8. Aria
CHAPTER EIGHT
The sun is just barely cresting the horizon as Leo pulls his car into the parking lot at the airport. It was about a half hour drive from Idyll Cove to the closest international airport. I originally planned on driving myself, but yesterday after we finished practice, Leo asked if I wanted to ride with him. Since we had to be at the airport by five o'clock in the morning, it seemed like the better option.
Neither of us talked the entire drive. It was way too early to have any type of conversation. Leo doesn't really strike me as a morning person anyway. The rest of the skaters from our team were supposed to be meeting us here. We’re all flying on the same plane to Germany and we are supposed to be there for the next week for our competition.
There's a part of me that still feels a little unsure about all of this. Leo was right when he said we would finally click and things would work. For the past week and a half, we worked around the clock, skating together and perfecting our routine. I feel much more confident skating with him now, but I still have my reservations.
Thinking about the two of us being in perfect harmony almost seemed like it was too good to be true. There was a part of me that tended to air on the pessimistic side of things. Anything that could go wrong, would go wrong. Lately it felt like the universe was working against me. Things were going great and then I was without a partner. The odds were in my favor by ending up with Leo, although I still feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Leo finds a spot and pulls his car into it before putting it in park. He pops the trunk and turns off the engine as I unbuckle my seat belt and let myself out. The air has a chill to it and I pull the zipper of my coat farther up my neck until it's resting just beneath my chin.
Leo beats me to the trunk and he hoists my suitcase out and sets it on the ground in front of me. I grab the handle and adjust my bag on my shoulder as he gets out his own suitcase. I'm sure I overpacked, but it's okay. I don't particularly want to be in a different country with not many options for different outfits.
We're still silent as we walk through the parking garage and into the airport. It's not that busy given the time, but there's still a good amount of people checking in. We go through the line, check our bags and make sure we have our digital boarding passes ready to go before we get in line for security. Leo steps out of the way for me to go first and we funnel through the line before we make our way past the security check.
“I’m going to stop and get a coffee,” Leo finally says as we’re grabbing our personal bags and shoes from the conveyor belt. “Did you want one too?”
I slip my feet into my soft slipper shoes and direct my attention back to him as I position my bag on my shoulder. “Sure. I can get it, though."
Leo shakes his head at me as we begin to walk together toward our terminal. "I got it."
There's a small coffee shop just across the hall and I see all the people we're flying with standing off to the side. Leo nods his head at them all in acknowledgement as he walks past and goes over to the small stand. I stare after him for a second and then go over to where everyone is.
"Good morning, Ari," Alanna says to me with a bright smile. "Are you ready to go to Germany?"
I smile back and nod at her. "I am," I admit. "I think I'm more excited to fall asleep on the plane, though."
She laughs quietly. "Not me. I don't do well with jet lag, so I want to be able to go to sleep at a decent time there tonight."
I laugh with her. "Well, thankfully we have a few days to acclimate."
Any time we traveled into a different time zone, we always flew a few days before any of the competitions so we could adjust. It’s a lot of stress on the body to have a significant time difference and to still be able to perform without being exhausted. Going early also gives us the time to get used to the arena we will be skating in and to get used to the ice. Even though it is a frozen surface with an entire cooling system, conditions still vary from one rink to the other. The extra practice is always welcomed too.
"Are you guys ready to head to our gate?" Coach Kincaid asks everyone. They all speak in unison and I involuntarily yawn. "The plane starts boarding soon, I think."
I nod and everyone starts heading in the same direction down the hall. I begin to walk over to the coffee shop and see Leo turning to face me with both of our drinks and a brown paper bag with the shop's logo on it. I stop a few feet away from him and he hands me the bag when he reaches me.
"What's this?" I ask him as I start to open it and look inside. There's a chocolate croissant and a cheese Danish.
He shrugs and looks down the hall where everyone went. "I got you some pastries."
"Thank you," I say softly, as I lift my gaze from the bag. He isn't even standing in front of me anymore. I look and see him a few feet from me, walking toward our gate. I half roll my eyes and let out a huff as I close the bag and shuffle after him.
I'm not far behind him, but I don't bother trying to catch up to him right away. He reaches the gate first and sits at the end of the group in a seat that's facing the window. I walk over to the window and look outside. Our plane is already out there and they're getting it ready for us to begin boarding.
Leo appears beside me, handing me the warm drink he bought me. "Here," he says quietly as my hands wrap around the cup. My fingers brush against his and he inhales sharply at the contact. His hand abruptly leaves the cup and I fumble with it, putting my other hand beneath it in an effort to prevent it from falling onto the floor.
I look over at Leo and he's staring back out the window. His jaw tenses and I leave him standing there as I walk back over to our group and sit down.
This is going to be one hell of an exhausting trip.
We all sit and wait until they begin boarding our plane. Leo hasn't moved from where he's standing by the window and I make no attempt to walk over to him. If he wants to be a grouch this morning, then he can enjoy his own company. I have no desire to interact with him until he's in a better mood.
Maybe he didn't get enough sleep and after we get in the air, he can get a nap in and be in a better mood when we touch down in Germany. I've never really seen Leo like this in the morning, so I can't tell if this is normal for him or not.
The girl by the counter at our gate finally calls our seating group and we all head over to the line to board the plane. I fall in step behind Alanna and end up being in the middle of the pack. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Leo still standing by the window. I swear to all things holy, if this man does not get on this plane, we are going to have some serious problems.
Like me having to hide a body kind of problems.
"Don't worry about him," Luca says to me quietly as he notices me watching Leo. "He's not a big fan of flying, but he'll get on the plane. He might be an idiot, but he's not that much of an idiot."
The line begins to shift and I start to move forward before I get the chance to say anything in response to Luca. I play over his words in my head as I show my boarding pass to the woman and she scans it before motioning for me to keep walking. Perhaps I wasn't giving Leo the benefit of the doubt like I should have.
This whole time I thought he was just being a grump because it was too early for him. Not once did I consider the fact that he was feeling anxious about the flight. If he doesn't like flying, that would make complete sense. I know when I'm feeling anxious, I tend to get snippy with people and become extremely irritable.
Maybe this is just how Leo is dealing with the anxiety he has about flying. It’s a common fear. I guess there really is a lot about Leo that I don't know.
We head down the tunnel to the plane and one by one, we step onto the aircraft and find our seats. I wasn't able to get a seat with Eva and Alanna since the flight booking system just randomly selected a seat for me when I booked my ticket.
Looking down at my ticket, I see that the row I am in is closer to the back of the aircraft. The line is moving slowly and it takes a solid ten minutes before I reach my row. I had to wait for everyone to get their carry-on bags into the overhead bins. It’s like trying to play Tetris with the way everyone has their bags shoved in there.
There’s one person sitting in my row when I reach it. It’s an older woman who is in the seat that is along the aisle. I got lucky and my seat is the one next to the window. The woman smiles as she stands up for a moment and lets me scoot past her.
As I sit down, she turns to face me. “I hope there’s no one in the middle seat,” she says in a hushed voice. “I like having the extra space.”
“So do I,” I agree with her while giving her a small smile as I pull my headphones from my personal bag. “I plan on getting some sleep, so I’m not too worried if we end up with another person.”
She doesn’t look as thrilled about the idea but leaves the conversation at that. I make sure my headphones are connected to my phone and I slide them up over my head. I’ve always preferred over-the-ear headphones. Earbuds make my ears sore and they’re uncomfortable for me.
I select the music app on my phone and settle on the playlist of classical music I have on there. It’s the one I typically listen to while I’m skating and I find it helpful to listen to it when I’m not on the ice. It’s like it embeds the melody and the sound of the music into my mind and it becomes second nature to move to those particular songs.
There’s a rolled-up blanket in my backpack and I pull it out before storing my bag under the seat. I grab the neck pillow I brought along, although I don’t wear it around my neck. I position it like it’s a pillow before I recline my seat.
There weren’t any first-class seats so I ended up having to fly coach. Thankfully the seats do recline a little and there’s a decent amount of legroom. It’s not ideal but the flight to Germany isn’t too long so these accommodations will suffice. I’m not picky, but I do enjoy the finer things in life too.
Laying back in my seat, I pull my blanket over my body and try to find a comfortable position. It's not the most pleasant seat, so it's a little difficult for me since I'm half sitting, half trying to lay. Turning my head to the left toward the window, I settle against the wall and lift the blanket even higher until it's just beneath my chin. My eyelids flutter shut and I let the sound of my music lull me into a state of just being. My body begins to relax and I start to feel more at ease than I did when I first got into this position.
A few minutes pass and I can feel myself about to drift off to sleep. The plane hasn't left yet, most likely because we were still boarding passengers after I got on. It isn’t unusual for me to fall asleep before takeoff. I’m one of those fortunate people who could fall asleep anywhere. I don't know if my anxiety is more on the side of "everything will be fine if you just go to sleep". It’s almost as if I am handing everything over once I step foot on a plane. If something bad happens, there isn’t anything I can do about it. It is beyond my control, so I’m not going to stress about it. I am just going to sleep through every part of it that I can.
And then I feel the other woman and I are no longer alone. Someone moves into the middle seat and is now sitting directly between both of us. Our guest's arm accidentally bumps into mine and I resist the urge to let out a long, exasperated sigh. The thought of no one sitting in the center was honestly wishful thinking. I overheard someone at the airport talking about how it was going to be a pretty full flight, but I was a little hopeful.
I slowly sit up as I open my eyes and turn to look at my new neighbor. Much to my surprise, it's none other than Leo Wells sitting next to me. He's staring at me and my heart pounds erratically in my chest as I pull my headphones off and let them rest around my neck. Leo's eyes are slightly wide and I watch his throat bob as he swallows roughly.
"I wasn't sure you were getting on the plane," I admit to him as I turn down my music on my phone, letting it be background noise as I stare back at Leo.
"I'm here," he says gruffly as he adjusts in his seat. He directs his attention away from me as he slides his backpack under the seat and sits back upright to buckle his seat belt. One of the flight attendant's voices comes across the speakers as she announces that everyone is on the plane and begins to go through the safety information. Leo's body is tense as the woman drones on about what to do if there is a plane crash.
I'm pretty sure none of the things they tell us to do would actually come in handy if we were to go down. I don't think my chances of survival are very high.
The plane begins to move along the runway and you can feel the movement of the aircraft as the pilot gets ready to take off. We wait for a few moments and I see Leo as he grabs both armrests on either side of him. I can't help myself as I watch him for a moment, studying his actions. His jaw is tense and he stares straight ahead like he's trying to block everything out. The plane shifts again and we begin to move forward. It isn't long before we're picking up speed, racing down the runway for takeoff.
The wheels of the plane hit a few bumps and I sit with my own hands on my armrests as I look around. Leo's now sitting there with his head pressed back against his seat and his eyes are closed. I feel a bit invasive staring at him, so I direct my attention elsewhere. I stare at the stitching of the headrest of the seat in front of me. This is my least favorite part of a plane ride other than when there is turbulence. This is exactly why I make it a habit to fall asleep before we take off. This shit feels sketchy as hell, even though it lasts less than a minute.
We're picking up even more speed and I feel the wheels of the plane begin to lift from the ground. Leo suddenly reaches out, his hand warm against mine as he tightly wraps his fingers around mine. I don't look at him. Instead, I turn my wrist so my palm is facing up and Leo laces his fingers within mine. I didn't realize how scared he actually was. He doesn't dare to open his eyes, so I simply sit there in silence next to him, holding his hand to comfort him as the plane soars up into the sky. Leo's knee begins to bounce and he looks uncomfortable as we hit a pocket of air. His grip tightens on my hand and he doesn't let go.
The music plays from my headphones, filling the empty space between us. A minute or two passes before we're settled in the air and it smooths out. I see Leo from the corner of my eye as he straightens his head and his gaze drops down to our hands clasped together. I look over at him and he begins to unweave his fingers from mine and slowly pulls his hand away. His lips part like he's about to say something, but he clamps them shut again.
"I didn't know you were afraid of flying."
Leo levels his gaze on mine. There isn't a hint of amusement in his expression. Instead, he looks irritated as hell. "I'm not."
I'm about to challenge him on that when I decide to let it go. With the way Leo typically presents himself, this is a stark contrast to the way he acts. You would think there wasn't a single thing that bothered this man. Him being afraid of flying comes as a shock. The fact that he grabbed my hand surprised me even more. He needed comfort in that moment and he sought it from me. Perhaps he doesn't hate me the way he acts like he does… or I was the closest thing for him to cling to.
"If you tell anyone about that, I'll deny it until the day I'm dead."
I can't help myself as I laugh and roll my eyes at him. "Your secret is safe with me, Leo."
And it is.
Any of his secrets would be safe with me.