AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Right,’ said Fay again, glancing at her screen like she wasn’t giving Hannah her full attention. Hannah wondered if she was frantically looking for the panic button.
‘But he didn’t see me from the other side of the glass, so now I need to get to the Arrivals area before he leaves the airport.’
‘OK,’ said Fay doubtfully. ‘Why can’t you just call him?’
‘Because I don’t have his number.’
Fay’s eyebrows shot up. ‘You’re going to Spain to tell a man you love him, but you don’t have his number?’
‘I deleted it. It’s a long story. Look, can I go back the way I came? Please?’
Faye shook her head and rolled her eyes. ‘You can’t just go wherever you like in an airport, my love, there are security measures. It’s not like in the movies. Honestly, that little kid inLove Actuallyproperly drives me mad. Little bastard would get tasered if he pulled that shit here.’
‘Right, great,’ said Hannah, forcing a smile so as not to antagonise Fay, even though she’d happily taser her all the way to the border with Devon. ‘So how do I get out of here?’
‘You need an escort. It’s a proper pain in the arse, to be fair. Usually it’s for people who swan in after the gate has closed. Once they’ve stopped screaming at us, we get them escorted back so they can buy another ticket, or go home.’
‘Great, perfect,’ said Hannah. ‘Can we do that?’
‘Most of the time they lose track of time in Duty Free,’ said Fay, lowering her voice and leaning forward like she was sharing secret airport intel. ‘Or they’ve had one pint too many in the pub. Don’t realise some of the gates are, like, a fifteen-minute walk from Departures. Well, you’d know that. You’ve just walked here.’
‘I know, and now I really, really need to walk back. Or run, ideally. Before he leaves the airport.’
‘Aww, my love, I’m not being funny, but this is Bristol Airport on a Saturday in June. It’s like the last days of Rome down there, he’ll be lucky if he’s out before dark. God help him if he’s got checked baggage. That’s probably halfway to Glasgow by now.’
‘I don’t know if he’s got luggage or not, but I’d rather not risk it.’
Fay smiled and reached over the counter to pat Hannah’s arm; her acrylic nails were at least an inch long and had been painted like a sunset. ‘Is he worth it, do you reckon?’ she whispered conspiratorially. ‘You could be on a Spanish beach in time for your lunch. All-you-can-eat paella and a jug of sangria, absolutely lush.’
‘He’s definitely worth it,’ said Hannah, hoping Fay could see the desperation in her eyes. ‘Please.’
‘Well, in that case, I’ll call you one of the Ground Handlers to escort you back, shall I? It might take a while, so I’d grab a seat and pop a bit of make-up on if I were you.’
Hannah laughed nervously. ‘Do I really look that bad?’
‘You look bloody amazing, love,’ said Fay. ‘But this is like one of those scenes from a chick flick, isn’t it? You might as well go all in.’
‘Rob,’ said Hannah softly, reaching out to touch his arm as he walked past the metal barrier. Despite one of the most stressful airport walks of her life, accompanied by the world’s slowest and most talkative man, she’d made it back to Arrivals. She’d spent the past ten minutes watching the flow of people coming through the doors, the worry that he’d already left the terminal giving her stomach cramps. But now he was here, and it made her want to cry with relief.
Rob jumped and did a double take, then yanked off his headphones and shook his head in confusion. ‘Hannah. What are you doing here?’
Hannah shrugged and smiled. ‘Waiting for you.’
‘But . . . I didn’t tell anyone I was coming. How did you know?’
‘I was at the gate. I watched you get off the plane.’
‘What were you doing at the gate?’ gasped Rob. ‘Where were you going?’
‘To Malaga, to see you.’
Rob’s jaw dropped open in surprise. ‘Really? That’s insane. I was coming here to see you.’
Hannah took in the whole of him, finally giving in to the reality of how much she’d missed him. He looked as breathless and blown away as she felt – surely this was all a good thing? That he’d flown back to see her?
‘Were you really?’ she asked, wanting to check that she hadn’t got this all wrong and he’d come back for a family funeral or something.
‘Yeah. I quit Club Colina. Well, not technically because Mark was still asleep when I left for the airport. But I’m going to email him later and quit.’
