***** Vol.2 Chap.31 Arriving home from abroad *****

“This is the captain speaking. We are on the final approach to Shanghai. At this time, we asked that all passengers return their seats to their upright position…”

Dutifully, May-Ling straightened up her blouse and returned the seat to its upright position. She also checked that the seat belts were tightly fastened and in the proper position. After being away for a few days, she was eager to see Haw-Ting and to get back to her normal routine. He had promised her to take the day off to pick her up at the Shanghai airport. She made sure of that before she left. She made him promise to pick her up in Shanghai so that they would take the train back to Xilon together. As the plane taxied towards the terminal, she stretched her neck, trying to see if his silhouette appeared near the terminal window.

As soon as the plane pulled to a stop, she jumped up and grabbed her bags from the overhead bin and rushed towards the front of the plane. She was glad to be home. But it was a full plane and there were people everywhere. She patiently waited for the people in first class to deplane first. Then she had to wait till all the ones sitting towards the front of the plane to disembark. Finally, it was her turn. She rushed down the stairs. When she was on the ground, she tried to look again towards the terminal window, but he was nowhere to be found. She was herded by the security guards to keep moving towards the international arrival section for immigration and customs checks. When she got to the international arrival section, long lines have been formed already. She picked the one farthest in the room, which seemed to be the only line that seemed shorter. While she was waiting, she checked to make sure that she had all her papers out and ready.

After immigration, she followed the rest of the passengers to the baggage claim area. Her small make shift luggage was already there waiting for her. Without stopping, she picked up her bag and headed for the customs area. There was nothing to declare and the customs officer just waved her through. Finally, she was through with all the formalities. She carried her luggage and almost ran down the long alley to the door leading to the waiting area. Her heart was pounding. Even though it was scarcely been one week since she left him and her beloved country, she was so glad to be back and was ready to resume her work at the clinic again.

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She burst out of the two double doors and saw mountains of people waiting behind the yellow lines. There were people everywhere. Hundreds of heads turned towards her. Hundreds of pairs of eyes stared at her with anticipation. People were holding all kinds of signs here and there and yelling out names from the back. For a moment, she was bewildered. She was at a loss about what she should do. She stopped and scanned the crowd for a familiar face or a familiar voice. Finding none, she collected herself and slowly walked down the cordoned area, looking at each sign and each face on the other side of the cords. She walked with a dignified smile outwardly, even though she could hardly contain herself inwardly. After several few steps, she looked back to make sure that she did not miss anyone on the other side. She also tried to listen carefully if someone was shouting out her name.

She was almost at the end of the cordoned area, but she had not seen a familiar face yet. She told herself that he would not fail her. He would be here at any time. Maybe he was tied up by traffic. She knew he would be here to meet her. She was now out of the cordoned area. As she stopped and looked back, no one was looking at her anymore. More people were coming out through the double doors and all heads and eyes were on the new arrivals once again. She was now just another one among the crowd, another head amidst the gathering indistinguishable from the rest of the group.

Instead of quietly waiting in one corner of the lobby, she decided to walk among the crowd. With her bags and carry-on in tow with her, she tried to negotiate her way from one end of the lobby to the other end. Sadly, she found no one she recognized. Disappointed, she made her way back to the other end of the lobby. The crowd had thinned down now, and it had been a while since anyone had walked through the double doors. She looked at her watch; it had been over an hour since the arrival time of the flight. Surely, he should be here already. She had never known him to be late for anything. Surely if he was here, he would have spotted her by now. If he got tied up, he would have sent someone else here. If someone was here to pick her up, it was not difficult to spot her.