Page 2 of Wish Me Home

“Uh….” words continued to fail me. More people crammed into the terminal as I looked around. I must have nodded off without realizing it. I looked at my watch and realized thirty minutes had passed since I’d texted my aunt.

“Attention in the terminal,” I held my breath praying that this wasn’t the call that they canceled my flight. “Flight 913 has been canceled. Please proceed to the counter to make arrangements.”

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, fishing my phone from my pocket.

“Oh, so you do speak? I was beginning to wonder if you were mute.”

My gaze snapped back to Cody, who still had a smile on his face. He didn’t seem bothered that our flight wasn’t leaving after all, but then again, he was part of the crew. How many flights had he been on before this one and how many more did he have until he got a break? Maybe this was a blessing in disguise for him.

“I have to let my aunt know I’m not going to make it tonight.” I held up my phone to show him what I was talking about. His smile stretched from ear to ear and I wondered for a moment if there was some sort of vaseline requirement. No one should smile that much.

Emmett:Flight’s been canceled.

Aunt Sadie:I know, I just got a notification from the airline.

Emmett:You’re watching my flight?

Aunt Sadie:Of course I am. I’m excited to see you.

I rubbed my temple staring at my screen. I felt like shit that I had been reluctant to go visit her. Maybe if I hadn’t dragged my feet I could’ve gotten a flight out yesterday and avoided this whole mess.

“She upset?”

I looked at him again, surprised he was so invested in what was going on with me. Since he had sat next to me, I’d barely said seventeen words to him. And one of them wasn’t even really directed at him.

“I dunno. She’s…” Shoving my phone into my pocket I crossed my arms and didn’t finish my statement. I didn’t know this guy, and I certainly didn’t owe him a conversation. I’d wait until the zoo at the counter calmed down to rearrange my flight. There was no point right now with the hoard of people surrounding the poor attendant who had to be the bearer of bad news.

Chapter Two

Cody

Thisguywasinterestingand I couldn’t figure out why I struggled to pull more than one full sentence out of him. His dark hair was disheveled, probably from running his hands through it in frustration. I understood it. I really did. If you spent as much time in airports as I did, you got to understand how people responded to stressors like this.

I’d been flying with this airline for almost two years now, and I’d been a flight attendant for longer. Things like this happened, and you learned to roll with the punches.

This was supposed to be my last flight before an extended break. I scored some time off during the holidays. Not that I had anyone to spend it with. I was always booked on back to back to back flights, so it was nice to finally rest and enjoy Christmas for once.

“You know…” His head popped up when I started talking to him again. It was kind of cute how he was so intent on staring at me. His gray eyes trained on me as he waited for me to continue. “This isn’t all bad. Sure, the cold is miserable, but the snow sure is pretty to look at.”

I leaned back in my seat, kicking my feet out and crossing them at the ankles. His cheeks pinked as he watched me move. That was a fascinating response, but at least I had his attention, and I was going to do my best to keep it.

“Sure, if you like the white stuff.” His eyes widened like he’d caught on to what he’d said a moment too late. He turned away and coughed to cover up the awkwardness. I chuckled because his reaction confirmed my suspicions about him. Though, his constant staring was a pretty good sign that he was interested.

I leaned forward, resting my arms across my thighs as I tried to make eye contact, but he kept his body turned away from me. “So, are you ever going to tell me your name at least? We’re at a slight disadvantage here.”

He let out a heavy sigh before those deep grey eyes turned to stare at me. The corners of my mouth fought the smile that kept threatening. I didn’t know why his annoyance was so adorable.

“Emmett. I’m Emmett Butler.” As soon as he was finished, he turned away from me again. Since he wasn’t facing me, I cataloged what I could of him.

Emmett was obviously a “comfy” traveler. His sweats were loose, and he wore a heavy jacket to combat the cold outside. His choice in Chucks for footwear was probably poor, but if he’d been heading to San Diego, it probably would have been fine once we’d landed.

“Well, Emmett, obviously you were off to see your aunt. I take it you’re close to her?”

His head whipped in my direction again. The look of confusion on his face was hard to miss. Maybe he wasn’t used to people striking up a random conversation with him like this, but there was something so fascinating about him.

“Yeah, you could say that.” He didn’t elaborate further, but he didn’t turn away again. I grinned because I pulled him back for a conversation. His brown hair flopped forward, but not enough to cover his eyes. It was trimmed on the sides and gave him a more punkish vibe.

Wanting to keep this conversation going I pushed for more details. “Interesting that it’s your aunt. No other family?” I instantly regretted prying when the pain flashed in his eyes. He didn’t answer, only shaking his head before looking away once more.It looks like we’ve lost him again.

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