You're a Metaphor

Chapter 11a : Tug of War

"This is the final boarding call for passenger Nadine Alexis Lustre booked on Singapore Airlines flight SQ948 to Bali, Indonesia. Please proceed to gate F32 immediately. The final checks are being completed and the captain will order for the doors of the aircraft to close in approximately fifteen minutes time. I repeat. This is the final boarding call for Nadine Alexis Lustre. Thank you."

Shit! SHIT! Nadine cursed internally as she scrambled out of the cubicle only to crawl back in again to hurl her breakfast down the toilet bowl for the third time that morning. This time she made sure that there was nothing left to throw up other than her literal guts. She quickly washed her face and gurgled the awful taste in her mouth, managing to get a quick look of her reflection on the mirror on her way out. Washing her face was a terrible idea because then she realised that she actually used her non-waterproof mascara, and now she looked like she bawled her way out of a romantic movie. But who has time for that when she was running like her life depended on it. For some reason it has some hints of truth in it, because if she missed this flight, her boss would definitely make sure that she wouldn't see the light of day.

"Nadine Alexis Lustre?" inquired the male cabin crew standing beside thefull-body scanner, with a painfully well-rehearsed smile.

Nadine nodded her response while panting as she struggled to keep some air flowing in her lungs.

"Please take out any electronic device before going through the scanner. Make sure there are no metal in your clothing articles." The cabin crew added as he checked her out.

But Nadine was too busy to even notice the eyes that were literally scanning her, too busy taking out her laptop, smartphone and ipad into the security tray.

By the time the security inspection was done, she was ushered by the same male cabin crew into the plane, offering to carry her bags and making small talk that she could really care less what it was about. She still nodded and smiled at him while she tried to keep herself calm, preparing herself for the inescapable walk of shame on the aisle towards her designated seat.

She slumped onto her aisle seat while the same male cabin crew shoved her bags into the compartment and told her to find him if she needed anything before walking off to the front of the plane to do his cabin crew duties, Nadine assumed.

Just when she was drifting off to sleep, there was a tap on her right shoulder. She peeked through her lashes only to see the brightest smile, she almost felt blinded by it she had to put her hand over to shield her eyes.

"James? What are you doing here?" Nadine asked with overt exhaustion in her voice.

"What do you mean? I called you, probably hundreds of times. You should check your phone." James advised, shuffling in his seat before replacing his headphone back on top of his head and the buds to cover up his ears.

Nadine shot up from her slump after realisation hit her. This was not a personal trip. She won't be alone in this trip. She felt blood drained off her face as she tilted her head from left to right. Sat across the aisle on her right was Michael, his stare pierced through her, she was sure if his stares were daggers, she would have bled to death already, as well as the person beside her. Which made her look back to her left only to see James' eyes drilling a hole on her head with how intense he was gleaming at her. Oh God, she thought to herself, I think I'm gonna be sick. The plane had not even ascended yet and there she was stuck in another gut-wrenching situation. She inspected the seat in front of her, shuffling through the magazines and was relieved when she finally found what she was looking for, the barf bag.

___

Nadine had no idea how it happened or why in the world did the cabin crews allowed seat reshuffling, because now she found herself seated in the middle of two alpha males oozing masculinity and testosterone as they fought to feed her the breakfast provided onboard. She had told them countless of times that her stomach were currently knotted, probably due to do the curry she ate last night, and that she won't be able to eat anything at all. Both of them insisted that it's better to vomit with food than an empty stomach. She had to force herself to actually eat just to shut their mouths but they had been going on for 15 minutes now, talking fact upon fact, and to be honest Nadine doesn't give a fuck, all she wanted was to have a proper nap.