The Shadows

Change of Heart

Airport, Manila, Philippines

It was raining so hard when Gabe and I arrived at the Airport. The driver got out of the SUV and brought out a black umbrella. He went to the back of the car and got my luggage. It was a huge fuchsia pink stroller that can be easily recognized. My dad bought it for me and he received a lot of kisses for it.

I took my umbrella and went out as well; I waited for the driver to hand me my stroller but Gabe took it from the driver and said, "Let's go" as he walked past me. I gave my umbrella to the driver and waved goodbye.

I had been following Gabe for three minutes now. I noticed that we were not going the same way as other people.

"Gabe, wait! Where are we going?" I tried to keep up with his pace.

"To the immigration," He glanced at me then continued to walk. The immigration was on the other side. We are definitely going the wrong way!

I ran just to be beside him, "The immigration is on..." Gabe stopped and opened a door; he waited for me to get in. I paused, then looked at him. I was so confused but I went inside.

In the room, there were uniformed officers. Do they work for the Airport? Gabe stopped in front of them.

"Good morning, Sir, Ma'am!" Gabe said, "Em, put out your passport, documents and valid ID's."

I stared at Gabe then at the uniformed officials. What's going on? I placed all the things on the table as instructed.

I realized that these officials were doing what immigration people do. Maybe this was what they do for VIPs and famous people? So that they did not need to stand in line, like regular people do. Talk about power and money! Gabe has both, I guess?

We went out and walked in a hallway. I was looking for the tube of the plane, but all I saw was a jet in the hangar clearing. The jet has the same logo as Gabe's backpack. I followed him as he walked towards the stairs of the plane. My mind was full of questions but I kept quiet. Gabe has a lot of explaining to do!

The jet's upholstery was a combination of yellow, black and white. The cabinets were mahogany brown and had a wood like finish on them. Whoever designed the interior was amazing! It looked sophisticated.

"You can sit anywhere you like," Gabe declared like he owned the plane.

I decided to sit near the window so I could see the view. I was trying to overcome my fear of flying. I placed my shoulder bag near my seat.

"The earplugs are under your seat. This is Kimberly, our flight attendant," Gabe said as he pointed his thumb to the Filipino attendant. She smiled at me and I smiled back.

Gabe sat on my left side. I looked everywhere except him. I felt inferior. If he owned a plane, I could not fathom how wealthy he was. Well, I was just assuming he owned it. Did he own a company too? I was assuming because of the logo. I thought this kind of person only existed in books. 

I totally allowed Gabe to control everything, my travel plans included. It just did not feel right! The flight attendant announced that we were ready for takeoff.

When the worst part of takeoff was over, we were allowed to walk around the plane. I squeezed my eyes shut while I stretched my arms upward. I pointed my toes as far as it could go. I got the feeling that someone was watching me. I turned to my left, Gabe sure was staring and he was grinning.

I put my chin up, "What?"

He stood up and took the seat in front of me, "I was just thinking about what we can do during our flight?"

I relaxed and put my feet down, "What do you have in mind?"

"We can play scrabble," he grinned at me.

"Are you serious?" I asked him dubiously.

"Yes!" he answered.

I pouted my lower lip, "Okay."

He stood up and walked to a small opening behind his seat. He got a scrabble game set.

"You planned this?" I asked him. I knew it!

"Time alone with you? Yes. But the scrabble? No," he explained.

"You have a scrabble set in your plane?" I asked him. I felt so ignorant after I said it. Maybe all private jets have board games in them!

"This is my mom’s. We play a lot when we travel," Gabe explained. I did not miss the sadness in his eyes when he said it. He shut off the emotion instantly.

"I see," I never thought about his family before. I was not sure if I could ask about his family, "Game?"

"Let's flip the coin. Heads or tails?" he asked.

"Heads!" I answered. I was nervous all of a sudden.

He tossed the coin upward. Caught it and showed it to me. Tails. Dang!

He got his letters and I got mine, then he spoke, "What's the catch?"

I was arranging my letters to form a word, "What do you mean?"

"To make the game more exciting!" he said while he smiled wickedly.

"Right! This is not a card game. So don't think about stripping clothes!" I know what he was thinking! p*****t!

He smiled broadly, "Okay then, how about this. Whoever wins he or she can ask a question. Any question,"

I was skeptical about it, "How far can those questions go? I mean, is it personal and private?"

"Our deepest and darkest secrets that far," he said. He was very smug about this, "Deal?"

I responded, "Fine, let's start!" Though I am not sure about the darkest?

I was looking at my letters. Can this get any worse? I had three E's, an H, two T's and one letter I.

E E E H T T I oh God! I looked at the board. He was done already. It showed:

S E X

I looked at him like Grandmother's looked at their naughty grandchildren, "Is that all you got?"

"Strategy-wise dispose of all difficult letters," he smiled, showing his perfect set of teeth.

My turn, I placed: H E X

"Hmm since both of us won. You can ask me any question," he stated.

"I can't think of any question. You go first, ask me?" I told him.

He reclined and put his arms under his head, "If I don't kill people would you love me?"

My mouth dropped. I looked him in the eye, "What kind of question is that?"

"Any questions, remember? Answer me," he demanded. He changed position. He placed his forearms on his upper leg and interlaced his fingers. His face was so close to mine.

"I don't know!" He was confusing me. His gaze was like penetrating my inner thoughts.

"Let me change it then. Would you judge someone by his past?" he asked again.

"No," I gave him a straight answer. He stared at me.

His countenance softened, "What's your question?"

I could not think of anything, "Do you have brothers or sisters?" I asked him.

"No to both. I'm an orphan," he removed his ball cap which exposed his dark blond hair, "Both my parents got shot."

I covered my mouth, "I'm sorry I have no idea. And you can forget that I asked," What the heck?!

He was in a trance. His expression became dangerous, "I got over it. I got my revenge eventually. And then they invited me to join the brotherhood."

I was about to ask a follow-up question when Kimberly arrived. She was pushing the tray of our food. Perfect timing!

The food tasted great. We totally forgot the game. I did not notice that I was hungry until I had the club sandwich. I picked up a grape and absentmindedly put it in my mouth. I watched Kimberly walk out. Gabe was staring at me again.

I raised my brows to him, "Don't you know that it's very rude to stare?"

"Can I kiss you?" he asked casually. I gaped at him in disbelief.

Do people normally ask this kind of question? This guy was losing his mind! "Thank you for asking permission but no!" I answered. Gosh!

I finished my sandwich and went to the lavatory area. I closed the door and gazed at my face in the mirror. I looked flushed! I touched my cheeks. It was moist and clammy. Do normal boys ask things like that?

There was a light knock on the door, "Em, it's me I'm sorry if I offended you in any way," Gabe said apologetically.

I squared my shoulders. Exhaled and opened the door. Suddenly a mild turbulence made me back up and brought Gabe inside the small room. His chest into my face. He placed his arms protectively behind my back. The turbulence stopped. I looked up; Gabe was looking down at me.

"Emerald, I don't know how to express my feelings. But if you could give me a chance, I'll try to be the best man for you. I can't stay away, not now."

There was another unsteady movement again, it was a little stronger than the one earlier. I gripped his shoulders. It was like an earthquake. This time I was thrown to Gabe and he received my full weight. Both my arms in front of my chest. When it ceased, Gabe supported me to stand.

I bit my lip and breathed out. I did not know what to feel. We looked at each other for a moment then Kimberly came to us, "Sir, Ma'am are you all, right?"

"Yes," I replied to the flight attendant. I walked away and returned to my seat. Gabe went to the direction of the cockpit together with the attendant.

I put my seatbelt on and reclined. What am I afraid of? This person was showing his affection to me and I kept on rejecting him. What is wrong with me? I got my tablet from my bag and scanned the movies. I only have Ender's Game, 500 Days of Summer and Mrs. Winterbourne. I tapped the Emily Deschanel. It started already but my mind was not in the movie. My mind recalled what just happened to me and Gabe. When he was hugging me as he said those words.

"Feeling alright?" Gabe asked me when he returned from the cockpit, "I had a word with the captain," He continued, he stood near my seat.

"You want to watch a movie?" I asked him. The hell with my fears! I'll take my chances.

I removed my bag from the other seat to give way to him. He sat down. We were now seated side by side. I restarted the movie again for him. "I don't have any other films. I just got the tablet, no downloads yet,"

"It's okay," Gabe responded, looking at the screen. He was being distant again. Well maybe because you rejected him, i***t!

My heart was beating fast! It's now or never! I pushed the foldable armrest between him and me. I took his right arm and placed my chin on his shoulder and whispered to his ear, "I'll give you a chance. But don't make promises you can't keep or else I'll kick you in the balls, you got that?"

He turned and smiled at me, almost laughing; I could feel his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. I pouted and told him, "Shut up and watch the movie."

******

I woke up and noticed my tablet was already inside its case; lights were coming from the cockpit side. I was under a blanket, Gabe gone. I clicked the on button of my tablet; it showed quarter to four in the morning. I heard someone stirred. I assumed it was Gabe. His luminous watch glowed in the dark. He came near me.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"No," I said while yawning. My blanket fell. I tried to grab it but Gabe was faster. His forehead hit the right side of my ear, "Ouch!"

"I'm sorry," he cupped my face with both hands. I could feel his breath on my face, "Do you feel dizzy?"

"I'm okay," I said in a clipped voice, I was worried about morning breath. He did not remove his hands from my face.

"Em," he said almost out of breath, "I wanted to kiss you so bad. Are you going to stop me?"

I gave a sharp gasp. Then I relaxed, "No." I said with defiance and added "You better be good at it because you're my first!"

He smiled and he kissed me. He was gentle, slowly tasting my lips. I just parted my mouth and my instinct told me to kiss him back. He scooped me up, took a seat and placed me on his lap. When the kiss ended, we were both out of breath. I cradled his neck and he kissed my hair.

"So, are you, my girl, now?" He asked me. Okay! conceited Gabe is back.

"Wow! You're back!" I said laughing at him; I could feel him smiling at my shoulder, "Feeling lucky to kiss and brag?"

"I'm just making it clear, so I know where I stand," he stated, his eyes blinking fast.

"Whatever!" I could not stop smiling.

"So... are you?" he was so persistent.

"Gabe, when a girl kisses you back, it means she likes you too. Unless you kiss a lot of girl frogs in your life!" I explained to him.

"Girl frogs?" he asked, amused.

"That's my term for short time girls, you know fling, casual?" he just stared at me, "Fine! Okay, I'm your girlfriend. Happy?" I smiled at him.

"Very." he answered, then he kissed my forehead and put his arms around me.