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“Cabin and crew, disarm the doors.”
Murmurs fill the plane. Panic grips the air as everyone begins looking around with wide eyes. The man beside me leans over and peers out of the window, the horrid smell of stale cigarettes making my nose burn.
“What’s going on?” He snaps.
I look up and see the staff ordering people from their seats. “It looks like the hostesses are telling people to get off…”
I wait silently until we’re ordered off the plane. I follow the crowd of people asking questions, my mind fuzzy with so many different things swirling around as I make my way back up the concourse and out of the boarding gate.
As the crowd disperses around the gate, impatiently waiting for answers, my eyes catch on a hulking figure directly ahead of me. I’m drawn towards the figure, like some kind of irresistible force is pulling me to the broad, rounded shoulders and dangerous smile looking back at me.
“Aiden?”
My heart bursts inside my chest as I stand on the spot, unable to move. I feel my eyes falter, a rapid exchange of blinks trying to erase the silhouette of the man standing before my eyes. A scruffy mess of hair and wrinkled tee-shirt does nothing to hide how attractive this man is. A flash of the first time I saw him walk whips across my mind as his eyes remain steadily fixed on me.
A heart-wrenching glint sparkles across the closing distance.
“Aiden… What are doing here?”
He steps forward, his warm hands capturing mine. Instantly I’m throwing myself at him, my chest heaving with uncontrollable emotion that escapes in short, sharp bursts of sobbing against the firm chest holding me so close.
“I was too late,” Aiden says, gripping me by the shoulders so our eyes meet. “I read your note. I’m so happy for you. So fucking happy, Vanessa.”
He flashes a smile that is like a dagger to my heart.
“I came to tell you how proud I am, and I wanted to wish you all the best. You deserve it. The lead role?!” He beams with excitement, but behind the lush, hard lines of his lips, there’s sadness.
“No. No, this isn’t it. I want to stay.”
I don’t know where it comes from, but fuck… I mean it. I really,reallymean it.
“Aiden, I want to stay with you.”
I lean on my toes, pursing my lips so they peck the roughness of his stubble. His hands grip around my arms and he’s holding me back, guiding me back to the balls of my feet.
And when I look up, I don’t like the dark look creeping under his eyes.
“Princess, you’re not staying,” he says. “This is your dream. Go to Hollywood, be the star I know you are. I’ll be watching you, every single step of the way.”
I gulp over the growing swell in my throat.
“Aiden, no. No, you can’t deny this. It’s meant to be… Look!” I turn and point at the plane, noticing for the first time that every single passenger is watching us. “We were about to take off, but we didn’t! It’s meant to be... I never should have got on that stupid plane. I never should have left the apartment. I love you, Aiden. I love you and nothing will ever change that.”
Aiden steps in closer, his hands moving down my wrists so he’s holding me by my elbows. He dips his head and I suck in a sharp breath of his scent, allowing it to travel to my heart, topping up anything I’ve lost since leaving his bedroom.
“Please, Aiden.”
I might sound pathetic, but it’s all for nothing.
Aiden shakes his head. “You need to go back to California.”
My chest crashes. I’m defeated and yet again, I’ve let myself sink into a dark pit of sorrow. I shake my arms free from his grasp. If he is letting me go, I need to turn around right now, because if I don’t… This time… This time I might not recover.
“G-goodbye, Aiden.”
I turn around and bury my embarrassment in my hands.
I try to move forward, but I’m blocked by the crowd. When I look up and see the couple who stood in front of me on the concourse, eyes widened at something behind me. Through the scorching tears, I can’t help but turn around to face the man who’s laid claim to my heart and shattered it to pieces one last time.
