Page 12 of Pomegranates and Olive

I glance at him, but he’s too busy pulling me through the crowd to notice.

"This is the final boarding call for passengers Russo and Yilmaz. Passengers Russo and Yilmaz."

"You Russo?"

I nod and pant back at him. "Yilmaz?"

He nods back at me. "Thanks for warning me. I can't miss this flight."

"Me either."

I have to really dig deep during the final fifty metres of our run to the gate. I practically collapse as we arrive, just as the flight crew is starting to close the gate.

"Yilmaz? Russo?" The lady at the counter looks hopefully at us.

"Evet!"

“Yep,” I gasp at her.

I’m panting as Queue-Jumper (now, referred to as Yilmaz), hands over his boarding pass for scanning. "Russo, I'm going to need my other hand back."

My gaze drops to my hand still entwined with his, and the blood drains from my face. "Right. Sorry."

To cover my embarrassment, I start searching through my bag. Where the hell... "Merda!"

Yilmaz turns to me. "What's wrong?"

"My boarding pass!" I scramble through my handbag. "Oh no! I must have dropped it when I stuffed everything in my bag."

Grabbing his boarding pass Yilmaz spins on his heel and runs back down the corridor. "Two minutes!"

Yilmaz takes off. I look at the lady at the counter. "I'm really sorry."

"You would be surprised just how often this happens." The tiny blonde behind the counter smiles broadly. "It's all these last-minute gate changes."

"Yes, we were both at the other gate."

"You've still got your passport though? Yes?"

Handing it over to her, she taps away on her computer for a few moments. "We can re-print the boarding pass for you. Your friend probably shouldn't have run off like that."

"I actually don't know him."

"Then it was a very kind gesture."

"Yes, very gallant."

It was a very chivalrous move by Yilmaz to race back through the airport, my knight in shining armour, so to speak.

Shame he is such astronzo.

She hands me my boarding pass and waves me off. "I think I might wait for Yilmaz. "

"You need to board now."

"But you'll wait for him to come back before you close the gate?"

"If not I'll make sure he's comfortable."

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