Daniel was fast asleep when the plane made its first stop in
“Dan, I’m bored. I need someone to talk to. Walter, Charles, and Larry
are too narrow-minded for me to handle. Can we talk?” she asked with pleading
eyes.
“Yeah,” Daniel replied in a groggy voice. He rubbed his eyes with the
back of his hands to adjust to the light. It was then that he noticed the plane
was not in the air. “Why aren’t we flying?”
“Oh, we’re in
“Well, I guess it didn’t.”
“Then I’m so sorry for waking you up. I didn’t know. Really,” Rebecca
apologized. “Go back to sleep. I promise I won’t wake you again.”
“Now that I’m awake, I don’t think I’ll fall asleep again. We might as
well talk about something,” Daniel replied. He stretched out for a moment, catching
a glimpse of Alexia’s sleeping face just in front of his seat. Her head was
propped on her shoulder with a pillow, and she was snoring quietly. Daniel turned
back to Rebecca, smiling slightly about what he had just seen. Alexia looked
so beautiful no matter what she was doing.
Daniel hadn’t noticed that Rebecca was talking to him until she said,
“Earth to Dan, where are you?”
“Huh?” he replied, staring at her blankly.
“I just asked you, ‘What is Chance like?’” she repeated for him.
“Oh, sorry I wasn’t listening,” Daniel apologized. “Chance. There are
so many things I can tell you about her. What do you want to know?”
“What’s she like?”
“Well, she’s really friendly. Everyone seems to get along well with her.
She’s very talented. She can play the guitar and the piano, and her voice is
absolutely marvelous to listen to. She’s got Christina Aguilera’s octaves. Chance
can hit some notes that even Darren can’t hit,” he explained with a small laugh.
Rebecca smiled and he continued. “She writes some really good music. Most of
it was inspired by her parents’ deaths a few years back. She’s still very sensitive
about that. She’s got a very pretty face, and her eyes are full of life. There’s
no one in this world like her.”
“You love her, don’t you?” Rebecca asked.
“I don’t love her the way Darren loves her, but I do love her like a
sister. There isn’t a thing in this world I wouldn’t do for her,” Dan said,
his eyes gleaming with a sudden realization that Chance was the sister he never
had.
“Aw,” Rebecca replied, a smile curling at the edges of her lips. “That’s
so sweet. I never thought someone like you could feel this way about a person.”
“What do you mean, someone like me?” Daniel was getting a little annoyed
by her last comment.
“I mean, someone as quiet and shy as you. Nobody ever knows when you’re
in love with someone. Even Darren has a hard time trying to figure you out.”
“Is that so?” Daniel couldn’t believe what he was being told. He never
thought of himself as being so reserved as to not being able to show any emotions.
“Yes. And I have a suggestion on how to improve that. Open up to more
people. Don’t be afraid to just come out any say something to someone you’ve
just met,” Rebecca advised. “I saw you talking to that girl in the next row.
Go up there and talk to her when she wakes up. That’s all you have to do.”
Daniel nodded. Rebecca was right. He did need to open up a little more.
Being closed off from the world wasn’t the way to live.
Just in front of him, Alexia was beginning to stir. She yawned and stretched
out. Daniel saw his chance to be out of character and stood up. He sat down
beside her quietly.
Alexia turned to see Daniel sitting beside her, watching her every move
just as she had been watching his earlier. “Hi,” she said quietly.
“Hi,” he replied.
“Nice to see you again. What time is it and why is the plane stopped?”
Alexia asked, yawning once more as she began to wake up.
“It’s close to three in the morning, and we’ve landed in
“That’s nice to hear,” she replied.
“Yeah, we’ll be in
“How do you wanna pass the time?”
“Talking with you.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet of you.”
Daniel blushed making Alexia smile. She had never seen anyone so shy,
but she was ready to take on anything in order to get more money. Throughout
her life, she had always lived in poverty, stealing whatever she could from
stores on the streets of
As Alexia became more skilled at her craft, she began to go for the wealthy
socialites of the city. After scheming nearly over half a million dollars out
of various patrons of
Alexia knew she was doing the trick to Daniel since he was already beginning
to warm up to her. His eyes said it all; he was hook, line, and sinker.
“So, is there anything in particular you want to talk about?” Alexia
asked, leaning in closer to him.
“Not really,” Daniel replied. He stared deeply into the deep blue pools
of her eyes. They seemed so warn and tired, making her look older than she really
was. He was tempted to ask her what she had done in her life to make her eyes
seem so dull, but she was already suspecting something.
“Where are you staying in
“Um… The Plaza hotel,” Daniel said. He was trying his best to see through
the wall that blocked the real side of Alexia. Her eyes moved away from him
before he was able to figure out her secrets.
The plane began to move away from the platform that extended out from
the airport, and takeoff was eminent. Daniel sat back in his seat and quickly
put on his seatbelt. This was the first time on this flight that he had remembered
he hated flying. His nervousness became more apparent as the plane taxied down
the runway. Alexia noticed him become tense and unmoving and placed her hand
over his in hopes of helping him calm down.
“Dan, it’s okay,” she quietly told him. A smile grew across her cherry
red lips. He looked at her and began to ease up at the sound of her harmonic
voice. It was all the small stuff that Alexia did that made Daniel feel strongly
attracted to her. For the rest of the flight, these little things helped him
through two more takeoffs and landings until they finally arrived at
“I guess that’s the end out our journey,” Alexia said as she stood up
to retrieve her bag from the overhead bin. “It was nice talking to you.”
“It was nice talking to you, too,” Daniel replied as he took a pen and
a scrap piece of paper out of the pocket of his khaki cargo pants. He scribbled
something onto the paper and handed it to Alexia.
She stared down at the long line of numbers written in succession and
smiled up at him. ‘Bingo!’ Alexia thought to herself, hugging the little piece
of paper in her hand as if it were a baby.
“That’s my cell number. Feel free to call me whenever,” Daniel told her
as he stared into her eyes once more before turning and leaving with Walter,
Rebecca, Larry, and Charles. Alexia began to frantically search her pockets
for a scrap piece of paper herself, and when one was found deep down under a
pile of gum wrappers, she scribbled down her own number and ran out of the plane
to see if she could still catch Daniel before he left the airport.
As she made her way towards baggage claim, Alexia spotted him and his
crew as far from the carousel as they could possibly be, bags in hand. She ran
in their direction, but didn’t notice the “Caution: Wet Floor” sign that was
lying on the floor next to a puddle of water. A few feet away stood Daniel with
his friends, conversing softly. As Alexia ran across the wet floor, she could
feel herself skid over the tile.
Daniel had just turned around to check and see if anyone was behind him
when Alexia flew into his outstretched arms. He had barely caught her from falling
onto the hard gray tiles. She looked up at him, her soft blond hair in a disheveled
mess across her face, and hanging from his arms. He gently pulled it back with
his hand, his fingers touching the soft curves of her face.
A goofy smile appeared across Alexia’s lips as she tried to hide her
embarrassment. “I’m so sorry about this. I didn’t mean to startle you or anything.
I just realized you forgot something on the plane,” she said, regaining her
footing and brushing herself off with her shaking hands. She was still a little
freaked out by flying into Daniel.
“What?” he asked her, confused. He had all his bags. What was he missing?
“My phone number,” Alexia said as she held out the slip of paper that
had miraculously stayed in her hand even while she was hugging Daniel for support.
He took it and smiled. “Call me anytime,” she added, that sweet, innocent schoolgirl
smile appearing across her lips.
“I will,” Daniel replied as he looked Alexia over once more, her perfect
image being permanently etched into his mind.
“Bye,” she said.
“Bye.” Daniel turned and went back towards his friends. They had been
watching the scene unfold from the beginning.
“Go Danny!” Rebecca nearly shouted her joy.
He glared at her in dismay then said, “How many times have I told you
NOT to call me that?”
Rebecca giggled. “I don’t care. I’m buying you a drink when we get to
the hotel. This calls for a celebration. Daniel Jones finally got over his fear
of opening up to people.”
Again, Daniel gave her a dirty look, but she was too consumed in telling
the others what had happened on the flight that she didn’t notice.