He nodded. “Yes, I will send Ocho a very discreet message.”
“Wonderful!” Fola said, clapping her hands together. “Henry, I’ll help you get settled onto the plane.”
“I’ll come with,” Bilal said.
While Fola and Bilal went to help Henry, Perdita and Romeo were left behind in the tense silence between the two ex-lovers.
“It’s nice to meet you, Alfonso!” Romeo said, jutting out his hand for the prince to shake. “My name is Romeo.”
Alfonso shook Romeo’s hand enthusiastically. “Ah, the brother!”
“I have two brothers,” Octavius mumbled.
“And you are?” Alfonso asked Perdita.
Perdita was smiling, also finding this whole interaction very funny. “The sister,” she said.
“One of two,” Octavius added.
“I’ve always been so jealous of Ocho. I always wanted a lot of siblings.”
“It’s not as glamorous as it looks. We’ve all tried to kill each other at some point,” Perdita replied.
“I wish one of you had succeeded, so that I didn’t have to be here experiencing this right now,” Octavius said dramatically.
Prince Alfonso burst out into delighted laughter. “I forget how funny you are, Ocho,” the Prince said.
“Apparently not funny enough to go out with long-term,” Octavius replied.
“About that—” Prince Alfonso began, but was interrupted.
“Henry is all settled in now,” Fola said, a wavering in her voice.
“So this is it, I suppose,” Octavius replied numbly.
“This is it,” Perdita said with a nod.
They were all quiet then, watching the plane in the distance.
This was the happy ending Henry deserved; they would have to be okay with it not being so happy for them.
“I’m going to leave. I don’t want to see the plane fly off, I don’t want that to be my last image of Henry,” Fola said, and Bilal nodded in agreement.
“Me too,” Romeo replied, rubbing his eyes and looking away from the brilliant white of the plane.
“Should we go and get a taxi?” Perdita asked.
“You guys go off without me, I want to see the plane fly,” Octavius replied.
“Are you sure, Tavi?” Fola asked.
He nodded confidently. “Yeah, I’m sure,” he said, his voice a little hoarse.
Fola hugged him tight, Bilal told him to text him when he arrived back home, and Perdita and Romeo bade him farewell as they walked away from the tarmac, back to their real lives.
“You’re so sweet with your brothers and sisters,” Prince Alfonso said.
“I’m sweet with everyone,” Octavius replied as he watched the stairs on the plane fold in on themselves, the plane door shutting for good.Why does losing Henry feel like an apocalyptic event? Why does this feel so much like the end of the world?
