***NOT EDITED***
*
[RECAP]:
"Ok look, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said what I said." He looked almost desperate now, sad even. But I didn't care, I would rather sooner leave than to stay one more minute with him.
So I calmly walked up to him until we were eye level, and said:
"Fuck you."
He flinched, and I took the opportunity to walk past him and climb back down the stairs of the plane.
Surprisingly as I was leaving, I ran into Jeff, who was parked outside the plane. With one look at my face he reached inside the car and pulled something out.
"Here. If you ever need anything, or someone to talk to, call me." He handed me a card with his number on it.
"Thanks Jeff. I will." With a small salute I walked past him and back into the stuffy airport.
And that's when the tears fell.
*
Luckily, after the horrible encounter with Mr. Collins, I was able to find a plane with one empty seat open. After purchasing the seat on the plane, I was allowed to board, and I immediately felt everyone's eye on me, along with a few sympathetic glances at me.
I hurriedly dragged my luggage to my assigned seat, spotting someone already sitting in the aisle. As I got closer, I realized it was a man.
I mumbled quietly, "Excuse me," and opened the overhead bin to put my luggage inside, struggling a little bit, I shifted a bit closer to the man, who was quite good looking but still did not get out of his seat. He simply moved his legs away from me, allowing me to get a bit closer.
I heaved my heavy luggage above me, but my legs buckled under the pressure, forcing me to miss the overhead bin, and instead drop out of my hands and into my seat and nearly, very nearly hitting the guy on the head.
"Jesus Christ," I heard him say before he awkwardly tried to stand in the small space, while he reached around me to grab the luggage and finally hoist it into the overhead bin. Only then did I realize how firmly he was pressed up against my back until he had moved away.
I quickly shoved myself into the seat, my face flaming, and shoved my earphones into my ear.
And then I went to sleep.
*
"Hey."
"Hello?"
I ignored the person, shutting my eyes tightly.
I heard a loud sigh before something soft brushed against my face. I immediately flinched and opened my eyes to see the man holding a tissue in his hands.
"You were crying." He stated, his eyebrows creasing.
I touched my face and did indeed found tears around my eyes. Embarrassed, I hastily jumped up from my seat and quickly excused myself to the restroom.
I immediately went to the sink and splashed some water on my face. Only to feel tears pool around my eyes again.
"Hey."
I looked up just in time to see the guy coming inside the restroom and closing it behind him. He raised his hands in a surrender position noticing my weird look.
"You were crying." He said as if that could explain everything.
This time I broke down, cradling my arms around myself, and using my hair to cover my face. The next thing I knew, he had his arms around me, before asking for my permission, and in my distress, of course I said yes, and he then rested his chin rested on top of my head.
I cried harder wrapping my arms around this stranger and sobbed into his shirt.
"Shh...it's going to be ok." He said soothingly, rubbing small circles around my back.
Soon enough, I calmed down enough to let go of him and take a step away from him.
"T-Thank you. My allergies are really bad today." I murmured.
"Mhmm," he murmured back.
An awkward silence filled the air until he spoke again, "I'm Elijah by the way."
"Tiara. And um, I think I should be going..." I pointed towards the doorway of the bathroom which he never locked.
"Yeah, go ahead." He stepped aside, and I could feel him watching me, as I made a quick exit and made my way back to my seat.
Before he could come out of the restroom, I ripped a small piece from a napkin I spotted and wrote the words, "Thank you", and left it on his seat.
By the time he came out of the restroom, I had thankfully, acquired a sleeping mask from one of the flight attendants and I was falling sound asleep.
I didn't awake when I felt his hand brush mine.
Or when I heard the rustle of the napkin and then silence.
Or when he quietly said, "I should be the one thanking you."
No, I fell sound asleep.
*
As soon as I came to, I heard someone over the intercom.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to land, please make sure your seat belts are securely fastened. Also, make sure all carry-on luggage is stowed underneath the seat, in front of you or in the overhead bins. Thank you for flying with United Airlines."
I stretched briefly and noticed my neighbor was sound asleep, his head resting lightly on my shoulder.
I took this time to appreciate his appearance. He had nice olive skin, with a strong and sharp jawline with a nice stubble etched across it. His nose was sharp and defined. His lips were rosy and thin, and he had a slight smile on his face.
"Are you done staring?" His piercing hazel eyes met mine and I immediately pulled away from him. I looked out the window, pretending to stare fixatedly at something.
He chuckled, at my silence I presume, and stretched. I looked at him through the corner of my eye and saw him pulling out his phone and randomly tapping on it.
It made me remember my times with Mr. Collins—
No, don't think about him now!
It was too late, I already had tears pooling around my eyes. I tried to suppress my tears with a quiet sniffle and was surprised to see Elijah staring at me with his piercing hazel eyes.
"You have some really bad allergies don't you?"
I almost laughed when he asked me, but instead, I replied: "Yeah, it must be something in the air."
I knew he could see through my lie as he simply stared back at me and then resumed back to tapping on his phone.
I almost let out a sigh of relief and looked out the window to see that we were now landing.
Someone soon came on the intercom saying:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have now landed, please unbuckle yourselves and in an orderly fashion please take all carry-on luggage that is stowed underneath the seat, in front of you or in the overhead bins. Thank you once again for flying with United Airlines."
I hurriedly rose from my seat and reached with my tippy toes towards the overhead bin. I felt Elijah close in behind me and reached over me to grab my carry-on. Once he retrieved it, he gave it to me, and before I could make a move, he then reached over me again to retrieve his own carry-on bag, and I was awkwardly sandwiched between the bin and the front half of my body against his.
He stepped back and finally allowed me some space, and turned away from me, but not before I saw the small smile he had on his face.
When he made a move to exit the aisle, I followed him until we were soon out of the plane. We were about to part ways when I reached out to touch his shoulder,
"Hey, Elijah, um, thanks. Thanks for everything." I motioned to my carry on bag, and my messy looking self as an explanation.
"Yeah, no problem. And you can call me Eli, that's what most of my friends call me. Don't forget about my card."
He leaned in closer and whispered, "Call me."
Immediately I felt my body turn hot, and as if he sensed this, he winked and then turned around and left. I stood there for a while until I could no longer see him anymore, and then I grabbed the rest of my luggage and headed to the taxi area.
It was time to face reality.
So as I placed my luggage into the taxi and I stepped inside, I told the driver where to:
Queens Hospital.
It was time to pay a visit to my mother.
*
So...here is the long awaited update.
First of all, I AM SO SO SORRY FOR TAKING SUCH A LONG TIME TO UPDATE!!!
I'm not sure whether I can make up for it but...
Here me out.
It's been a long year and a lot has happened.
Several times I drafted this very chapter and several times I deleted it.
Why?
Because of a changing society.
We can all agree that society is not what it used to be.
Thus, I feel like my book should represent that as well.
To put it simply, I believe that I should revamp the cast to reflect out changing society.
My cast should be diverse, more diverse than what I originally had...
Thus, I came to a conclusion. That instead of completely discontinuing the book, I can instead include these changes in the revision in the book.
So...WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS GUYS!!
I promise I have already started working on the next few chapters and release it soon!!
Until then, please vote & comment to let me know what you think!
Love you guys!!
~Starlight87
💚