AllFreeNovel
Share Us
One
Ava
“J
ingle Bell Rock” was playing, the happy tune being piped through the speakers at Sydney Airport. Ava hummed along with it as she wheeled her suitcase into the terminal, passing the giant koala in a pair of boardies, sunnies, and a straw hat, which marked the entrance to the check-in area. Surfboards, images of the Bondi lifeguards, and the world-famous break decorated the walls.
Ava loved it. Summer was her favourite season, but this year’s vacation had taken far too long to arrive. She rubbed her eyes before yawning behind her hand. It was early—the sun hadn’t risen yet—but that wasn’t the cause of her sleepiness. She’d been working long hours, grinding away to make sure she left with everything squared up. When she returned, she would be taking over a new role—her promotion to development manager had been approved only a couple of weeks earlier. She couldn’t wait to get started.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, Ava tried to keep the strands off her face. The heat would soon force her to pull it back. At least the terminal was air-conditioned; the predicted wind blowing straight from the red centre that day would make the space uncomfortably warm otherwise. Record temperatures were likely in the city, too—it always happened when the wind blew in from the desert.
But the weather at her destination was expected to be perfect. Her annual holiday to the Gold Coast was a reward for a year of hard work. Relaxing by the pool or on the beach would be heaven after the crazy few months she’d had. It was worth it, though. Her promotion had come far earlier than even she expected. The twelve townhouse development she was now responsible for wasn’t the largest project on the company’s books. But Ava was twenty-four. She’d only graduated university a few years earlier. Getting the promotion to take it on was a pretty remarkable achievement.
She shook her head. That responsibility—and challenge—would still be there ten days from now. And, boy, did she need a break from it. The grind, the pressure, and the pace were all so intense. It left her working impossibly long hours and perpetually stressed. So, today, she was determined not to think about anything except tropical beaches and cocktails.
Her sandals clicked on the tiled floor of the terminal as she joined the queue to check her luggage and collect a boarding pass. Ava’s flight wasn’t the only one leaving pre-dawn. People were milling around everywhere, but there were few smiles and a lot of grumbling. Apparently, not everyone was looking forward to their break as much as she was. She practically vibrated with anticipation.
Excitement ratcheted up as she watched the first rays of dawn break. The glass wall along one side of the terminal that overlooked the runways framed the scene spectacularly.
The sun rose, peeking over the horizon. The colours were magnificent. Pinks and oranges, so unusually vivid that she stopped and watched as the scene unfolded before her. The sky grew brighter, but oddly, it didn’t morph into its usual shade of rich summer blue. Instead, the depth of the red haze increased until the entire sky looked like it was on fire. It was otherworldly. She could have been staring at a scene taken straight from a sci-fi movie.
It was eerie. Creepy, in fact.
Apocalyptic even. What in the world was going on?
Ava tore her eyes away from the windows and focussed on the morning talk shows playing on the wall-mounted televisions. Apparently, it wasn’t just her eyesight gone mad. A dust storm was settling over the city. Ava swallowed hard, the buzzing anticipation turning to dread. A storm that lit the sky red didn’t bode well for her flight. She hadn’t bothered to check her departure time before she’d left home—she was on the first flight out. They weren’t supposed to be delayed. Would the weather throw her carefully crafted plans into chaos? She was loath to check but had to know. Ava turned to the departure and arrival monitors, and her gut sank, disappointment stealing her breath.
Every flight on the boards was delayed. Every. Single. One.
“Shit,” she muttered under her breath. How long was she going to be stuck there? She needed to find out. People were leaving the check-in queue in droves, but Ava did the opposite, beelining to the closest one to get some answers. At the very least, she’d be first to check her baggage when the gates were opened. There was no way a little delay was getting in the way of her holiday.
The line shrunk before her eyes, and Ava moved closer to the front, eventually coming to stand second after a man she couldn’t help but ogle. Skin tanned to deep olive, with short, perfectly styled black hair and dark brown eyes the colour of melted chocolate, he was captivating. He had an air of mystery surrounding him that left Ava watching his every move to glean something about him. Mr Enigmatic Hottie acknowledged her with a nod, sending butterflies swooping in her belly. But there was no accompanying smile from him, only a bored fidget of the strap on his duffel.
Ava studied him from the corner of her eye. Forearms tattooed with dark ink disappeared under a T-shirt fitted over muscular shoulders. But those muscles weren’t sculpted in a gym. His physique screamed wiry strength. She’d seen it often on the worksites she was inspecting. Tradies built their core strength from lifting and constantly balancing their own weight on ladders and beams, not through pumping iron in a gym. His rough hands suggested she was in the ballpark, but as to the type of trade, she was clueless.
A crackle sounded over the loudspeaker, and the cheery carols ceased. “Attention, ladies and gentlemen, due to inclement weather, all flights are now delayed. Please periodically check the monitors for updated status reports and cancellation advisory notices.”
Ava ignored the disappointment dropping like an anvil, pulled back her shoulders, and lifted her chin. She would get on that plane, even if it happened through sheer force of will. She needed this break. Was almost desperate for it. If she stayed in Sydney, she’d work, and for the sake of her sanity, she needed to step away.
But reality came crashing down on her with the dawning fireball sky. It was a hard pill to swallow. Helplessness surged through her, and Ava groaned. It didn’t matter how much she wanted this break—or how much she needed it. If the weather was too dangerous to fly in, there was no way any planes would be taking off.
Blinking back frustrated tears, she clenched her jaw and shook her head. Damn it, this wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to check in, embark, and be in paradise in an hour.
The man in front of her sighed and his face morphed from disinterest into a frustrated scowl, his brown eyes flashing. “Looks like we’re gonna be here for a while.”
She nodded, pursing her lips to bite back a curse. “Yeah. Great start to my holiday.”
“Right? Not a single thing has gone smoothly today.”
“Could be worse” came a voice from behind. Ava turned and looked at miles of golden skin and a muscular set of rounded pecs only partially hidden behind a loose tank top. Her gaze travelled way up over shoulders as broad as a doorway to a set of kissable lips split in a wide grin, and warm blue eyes, topped with a blond mop of messy hair. He was the complete opposite of the scowling man on the other side of her, but just as handsome. Baby-faced, his smile lit up the room, and Ava couldn’t help but grin back at him.
“Oh yeah?” the other man asked, his tone challenging.
“We could be in the air in that.” Blondie pointed outside. In the few minutes they’d been talking, the sky had darkened to an ominous russet colour. Clouds of what could only be dust from the country’s red centre were rolling in. The sky was alive, the clouds tangling as they shifted on the wind currents. Like smoke haze at ground level, even the air inside the terminal building was gritty. But up in the sky, she could only imagine how blind pilots would be while flying.
“Yeah, okay, Mr Glass Half Full. Fair call.” Ava laughed and shook her head at the cutie.
He shrugged and grinned wider, his gaze bouncing between the two of them. “Always gotta look on the bright side.”
