That One Flight

Gentle sleet snowed down upon me whilst I dragged my suitcase behind me. The slight accumulation of the built-up icy-snow crunches under my feet.

I always become so nervous when I go to airports and boy is this year no different. But along with all the nervousness, my body is also welcomed by the odd feeling of euphoria.

I approach the automated door and seconds pass before they open, allowing me inside.

"Welcome to Euromania International Airport..." but before the automated voice could finish its message, I have already walked into the main terminal. The warm air welcomed my cold body. I feel my hands become wet ever so slightly. I look down just to see drops of water scattered on my hands and on my outfit from the snow.

I regain my concentration on what is in front of me. Without a second thought, I shift my direction towards the departures.

Entering the actual terminal building, I make sure to take a look at one of the monitors.

With no further assistance, I easily manage to see and walk myself to 'Area 9'.

Immediately I walk into the queue as I notice the line only growing bigger and bigger with each passing moment. Taking my place, I am now hoping that all this will pass by very soon and I will get to my gate on time. But all I can do is hope.

Turning around left and right, I can't help but notice the queue only grow bigger in size. Briefly diverting my sight to myself, I look at my wristwatch. 10:08 AM.

I let out an impatient sigh as my eyes return to subconsciously scanning my surroundings.

'Am I going to even make it on time?...' I ask myself.

I turn my head towards the end of the line just out of curiosity to see how long the line has become. But, my eyes suddenly stumble upon a young man. I can't help but find him attractive. His confused face is only boosting his attractively. His dark hair sexily draped over his forehead, the furrowing of his eyebrows adds to his seriousness that is oh-so-visible. The more I look at him, the sexier he becomes.

I get kicked out of my thoughts when someone cleared their voice behind me. I then realise that the line has moved. Quickly grabbing my things, I catch up.

Waiting, I take another chance and look towards the direction of the young man who seems to be lost. I am not going to lie, I have seen many attractive men, but this one right here... he is my definition on handsome. My ex couldn't even compare to him.

I am once again kicked out of my thoughts when his teal eyes meet mine. Only seconds pass before he smiles at me.

His actions instantly cause me to look away as I feel a blush spread upon my cheeks, my heart speeds up, but not that I noticed.

It was also when I looked away from his beautiful eyes that I realised the line has moved, so I catch up by scooching a step or two.

I try to keep my eyes off him, I am looking at the queue, looking for any movements. I can hear some murmurs from behind me, I can't help but think that those murmurs have something got to do with me.

Each second feels like a minute, five minutes felt like five hours. I can feel the temptation in me rise and it is getting to the point where it is becoming unbearable. A couple more seconds pass before I give in to the temptation, I feel the thirst, I want to see him, so I look back. It didn't take long before I notice him. My eyes pop out of my sockets when I realise he is in the same queue as me.

Once again, his eyes find their way to mine, his smile mesmerises me, but his wink really set me off guard. It caused another, more intense rush of red to stretch across my cheeks and before I knew it, I had my eyes back down on my bag prior to me filling the gap that laid in front of me.

It felt like hours have passed, when in fact 30 minutes or so have ticked away until I was next in line to get checked in. For those thirty minutes, I took any and every chance I found to look at this gorgeous gentleman. At times I was thankful that my clandestine sighting worked to my favour and at times I cursed myself for falling under his spell when his eyes met with mine.

I quickly reacted when one of the employees by the counter called out 'next', leading me towards the. Walking up to the counter, I am greeted by a young staff member. He smiled at me before helping me place my suitcase on the belt. After that, I handed him my passport.

"Where are you off to, if you don't mind me asking?". His question caught me by a surprise.

"...Ermmm, I..." I find it hard to begin my sentence, which only makes his let out a silent chuckle. Looking up at him, I am met with his friendly gaze. I take a deep breath before trying again.

"Belgrade, Serbia," I tell him.

"Very nice," he replies before scanning my passport. I can see him work something out with the tickets. Within ten seconds, he returns me my passport with a boarding pass inside.

"Vas let je na kapiji 125. Uzivajte u vasem letu. Srecan put. (You flight is at gate 125, enjoy your flight. Safe travels)," he says.

"Hvala vam puno (thank you very much)," I reply.

With that, I begin walking towards the exit of the check-in counter. Quickly looking down, I look again at my wristwatch. 10:45 AM. I have just about an hour before boarding begins, so I quickly head towards the gates, but before getting to the gates, I must go through security.

Reaching the queue for security, I am met by a long line right before me. Taking my place, I am once again forced to wait. I let out a gentle sigh as I am coming to the realisation that this may take longer than expected. Who am I kidding, this will take longer than expected.

Forty minutes drag by and I finally go through security. I feel relief by the fact that I manage to pass through security without any hassle.

Reaching the other side of security, I am met with many duty-free shops, they fill every single corner of this huge hallway.

Although I'd love to go into a few of these shops, my worry wins and I continue moving along. I need to find my gate because I don't have much time left.

A couple of monitors on the way to my gate catch my attention and I am forced to stop. I look at the information displayed on the screen for a double check, it does not take long before I find my flight EMA 6571. My assumptions are proven correct once I see the boarding time, and that my gate has not been changed.

EMA 6571 - TO- Belgrade - ON TIME - Boarding 11:50 - Gate 125.

From there on, I follow the signs above me to lead me to my gate.

I have walked about a hundred meters before reaching the end of the duty-free section and a barrier to where the gates are. The barrier is two automatic glass doors, one letting people into the gate section, while the other is used to let people back out into the big duty-free section.

I quicken my walk and go towards one of the two doors. They open and allow me access into the gates. It's bigger than I expected it to be.

Seconds pass before my eyes got caught by the gate numbers.

101, 102, 103, 104, 105...

I continue my walk whilst glimpsing at the flight information laid out of the monitors right outside each of the jetbridges.

Gate 105 -> EMA 2161 To - Narita - Final Call - Boarding Time - 11:00.

Gate 107 -> TPA 1957 To - Lisabon - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 11:25.

Gate 113 -> EMA 4132 To - Seattle - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 12:05.

Gate 115 -> AM 6684 To - Washington D.C. - Boarding Delayed - Boarding at 12:45.

Gate 117 -> EMA 8167 To - Rio De Janeiro - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 11:50.

Gate 122 -> EMA 5146 To - Los Angeles - Boarding Delayed - Boarding at 13:05.

Gate 124 -> LF 5413 To - Frankfurt - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 11:30.

And finally, my gate.

Gate 125 -> EMA 6571 To - Belgrade - Boarding On-Time - Boarding at 11:45.

I arrive at my gate with around fifteen more minutes to go. I see some people standing while most are still sitting. I get even more confused when I see that there isn't a plane at the gate. I hope the flight won't be delayed!

Anyways, I walk towards the top of the gate, where the seats that give a beautiful view of the outside are. Taking one of the idle seats, my eyes instantly dart out through the window where I see planes passing by. It is a very busy day at Euromania Airport, so there are A LOT of planes taxiing around. From the A380s to the 747s all the way down to even the small E175s.

Not even a full minute passes, my eyes once again divert down to my watch. 11:32 AM.

The chatter around me is what caused my head to turn. I see more and more people standing up and lining up. Most of the passengers look really confused. The apron of gate 125 is still empty. Turning back around, I am wondering whether I should stand up and join the growing queue, or wait here.

But it wouldn't have mattered. My eyes land on that guy, the blue-eyed angel. I am forced to stay down on my chair.

His eyes manage to find a way and meet mine, he sends me another smile followed by a wink, instantly causing me to lower my gaze from him. I don't want him to see the effect he has on me.

But I am proven wrong when I hear a deep voice greet me. I don't have to look up to know him.

"Hi... You look strangely familiar..." he says. I close my eyes, thinking if this is even real. Opening them back up, I face my nervousness by looking towards the deep voice. As I do, I am greeted by a warm smile as it spread across his lips.

"Do.. you mind?" he ushers for the empty seat beside me.

I begin to panic ever so slightly and immediately scooch away to try and give him space to sit. "Please..." is the only word I manage to spit out.

I hear him chuckle at my reply, I also notice how his eyes never went off mine.

"My name is James..." he says, stretching his hand out towards me. Subconsciously, I take his hand into mine before we shake our hands. "Nice to meet you James, I'm Ana," I reply.

The palms of our hands slowly drag off one another before we both retract our limbs back to ourselves.

"It's a pleasure meeting you too, Ana. But I have an important question for you".

"Huh?" I look at him to show that I am listening.

"How have you been?". His question leaves me raising my eyebrow, but it never the less causes his smirk to broaden even further.

Something about his intense gaze causes a swirling sensation to spin in my stomach. I discreetly try to lower my eyes from him to help myself, but it doesn't work. It's like just his presence is enough to leave a visible effect on me. But somehow, I manage to compose myself and give him a reply.

"To be honest, I am not too bad, tired. You?".

Even though I am not looking at him, I can feel his gaze lingering on my skin.

"I'm not doing too bad either," his sudden pause leaves me slightly confused. That is when I realised he scooches over towards me. "... especially after realising I have a secret admirer," he finished off his sentence with a whisper. I don't even have to say that his words left a big effect on me... My red cheeks say it all.

I can hear his silent chuckles, which I am lead to think is from my reaction, causing the blush that is already on my cheeks to furthermore strengthen.

"Don't worry..." his whisper catches me attention.

"I have that effect on most people... women to be more precise...".

I look up into his eyes just to see a wink that he sends my way. My head drops as quickly as it rose.

I hear him chuckle once again, right before the noise of the passengers behind us was the only audible sound.

"So tell me, why Belgrade?" he asks.

His question really took me off guard. I look up at him, just to see his head turn before tilting down so that his eyes can look into mine.

I try to give him a smile, but I feel like it was anything but that.

"I have family in Belgrade, so I am going to visit them. You?"

"Dunno really..." he begins. I notice how all his concentration is set outside the window in front of us. His eyebrows once again furrow. Seconds pass before he retracts his gaze back to me. "I have heard that the nightlife in Belgrade is pretty awesome, so why not give it a go, you know?". I find myself subconsciously nodding to his words.

"Tell me, are you Serbian?" he asks me.

I clear my throat before answering him.

"Yes, I was born and raised in Belgrade until my parents decided to move here, to Germany. I was 6 at the time..." I unintentionally stare at his leather jacket, I can't help but let all the memories seep back into my head. "Just some additional information about me," I add a couple of seconds later.

I can see him deeply gaze at me and I look at him back.

"You know, people keep on telling me this one thing about Serbia. I now see that it's no bullshit..." he says.

"And what is that?" I ask him. I can't help but let some of my curiosity peek through the surface.

He once again draws himself closer to me...

"How beautiful Serbian women are..." he whispers to me. I would never blush at this, I would never even come close to reacting the way I am now. But because it's him and he is whispering into my ear, I can't help but once again turn into a tomato.

I try to play it off with an eye roll.

"I have heard that flirt way too many times..."

"But it never fails to make you blush now, does it?". FUCK.

"You are unbelievable, you know that?" I tell him, something about the way he is looking at me and his smirk causes me to break into a smile too. I am beginning to damn myself for breaking into that smile because I see him moving even closer to me.

"Unbelievably handsome..." he 'corrects' me.

He causes me to roll my eyes once again.

"You roll your eyes, I'll ask you again about this when your lips are all over mine.".

WAIT WHAT!?

He laughs at my reaction to what he just said.

We were interrupted by the lady at our desk, where we will be boarding. She began speaking through the microphone that was on the desk.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I have just now received some information about Euromania flight 6571 to Belgrade. Boarding will be delayed, new boarding time will be expected in around 12:30. On behalf of Euromania Airlines, we apologize for the delay.".

I look at the ground as I feel slightly frustrated.

"So in an hours time... Huh?...".

"Yup..." James answers.

"What the fuck am I going to do for another hour?..." I mutter to myself.

"Talk to me..." I can hear his voice behind me. I really need to practice to mutter more quietly.

"Yeah, you really should learn how to mutter more quietly..." he says, chuckling with entertainment as I look at him, confused.

"You know, you should sometimes really speak in your thoughts, not out loud.".

I am about to say something, but I decide to stay quiet. Looking up at him, I am met my his amused smirk. I roll my eyes at him.

"Whatever..." I mutter under my breath.

"So you can mutter under your breath?" He teases me, but I reply with a sigh.

He chuckles behind me.

From James, I turn my attention to the window. I look outside at the busy, snowy taxiway.

I watch at the snow as it managed to find it's way from the sky down to the ground.

A Boeing 737-800 catches my attention as it taxing on the taxiway, moments later an Airbus A321-200 appears behind it and behind the A321, I can see an A320-200.

The two planes taxi across, but the A320 slows down before turning into our gate. It continues slowly moving towards the terminal before slowing and stopping completely.

Even though I am in an enclosed area, I can hear the engines of the aircraft running.

I walk up to the window, looking at the engines. They begin to slow down their spin, they shut down. This is something I love to do at airports while waiting for the preparations for the new load of passengers to board.

As the engines continue to slow down, I see the baggage handlers and caterers drive up to the plane. Minutes pass before the fueling truck joins them too.

Within seconds, I see the first few passengers exit onto the jetbridge. The plane began to disembark.