Not You

Chapter 29

She called Mads again and as soon as she picked up, she said, "Mads I got a voice mail from Adi."

"What? Why a voice mail? Why didn't you call him? And how far are you from the airport?"

Adi clutched the door handle tighter and said, "I couldn't get through. He's out of coverage area. I'm trying for the past half hour. I don't know what's happening. I'm still at least an hour away. I'm scared, Mads."

"That you'll miss him?"

Adi looked at the traffic ahead and sighed.

"Yes."

"Adi, email him! He's a workaholic. I'm sure he'll check his email at least once before boarding. Wait, I'll send you his address. I have it here on my mail."

With that, she hung up and sent across the address to Adi. She felt a new ray of hope as she saw his address pop up in a message box. She quickly copied the address in a new email and hurriedly typed an email to him.

A half hour later, she was a bundle of nerves. She hadn't heard back from him via call or email. His voicemail kept ringing in her head. It felt like a final farewell. She had this horrible feeling that if she didn't see him once, talk to him once before he left, she would lose out on him completely. She would never be able to tell him how she felt. It was already breaking her heart just thinking about it.

Author's Note: Been wanting to write a good airport chase scene since "I got off the plane!" And I've tried something new. Hope it works. Lemme know, eh? – S

The Airport

"I need a ticket."

"Where to Ma'am?"

She looked at the rates and the destinations and picked the cheapest one she could find. The attendant smiled cryptically as though she knew that Aditi wouldn't actually board this flight and it was to find someone. She asked for her details, swiped Aditi's card and printed up her ticket. She grabbed it with a smile and rushed inside. What would she able to do in half an hour? She took a deep breath to calm her frazzled nerves. She could feel the pure adrenaline rush and she didn't like it one bit this time. She ran inside and stood, wondering what to do. She then went to the information counter and asked for his flight arrival timings along with boarding time and gate number. Twenty five minutes. Okay. She had to give this her best shot. She dashed another email to him in the hope that he would see his email at least once and meet her. She ran to the gate and saw the sheer number of people. It nearly reduced her to tears. What was she expecting? It was the Mumbai airport after all. Did she really think she was going to find Adi in one of the most crowded airports in the country in less than half hour? Breathe Aditi, breathe.

Then, it struck her. Make your weakness your strength. She smiled and pulled out a big piece of paper from her bag and a black marker. With a bigger grin, she began to write in big, bold, black letters. This was her last shot after all. She intended to make the most of it.

A few minutes later, a pretty girl walked up to her and pointed to the make-shift sign Aditi was holding up as she sat on a bench to say, "What does he look like?"

Aditi broke into a big smile and held up her phone to show her a picture of Adi that she had managed to get from Mads at the last minute. It was the display picture from Mads' phone she had seen just a few days back. The other girl nodded and called her friend.

"Hey Anu! Come, look at this picture! We need to find this guy." She then looked at Aditi and said, "I'm Olivia, by the way."

Aditi gratefully replied, "Aditi."