[At CHANGI International Airport]

“I need a ticket to New York. ASAP”, asked a barely-there frail voice.

“Give me a moment to check Ma’am.”

The stewardess said politely and looked back at the screen, typing into the computer.

“Ma’am the earliest is CS airlines, but the economy is full. Would you like to opt for the business class in CS airlines or shall I schedule you for tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

There was no way in which she could possibly bear to stay there for another night. Tomorrow was not an option for her.

“Can you please check for any last-minute cancellations? I really need to go back.”

She asked with a pair of pleading eyes and a quivering voice.

Seeing her plight, the stewardess asked,

“Would you like to book a ticket in business class then?”

All Akira could do was to nod because right now that was the only choice that she had.

The girl who always compared the yogurt brand prices to save a couple of cents didn’t even flinch for a second as she swiped her credit card and shelled out 3700 US$. She tried to restrain the tears prickling her eyes but it was becoming next to impossible to contain them. The pain she felt in her heart hounded her. All she wanted was a quick escape. 

An escape from the cruel and harsh reality of this world.

She gripped her boarding pass tightly in her hand and rushed towards the security checkpoint. All she wanted to do was to get far away from this place, as soon as it was humanly possible. She didn’t think she belonged there, she was not meant to stay.

After clearing her immigration, she went to the nearest information panel for flight information. As soon as she reached there, the huge screen flickered with an update. Red letters sprung out beside the flight number and destination.

China Southern Airlines

Flight to JFK – Delayed. New Boarding Time – 03:30

Her flight was delayed by 2 hours.

Two hours !!!

Even the universe seemed to have contrived to imprison her. Just like everyone else, even fate was standing against her, thwarting her free will.

She didn’t bat an eye as she stared at the screen. With each passing second, her spirit crushed further, lying in the dust on the ground… shattered into trillions of fragments. She took in a deep breath, trying to control her emotions, to compose herself, but she failed miserably. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she fled away from the information panel. She was desperate to be alone, to find a hidden corner where she could unburden her tears, away from prying eyes.

So when she saw the sign to the washroom, she dashed towards it.

She clutched her purse and started sprinting. But before she could even enter the lounge area she bumped against someone.

A head-on collision.

His built was rock solid, so he didn’t move an inch but she fell down because of the impact of the collision. His musky fragrant smell which she had just inhaled was suddenly overpowered with the smell of coffee within a split of a second. He was wearing an expensive suit and from the look of his shoes, she knew that he meant business. His coffee had spilled and the documents that he was holding were scattered all over the place.

“I am so sorry. I am really really sorry.”

Saying that she immediately started collecting a few of the sheets which were strewn all over the floor, but she had no courage to lift her head up and look at him as she didn’t want him to see her in her messed-up state.

She didn’t want to be pitied. So she stood up in a hurry, bowed to apologize, and proceeded to run into the washroom before he could utter a word to her. As soon as she found an empty stall in the washroom, she rushed in to cry her heart out.

Seconds became minutes.

But the stream of tear didn’t stop for quite some time.

Finally, after she was able to tame them, she came out and started wiping her face in front of the mirror. At that moment only did she realize how disheveled she looked. She was in the pajamas she had changed into yesterday night and her hair was tied in a messy bun that looked more like a rat’s nest than anything that should be on a human head. All this crying had left her looking like an absolute mess. But she didn’t care.

She took out her phone which was in silent mode till now.

57 missed-calls. 2 from her brother and the rest from Anthony. She kept staring at the screen and then decided to check her Whatsapp messages. She had 220 unread messages. All from Anthony. She started reading them one by one.

“Babe listen to me. It’s not what you think.”

“Can you please pick up my phone? Can we talk like adults?”

“Do not jump into assumptions ok? At least hear me out. Do not overthink babe. Please just pick up my call babe.”

“Where is your trust? Can you just trust me this once? It’s all in your head. I have nothing to do with her. She is just a friend and you know that.”

“I knew that you would prepare something for me and stay up late in the night. So I didn’t tell you that I was back in the city. Trust me, babe, I had no other intention. I had no idea that Becky would come to surprise me. It was all her.”

“Where are you, babe? Please talk to me.”

“I love you and only you babe.”

Akira kept on scrolling down reading the messages.

She wanted to believe in his words and his logic. It hurt her to even wonder if all his feelings for her were false. Even though she had seen it with her own eyes, her heart refused to believe it.

She had come all the way from New York to Singapore to surprise her boyfriend. Little did she know that she would be the one receiving the shock of her life. Instead of surprising him, she found her life falling apart in front of her eyes.

She gasped for air as she recalled that horrendous sight. But she knew that now was not the right time or the right place. So she tried hard to recompose herself and dialed a number.

“Bro !!! I am coming back. And yes, you were right. Anthony is an asshole.”

And the dam broke again. Tears rolled down her eyes and she let the grief consume her.

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