He laughed. ‘It was helpful. You just haven’t realized that yet.’
‘Thank you then, I suppose.’
‘Any time,’ he said.
I started walking away, but stopped when I reached the doors. I looked at my feet awkwardly before speaking again. ‘Would you like to have coffee sometime? In the airport?’
‘I’d love to have coffee,’ he said.
‘Good. I’ll confirm a time and date with you at a later stage.’ I walked towards the door again and then stopped once more. ‘Thank you for your advice.’
‘Any time,’ he said again, and answered another call.
CHAPTER45
‘City Tower, this is Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’
Even though I’d been expecting to hear his voice, I physically jumped in my seat, sending my coffee cup flying to the floor with a splash.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ I said to my colleague Barry, who’d turned to look. I grabbed the box of tissues on my desk and started shoving them on top of the wet patch, and then stood on them.
‘Sorry, what, City Tower?’
‘No, not you, Flightbird Six Zero Zero. I spilt my coffee. I’m saying sorry to someone else. Never mind. It’s not relevant. Hello. I mean, good morning.’
‘It’s technically just gone twelve p.m., so I think that makes it the afternoon, City Tower.’
I looked at the clock on the wall. ‘You’re right. Good afternoon, Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’
I heard a breathy chuckle come through the radio and I imagined his smile.
‘Hello there. We are inbound for Johannesburg Airport, approaching pylons, requesting vectors for . . .’ He paused for the briefest second, and someone that didn’t speak to him all the time and didn’t know his speech patterns intimately might not have noticed it, but I noticed. And I also knew why. ‘. . . ILS. Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’
‘Flightbird Six Zero Zero, turn left heading two niner zero.’
‘Copy, City Tower, turn left heading two niner zero. Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’
There was another pause.
‘How was the rest of your holiday?’ he asked.
I wanted to say that I missed him, that it wasn’t the same without him, but didn’t.
‘Good. Sunny. Warm. Beachy. You know.’
‘Sounds good. What’s the weather like down there?’
I scanned the automated weather information system.
‘Visibility is perfect, wind two fifty at ten knots.’
‘Copy that, City Tower, wind at two fifty knots, Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’ He disappeared for a little while. I landed two more planes before I heard from him again.
‘City Tower, this is Flightbird Six Zero Zero, established ILS, runway three zero left.’
‘Maintain the approach, Flightbird Six Zero Zero. You are cleared to land on runway three zero left.’
‘Copy, City Tower. Maintain approach and cleared to land on runway three zero left. Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’
