Cake
1/1
Ian settles into the cramped airplane seat, aware of the mother who keeps turning around in to stare at him. Normally he wouldn’t have taken a public flight, but the private plane he takes is grounded for repairs and tune ups and it will be his birthday in an hour, the hour it takes for this flight to get back to LA, so he sprung for a public flight fully aware of what the consequences would be. He offers a kind smile to the woman, and a blush spreads like wildfire across her cheeks before she turns to face the front.
Turning his head, he smiles into the window. The sky is dark outside the small window, lights from the incoming and outgoing planes distant flickers in the sky. The runway illuminates the ground beautifully.
“Um,” a shaky voice says, startling him. “Oh, God sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.” She says hastily, her hand reaching out but falling midway between their bodies.
Feeling the sudden urge to stand while she sits, Ian moves to get up but knocks his head against the overhead compartment. The girl with the raven hair and sparkling emerald eye covers his mouth, and he can’t help but grin at her suppressed laughter. “Its fine, you didn’t scare me too bad.”
They sit down in sync, their arms bumping against each other while both murmur apologies until finally they’re settled. “So where are you headed?” Ian inquires, shortly after the flight attendant tells them how to apply their oxygen masks.
“Los Angeles, spending this holiday with my parents.” She replies, turning her head slightly to offer up a smile.
“As opposed to spending it with…your boyfriend?”
The girl, with her perfect white teeth, snorts loudly and the man across the aisle turns to stare. A deep crimson color sweeps across her freckle dappled cheeks, and Ian begins laughing though he isn’t sure what’s funny. Something about her is contagious. She feels homely but exotic all at once.
“No, oh my God, that’s not it at all! I, never mind...” she says, laughter still shaking her thin frame until it dies away and with it her grin.
“You what?” he asks, his eyes sweeping across her face, trying to analyze her emotion.
“Oh nothing, it’s way too personal. I mean, you’re Ian Somerhalder, and we just met. You don’t need to hear about my problems.”
“It’s a long flight, I’ll be here when you’re ready to tell me.” he says, studying her a little longer before extracting a book from his carry-on.
While he honestly, genuinely tries to read the ink on the pages before him his mind can’t help but wander to the girl beside him. Her skin is tanned and she has a slight accent, a tiny southern twang. There’s something about the way she speaks, how she so openly laughs and is ready to talk to a complete stranger that makes him want to know more. He shakes his head, feeling silly and like a cliché man in a cliché story.
Suddenly a weight rests on his shoulder and he glances at the girl with her head resting on his shoulder, eyes shut firmly; breathing slowed. His imagination runs wild with what she could be dreaming about, but he’s not so vain to believe she’s dreaming of him. After all she said it herself, she just met him. Watching the sleeping girl he isn’t surprised when his own eyelids feel heavy, and yawning he rests his cheek lightly atop her head, shutting his ice-blue eyes to the real world.
Pretty soon a flight attendant is shaking him awake and he’s disappointed to notice the absence of the raven haired girl. Smiling and murmuring thanks to the woman, he makes his way slowly off the plane. Disheartened at the thought of having merely a kinked neck to remember the girl by, he’s pleasantly shocked to see her waiting just outside the boarding tunnel.
“I overheard that woman, the one with the son? Who was on our plane? She was talking to her friend the minute she got off the plane,” the girl begins, approaching him slowly with her hands held behind her back. “She wondered, rather loudly, what you were doing on an airplane on your birthday. I agreed silently with her, and so I bought you this.”
The white box shakes slightly in her outstretched hands, but he’s more focused on the shy smile gracing her soft, pink lips. A grin stretches the entire width of his face, eyebrows lifting high into his hairline. “This is…wow. Thank you! Do you, will you, eat this with me?”
Her eyes flicker to the watch on her tiny wrist and a look of uncertainty flashes across her face but she grins widely at him, nodding. “I’d love to.”
Though he didn’t think it would ever happen, Ian spends the beginning of his thirty-second birthday in LAX, sharing a cake balanced on his knees with the girl with emerald eyes and raven hair, laughing over funny stories and sharing memories of their childhood’s.
Turning his head, he smiles into the window. The sky is dark outside the small window, lights from the incoming and outgoing planes distant flickers in the sky. The runway illuminates the ground beautifully.
“Um,” a shaky voice says, startling him. “Oh, God sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.” She says hastily, her hand reaching out but falling midway between their bodies.
Feeling the sudden urge to stand while she sits, Ian moves to get up but knocks his head against the overhead compartment. The girl with the raven hair and sparkling emerald eye covers his mouth, and he can’t help but grin at her suppressed laughter. “Its fine, you didn’t scare me too bad.”
They sit down in sync, their arms bumping against each other while both murmur apologies until finally they’re settled. “So where are you headed?” Ian inquires, shortly after the flight attendant tells them how to apply their oxygen masks.
“Los Angeles, spending this holiday with my parents.” She replies, turning her head slightly to offer up a smile.
“As opposed to spending it with…your boyfriend?”
The girl, with her perfect white teeth, snorts loudly and the man across the aisle turns to stare. A deep crimson color sweeps across her freckle dappled cheeks, and Ian begins laughing though he isn’t sure what’s funny. Something about her is contagious. She feels homely but exotic all at once.
“No, oh my God, that’s not it at all! I, never mind...” she says, laughter still shaking her thin frame until it dies away and with it her grin.
“You what?” he asks, his eyes sweeping across her face, trying to analyze her emotion.
“Oh nothing, it’s way too personal. I mean, you’re Ian Somerhalder, and we just met. You don’t need to hear about my problems.”
“It’s a long flight, I’ll be here when you’re ready to tell me.” he says, studying her a little longer before extracting a book from his carry-on.
While he honestly, genuinely tries to read the ink on the pages before him his mind can’t help but wander to the girl beside him. Her skin is tanned and she has a slight accent, a tiny southern twang. There’s something about the way she speaks, how she so openly laughs and is ready to talk to a complete stranger that makes him want to know more. He shakes his head, feeling silly and like a cliché man in a cliché story.
Suddenly a weight rests on his shoulder and he glances at the girl with her head resting on his shoulder, eyes shut firmly; breathing slowed. His imagination runs wild with what she could be dreaming about, but he’s not so vain to believe she’s dreaming of him. After all she said it herself, she just met him. Watching the sleeping girl he isn’t surprised when his own eyelids feel heavy, and yawning he rests his cheek lightly atop her head, shutting his ice-blue eyes to the real world.
Pretty soon a flight attendant is shaking him awake and he’s disappointed to notice the absence of the raven haired girl. Smiling and murmuring thanks to the woman, he makes his way slowly off the plane. Disheartened at the thought of having merely a kinked neck to remember the girl by, he’s pleasantly shocked to see her waiting just outside the boarding tunnel.
“I overheard that woman, the one with the son? Who was on our plane? She was talking to her friend the minute she got off the plane,” the girl begins, approaching him slowly with her hands held behind her back. “She wondered, rather loudly, what you were doing on an airplane on your birthday. I agreed silently with her, and so I bought you this.”
The white box shakes slightly in her outstretched hands, but he’s more focused on the shy smile gracing her soft, pink lips. A grin stretches the entire width of his face, eyebrows lifting high into his hairline. “This is…wow. Thank you! Do you, will you, eat this with me?”
Her eyes flicker to the watch on her tiny wrist and a look of uncertainty flashes across her face but she grins widely at him, nodding. “I’d love to.”
Though he didn’t think it would ever happen, Ian spends the beginning of his thirty-second birthday in LAX, sharing a cake balanced on his knees with the girl with emerald eyes and raven hair, laughing over funny stories and sharing memories of their childhood’s.