13..14..15..16A
Her seat was 16A. It was a window seat. She knew it was a window seat. And she found her seat.
But there was already someone on the seat next to her. The one next to the aisle.
It was a guy reading the flight manuals and cards on the seat pocket.
It was him.
Shocks.
...
She stared at him, not minding those asking her to move so they could get to their seats.
He stared right back.
When she realized what she had been doing, she scrambled to put her bag on the overhead bin. And just her luck, her bag fell on her head.
The guy sighed, stood up and put her bag in place while she was massaging her forehead.
He looked at her and gestured that she goes in first before sitting down.
She went in and sat down and continued to massage her temples, all the while trying to make as less movements as possible so not to disturb the one beside her.
It was a short trip to Busuanga Island. She was told the trip was around an hour. She could manage it, she told her self.
Aside from getting that extra pay for the overtime and the last-minute call, it's also a free birthday trip for her. It was going to be worth it. It will be worth it.
All she had to do, was go to Coron, go to the hotel, meet the models and shoot. Then she has the next 3 days for free.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
She calmed herself down while the fight attendants went through their routine of reminders. She tried to watch, but she was too distracted by the moving plane and the guy beside her to do so.
When she finally felt the plane moving up, she closed her eyes, held her hands together and breathed.
The moment she had sat down, he already felt like she was scared. It was quite obvious it was her first time flying. After what she did earlier, he didn't really want to bother her or help her calm down or something. But right now, she's looking like some cute lost puppy and he just couldn't resist so he got his headphones, played some sappy love songs and put one bud on his ear, the other on hers, before grabbing one hand, her right one and putting it on the armrest between them and closing his eyes.
She opened one eye and glanced at him.
"Hey, what are you doing? Let go of me!" She pulled her hand back.
"You're scared right? I'm trying to help you calm down. But okay, whatever." He rolled his eyes.
She took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. It's just that it's my first time flying and I have a habit of overthinking and reacting impulsively. Hence, what happened at Starbucks a while ago, and I know that isn't an excuse but I really am sorry and," she rambled on before he cut her off.
"Okay, okay. I get it. Calm down. You're not helping yourself."
He went back to his original position, with the earbuds still on his left ear and hand on the armrests. She pouted.
She didn't know what to do so she just went back to sitting down like a while ago but she grabbed the other earbud that he had left hanging. He smirked. She didn't react.
They were okay after that. It wasn't awkward at all, which was weird. The flight attendant serving food thought they were a couple. She tried hard not to gag, but he just laughed. They talked while they were eating and after. They were together until they had to part ways for their own hotel.
He got her a cab and she waved goodbye.
It was then that she realized something.
She never got his name.
...
After waking up from her short nap, she changed into a white lacy top and some shorts, grabbing her camera and phone in the process, before going down to the lobby to meet the models.
Scrolling through Instagram while walking, she almost bumped into a guy. Without turning her head to look at him, she said sorry but continued walking.
A few steps later, she was called by Ms. Nicole, the hotel's manager to introduce her to the models. Lauren, Ashley, Debbie, Mike and Zon. There was another guy who ran back to get his shades.
While she was making small talk with the models who seemed to know each other already, Ms. Nicole tapped her to introduce her to the guy who had ran back.
"Nadine, this James. James, this is Nadine, the photographer."
He smirked and held our his hand.
"It's nice meeting you, Miss Nadine."
And that moment, she knew that she was in for a long but memorable vacation.
