One hour and fifteen minutes.
A lot can happen in a quick flight from New York to Massachusetts. As for Lucas Randal and Ina St. Clair, one hour and fifteen minutes is long enough for them to discover bits and pieces of each other's lives, all while...
"Thanks for helping me find my luggage back there, Lucas. You didn't have to."
It wasn't even that difficult to look for it in the row of luggage that were displayed in the carousel from the baggage claim since it was easily spotted—they were two large turquoise wheeled suitcases.
Lucas waved a hand at her. "Psh, don't mention it. Is someone going to pick you up or...?"
Ina bit her lip, looking around like an unfamiliar tourist. They had just landed in Boston thirty minutes ago, with Lucas accompanying Ina all throughout the airport, from the customs up until they had reached the arrivals hall.
Ina eventually told Lucas that it was her first time to have flown all by herself, and, being a resident of Massachusetts himself with much time to spare, he volunteered to help the clueless female.
She then darted her eyes back to Lucas. "Uh...no one."
"Your brother's not picking you up?"
"Busy."
"We can share a cab if you want—"
"It's totally fine," Ina immediately said, cutting him off. "I actually do have somewhere else to go. My brother's making me buy something for him—y'know what, forget about what I said awhile ago. None of my siblings are decent human beings."
He gripped the strap of his backpack tighter. "Do you want me to come with you?"
She answered him as she took off her hair tie from her wrist and secured her hair into a messy bun again. "I can sort this out. Besides, what better way to navigate a new territory than by being on your own?"
Lucas sighed, and couldn't do anything but to nod at what she said. They individually booked an Uber and waited patiently outside the airport along with a throng of people that came and went.
Around five minutes later, a silver sedan arrived, which was Ina's ride. The trunk popped open and the driver stepped outside, jogging towards Ina's luggage. He took the suitcase while Lucas insisted and took the other.
When everything was already place in the trunk's compartment, Lucas turned around and saw Ina handing her phone to him.
"Hey, before I leave, can I get your number, at least?"
"Holy shit, yeah, sure." He punched in the necessary information, funnily typing in Curly Top and handed it over to her again. She laughed when she read the contact detail and immediately rang his phone, letting Lucas save her number this time.
He kept her contact under the name of Miss Skittles, of course.
The only thing left to do was to say their goodbyes. To Lucas, he preferred to call it their see-you-soons. He extended his hand for a handshake, but to his shock, his hand was completely ignored.
Instead, Ina went in for a hug.
The unanticipated physical response pretty much summed up their newly-formed relationship that day—brief and sweet. He was indeed caught off-guard, but he was glad that Ina initiated it.
"Hope we could stay in touch, Miss Skittles," Lucas said, pulling out from the embrace.
"We will. It was nice meeting you, Curly Top. Thank you, thank you, for helping me!" She smiled in return and hopped into the back seat. Lucas walked away and sat on a bench that was just nearby. Unfortunately, the airport was congested with cars and Ina's Uber along with the other vehicles were not moving.
Lucas was about to text his mom to inform her that he was already in Boston when another message popped up from his inbox.
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He raised an eyebrow, uncertain if she sent a wrong text or not. A few seconds later, he looked up and saw Ina tapping her window to get his attention. His mind just registered to him that they were actually situated right across from each other.
As soon as Lucas realized what she meant, the traffic began to ease. Ina flashed him a peace sign before the car finally drove away.
