Taking Off
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
On Saturday morning, Sarah dropped Katie off at Nîmes airport. The hall reverberated with the sound of steaming water swirling through and out of coffee machines and the clatter of spoons hitting cups and plates. Most passengers sat at the tables of the only café, chatted to each other, or on their mobiles, or else, checked their travel documents and repacked their bags. Katie settled down at the bar with a gin and tonic.
Half listening to the conversation between two customers who discussed the price of petrol, the corner of her eye caught an ad promising to “make you rich and set up your business in no time” in a British newspaper left on the counter. She smoothed out the page and read the small print twice. It promised it was not a pyramid scheme. It promised it wasn’t a scam. However, it mentioned the need to recruit friends to help with success. She tossed the paper in the nearest bin and ordered another gin and tonic.
***
Three hours later, Katie boarded the plane and managed to secure a window seat four rows from the back. She pushed her small suitcase between two briefcases in the locker above her and slid her folded jacket on top of it.
“Please, listen and watch as the cabin crew demonstrates the security measures on this aircraft”, the captain said, his voice crackling through the speakers.
Outside, the rain wrapped the terminal building in a grey coat and the bouncing drops formed random shapes on the ground. For a millisecond, an elephant appeared. The last few passengers arrived and a woman sat next to Katie.
“We apologise for the delay, this is due to a passenger problem at Frankfurt airport earlier this morning,” the captain said.
“What? It is a technical problem?” The woman next to Katie grabbed her arm. “It is what he told?”
“No, no. A passenger problem. I’m guessing someone might have been ill, or something along those lines.” Katie set her arm free but the woman grabbed it again.
“I can’t be on this plane, it’s going to break.”
“No it’s not. Don’t worry, they wouldn’t let it fly if there was any problem with it.”
“I don’t believe them. They want much money.”
“I’m sure everything is fine. Unless you create another problem, of course.”
“What do you say?”
“Nothing.” Katie tried to move her arm once again and failed. “I’ll hold your hand during take off if you want. Poor you, you are in such a state.” She snapped her arm out of the woman’s grip and buckled her belt.
“It’s not funny.”
Katie smiled. “I’m not laughing, I’m not. My mother is scared of flying too.”
“And you?”
“No, I love it. Always have. In fact, I wanted to be a pilot when I was a kid.”
“That’s unusual. So did you?”
“Did I?”
“Become a pilot.”
“No, no. I dropped out of school early, was a bit of a trouble teenager.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re doing good now.”
“I wish I had stuck around but well, it could be worse. Look, we’re in the air!”
“Are we? This is fast.”
They exchanged names and a bit of trivia about themselves as the stewards started their routine, distributing trays and pouring coffees and teas in plastic cups to those who asked and paid. Aurélie, the French woman, was relocating to London for six months and had a couple of job interviews lined up. Katie told her about her stolen bag and they bounded over their love of red wine, of which they drank several miniature bottles during the flight.
***
Katie hiccupped all the way back from Luton Airport. The flow of air in her body ripped her chest apart every few seconds no matter how well she controlled her breath.
When she arrived at Brixton, she nipped into the Sainsbury’s near the station. She zigzagged through the three aisles and left with nothing. Chips, she needed chips. She got a portion from her local kebab shop, wolfed them down and threw the oily bag in a bin.
Her hiccup had stopped. Only two minutes away from home, she could go straight to bed then. She sped along the pavement and ignored the man offering her a joint. The pain in her chest came back and her stomach contracted. She bent down forward. Undigested chips came out first, followed with a brown liquid. Her stomach ached but nothing else came out. She wiped her mouth with a used tissue she found in her pocket then walked the couple of hundred yards to her home. Her home. Her bathroom. Her bed.
