PART 6
"Mom, do you have the tickets?" Diana asked her mother as she pulled the luggage out of the taxi.
"Don’t worry, I’m not that absent-minded," Dalia responded, finishing up with the cab driver.
"That’s what you say now, but last time we lost two years’ worth of savings and a vacation to San Francisco because you forgot the tickets," her daughter complained as her mother stepped out of the car, rummaging through her enormous purse.
"Where is it? Here, see? I have them." Dalia waved the plane tickets proudly in front of her.
Diana felt more puzzled than relieved by her mother’s reaction. She couldn’t understand why something that should be a basic responsibility was cause for such joy and pride.
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"Andrew, for being the eldest son of one of the big mafia bosses, you should be driving a bit faster!" Emily complained from the leather backseat of the Bugatti. "It’s like you’re tiptoeing around!"
"At the legal speed limit," Andrew calmly replied as he drove towards the airport.
"Come on! Come on!" Emily kept going, tapping impatiently on the side of the driver’s seat, getting on Andrew’ nerves, while Mike remained silent, his nerves clearly visible.
Thanks to Andrew' smooth driving, they reached the airport’s departure zone in about fifteen minutes.
"Get out! I’ll go park," Andrew said as he opened the doors. "Good luck, Mike!"
"Thanks, Andrew," Mike replied, sharing a knowing smile with his friend just before Andrew drove off, the engine roaring.
After weeks of tension between them, that look said it all—the trust had returned. There was still a lot left to discuss, many things that needed apologies, especially on Mike’s part, but the bond they always boasted about to others had finally come back.
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"I know why you’re so excited," Diana teased with a mischievous smile, watching her brother fidget in the waiting room chair. "It’s your first time flying."
"You think I’d be excited over something like that?" Zedd responded, blushing because his sister had figured him out.
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"Isn’t it?" she asked, playing dumb.
"Of course not," Zedd stuck out his tongue at her.
"Suuuure," Diana ruffled his hair vigorously.
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"What are you doing here?" Mike asked Emily, raising an eyebrow as they stood before the large screen displaying all the departing flights.
"How do you plan on getting through security?" Emily replied with her usual swagger as she walked over to the counter. "I need a ticket for the next flight out to anywhere."
She said to the clerk, who stared at her in disbelief.
"What’s wrong?" Emily broke the silence, impatiently. "I know you fell in love with me at first sight, but come on, we’re in a rush."
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Flight departure Birds Airlines 2115 to Berion, passengers please board at gate A42, the announcement echoed in the waiting room where Diana and her family were waiting. With a small gesture, Diana signaled to her brother, who was watching the planes with her, that it was time to leave.
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"There are too many people. I won’t make it," Mike muttered aloud, seeing the huge crowd waiting to get through security.
"That’s why I got you a first-class ticket. You get to use the priority lane," Emily said, handing him the ticket and giving him a shove. "Go, run."
"Thank you, Emily," he said, rushing through security and starting to sprint.
As he hurried desperately toward the gate Emily had mentioned, Mike couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened—about his behavior and the depth of his feelings.
"I’ve been such a fool this whole time. Trying to get close to you like you were some kind of goddess. But in the end, you were just a person like me, full of fears and worries. If only I had listened to you back then, we wouldn’t be in this situation. If I had just been honest with you all along, we could’ve spent what little time we had left together. We never appreciate what’s right in front of us, even when it's handed to us on a silver platter. When I finally see you, I’ll tell you the truth... that I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you, when you bumped into me, lost in the size of the university. That time didn’t exist for me, nor did classes, because just seeing you made the hours turn into minutes and the minutes into seconds. Your smile brightened my gray days and gave me the strength to keep going, one more day. I don’t care if you leave, but I’ll have told you the truth. I don’t want my feelings to be left as if I never loved you... as if I never really cared. Please, let her still be here. Please, let her still be here. Please, let her still be here. Please..."
He repeated to himself, sweat pouring down his face as he finally reached the indicated gate. A completely empty and closed room. Diana was already gone, and with her, all his chances. Like a dream, a sigh, or the blink of an eye—everything was gone.
image [https://postimg.cc/sMTnsbf3]image [https://i.imghippo.com/files/w2YOl1726504724.jpg]
"Idiot! Idiot! I’m such an idiot!" Mike cried to himself, collapsing onto the floor, overwhelmed with pain and tears.
image [https://i.imghippo.com/files/CvW2u1726504531.jpg]
"All because of human stupidity. We don’t realize what we have until we’ve truly lost it."
image [https://i.imghippo.com/files/P41lH1726504618.jpg]
THE END