If You So Desire (sequel to Turn... and Walk Away)

Chapter 27

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Mew's POV

I dragged my luggage up to my apartment feeling a strong sense of relief that finally I got to have my long awaited paid vacation leave.

The flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok was the longest flight I had ever been so far. Although I had been a flight attendant for several years now I rarely got assigned to flights outside of Asia.

The passengers had been more demanding than those other flights I had been assigned to. By the time we landed at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport my body felt like dead weight.

I unlocked my apartment door and went straight to my couch without getting out of my uniform. I turned the TV on and mindlessly watched whatever was on the channel that my remote had opened. Soon my tired body started to slouch and before I knew it I had drifted off to sleep.

I was rudely awakened by a loud scream. I looked around wildly and realized that I was in my apartment and that the scream I heard had come from my TV. There was a thriller movie going on and someone was being pursued by a mad man with a large knife.

I glanced at my watch. It was half past six in the evening. My stomach started to grumble and I wasn't surprised. The last meal I had eaten was hours ago on the plane. My stomach was empty and asking to be fed.

I was too tired to even think about cooking myself a meal. Besides, I was sure that there was nothing inside my refrigerator.

I stood up and went inside my bedroom and rummaged in my dresser for some casual clothes to change into. Then I grabbed my car key and went down to the basement parking lot of my apartment building.

Thankfully my favorite restaurant tonight did not have the usual long line of customers waiting to be seated. I did not know if I could wait too long to put some food into my stomach.

The friendly waiter who approached me recognized me instantly. I was a frequent customer in this restaurant and I was known by the waiters here to be a generous tipper.

"The usual table, sir?" he asked with a friendly bow.

"If it's available, sure," I replied, smiling back at him.

"Watch it," I said to a fellow customer who was hurrying towards the exit carrying a paper bag with the restaurant logo. He was obviously carrying a take out he had ordered.

"Sorry," the customer said glancing at me with an apologetic look.

My heart jumped when I recognized his face. Just what were the chances that I would bump into him again. After all this time.......

He didn't seem to recognize me because he was already walking quickly away.

"Excuse me," I said to the waiter. "I will be back. Please keep my usual table reserved and bring my usual drink there already."

"I will, sir," the waiter said, walking away to prepare my drink.

"Tul!" I called out, breaking into a run because he was walking way too fast. Although he had not given me his name when he was on my flight, I made sure to find out what his name was. Unfortunately I couldn't access all his other personal information including, most important of all, his contact number.

He stopped and turned to see who had called his name.

I waved at him to wait for me. He just stood and stared at me. Obviously he had not remembered who I was.

When I finally reached him, I extended my hand to him.

"I'm the flight attendant on the plane that you took from Taiwan to here," I said.  "I had given you my name and number on a roasted peanuts wrapper but you never called me."

Suddenly his eyes widened. I could see that he was starting to remember me.

"I didn't recognize you because you're not in your uniform," he said.

"I guess I have a forgettable face," I said, giving him a sad smile. "I'm sure that if I had given you an unforgettable impression you would have recognized me even if I was not in uniform."

"I'm sorry," he said. "It was nice to see you. I wish you a lovely evening."

"Wait!" I said when he turned to walk away from me. "I'm sure you have thrown away my contact number. Can I give it to you again?"

"You will have to forgive me," I heard Tul say in a regretful tone. "But I am a married man."

At that very moment, I felt that the whole universe had collapsed all around me.