Even though she knew exactly where they were, in her purse, she just had to verify their location yet again. It's what she did. She blamed it on her obsessive compulsive personality.
While she waited, she tried to ignore the hustle and bustle around her. But she was also vigilant of her immediate surroundings. She took in the faces of those in front of her and those behind her. These would be the people she would share her flight with. As of yet, she saw no sign of Crispin. She was both glad and worried. She was glad because she didn't want him to see her until they were on the plane. But she was worried that perhaps he might not actually show up. That would be horrible. She would be forced to go it alone. Both scenarios were terrifying.
With time on her hands, she started to wonder. When the inevitable confrontation did happen, she didn't have a clue as to how to explain herself. She hadn't allowed herself to dwell on it, to be honest. If she had, she might never have gotten this far. What if he reacted badly? What if he wanted nothing to do with her? She would be doomed. She had no backup plan! How did this happen? She planned everything. It's how she coped, yet here she was, with no such plan!
What she should do is turn around and go home. That would be the smart thing to do. But before she could make up her mind, she found herself at the front of the line. With one foot in front of the other, she forced herself to focus on the task at hand. One task at a time, one step at a time. It was the only way she would get through this. She would deal with Crispin when the time came.
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Crispin arrived at the airport with minutes to spare. His unexpected run-in with Becky had cost him precious time. Still, he couldn't have walked away before she'd been sufficiently reassured of his return. The silly little dormouse was a right mess, giant crocodile tears trailing down her cheeks, lips all aquiver.
It caused a wince in his heart at the mere memory of her distress. Yet he would be lying if he said he hadn't appreciated the sentiment. At that thought, Crispin gave his head a shake and approached the airline counter. Is was for that very reason, he had to get away.
"Sir, you got here in the nick of time," said the attractive lady ticket agent. "Ticket and passport, please."
"Yes, of course," Crispin said, handing over his documents, placing his suitcase on the scale. As he watched the attractive young woman hurry to enter his information, he didn't miss the furtive glances she cast him. Well, how opportune a situation. "Pardon me, miss, your name?"
"It's Anne, sir," she answered readily.
"Aw, what a lovely name," he practically purred. "Now, Anne, would it be too late to ask a favour?" He leant in close and flashed her his most charming panty-peeling smile. "Is it possible to be seated alone? You see, I'm a songwriter and I'm looking for a bit of solitude on the flight for... inspiration."
"A songwriter? Wow, I knew it. I could tell you were someone of note," she said, starstruck. "Sure, let me check, although this late in the game, I can't make any promises. This is a fully booked flight, Mr. Clover."
"Please, call me Crispin," he winked. "If you could just have a look, I would be most appreciative." Again, he gave her his most persuasive smile.
"You're in luck! We just had a cancelation. Here, I've rearranged your seat. You'll be situated a little further forward but you'll have two seats to yourself. Now, you'll have to hurry through security. Just show them your boarding pass and they'll rush you through." Once again, she grazed her eyes over him. "I wouldn't want you to you miss your flight."
"Me neither. That would be most tragic," he said with a wink. "Thank you, for your help."
"Anytime... enjoy your flight, sir!"
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Gwen didn't understand how she had made it this far, but there she was, sitting in her aisle seat near the back of the plane. So far, Stacy's prediction had been correct. She had gotten to the airport with plenty of time to deal with any unforeseen hitches. In fact, since things had gone so smoothly, Gwen had made it to her seat with time to spare. But with almost too much time on her hands, it only made it easier to worry about the inevitable moment when Crispin discovered her sitting next to him on the plane.
Speaking of Crispin, she hadn't yet seen him. She was sure she would have seen him by now. She had been on the lookout, ready to hide from him the entire time she waited to board the plane. Now, she was actually starting to panic. What if he'd changed his mind? What if he wasn't coming? The very real possibility of having to fly on her own was becoming an unbearable reality.
Not only would she not have his company, she would not have her detailed itinerary. Yes, she had a simplified version, put together by Stacy, but it was nowhere near as well planned and detailed as hers. How in the world would she survive this? As it was, her heart was racing in her chest. She was starting to perspire and she was having trouble sitting still.
Taking a few deep calming breaths, she focussed on the fact that people were still boarding. She convinced herself that she was merely overreacting and that at any minute, Crispin would appear. Then, of course, she would have to explain herself. But she was sure she could handle that part. This waiting, on the other hand was killing her.
Moments later, she felt a presence at her side. Finally, Crispin, she thought with a sigh. Looking up from her white knuckles, she frowned, discovering a middle-aged man in a business suit checking his ticket and looking at the numbers above her head. He must be mistaken. Stacy had seated her and Crispin together. This man was obviously not Crispin!
"Excuse me, miss." He showed her his boarding pass. "I believe you are in my seat."
"Your seat? There must be some mistake." She quickly checked her pass and sure enough she was in the right row but to her dismay discovered that her actual number was for the window seat. The horror! She could not sit at the window. No way could she bear the idea of being trapped into such a small space. She had specifically requested the aisle seat figuring she would feel better to get up and move around at will. Suddenly, she recalled Stacy saying that when she'd booked her flight, she had put her in the window since Crispin had already claimed the aisle. At the time, Stacy hadn't been too concerned since she figured she and Crispin would work it out.
"Oh, but... but I can't sit at the window!"
"Lady, I need the aisle. This is my seat. I just booked it minutes ago."
All Gwen could do was shake her head. This could not be happening. Where was Crispin? Who was this man wanting her seat? Too overwhelmed to cope, she closed her eyes and delved into herself. It was all she could do to keep from screaming. She should have known better than to have done this, taken such a chance. This is exactly the reason she avoided going outside of her comfort zone. There were too many unknown factors to deal with. She hadn't even left Toronto, and here it was, the first of many unforeseen hitches to come.
"Excuse me, is there a problem?" asked the passing flight attendant.
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"Everything to your liking, sir?" asked the flight attendant who just happened to be the same young lady from the check-in counter.
"Awesome, thanks, you're a lifesaver, Anne," Crispin said, quite pleased with his seating arrangement. In fact, things were working out beautifully. Being late had its advantages. For one thing, having been whisked through security and then driven by airport shuttle to his gate, he hadn't had to wait around amongst the multitudes of mundanes. Thank goodness since patience was not his forte.
"Wonderful, sir, we're moments from take off. Please, fasten your seatbelt and turn off all electronic devices."
"Yes, of course." He took one last covert look at his phone and found a text from Kell. The poor bastard was wondering where he'd run off to, leaving Becky in such a distraught state. For a second, Crispin started to respond when the attendant came around again. Instead, he turned off his phone, fastened his seatbelt, and made himself at home in his roomy aisle seat. With no one beside him, he looked forward to a comfortable eight hour flight. Perhaps he would get some sleep since he hadn't gotten any last night.
Ignoring the last minute hustle and bustle, and the curious stares from the other passengers, Crispin closed his eyes and shut out the world. Let them gawk. Even though, he'd made a considerable effort to dress less Goth, he was still quite striking if not intimidating with his black clothes and long hair.
After a few deep calming breaths, he then felt an odd sensation within him. Could it be excitement? Yes, that's what it was. He was actually quite excited about this adventure. At the same time, he tried very hard to ignore that other sensation that had rankled him since the day he booked this trip.
What was that? Regret? Yes, that's indeed what it was, and a bit of melancholy thrown in for good measure. The melancholy, he was quite used to, being Goth and all that. But this odd sense of regret was really starting to irk him. And the worst part was, he knew exactly what was at the source of this regret. He was his own worst enemy and he knew it.
As much as he wanted to believe he was this impenetrable independent sort, the truth was, he wanted what everyone else wanted. Love, companionship, a sense of belonging. Taking a deep breath, his mind tripped back to the day he had met Gwen at the cafe. Even though, it went against everything he was trying to accomplish on this trip, he couldn't help but wonder if he should have accepted her offer to come with him. Poor sweet thing, the look on her face when he'd refused her and walked out the door with her precious itinerary, it had haunted him to this day.
In the very next moment, he caught himself. She would only rip his heart out in the end. It's what always happened. Everyone left him. Why would Gwen be any different? Besides, she probably wasn't even interested in him that way. Like she had said, she was only wanting to tag along for fear of travelling alone.
Oh, never mind. It was better this way, Crispin thought with a heavy sigh. Time alone was what he needed most. If only he could convince his heart of that truth. As it was, visions of her danced through his mind. He envisioned those clear blue-grey eyes and those long dark lashes, her guarded smile... oh, how he would love to give her a real reason to smile. She had the loveliest complexion... such rosy cheeks. Quite lovely for a little mundane woman, she was. Good lord, get a hold of yourself, he thought with a frown.
Try as he might to get her out of his mind, every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face. He then smiled at the memory of the velvety sound of her voice. He must be losing it for sure. He could swear he could almost hear it now. Maybe he was dreaming. Wonderful, perhaps he had fallen asleep. He would wake up any moment just in time for the landing.
Yet, somehow her voice was too real to be merely a dream. He then realized the plane hadn't even started to move. In fact, everyone around him was looking over their shoulders towards the back at the commotion.
From his angle, he could only see a couple of flight attendants, Anne and a young man, looking quite stressed out. They appeared to be in a middle of a crises with a couple of passengers.
Curious and getting quite impatient, he unbuckled his seatbelt and made his way over. Whoever this was delaying takeoff, was about to get a piece of his mind!
"Ma'am, for the last time, we need you to move into your proper seat, or we will have you removed from the plane!"
"Pardon me... What's the hold up?" Crispin inquired.
Seeing him approach, the flustered male flight attendant turned to him first and very briskly ordered him to return to his seat. "Sir, we need you to remain seated. We'll be taking off shortly."
"It won't be much longer, sir," said Anne with an apologetic smile.
"Is that right?" Crispin challenged, unconvinced. "Doesn't look that way to me." From where he was standing, he could see they were trying to settle a dispute between two passengers, one seated, one standing.
At the end of his rope, the male attendant, added, "Please, return to your seat or we'll have you removed from the plane as well!"
Of course, Crispin would have acquiesced since he wanted nothing more than to get on his way. But not now, not after laying eyes on the cause of the disruption. There in front of him sat Gwen from the cafe, the leading lady of his recent musings.
"Gwen?" Crispin clutched at his chest. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. She had her eyes shut tight. She was clinging to her armrests of her seat with all her might, her hands grasping, white knuckles and all. Behind the flight attendants, stood a red faced portly man in a grey suit looking quite irate. "Gwen?" he repeated, ignoring everyone else and zeroing in on her. "What in the world?"
"Crispin?" Hearing his voice, Gwen exhaled and peeked out of one eye. "Please... help me." At that, Crispin frowned all the more.
"You know each other?" Anne stepped up, relief flooding her face while the male attendant, turned his attention to the other passenger.
"Well, I... I mean, yes, I suppose..." Crispin stuttered, at a loss for words.
"Thank goodness..." Anne said with a sigh. "Sir, I have a huge favour to ask of you."
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****
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