•Word Count: 1,800
"Ladies and Gentlemen, now we request your full attention as the flight attendants demonstrate the safety features of this aircraft" The deep, yet professionally solemn voice calls over the intercom and I prepare myself, casting the equipment I'm allotted to demonstrate a final glance before holding the demo belt in my hands in front of me.
The audience, make-believe passengers, centre their focus on us, making it all more difficult to concentrate.
I take a deep breath, shifting my eyes off the floor, knowing well that our employers are watching us through their screens.
"When the seatbelt light illuminates, you must fasten your seatbelt" He starts off, waiting only a second to ensure me and my fellow trainee at the other aisle have our demo belts at hand.
"Insert the metal fittings one into the other, and tighten by pulling on the loose end of the strap. To release your seat belt, lift the upper portion of your buckle." I hold the demo belt up for the whole demonstration buckling and unbuckling it in rhythm with the instructions.
While the flight attendant -another trainee- assigned to the intercom rattles off the airline's safety advice, I swap the demo belt for the emergency oxygen mask.
"Oxygen and the air pressure are always being monitored. In the event of a decompression, an oxygen mask will automatically appear in front of you.
To start the flow of oxygen, pull the mask towards you" He drones on, my hands working almost frantically as I proceed to wear the oxygen mask, the way I've been trained to do, only slower to allow the presumed passengers to take note of the conventional manner to put it on.
"Place it firmly over your nose and mouth, secure the elastic band behind your head, and breathe normally. Although the bag does not inflate, oxygen is flowing to the mask" He continues on with the directions for assisting your child or fellow passenger in wearing the oxygen mask.
In the meantime, we retrieve the life vest for the next demonstration.
My heart drops when I notice my fellow trainee's slip as he fumbles with the vest, dropping the oxygen mask in the process.
I pretend not to notice, looking straight ahead.
I feel bad for him, as our trainers mentioned how strict the employers are when assessing our training sessions. There are thousands of applicants and trainees, they said, so the chances are already narrow, any slip could easily disqualify you in order to allow for vacancies.
The training goes on for what feels like forever.
One more round to go and I can go back home, I remind myself as I assume my upright stance despite my exhausted self forcing me to slump.
We often have three rounds of training a day, swapping roles each round; the next round is my turn at the intercom.
This is the fourth week into my training course, which has a three month duration.
And since it's a Sunday afternoon, I'm probably gonna be spending the rest of the day studying, and preparing myself for tomorrow.
Tomorrow's definitely gonna be a big day, a voice from the back of my mind reminds me. My heart bounces in excitement for the first time when thinking about school.
•••
Coffee cups in our hands, Joe and I make our way towards the classroom; we're 40 minutes early, so we take the extra time to drink -enjoy- our coffee.
"Are you sure he would cooperate ?" I ask Joe for what sounds like the hundredth time.
"Yes, Mira! He will. Just don't forget the coupon, it's your only winning card" She says, squeezing my hand. "You sure you don't wanna tell me about this ?" She presses, hopeful eyes begging me to elaborate.
"When the time comes" I respond with the same hopeful look and tone, but hoping the time never comes.
By the time recess is here, I'm running down the halls to the IT room, searching for a specific sophomore named Kyle White, a popular computer geek in our school.
Popular for his IT expertise, that is.
But the guy who opens the door when I knock, is definitely not Kyle, because Joe described him as tall, skinny, and tawny. This guy is just about my height, on the brink of filling out, and has a skin that's fair enough for his nose to be peppered with rusty freckles.
He's wearing a face mask, with the green facet facing outwards.
He stares at me, a bored expression marring his face. I can't help acknowledging the distant seams of familiarity his half-covered face affects.
"What do you need ?" He asks, tone just as disinterested.
"Hi, you don't happen to know where I can find Kyle White, do you ?" I ask warily, striving to sound friendly. The resident look of boredom he sports proves I've failed miserably.
He doesn't answer, instead, he continues to stare at me through droopy lids, slowly opening the door wider for me to enter, which with only an ounce of uneasiness, I do.
He shuts the door and points to the back of the room, where a guy is tapping furiously on his keyboard.
"Thank you" I tell him with a smile, to which he responds with a nod before going back to his spot, his trip interrupted by a few coughs; it's then that I realise I've mistaken his illness for boredom. It explains the mask and the sunken eyes.
I make my way over to the other guy.
"Kyle White ?" I ask upon standing a foot or two beside him, in respect for his privacy.
"Yes..?" He says when his eyes abandon the screen to look at me, the answer comes out more of a question.
"I need help with something, and everyone told me you're my best shot"
"Everyone ?" He asks, an incredulous brow popped up. I only nod with a smile.
It seems the statement gave his ego a boost, because he reclines back on his chair, hands going behind his head.
"I'm listening" He says, grinning at me.
"You have to promise me first, this stays between us" As I tell him this, my heart flies to my throat. His eyes narrow slightly in suspicion, cocking his head to the side.
Oh God, please don't make me beg it out of him.
"What's in it for me ?" He asks after a while of afflicting silence. I quickly fish out what Joe referred to as 'my winning card'
"A coupon to Royaume de la-" He snatches the coupon from my hand before I'm even finished. His amazed eyes rake over the coupon, flipping it over, and then back again.
"Where'd you get this ? This place is wicked expensive" He nearly chokes out the words. He's right, it's not the average coffee shop that students on a budget can visit whenever they deem fun.
I gently take the coupon back from him, to regain his attention.
"50% discount on beverages and 25% on dessert ? Who are you ?" He asks wide-eyed, dramatically grabbing the arms of his swivel chair and pushing himself back a bit so the seat rolls a few feet away. I only roll my eyes.
"Yeah, valid for a month and it's all yours but you have to promise me this stays between us" I say sternly, looking him dead in the eyes, when his face lights up at my confession.
"I promise!" He almost yells gleefully, reaching over to grab it from my hand, but I only extend my arm back and away from his reach.
"The favour first" I remind him, returning the coupon back into my bag and swapping it for the paper with the IP address jotted down on it.
Once I put it in front of him, he picks it up, studying it for a second. He makes no effort to hide the dubiousness, scrunched eyebrows and all.
"That's it ? You want someone's location ?" He turns to me when he asks this, gazing at me through skeptical eyes.
"Yeah"
He just shrugs, adjusting the eyeglasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Just sit there and wait till I'm done, it shouldn't take long" He says pointing at a seat right opposite from him. He abandons the school's PC and grabs his personal laptop from his bag.
With one last look at the tabs that immediately began appearing once he started tapping on his keyboard, I go to plump myself on the chair, the sound of key tapping a music to my ears.
As promised, it only took him 2 minutes later than recess time, so here we are, 17 minutes later, exchanging items.
He hands me an address and I hand him the coupon, and where I choose to celebrate internally, he doesn't hesitate to punch the air.
With a shake of my head, I leave the IT room laughing at his antics.
Studying the address, I note that it's a whole hour drive North from here. I sigh as it occurs to me that it has to be a weekend for me to take the trip, since it's impossible to squeeze a two hour trip between the school day and the evening training.
On my way home at the end of the school day, I pull the address out of my backpack, still unable to believe I solved my father's encryption, let alone gathered an address.
I just have to find a way to sneak past the men on watch duty, I remind myself, puffing a breath of irritation.
As I'm still looking at the paper, I notice how the street -and the paper- dims only slightly when the clouds race to mask the sun, making random shadows loom over the street.
It'll probably rain sometime in the evening, I realise, as I quicken my step.
Just as anticipated, by the time I'm twisting the key to the lock of the door, a few drops of rain tickled my face in different areas, before rolling down towards my chin and the edges of my jaw.
Once inside with the door shut, I toe my shoes off, stealing a glance at the clock, which tells me I have 3 more hours before training.
I could catch some sleep in the meantime.
By the time I've hanged my jacket on the coat hanger, there's a knock at the door.
I only have to turn to get it, since I'm the only one in the vicinity.
When I'm swinging the door open, I'm met with an unperturbed expression that stands at the opposite end of the scale of my own puzzled one.
To say I'm stunned at his appearance is an immense understatement, especially with the terms he left on our last encounter and the way he decided to disappear for four weeks.
••••
I was supposed to update yesterday, according to my schedule, but something unfortunate happened.
My baby sister fell sick for the past two days, with recurrent bouts of fever.
I spent the time nursing her (=
-Asia