‘Noted. Won’t happen again.I apologize,’ he replies, sounding very unapologetic if you ask me.
‘How about we just agree to leave each other alone for the rest of the journey?’ I snap back, irked.
‘Fine by me,’ he says, rejecting the premium economy headset and shoving some standard airline-issue earphones into his ears before stretching out to tinker with the TV screen on the wall in front of him.
I shake my head. This is very much not going to plan so far but at least he’s now otherwise engaged and I can enjoy the flight in peace.
It’s a pretty busy flight and I decide to get to grips with some reading material while the final passengers find their seats. Callum, who I am definitely not paying any attention to, is poring over the safety manual and I take the much more favourable option of the in-flight magazine. Why are there so many cigar options? Do people seriously buy those on planes these days? Or, you know, anywhere?
It feels like we’ve been sitting here for a while and I check the time, worrying that we might be delayed. I’m fidgeting in my seat, keen to get this ordeal up and running, when the pilot makes an announcement over the intercom.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We apologize for the delay in take-off, we’re just waiting for one final passenger to board and then we’ll get straight to it. The good news is we haven’t lost our take-off slot. Current flight time to Singapore Changi Airport is approximately thirteen hours. We should be landing at Singapore time 5.30 a.m., Tuesday morning.’
There’s a collective grumble among fellow passengers as members of the cabin crew usher the latecomer on board, a couple of people going as far as to boo the person. This seems a bit much to me, given that the captain said we haven’t lost our take-off slot. Still, I would not like to be setting foot onto this flight with a bunch of angry travellers staring me down, I think, looking up to offer a friendly smile to the late boarder.
My heart jumps right up into my mouth when I see who it is.
Seehim.
After all these years.
‘Hamish,’ I whisper almost inaudibly to myself as my ex-boyfriend walks past. The one that got away.
Can it be?
Callum pulls his earphones out and gives me an are-you-talking-to-me look. I swat him away with the back of my hand, like he’s a fly approaching my crisps. My eyes track back to follow the figure of the man I fell in love with all those years ago. The man I have definitely held a candle for ever since, even though I’ve tried not to. The truth is I’ve thought about Hamish most days since we last hung out at this very airport, almost exactly a decade ago to the day, when I waved him off before his trip to Australia. Since I cried hot tears because I was going to miss him so much. Since he took my hand and held me tight and promised he’d be back within the year.
As the days turned into weeks and I still hadn’t heard from him, I had to resign myself to the fact that he wasn’t planning on getting in touch. That he’d made his move abroad permanent which left no hope for the two of us ever getting back together. I know I should have been mad at him for staying, or at the very least not getting in touch, but I just couldn’t summon up the energy to feel that way about him.
Because for a while, Hamish was everything. To say he swept me off my feet is an understatement. I guess I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since and always coming up short.
And now here he is with those piercing blue eyes. Those laughter lines I loved so much are a little more pronounced and his sandy-blond hair is even longer now, but otherwise, he’s the same as he ever was.
I watch him smile apologetically at a plane full of quite angry passengers and try not to gasp.
‘What a jerk,’ mutters Callum as Hamish is shown to his seat.
‘Don’t be a dick,’ I immediately snap back.
Callum’s gaze lands on me. ‘He’s late for a long-haul flight. If we get held up, we’ll miss our connecting flight from Singapore to Perth. It could have huge repercussions for this entire trip.’
‘Yes, but the pilot said we’ll be moving shortly and that we haven’t missed our slot. Keep your pants on.’
For reasons unknown, referencing Callum’s pants makes my cheeks feel hot so I flick my hair in front of my face as a distraction.
‘I’ll go back to the safety manual,’ Callum says, holding his hands up.
‘Good idea.’
‘Aren’t you reading yours?’
‘All right, Dad, I’ll get round to it.’
Eyebrow arched, Callum turns his attention back to the laminated sheet while I crane my neck to see where Hamish went. I cannot believe he’s on this flight, too. He hasn’t spotted me yet and I wonder whether I should go over and say hi. I mean, I definitely should, right? Not now, obviously, I don’t want to cause a pre-take-off scene. But when we’re at altitude and the seatbelts signs are off? Bloody hell, how exciting! Maybe this is it. Maybe this is Fate telling me it’s finally time to get back together with Hamish?
I try to calm myself down a bit. After all, I should not get ahead of myself. He could well be dating someone else. Or maybe even married? A few of my friends have started getting married now so it’s not out of the question.
‘Party starts now, Jennifer,’ I overhear one of the women in the row behind me saying cheerily. ‘Your divorce has come through, we’re on our way Down Under, and it is my mission to find you a multitude of single men to flirt with for the entire trip.’
