Tempting Fate
In the past, 26th December 2014
Alice Faye stared at the holiday decorations around the airport and sipped at her hot chocolate, while playing with the delicate ear ring that glinted on her ears. The VIP Lounge that she sat in was relatively quieter than the hustle and bustle outside so she was able to read the book in front of her in peace. But just now the book had turned boring and she wanted to go back to her own house. The snow outside showed no sign of abating and she felt that this was the worst decision she had made in a while.
Never again, never again was she ever going to give a surprise to anyone! Surprises had a horrible way of backfiring! Just yesterday she had been sitting in a similar lounge in her own city, happily planning to surprise her grandparents and spend the holidays with them! Who would have thought that on reaching here, she would be the one receiving the surprise when her grandparents would not even be home but on a cruise somewhere on the Mediterranean sea wanting to soak in some warmth! What was even good about the sunny shores? The snow was a hundred times better!! And now she was stuck here in this airport with nothing to look forward to and the snow piling up by the minute. Looking up she complained," What else can go wrong now?"
Frowning, she looked back into her book hoping that her flight would be announced soon. Not that she had anything to look forward to back home also. Her parents were going to be busy schmoozing this party season, socializing every night and sleeping in every morning while her best friend Lana, was out partying with the rest of their class at her sea side resort.
From the corner of her eye she saw a tall figure walk into the lounge but other than noticing the all black clothing of the man, she paid no mind to him and continued to read her book.
Adam Perry, threw a cursory glance around the lounge, noticing that there was no one here other than a young girl who was immersed in a book. Ordering a coffee to keep himself awake, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes battling to stay awake. He had been travelling for seventy six hours straight from a concert where he had received the news of his grandmother's death and then after organizing the funeral as per her wishes was supposed to have been back with the tour. Though they did not have any more concerts for the next week, they still needed to practice. They had just debuted and started to see a rise in popularity but still had to slog to promote their work. As he sat back in the lounge, his heart ached for his grandmother. He needed to be back for the new year but unluckily, his flight had faced turbulence and made an emergency landing in this forsaken little mountain town. It was a wonder that there was even an airport here. And that too filled with people. He wanted to immerse himself in his work and not think about his loss. Because at this point, no matter how much he needed his grandmother and missed, his band, needed him more. They were depending on him to pull himself together just as they had started gaining acknowledgement for their hard work. Or else every dream they had would be a waste.
Just as he was trying desperately to distract himself with thoughts of work, dark and turbulent thoughts seemed to be sucking him into their vortex, a small melody sounded making him open his eyes a sliver. Just as the tune was abruptly cut off, K heard her voice answer with a sweet, "hello?"
Voices were his business and the sweet sound immediately caught his attention as he shamelessly eavesdropped on her conversation," Yes mother, I know. Well I wanted to spend some time with grandpa and grandma instead of going for that party. It's alright. They deserved a holiday and they could not have expected me to give them a surprise." A pause. " Yes I am on the way back. No I am not going to be staying alone for the holidays."
Adam smirked and looked at the girl even more carefully. So this is what a good and filial girl looked like, eh? She had been wanting to spend some time with her grandparents. This time he gave her another look over. Dressed in an oversized sweater and loose jeans that did nothing to show off her figure, she was immersed in her book. Even as she conversed on the cell phone, her eyes had been glued to the page in front of her. The big spectacles covered half of her face and hid her eyes. But her dark blonde gleaming hair that was piled atop her head made her look cute and the way she was biting her lip made him think that she was beautiful even without the need to glamor herself up. What a rare beauty. And a filial one. His grandmother would have definitely liked this girl with the sweet personality.
However after admiring the classical beauty, Adam paid no mind to the girl and thanked the server who had just placed the coffee in front of him. Just then another server walked up to him to inform him that their flight was ready to take off. Looking down at the steaming cup of coffee disappointedly, he nodded and stood up.
Just as he had taken a few steps, Adam felt the world around him spin a bit and he clutched at the chair, taking a moment to steady himself. Once he felt better, he promised himself to take a double shot of the expresso on the flight after sleeping for a bit and walked away determinedly.
At the same time, another server had informed Alice that her flight was ready for take off and she began to gather her things that were spread out a bit on the table.
As these two people were determined to go towards their own destination, fate had other plans.
Suddenly, the world turned black for K and he fell himself falling sideways.
Alice saw the man stumble from the corner of her eyes and instinctively caught the man but unable to handle the man's weight, fell backwards with the man still in her arms.
Landing hard, Alice felt a jarring pain in her the back of her head as it was bashed against the hard flooring, making her groan in agony.
She should not have tempted fate was the last thought that entered her mind before she too lost consciousness!