Chapter 26
Somewhere in that relaxed state between sleep and wakefulness, my peace was interrupted by the soft ding of a bell. “We are going through some turbulence. The captain asks that you all return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts.”
My eyes fluttered open and settled on the screen on the back of the seat in front of me.
The tiny airplane, showing where we were on our flight path, was flying over the dots of places I didn't recognize.
I pushed up the shade of the window I had been leaning against, but saw nothing but an expanse of clouds.
We had taken a red-eye across the Atlantic the night before.
With my nerves, I had only managed to fall asleep as we approached Iceland.
That flight had seemed to go on forever.
Between the endless water and the darkness of the night sky, it was hard to get a sense of how far we had travelled or how far we had left to go.
By the time we had left Heathrow in the wee hours of the morning, I had passed out from exhaustion.
Stifling a yawn, I turned to my right. Dom was watching a dumb comedy movie on his tablet and fiddling with an empty plastic bottle.
With his noise cancelling headphones, he could block out everyone else on the plane.
For some reason, he rarely slept when we travelled.
Every time I jolted awake, I saw him watching movies or playing games.
I didn’t get it. There were times when I didn’t even make it to the seatbelt sign turning off before I was out like a light.
I elbowed Dom gently. He paused his show and pushed the left headphone off his ear. “Yeah?”
“Only a couple of hours left,” I said, pointing at the small plane on the screen.
It had moved out, giving me a better sense of where we were.
I looked around us, making sure that the people in the surrounding seats were not paying attention to us.
I didn’t want anyone to overhear what I had to say next.
“I don’t know if I should be excited or scared.
” It was dumb to be worried. Anyone with half a brain could guess those would be my two predominant emotions.
But I still didn’t want anyone but Dom to hear me admit it out loud.
“Both,” Dom answered without hesitation.
He matched his volume to mine, whispering so quietly that the rumble of the plane’s engine would drown out his words for anyone else.
“But not scared about competing, you should be scared about how hard it is going to be to find our luggage at baggage claim.” He gave an exaggerated shudder.
“With this many people coming in, we might be stuck forever.”
He was exaggerating, but probably not by much.
With planes full of athletes who were bringing more gear than your average traveller, baggage claim was going to be crazy.
With how many people had travelled enough to have priority boarding, even priority luggage would be a nightmare to get through.
“Don’t make me think about that,” I said.
“I don’t want to know the odds of my skates being beat up or lost on the trip.
” If I had it my way, I would’ve kept them with me as my carry-on.
Unfortunately, two extremely sharp blades went against every single airline’s carry-on restrictions.
The possibility of them getting lost had literally given me a nightmare two days earlier.
“Then don’t think about it. Maybe it’ll be your clothes that get lost. Then you can spend the next few weeks in skating dresses or souvenir clothing you bought at the airport.” He grinned. “I think that would be a great look for you.”
I pictured the thick, baggy unisex t-shirts that could be found in the shops at every major airport amongst magazines and overpriced candy. “Thanks,” I said sarcastically. “But don’t forget the outfits we’ll get for the opening ceremonies. Those should be fun.”
“If you want to spend the next few weeks in a red parka, be my guest,” Dom replied.
He pulled his headphones complete off his head and turned the screen off on his tablet.
He must have known how much I needed to be distracted to keep my fears from running away with me.
“It might be a bit warm inside, but you do you. You could try to be classy and put it over a skating dress or Winter Games t-shirt, but I would recommend matching it with one of those novelty shirts that claim somebody went on a trip and all you got was a lousy t-shirt.”
“I’d definitely be the only one dressed like that,” I said drily.
“That’s part of the charm. Getting to be a trendsetter and all that.”
“If all my stuff gets lost, I will consider it. But you have to make the same promise.”
Dom grinned. “Deal. As long as you don’t hold me to wearing your skating dresses as an option. My costumes are bad enough off the ice.”
I laughed, doing my best not to be too loud. “That’s fair. I'll let you get back to your movie. I'm going to zone out for a bit.”
I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew I was being nudged awake.
I pulled my head away from the window, trying to process the unfamiliar surroundings.
That was when I realized that my oversized scarf had been placed across my lap like a blanket and my tray table had been put up.
“Did you do this?” I asked, gesturing to the makeshift blanket.
“Yeah,” Dom said. “I thought you might be cold.”
“Thanks,” I replied. I tried to stretch out my neck and my limbs, but it was difficult in such a cramped space.
Planes were one of the few places it benefited to be petite, but even for me, spending so many hours with limited mobility in a tiny airplane seat was uncomfortable. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“Well, we’re almost there. That’s why I woke you up.”
He knew me too well. I pushed up the sunshade to look for the skyline of the city we were fast approaching. “Thanks.”
He grinned. “Don’t mention it.”
As the plane descended, I watched as the fields and rural townships turned into the densely packed city I was expecting. There wasn’t much time to take it in before we were too low. A couple of bumps as the wheels touched down and then that was it. We had made it.