I sat there on my seat fidgeting. I can't believe I'm doing this! OMG! I thought to myself.
I looked out the tiny window next to me and saw the endless sky. I felt my hand being squeezed. I looked at Derrick.
"Why don't you get some sleep?" He asked.
I laughed at him. "No!" I smiled. I'm in a plane, first class! The view is amazing and I don't want to miss a single thing! "
We have only been on board and in the air for nearly 90 minutes. We checked in at the international airport and then found somewhere to have breakfast. We may have had to be at the airport at 6am but we didn't go on board till 830.
Derrick and I had our coffees and pancakes at a Cafe in the airport and sat next to each other in the lounge talking. Well he talked and I listened. He wrote down when we land, the hotel we are staying at, what he had scheduled for me while he went to his interview and when I should return to the hotel.
I squeezed Derrick's hand as I smiled at him. "Thank you." I said softly.
"Well now I know how to keep you smiling." He joked.
"This is amazing."
"You know what else is amazing?" He asked me.
"First class?" I asked with an eyebrow raised. "I could never afford first class." Then I frowned. But before I could say any more Derrick cut me off.
"Either way, I know what you are thinking, and even if you couldn't come, I still would be first class." I felt his thumb rub my hand. "But what I was going to say was, sleep. Sleep would be amazing."
I giggled. "Okay. You sleep."
"You too. I don't want to go to London just for you to sleep the whole time." I pouted. "It will be about 6 hours till we are in Singapore before we leave again."
I shimmied down on my seat.
"It will be about 6am tomorrow, which will be Sunday, when we land on our time, so it will be 8pm Saturday night in London."
"Okay." I sulked.
"So when we land, we will check in at the hotel and grab dinner."
"I said fine." I teased Derrick. I let Derrick adjust the seats to makeshift beds and I pushed the table away. I laid down next to Derrick as he swallowed me in his thick arms.
I don't know how to sleep, being excited and all, not sleeping last night, but my eyes felt completely different to everywhere else on me. I closed them and within seconds, I was out.
****
"Terra, baby. Wake up." I felt the gently nudging.
"What?" I groaned. Who is waking me. Why are they waking me? Then I remembered. My eyes flew open.
"Hi." Derrick smiled at me. I grinned at him.
"Are we there yet?" I groaned as I rubbed my eyes.
"We will be landing in Singapore in twenty minutes."
I sat up and looked out the window. I could see the ocean and the distant city. It was amazing. I turned my phone on and snapped a photo. After that, I quickly turned it off before it went haywire with missed calls or messages.
Once inside an airport, I turned my phone on again and let the notifications come through. It was about 4pm back home.
Now is the best time to ring mum and dad. I excused myself as I held the phone to my ear.
Ring
My heart was beating so fast.
Ring
I held my breathe.
Ring
"Pick up." I said to myself.
"Hi sweetheart!" I heard dads voice. I closed my eyes.
"Hi daddy." I spoke.
"What have you done?" His tone completely serious. He always knew. Whenever I call him daddy I've done something.
"Can you get mum?"
With a grunt he handed mum's phone to her. "Hey darling, what's up?"
"Has Ellie called you?" I asked, hoping to hear a no. Which I did. "Okay. Mum, put the phone on facetime, like I showed you, and holding it away from you so I can see you and dad."
"What have you done?" Came mums suspicion.
"Mum!"
"Okay." A minute later, I saw my parents faces on my screen. "What's wrong? Where are you?"
I took a deep breath and let loose. "I'm in Singapore on my way to London." I gritted my teeth and waited.
"What?"
"No!" I heard mum laugh. I moved the phone to show here the airport sign. "What?" She yelled. "What are you doing?"
"I'm on my way to London. Just for a few days. Then I'll be back home."
"Why didn't you tell us you were going away?" Dad asked me.
"It was a last minute decision dad. Like a 230am decision. I had to be at the airport by 6."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Mum tried not to shriek.
"Because if I rang you at 3am,you both would freak and think of the worse case scenario. The hospital, police or morgue." I tried to joke.
"Why London though?"
"My..." What was he to me? Boyfriend? Friend? Lover? Boss? No! Don't say boss! "My friend asked me to go with them. For support to a job interview, then some sightseeing then home again."
Then I heard an announcement over the PA system and looked at the screens.
"Look mum, dad, my flight is boarding. I've gotta go. I will text you when I land. Love you." I quickly hung up and went back to Derrick. He stood there, waiting patiently with my handbag.
"Thank you." I smiled at him. We walked to our gate and boarded a plane again. 15 hours to go.
***
The last 15 hours dragged by. Derrick and I watched a movie, flipped through some magazines, ordered some food and napped. But that only took up 9 hours.
I stirred awake and sat up. I looked over to Derrick. He looked so peaceful and handsome. I saw the small smile on his lips. "Is the view that good?" He asked gruffly as his eyes opened.
I arched an eyebrow. "Meh." I shrugged playfully.
Derrick pretended to be offended as I laughed at his expression.
"I'm bored." I stated once I calmed down. "Tell me about yourself." I called for a stewards attention and we got ourselves some drinks.
"Well.... um...."
"Your family?" I hinted as a starting point.
"I have a younger brother. A mother and a father. Both of my grandparents are still alive."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"Really?" I said in a flat tone.
Derrick groaned but smiled at me. "Fine. I was born in North Adelaide. My father was in the army. So we moved a lot. I lived a few years in Richmond, then we went to Currajong."
"Oh, where's that?" I asked.
Derrick smiled. "Townsville. Then after a couple years there, we moved to Surrey Hills in Sydney. I did university at Sydney then my family moved up to Southport and when I finished uni I followed. But not so close. I went to Brisbane for a few months while I worked and then I travelled up and down Queensland coast line until I took a chance and opened my own small take away shop. It was a huge success and within a year of that shop in Rockhampton, I transformed it to a restaurant and then opened another and another and became well known in the hospitality world and here I am." He flashed me his smile. I felt my insides melt.
" What about you? You made me tell. "
I scoffed. "I didn't make you."
I took another sip of my drink as I used my finger to swirl the ice around. I let out a small sigh. "I suppose it's only fair." I adjusted my position as I sat up better. "My parents live 40 minute drive from my place. I own my house. Well I will in 400 or more payments." I giggled in nervousness. "Ellie has been helping me with that for nearly six years now. After Kayla was born, Ellie and her now ex husband didn't get along and she moved in with me for a break for a month or two and never left." I took another sip and chewed on some ice. "I don't mind really."
"So what made you go into cooking?"
I smiled at the memory. "My mum. When I was two, she brought me a play kitchen for Christmas. I loved it. By the time I was four, I had a pretend 'real' kitchen. I had a play room that was just like a kitchen. The cupboards had little stainless steel pots and pans. My pantry had plastic fake tin food. Mum brought me a bar fridge and I stored all the toy eggs and butter and milk." I smiled wider. "They even gave me a herb shelf with fake herbs and spices and a fake knife block. " I laughed.
Derrick grinned widely. "So your mum got you into it?"
I nodded." When I was six, she use to get me and Ellie help prep dinner some nights. Ellie had no interest in it. When I was 10, it was mum that helped me when I did my first dinner. Mum really supported me."
"That's very sweet of her."
I shrugged. "She's my mum."
There is a rare gem in this world that is our parents that love and support us and never tells us we are doing things wrong, that help us learn from our mistakes and guide us to our dreams.
I wish my mother was one of them.
*sigh*
So.... What do we think...?
Is Terra rushing in to this or Derrick? Would you?
Or would you just go with the flow? That's more my style. Just go with it, see where we go, what happens.
Any who, vote up people
Please
Gracias
xx