It's Our Time to Shine
Kodak Moment.
“Is everything okay now?”, Bert asked after we’d taken off, now smiling at me with his bright crystal blue eyes.
“I think so.”
“I don’t know about you, Lina, but I left my stomach back on the runway”, Quinn suddenly added giggling, peeking out from the seats in front of us.
“Yeah, me too”, I agreed, feeling slightly better knowing that I wasn’t the only one not being too keen on flying.
He sat back in his seat again as I gazed out of the window, seeing that we were getting higher and higher up in the sky.
“You aren’t hungry, are you?”, Bert asked.
“No, how come?”
“Nothin´ special. We ordered some food on the flight, but we won’t get it until a couple of hours or so.”
“Yeah, sure – that’s okay. I’m still full after the sushi anyway”, I replied, looking at him with a smile.
“But you didn’t even finish your plate?”
“Well, the food was rich, and besides, I wasn’t that hungry, either.”
“Yeah, but still – you should eat. You like chicken, right?”
“Sure!”
“Good, ‘cause that’s what I ordered for you if that’s okay. I don’t know what Jeph ordered, but the others are havin´ chicken or somethin´ too.”
“Oh, okay, sounds good”, I said, smiling at Bert as I felt somewhat sleepy at this moment.
I yawned before leaning back in the seat, making myself comfortable as I closed my eyes.
I felt my pulse now slowing down, my heart wasn’t beating as fast as it had done and the anxiety had faded away.
I felt calm no, relieved, as I fell asleep on the flight that was on its way to Japan.
”No, don’t wake her up, Bert.”
“But what if she’s hungry?
Dude, look at her – she’s miles away right now.”
“Nah, Jeph. I’ll wake her up.”
Suddenly, I felt someone gently shaking my shoulder before whispering in my ear.
“Hey, Lina. The food’s here. Are you hungry?”, Bert asked while looking at me.
“Mhm…”
“Food’s here”, he repeated giggling.
“Oh. Oh, yeah. Uhm, food…”
I got up from my seat before I carefully rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, making sure I didn’t smudge my make-up all over my face.
“Here”, Bert said, handing me a tray where the food was placed on.
“Thank you”, I replied as I took down the small table that was attached to the seat in front of me, where Quinn was sitting, and placed it there.
“What do you wanna drink?”
“I don’t know. What are the options?”
“Water, Coke, Pepsi, Diet, everything really.”
“Okay, then I’ll have a diet Coke if that’s okay”, I said smiling.
“Sure. Here.”
I put the can of diet Coke and placed it on the small table before I was handed a plastic cup.
“What are you eating, Jepha?”, I asked him, leaning over Bert who was sitting between us.
“Boiled salmon”, he grinned. “It tastes unbelievably good.”
“Oh, sounds nice. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve had that too.”
“Man, I’m sorry, Lina. I didn’t know you liked fish that much. I was the one orderin´ you the chicken. I thought you preferred that over the fish”, Bert apologized while looking at me.
“No, it’s okay. It doesn’t matter. After fish, poultry is my favorite, so don’t worry about it. Chicken is just as good as fish”, I said, giving him a smile as I took the tiny bag of salt and sprinkled some over the food.
“Awesome”, he added before taking a bite of his chicken and chewed it.
I peeked between the seats in front if us, seeing both Quinn and Dan being occupied with eating their own food.
By the look of it, I think they were having chicken too.
“You like it?”, Bert asked, smiling with his mouth full as I leaned back inmy seat again.
“Yeah, it’s good. I would’ve expected it to be dry, but it wasn’t actually.”
“Ahh, pick, are we?”
“No, not really. Or… Well, okay – I am”, I responded, feeling my cheeks getting warmer as I started to blush.
He just smiled at me, taking yet another mouthful of his chicken while once again focusing on his plate.
“Smile!”, Quinn suddenly burst out, peeking out from the seats in front of me and Bert as he snapped a shot with the lens.
“Dude, how about a warning?”, Bert asked grinning, still having his mouth full of chicken.
“Sorry, couldn’t help it”, Quinn said, browsing through the digital camera to find the picture he’d just taken of us.
“Here – look.”
“Whoa, fuckin´ Kodak moment, or whaddaya say?”, Bert giggled.
“That’s awful. Delete, please”, I said to Quinn, almost gasping while seeing how horrible and totally messed up I actually looked.
“Nope, ain’t gonna happen. This picture is going straight online, my friend”, he replied, turning around and leaning back in his own seat with the camera while having a smirk on his face.
“Dude, that’s bad”, Dan grinned, taking a sip of his bottle of Coke.
“The picture was kinda cool, though, right?”
“Suuure”, I responded, looking at Bert while rolling my eyes,
“Come on – the picture wasn’t that bad?”
“Bert, I had my mouth wide open and you could see the chicken coming hanging out. It wasn’t flattering.”
“So? I looked like shit”, Bert giggled. “I stuck my tongue out, it was covered in chicken! Hey, dude – lemme see that picture.”
“Sure, here”, Quinn said, giving him the camera as Bert leaned forward.
“Look – the picture’s not that bad”, Bert continued, showing me the picture on the digital camera.
“Yes, it is. I look retarded and my nose looks like it’s growing.”
I couldn’t stop complaining.
“I think you look cute, Pinocchio”, Bert giggled. “We look cute.”
I sighed, not being able to do anything but smile at him.
“But do you wanna delete it?”, he then whispered.
“Yeah”, I said, also whispering, although I wasn’t sure why.
“Then I’ll do it?”
“Yeah…”
“Deleted”, Bert smiled, now talking in a regular voice.
“What? What did you deleted?”, Quinn suddenly asked, peeking out from the seats in front of us.
“Nothin´…”
“Duuude, you deleted the picture, didn’t you?!”
“Sorry – my mistake”, Bert answered innocently, now looking at me with a smirk on his face as he gave Quinn the camera back.
“Beware, guys. I’ve just changed the batteries in it and we’ve a long flight ahead of us. Beware!”
“Dude, shut up. I’m tryin´ to sleep here”, Jepha mumbled, pulling a blanket up to his chin as he was almost lying in the seat half asleep.
He had just finished his salmon and was now trying to get some sleep.
He had after all, along with the rest of us, been awake since 5 am this morning.
We were arriving at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan at around 3:30 am if I wasn’t mistaking, so sleeping would therefore be a good way of making time fly.
I continued eating the rest of my chicken and due to the fact that it was a somewhat small portion, I quickly became full.
I was feeling slightly nervous after eating now.
We had been in the air for about three hours and had while looking around, I noticed that Quinn and Dan were already fast asleep including Jepha.
Bert was looking pass me, gazing out of the window to my left.
“Awesome, huh?”
“What?”
“The sky”, he said.
“Yeah, it really is.”
“Look at the colors – they’re amazing.”
“The reflections from the sun…”, I added, before I suddenly felt a warm hand gently taking mine.
I looked over at Bert, meeting his eyes that were sparkling in the sunshine, before I gave him a shy smile as I once again gazed out of the window…
“I think so.”
“I don’t know about you, Lina, but I left my stomach back on the runway”, Quinn suddenly added giggling, peeking out from the seats in front of us.
“Yeah, me too”, I agreed, feeling slightly better knowing that I wasn’t the only one not being too keen on flying.
He sat back in his seat again as I gazed out of the window, seeing that we were getting higher and higher up in the sky.
“You aren’t hungry, are you?”, Bert asked.
“No, how come?”
“Nothin´ special. We ordered some food on the flight, but we won’t get it until a couple of hours or so.”
“Yeah, sure – that’s okay. I’m still full after the sushi anyway”, I replied, looking at him with a smile.
“But you didn’t even finish your plate?”
“Well, the food was rich, and besides, I wasn’t that hungry, either.”
“Yeah, but still – you should eat. You like chicken, right?”
“Sure!”
“Good, ‘cause that’s what I ordered for you if that’s okay. I don’t know what Jeph ordered, but the others are havin´ chicken or somethin´ too.”
“Oh, okay, sounds good”, I said, smiling at Bert as I felt somewhat sleepy at this moment.
I yawned before leaning back in the seat, making myself comfortable as I closed my eyes.
I felt my pulse now slowing down, my heart wasn’t beating as fast as it had done and the anxiety had faded away.
I felt calm no, relieved, as I fell asleep on the flight that was on its way to Japan.
”No, don’t wake her up, Bert.”
“But what if she’s hungry?
Dude, look at her – she’s miles away right now.”
“Nah, Jeph. I’ll wake her up.”
Suddenly, I felt someone gently shaking my shoulder before whispering in my ear.
“Hey, Lina. The food’s here. Are you hungry?”, Bert asked while looking at me.
“Mhm…”
“Food’s here”, he repeated giggling.
“Oh. Oh, yeah. Uhm, food…”
I got up from my seat before I carefully rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, making sure I didn’t smudge my make-up all over my face.
“Here”, Bert said, handing me a tray where the food was placed on.
“Thank you”, I replied as I took down the small table that was attached to the seat in front of me, where Quinn was sitting, and placed it there.
“What do you wanna drink?”
“I don’t know. What are the options?”
“Water, Coke, Pepsi, Diet, everything really.”
“Okay, then I’ll have a diet Coke if that’s okay”, I said smiling.
“Sure. Here.”
I put the can of diet Coke and placed it on the small table before I was handed a plastic cup.
“What are you eating, Jepha?”, I asked him, leaning over Bert who was sitting between us.
“Boiled salmon”, he grinned. “It tastes unbelievably good.”
“Oh, sounds nice. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve had that too.”
“Man, I’m sorry, Lina. I didn’t know you liked fish that much. I was the one orderin´ you the chicken. I thought you preferred that over the fish”, Bert apologized while looking at me.
“No, it’s okay. It doesn’t matter. After fish, poultry is my favorite, so don’t worry about it. Chicken is just as good as fish”, I said, giving him a smile as I took the tiny bag of salt and sprinkled some over the food.
“Awesome”, he added before taking a bite of his chicken and chewed it.
I peeked between the seats in front if us, seeing both Quinn and Dan being occupied with eating their own food.
By the look of it, I think they were having chicken too.
“You like it?”, Bert asked, smiling with his mouth full as I leaned back inmy seat again.
“Yeah, it’s good. I would’ve expected it to be dry, but it wasn’t actually.”
“Ahh, pick, are we?”
“No, not really. Or… Well, okay – I am”, I responded, feeling my cheeks getting warmer as I started to blush.
He just smiled at me, taking yet another mouthful of his chicken while once again focusing on his plate.
“Smile!”, Quinn suddenly burst out, peeking out from the seats in front of me and Bert as he snapped a shot with the lens.
“Dude, how about a warning?”, Bert asked grinning, still having his mouth full of chicken.
“Sorry, couldn’t help it”, Quinn said, browsing through the digital camera to find the picture he’d just taken of us.
“Here – look.”
“Whoa, fuckin´ Kodak moment, or whaddaya say?”, Bert giggled.
“That’s awful. Delete, please”, I said to Quinn, almost gasping while seeing how horrible and totally messed up I actually looked.
“Nope, ain’t gonna happen. This picture is going straight online, my friend”, he replied, turning around and leaning back in his own seat with the camera while having a smirk on his face.
“Dude, that’s bad”, Dan grinned, taking a sip of his bottle of Coke.
“The picture was kinda cool, though, right?”
“Suuure”, I responded, looking at Bert while rolling my eyes,
“Come on – the picture wasn’t that bad?”
“Bert, I had my mouth wide open and you could see the chicken coming hanging out. It wasn’t flattering.”
“So? I looked like shit”, Bert giggled. “I stuck my tongue out, it was covered in chicken! Hey, dude – lemme see that picture.”
“Sure, here”, Quinn said, giving him the camera as Bert leaned forward.
“Look – the picture’s not that bad”, Bert continued, showing me the picture on the digital camera.
“Yes, it is. I look retarded and my nose looks like it’s growing.”
I couldn’t stop complaining.
“I think you look cute, Pinocchio”, Bert giggled. “We look cute.”
I sighed, not being able to do anything but smile at him.
“But do you wanna delete it?”, he then whispered.
“Yeah”, I said, also whispering, although I wasn’t sure why.
“Then I’ll do it?”
“Yeah…”
“Deleted”, Bert smiled, now talking in a regular voice.
“What? What did you deleted?”, Quinn suddenly asked, peeking out from the seats in front of us.
“Nothin´…”
“Duuude, you deleted the picture, didn’t you?!”
“Sorry – my mistake”, Bert answered innocently, now looking at me with a smirk on his face as he gave Quinn the camera back.
“Beware, guys. I’ve just changed the batteries in it and we’ve a long flight ahead of us. Beware!”
“Dude, shut up. I’m tryin´ to sleep here”, Jepha mumbled, pulling a blanket up to his chin as he was almost lying in the seat half asleep.
He had just finished his salmon and was now trying to get some sleep.
He had after all, along with the rest of us, been awake since 5 am this morning.
We were arriving at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan at around 3:30 am if I wasn’t mistaking, so sleeping would therefore be a good way of making time fly.
I continued eating the rest of my chicken and due to the fact that it was a somewhat small portion, I quickly became full.
I was feeling slightly nervous after eating now.
We had been in the air for about three hours and had while looking around, I noticed that Quinn and Dan were already fast asleep including Jepha.
Bert was looking pass me, gazing out of the window to my left.
“Awesome, huh?”
“What?”
“The sky”, he said.
“Yeah, it really is.”
“Look at the colors – they’re amazing.”
“The reflections from the sun…”, I added, before I suddenly felt a warm hand gently taking mine.
I looked over at Bert, meeting his eyes that were sparkling in the sunshine, before I gave him a shy smile as I once again gazed out of the window…
♠ ♠ ♠
gah, finding the the correct duration between salt lake city and osaka is killing me. D:but even though the duration won't be precise, i hope it won't bother you guys. (:
xo,
lina.