The flight had not been awful but my body
was just sore from being seated for so many hours. Somehow, those airplane
exercises did not do the trick for me. Besides getting in the way of some
people, they didn’t accomplish anything. When we finally landed, I felt my legs
weakened by the journey. And to think I still had six more hours to go. But at
least I had twenty hours to refresh and relax before hopping into another
aircraft.
I went through customs quite fast, and then
headed straight for the airport hotel. I had my only bag with me and was
certainly happy to be able to sleep in a proper bed for at least a few hours.
The lady at the counter of the hotel seemed a
bit distracted by something and kept looking towards a TV located in a small
meeting area besides her post. I asked her if there was something wrong and she
said something about a hurricane that was battering some islands in the south.
It was feared that the storm could come this way. But, at the moment, her words
seemed not all that important to me. As a matter of fact, the moment she gave
me my bedroom keys, I had only the bed on my mind.
The walk from the front desk to my room felt
short and, seconds after I closed the door, I had stripped to my underwear and
was making my way into the cozy queen sized bed. I fell asleep fast didn’t even
remember to put an alarm in case I slept longer than I expected.
I had a dreamless sleep, very nice and cozy.
When I woke up, I saw the sun through the curtain, which could only mean that
the day was coming to an end. I grabbed my cellphone and realized I had slept
seven hours straight, which was perfect for a guy that had to make another
six-hour flight the following morning.
I stayed in bed a few minutes until I realized
I could have a nice hot shower and change my clothes, which I did. I even sang
through my entire time in the bathroom. For some reason, a hotel made me feel
special, more so when my company was the one that had to pay and not me. After
changing clothes to a less constricting combo of shirt and jeans, I decided to
head down to the restaurant.
When I got there, I noticed there was no
self-service but one could order anything from one of the waiters, which I did:
a big cheeseburger with fries and onion rings. Yeah, I was starving after my
sleep. The television screens were still broadcasting images from the storm in
the tropics and warned people in the city were I was that they should be
mindful of the storm for the next few days.
When my burger came I ate it so fast, I
surprised myself, and the waiter, who kindly asked if I needed something else.
I told him to bring me lemonade and to put it all on my tab, as I had no money
to pay and even If had had any money I wouldn’t. After a week of hard work, I
had earned all the nice treatment.
There were only a couple more tables occupied
and some people on the bar. I looked at those people, the kind that have their
first drink of the day at four o’clock. It was nice to be that careless with
one’s decisions, although maybe they had interesting jobs or just lives that required
that extra kick. As I drank my beverage, I saw them all one by one and realized
I knew one of those men: he had worked with me years ago but he had left,
probably fired but I did not know for a fact.
He noticed I was looking at him and stared
back and, clearly, he realized who I was. He waved, a whisky glass in one hand,
and came walking towards my table, smiling like an idiot. I had just remembered
I did not like him very much when he took a seat just besides me.
He acted all surprised and shocked and happy
to see me but somehow I know it was all a lie. I normally knew when people were
being deceitful to me and guy just didn’t seem quite honest to me. He smiled a
lot and I had always mistrusted that and he had stopped drinking, which was
clearly a bad sign.
The man started talking about his new job,
where he traveled a lot and met many famous people. He was something like and
insurance guy for the wealthy or something like that. To be honest, I did not
pay much attention to anything he said and, from time to time, I would look
towards the screens still showing what was happening in another part of the
world.
He obviously noticed me doing do because he
started giving me he’s opinion of the matter, as if an opinion was able to
change the path of an incoming storm. Yeah, I clearly remember I hated that
guy. He was always trying to be visible, attracting everyone to his stupid life
and just trying to be funny and just coming out pathetic. He was the kind of
person that was desperate for attention and I had never cared for any of that.
Without any warning, I told him I had some
affairs to attend in my room and shook hands with him. As I walked away he told
me to email him some time and I nodded but I clearly had no intention to do so.
I decided to get around the airport, which was huge, and walk around until my
flight became available on the screens all around the place.
The airport had three terminals and each one
was simply huge and well connected, so walking was just a pleasure, looking at
people come and go, the pilots and flight attendants and all the colors their
uniforms sported. Besides, I had always liked airplanes so my favorite thing to
do was buying some candy and then seating by a large window and stare and the
planes moving all over the tarmac. It was like watching ants work on giants or
something. Maybe that’s what was attractive to me…
After getting bored and running out of candy,
I decided to shop for some souvenirs. They weren’t for me but for my friends
and family, all of whom loved to receive t-shirts and fridge magnets after I
had traveled around the world. My mother had a collection of those and I had
already bought her some in my earlier destination. I found a store that sold
several of those, shaped as animals and fruits so I bought a whole bag.
My sister’s gift was a bit trickier as she
loved clothing but I always seemed to forget what size she wore and which
colors she was into right now. They changed quite often and it was hard to keep
up with it. So I just bought her a black sweater with a funny image on it
thinking it went with everything and even if I got the wrong sixe I could tell
her I thought she could use at nights or something.
For my friends I bought boxes and boxes of
chocolate and candy. That was what they liked, besides booze, which I couldn’t
buy because I had always been scared a bottle would break and then of my
underwear would smell of vodka or something. Some of the candy I bought were
filled with rum and gin so that would cover me with them.
I went back to my room, realizing my flight
was only three hours away. I got everything I had bought into my suitcase but I
couldn’t make the chocolate boxes fit in so I took that on their bad and hoped
for security officers not to annoy me about it. I took all my things; check the
room twice for things I may have left around and then left the room. In the
front desk, the receptionist was busy on the phone, speaking occasionally. She
hung up and attended me quickly to go away rather hastily.
Not thinking twice about it, I walked straight
to customs again, then to my gate were I sat down to wait for the boarding
procedure. As I checked my emails on my phone, an airline worker dressed in
light blue and with jet black hair walked to the counter and spoke on the microphone.
-
Ladies and gentlemen, Air Jet has to
announce the cancellation of this flight due to a serious event that has taken
place. We will take care of accommodations and will help you get into a later
flight to get to your destinations.
People started to quarrel with her and, not
talking to a microphone, visibly tired and fed up by passenger’s attitude, she
said:
-
A man committed suicide. He, somehow, got to the building above this gate and jumped. He landed… he landed on the plane.
