Page 84 of The Happiness Blueprint
But some of my thoughts are on Alex.
A reminder pops up on my screen.
Reminder: New Event; Location: 7-Eleven, Terminal 2
That’s peculiar. I can’t remember seeing this before. And who would I meet? Then, I think. There is only one person I share a calendar with—Alex.Alex says I need to be at 7-Eleven. Now.I almost run back to the corner where I walked past the shop just half an hour earlier. Oh, for fuck’s sake, Alex, couldn’t you pick a closer location? I’m not a runner and even less so when I’m dragging my luggage with me.
When I get there, I look around frantically, at backs and unknown faces and shelves full of belly-filling food. No Alex. I fix my hair, sleeking the sides out, and stand up tall. Still no Alex. Seriously? I give it five more minutes, each one longer than the previous one.
I still don’t see an Alex-shape form, and my hopes dwindle. He isn’t there. Nothing. It must have been a mistake. Why did I get my hopes up?It’s over. I feel so stupid. I’ve watched too many rom-coms.
Just as I start to walk back toward the gate,it’s there.
• EDITED EVENT:7-Eleven; Location: Departure lounge, before security
What is this game? I don’t know what to do. I’ve already gone through security, if I go back now I may miss my flight. There are too many people, they’re too close to me, and I’m starting to get overwhelmed. If I miss this flight there may not be another, and I must be back in London by tomorrow. I know Google would tell me not to change my life plans because of a man. Part of me wants to yell at Google.You don’t know this man! You’ve never met Alex, Google! He’s not even on Google! If he were, you’d understand.I want to turn around more than anything, to run through the crowds and believe that it’s really him. But it’s a firmnofrom Google. If I spend more time following the entries, I will miss my flight, and I can’t do that.
Because I need to sit the IELTS language test for the thirty-second time.
ALEX
Shared Calendar
New Note (Klara): You think you can just edit my life?
Reply (Alex): So much I want to edit, to delete
Reply (Klara): This event has passed
Reply (Klara): You can’t change it now
Reply (Alex): Try to stop me. I’ll add as many new entries as it takes, until you believe me. Check back here tonight
Reply (Klara): It’s just calendar entries, not an actual relationship. This doesn’t mean anything
Romance is dead. At least if you ask the security guard at point 17, Terminal 2, Kastrup Airport.
“Please, man, I just need to get in for half an hour. Here’s my passport, my car keys and my credit card. You basically have my life, and I have to come back for it.”
“Sir, there is no entry without a boarding pass.”
“She’s the love of my life.”
“I’m thrilled to hear that, but there is no boarding pass exemption for people in love.” Told you, romance is dead. “You better make your way back to the ticket desk and buy one. Seeing she is the love of your life.” He winks at me as if he had said something funny. It’s encouragement enough, and I rush to where his hand had pointed at.
The girl looks up from her computer where she had been busy organizing itineraries. Or checking Twitter. Who knows? I look at her name tag.
“Hello, Tina. I was hoping you could help me with something. I need your cheapest ticket to get into Terminal 2.”
“Did you forget something? It will be brought out to Lost Luggage by the end of the day.” I sense whatever is on her screen is more important than my person.
“I kind of lost something, but it’s a person. A girl.” Tina looks at me now, assessing me for murderer potential, deciding whether to call the police, but she seems to give up suspicions of the lost person being a body inside a suitcase.
“If a child is missing, we need to make an announcement on the speakers.” The thought of Klara’s name being called out plays on my mind for a second. But that would be the lazy way out, letting someone else call for her. This was my task—myto-do. My final one. A public-address announcement may also send Klara into a rap-requiring meltdown.
“Please, just get me into Terminal 2. I love this girl. And she’s about to board a flight to Gatwick.”
“Oh. Cool. It’s like Hugh Grant in that movie.” I finally have her attention: it turns out Tina at the ticket desk is a hopeless romantic.
