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Bellin unfastened her seatbelt and held her arms out as Maisie started to fuss. I handed her over and helped Teddy to take off his seatbelt.
"Would you like to get off first?" A flight attendant asked, leaning over the back of Bellin's chair to look at her.
"I'd love to," Bellin said. She gave me a last smile and rose to hustle Teddy off towards the front of the plane. Teddy gave me a huge grin and a wave before he hurried away.
I sat back for a moment and let the rest of the passengers shuffled and shove first. I wasn't going to get off any faster if I was standing before everyone else. And I needed a minute to remind myself I shouldn't get attached to a stranger's baby. Sitting there with her like that for a couple of hours felt… Nice. My biological clock was going to hate me for it. Maybe I should get a cat. Although, I wasn't home often enough to look after one of those either.
I ended up getting off second last and hurried through Toronto’s busy airport to the departure lounge for the hour wait for my next flight.
I grabbed a cappuccino and a sandwich and slipped into a chair to check my phone.
Still no response from Cord or Jude, but according to the app, Cord read the messages. The only new one was Strike telling Axel he was a good man for offering to pick me up at the airport. Axel responded to the comment with a smiley face.
I considered worrying about Jude, but the other guys would have seen his lack of response, and if there was anything to worry about, they would be dealing with it. At least, I hoped they would. They were a tight knit group of guys, who tended to look out for each other.
I scrolled through social media while I sipped my coffee. Of course they were talking about Jude and Melanie—that was her name—and her ex-fiancé.
It seemed like journalists had tried to talk to him, but he'd more or less gone to ground. He was getting a lot of sympathy though. Whatever the true story was, he was getting out of it with his reputation intact.
So was Jude, who people videoed riding through the streets with Melanie on the back of his bike. The footage made him look like some kind of action hero. Or maybe the end of a romantic movie where the guy gets his true love after all the confusion and heartache.
I had to give him credit. It was one hell of a romantic gesture. Jude was a sweet guy. Melanie was lucky to have him, however it came about.
Predictably, some people had horrible things to say about her, but most seem to think it was romantic.
Me, being a practical thinker, couldn't stop thinking about the amount of money they must have spent on the wedding. They could have put it to much better use.
Whatever, it was unlikely they cared about my opinion anyway. I just hoped all that food didn't go to waste. From what I gather, five hundred people were invited. That was a lot of canapés and chicken. Not to mention alcohol.
What was I saying? That would never go to waste. Knowing the guys, they probably grabbed a few bottles on the way out. I hoped they saved some for me.
My mind started turning, thinking about ways I could spin this whole thing to make everyone look good in the end. People would think whatever they wanted to think, but those minds I could help to change, I would.
As long as the Rock Dragons came out shiny, then my job was done.
My flight was announced and I lined up to board with everyone else. This time, I was seated beside two guys a few years younger than me, that kept debating which was better, football or hockey. At one point, they even glanced at me as if I would be some kind of tiebreaker.
I had an opinion on which band was the best in the world, but not which sport. Apparently they got the message because they left me alone for the rest of the flight.
3
Hayley
By the time I arrived back in Norfolk, I was tired of sitting down. Or at least, tired of being on an aircraft. I liked flying, but this whole rushing back thing, wasn't awesome. Not to mention the worry I might be rushing back into a shit storm.
I mentally braced myself as I stepped off the plane and went to grab my suitcase from the carousel.
So far so good. My suitcase even made it back here with me. Bonus.
I rolled it out into the main part of the airport and looked for Axel. How hard could it be to find a tall, attractive rock star? The place wasn't exactly buzzing with them.
In the end, I found him right where I should have expected to find him. No, not at the bar. That would have been my second choice. I found him surrounded by several people who recognized him and stopped for selfies and autographs.
Axel, being Axel, stood for every one, an easy smile on his face. I stood back and watched for three or four minutes before he saw me. Instead of insisting he was finished, he took the last few photos, hugged a couple of his fans and let them melt away into the crowd.
Then he turned to me. "Sorry just didn't want to disappoint any of them." Before I could stop him, he reached for the handle of my suitcase and grabbed hold to pull it along behind himself.
"You weren't doing anything I wouldn't have encouraged," I said. "The Rock Dragons have some more lifelong fans now." Not to mention stories to tell their friends. I wished I could book moments like this, but they only ever happened spontaneously.
