A Flight of Love

Chapter 2 - Take Off

Abhimanyu frowned to himself when he did not receive a response back from the guitar girl. Rude much, he thought to himself. Normally not one to care much about conversing with people, the fact that she was blatantly ignoring him and his quip pissed him off. He shouldn't be mad at such a trivial thing but he was, and he didn't know why.

"Sir, welcome onboard, here a little pre-departure drink and snack." The flight attendant opened the serving tray for him and placed a cup of orange juice and a packet of mixed nuts on the tray. "Enjoy."

She turned to face the guitar girl who was too engrossed in looking out the window to notice her.

"Ma'am," she called.

No answer. Abhimanyu tried very hard to not scoff at the rudeness of his co-passenger when the flight attendant gently tapped the girl on the shoulder to get her attention.

Akshara jolted away from the window and held her best to not do a jump scare in her seat at the faint tapping of her shoulder. She clutched her chest for dear life as her AirPods fell out of her ears and onto her seat and possibly the ground.

"I'm so sorry Ma'am. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to welcome you onboard and give you a little pre-departure drink and snack."

"No no, please don't say sorry. I'm sorry I didn't notice you standing there. Thank you for the drink and snack." Akshara opened her tray table and grabbed the juice and snack from the flight attendant.

Abhimanyu didn't fail to notice the softness with a tinge of chirpiness of her voice with what seemed like a very genuine apology. Now he kind of felt bad for judging her too harshly too fast. Maybe she hadn't been ignoring him. She had just been noise canceling with the help of music and her AirPods.

"Sir, Ma'am, please tie your seatbelts as the doors are about to close and we are going to start taxing shortly."

Abhimanyu and Akshara nodded their heads simultaneously and showed her their already tied seatbelts before she left. Abhimanyu and Akshara watched as additional flight attendants made rounds to make sure all passengers had their seatbelts tied.

A few moments passed in silence before a jerk made both Abhimanyu and Akshara aware that the plane had left the gate and was on its way to the runway.

"Hello and good morning everyone. I am your flight caption, Connor Williams and with me is First Officer Grant Woods and welcome to Emirates traveling from New York City to New Delhi, India with a layover in Dubai...."

The captains announcement continued but Abhimanyu zoned him out and instead began noticing the passenger beside him. She had started to fidget in her seat, getting restless. Antsy almost.

Akshara's heartbeat was starting to intensify, beating irregularly. Her AirPods. She needed her AirPods. The small jerks of the plane as it began taxiing began creeping into her skin. She hated flying. She hated being trapped in a flying metal box for 14 hours straight. She hated not being control. What if something went wrong. What if the plane wasn't able to take off. What if the plane's engines failed.

There were so many what if questions and not enough answers. And her only answer —her music was gone. Her AirPods, her safe haven, her comfort wasn't there anymore.

As the flight's safety information video started playing on the screen, telling her they were only a few minutes from take-off, the precipitation on her forehead, the constructed beating of her chest, the increasing heart rate, the sweaty palms, the watery eyes started to overpower her. She suddenly felt the giant metal box she was sitting in was shrinking.

She needed her music. She needed her calm.

"Are you okay?" A brooding and concerned voice rang in her ears.

Akshara shook her head. Abhimanyu could see the girl's face was turning pale; losing colour. Her breathing was getting heavy and loud. He turned to face her.

"Are you having a panic attack?" Abhimanyu asked her as if he already hadn't figured it out. Way to state the obvious, Sherlock.

Akshara nodded her head at the stranger seated right beside her. Even while being seated, he towered over her. He had a rugged but yet a soft boy-next-door look. His eyes were a dark caramel brown and he had very rich and long, dark lashes.

"It's going to be okay. Just look at me. Think about something that makes you happy."

A small beep was heard over the intercom. "Crew get ready for take-off."

This was it. The final moment. Akshara tried to pay attention to the strangers deep and brooding voice. He watched as he took a deep breath, and let it out. He gestured for her to do the same. She tried to follow. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Rinse and repeat.

Akshara shook her head and tears started rolling down her eyes as the plane sped up for its last leg before take off. She was starting to hyperventilate. Oh no, this is how she was going to die. The plane was going to crash and she was going to die while in the midst of a panic attack.

Abhimanyu watched the girl see she wasn't responding to any of his words of comfort or techniques of getting over the panic attack. He needed to distract her and fast. He let out a soft curse, aimed at particularly no one in general and grabbed Akshara's face with his hands, forcing her to look at him and crushed his lips against hers.

Akshara's face was tiny in his giant hands. His one hand was wrapped tightly against the back of her head, making her unable to pull away and one was cupping her chin, pushing her lips against his. She tasted like vanilla and mint. Her lips were soft; but her face was even softer. Her hair was silky and she fit perfectly in his hands.

Abhimanyu ran his hand through the silky, long, black hair, and slowly ended up cupping the nape of her neck. His hands folded around her her neck in a soft but yet somewhat firm grip. His tongue pushed against Akshara's teeth, wanting to be let in.

Akshara was taken back by the sudden wave of nirvana that was hitting her. She felt Abhimanyu's tongue pushing against her teeth and she willingly opened her mouth, letting both their tongues intertwine with each other. His kiss was powerful, like he had a mission to accomplish. And she was his mission. Akshara felt herself getting intoxicated in an aroma of sandalwood mixed in amber and musk.

A little bell was heard and Abhimanyu unwillingly pulled his mouth away from Akshara. Ever part of his body was screaming "more" while the sane part of him was screaming "no." Abhimanyu looked at Akshara who was just staring back at him, shocked. Her eyes were glossy, her lips were plump and the skin around her lips was turning red, which he realized might be from his stubble.

Akshara looked —no in-fact —she felt thoroughly ravished. Akshara stared at the stranger who had dared to kiss her. Her shock and need slowly turning into embarrassment.

"Sorry." Abhimanyu apologized, hoping she'd understand.

"Why the fu—" Akshara trailed off, wanting to not curse but decided otherwise, "—ck did you kiss me?"