An Encounter with Jacob

SPAIN Airport

March 31,  2031

14:23 PM

ANGELINE was fidgeting in her seat. She seemed impatient as she kept her eyes on the door of the aircraft's washroom, wanting to use it for herself. In a short moment, it opened. Instantly she stood up, but there was a sudden bulk of the body in a hurry. She almost lost her balance, but her hands were quick on her waist. She raised her eyes to the owner of those hands. An Adonis-like face stared at her for seconds.

"Please, pay attention to where you're going..." said the deep, cold voice in her ears. But the man was not looking at her.

"T-thanks..." she said without hiding her disgust at what happened. She took a step. Put a distance between the two of them. The man's face was familiar to her. She wanted to ask the man, but he walked away.

Maybe I was mistaken, she thought and hurried on her way to the comfort room. With her eyes closed for a moment, she let go an emitted sigh of relief and relaxed when she returned to her chair and leaned on the reclining seat when she suddenly checked with her right hand on top of her head. The shade she was wearing earlier was not hanging on her it. She immediately looked around her side and searched the rear of her chair. Nothing, not even inside her bag. She was frantic and busy looking around her area. Her thoughts were busy while searching for it.

Oh heaven's, her running thought while she kept looking for it. I need that sunglass. I can't do without it. Where the hell did I put it?

She looked down under her chair then a smile played on her lips. She found it at the foot of a passenger next to her. The man was bent over as if asleep. He was wearing almost the same dark shades she had.

She was immobile for a while, sizing up the motionless body if she tried to reach her item next to his foot. The guy must be very tall. His thigh covered the area where he sat down. His arms crossed in front of him like hugging himself.

What the hell happened? She was scolding herself quietly for her recklessness. She hesitated for a moment before she bent slightly. She could hardly breathe from her position, with her head almost reaching the floor. She took a deep sigh and then changed her bowing position to prevent difficulties with her movement. She had no choice but to kneel a little, which ended up in a crawling action under the sleeping man's thigh so that she could avoid her head hitting his thigh. Her hand almost reached the sunglasses, but one of the man's feet moved and slightly kicked the item to her chagrin. Her mouth dropped open in disbelief, and her eyes squinted. A bit of anger attacked her, but at the same time nervous. Her silent eruption shook her mind.

She took a deep breath, and then her eyes focused on the object she was trying to get. Slowly, the thing crawled, going to her hand, which she grabbed swiftly. She breathed loosely, with a tug of a smile on her lips. But it quickly disappeared when she noticed the pairs of eyes fixed on her. She was immobile as if a snake had bitten her when she looked up and found the man bent his head looking at her closely.

He took off his sunglasses and fixed his eyes on her in that funny position on the floor. A sardonic smile touched his lips.

"Hello, my dear Angeline. Of all places, surprised to see you right at my feet."

"J-Jacob..." she said as she adjusted herself and stood up, but she hit a soft body. The next thing she heard was the crashing of glasses behind her to the floor. Her eyes widened, staring into his eyes. Before attending to the screams behind her, she swallowed a lump down her throat and exhaled deeply. She swayed when she turned, but those arms quickly caught her.

Pairs of eyes looking at them.

Angeline wished she could disappear right at the moment. She breathed heavily. She was totally in great shock and felt her back leaning on his chest. Only her hearing functioned well and heard everything when Jacob took the responsibility to handle the matter. He handed the stewardess his credit card to settle some damages.

"Hey, you want to sit down?"

That was almost a whisper right next to her ear. Angeline nodded without thinking like being submissive at Jacob's hand. But she was stupefied when he sat down and pulled her on top of his lap. Her heartbeat was dribbling. She swallowed hard and looked back at him sideways.

"Um... Thank you, I feel fine now..." she whispered and put her hand on the back of the reclining chair in front of her and carefully eased herself away from his lap. She could feel the pair of those eyes focused on her while she moved back to her reclining chair. She immediately cleaned the sunglasses and wore them.

"It's been a long time, Angeline. Great to see you here," he said.

A simple smile peeked out on her lips. Her way of saying she did not want to prolong the talk. In doing so, she was careful with her movement to avoid making any sound.

"Where have you been?"

She counted in her head, contemplating whether she would ignore his query.

"Oh, just been busy here and there," she finally responded. "As much as I'd like to talk with you for old time's sake, not now. I'm so sleepy and taking an opportunity while in this space. Kindly ask my grandma for whatever refund I need to--"

"Forget it," he cut her words. "It's all settled already. All right, I agree with you for now. Let's have a chat some other time since there are important matters we should talk about, my dear."

"What about?" Her eyes widened, looking back at him. It was as if her brain had suddenly woken up. She seemed to have an alarm bell ringing from his tone. She had wished everything submerged at the back of her mind any related event about the man. But seeing him again brought back memories she wanted not to dwell on. There would be a fight will inside her head about this event just now.