Chronological Chaos

John F. Kennedy International Airport was teeming with lost travelers standing idle in the middle of the lane. They were all bundled up in layers of clothes, earmuffs, scarves, and boots despite it being rather warm inside the building. Multiple groups and families were pointing here and there, trying to identify the gate they were supposed to go to all while squinting their eyes to get a better view. Others seemed to know precisely where their destination was and walked with a swift and resolute stride, zigzagging to bypass all the people in their way. Usually, New York City drew a lot of fresh faces throughout the entire year, but it brought maybe thrice as many during the winter time, all of them eager to see the snow-covered scenery and the Christmas Spectacular.

Emit walked briskly to the Starbucks around the corner, keen on getting some coffee in her system. Waking up early to catch a flight at five o’ clock in the morning after receiving a ride from Gabriel was arduous, and Starbucks housed the possibility for Emit to actually become aware of her surroundings. She had been moving around in a haze for the last two hours that she had been awake. In the thirteen minutes it took to get from New London to New York City, Emit had no time to get situated and settle down enough to take a much-needed nap.

She checked the ticket in her hand again while she waited patiently in line. Emit had just developed a nervous habit of continuously validating the information on the ticket to make sure she was getting on the right plane at the right time. Nothing would be more disadvantageous to her progress than if she were to miss her flight to Hamburg, Germany. There would be no freedom to travel to.

“Mocha Frappuccino for Emit.” The Starbucks worker held up the clear cup as he spoke and looked around the group of people waiting at the pick-up area.

“That’s me. Thank you,” Emit said smoothly as she took in the charming chocolate eyes and boyish face that looked back at her. She gave a small smile and slid the cup out of his hand, gave a curt nod, and walked away. In reality, she would probably never see him again, and decided not push their meeting any further. Emit was banking on meeting a few attractive guys in Germany anyway.

She sipped her cool coffee and whipped cream mixture while she strolled to the terminal where her connecting flight to Hamburg would arrive in about half an hour. Emit sauntered over to the hard and inflexible airport chairs as soon as she saw the ones that belonged to Gate 3H and plopped down onto one, indolently throwing her carry-on onto the tacky seat next to her.

Emit looked out the enormous window that displayed the whole airport runway scenery for the remaining twenty minutes of her layover. At exactly twenty-one minutes into her wait, she spotted the airplane slowly rolling into the designated parking area. The red Air Berlin logo on the tail of the aircraft set it apart from the other planes covered in logos of all sorts of blues and greens. A slight smile appeared on Emit’s face as she stood up and gathered her things. This was the plane that would take her away from her currently unstable life and put it on a hiatus.

She boarded the plane and stowed away her large, white purse in the overhead compartment before sliding the window cover open and sitting down on the seat next to it. After extracting a pillow from under the seat and unraveling it from its captive, plastic rapping, Emit laid it against the window so that she may lean her head on it. Already prepared to sleep for the majority of the trip, she closed her eyes and cleared her mind of worry. She was in a self-induced stupefied state of being when someone addressed her from beside the aisle seat to her right.

“Excuse me, Miss. Is there anyone sitting here?”

Answering with her eyes closed, she merely shook her head and leaned it back on the comfortable pillow.

“Not much sleep eh?” The man who spoke to her gave a slight chuckle that caught Emit’s attention. She opened her eyes fully and looked at the person next to her. He was very pretty to say the least, with his hair in a neat, black up-do and eyeliner rimmed brown eyes that stared intently at the sleepy Emit. Looking like a model ready for the runway in his silver blazer and shiny black pants that covered his long legs; he sat down rather gracefully in the seat next to Emit.

“Not at all,” Emit answered while trying to stifle a yawn. Her voice sounded relatively relaxed compared to the frantic dance her nerves were engaging in. Her hair was undoubtedly messy from laying her head on the static pillow and her face muscles slackened from her brief nap. She quickly smoothed her hair back and blinked her eyes rapidly as if doing so would erase the sleepiness out of her body. Luckily, she was wearing a cute, pink and white, quarter sleeved blazer with pastel pink trousers and white Oxfords; her natural-looking make-up still in place.

“Did you get a connecting flight here too?” The model, Emit could infer, was a curious person who sought to fulfill the questions that perpetually filled his mind. His left eyebrow flew above his black painted eyelid and he inclined his head toward Emit. It was truly one of the most adorable looks Emit had ever seen and all she wanted to do was then and there was take a picture of him and stow it away in a secret box.

“Yeah, I did. From New London. It only took about ten minutes though.” Too much info, Emit. Right after the words left her mouth, she realized that the model had not asked her anything but if she had a connecting flight too. All she needed to utter was a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, not where she came from and how long it took her to get here.

“New London, where is that?” A look of cute and complete cluelessness appeared on his face as he phrased his question, eyebrows furrowed as if they would help solve the enigma of New London. Emit tried to smother a laugh that was effervescing in her stomach.

“It’s in southeast Connecticut, by the ocean.”

“Hmm. I never really liked the ocean. I just think it’s beautiful to look at, but I never liked to actually get in it. Plus sunburns really don’t do a lot of good for me,” he said while he looked down at his crystal white skin.

“Same here.” Emit knew that was not much of a response, but she did not feel like letting the model in on her slight germophobia. The beach was not a place Emit would choose to go if she wanted to remain clean and nearly germ free.

The lack of substance in her answer provided them with a lengthy and awkward pause in which Emit stared out the window and the model gazed at her from the corner of his eye.

“Good morning passengers, this is Michael, your pilot. Welcome to Air Berlin, flight 2332. Please turn off all electronic devices and make sure the table in front of you is up and your seat is in an upright position. We ask you to fasten your seatbelts at this time and keep them fastened until the seatbelt light above you turns off.” The pilot interrupted their already broken conversation with an introduction and instructions on what to do should the plane lose altitude at a rapid speed. Having nothing else to do, Emit watched the television screen as the woman on it showed the passengers how to fashion an oxygen mask over their faces.

In no time, the plane began it rocky drive along the takeoff runway and Emit envisioned the man next to her walking on his own runway during Fashion Week in the city they were now leaving.

“So, what’s your name?” It was the model who spoke and Emit turned her attention away from the small screen to his enchanting face.

“Emit. And yours?” As she asked the question, she tried to figure out the answer, but could not conjure a possible name for him. What name could possibly be worthy enough to be this man’s identity?

“I think it would be much better to remain anonymous right now. Mysterious guys don’t just give out their names on a whim do they?” And the look he gave Emit made her disregard all the dissatisfaction she got from being withheld this information. Another guy she meets refuses to give her his name, but this time, it doesn’t bother her even half as much as it did the first time.

The plane lifts off the runway and they are officially in the air and on their way to Hamburg. When the wheels of the plane lifted off the ground and folded back into the plane itself, Emit’s spirits were elevated as well. Finally, after so much imagining, wishing, and waiting, she was on her way to the country where she would be able to search for herself. As she thought of this, she watched the ambiance of New York City grow more miniscule with each passing second.

“That’s alright; I’ll figure it out soon anyway.”

“Will you really?”

“You can count on it.”

And so their conversation continued with subtle flirting and the exchanging of useless information. It turned out that the man was indeed a model; he had been the opening model in a fashion show in Milan, Italy and he was originally from Magdeburg, Germany. Being the lead singer of a popular German band, he was traveling from Los Angeles to Hamburg so that he may finish recording and get some rest prior to embarking on his band’s first North American tour. He was a bit nervous about their American and Canadian debut, but he had faith that he the rest of the band would do as well as they did in Germany.

Since he was to be in Hamburg for the next two weeks and Emit knew absolutely no one in Germany, maybe he could give her a mini tour? How about they grab a cup of coffee at the best café in Germany and talk a bit more so that maybe Emit could guess his name? Emit nodded to all of his suggestions, only speaking when she felt that the conversation was dying down; she wanted to hear his voice for as long as she could with no interruptions. The prospect of seeing him again after leaving the airport provoked her to want to squeal like a teenager being asked out by her crush, but she knew it was best if she didn’t.

Remembering that the pilot had said the flight would take about eight hours, Emit looked at her phone for the time and saw that one hour had gone by. Time seemed to pass by much faster when she was actually enjoying herself; she had finally gotten the chance to test that theory.

“Ready to get rid of me already?” The model gave Emit a smirk and lifted his eyebrow again.

Emit was about to voice her protest, already shaking her head furiously with her eyebrows raised high in a surprised manner, mouth slightly ajar. Instead, the model responded without waiting for Emit to say anything.

“It’s alright. I’ll be right back,” he said in a low whisper into Emit’s ear before he stood up to leave, probably to the restroom. He was purposely being seductive and Emit was not sure whether she wanted to play along with it. After much contemplation, she decided that this was indeed her vacation and that she had to right to left herself go without a care or worry for the next two weeks. Flirting with a gorgeous guy would surely not be her downfall anyway. If anything, she was far from meeting her demise.

“Passengers, we ask that you please put on your oxygen masks at this time. They will drop down in front of you and we ask that you put your own mask on before you do put on anyone else’s and to please remain seated. The seatbelt lights will remain on until further notice. Thank you.”

The slight shaking of the plane had not been noticeable to anyone prior to the announcement on the P.A. system. However, it had begun to strengthen and now the entire plane seemed to be on a roller-coaster simulation ride.

There was mass panic and people were franticly looking out the window to verify that they were indeed in trouble. Emit could see the terrible storm of rain and strong winds through her own window which in itself seemed peculiar. Wasn’t the plane supposed to fly above the weather and not through it?

Recalling what the pilot had said, Emit took the oxygen mask and pulled the strap over her head in a relatively collected manner. She stood up in haste when she realized the model had yet to return from where ever he went. But she soon spotted him taking long strides towards her, his demeanor tranquil like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. The model smiled at Emit when he reached his seat and moved his oxygen mask out of the way before sitting down again.

Wide-eyed and anxious, Emit pointed at the oxygen mask and subsequently at him, conveying that he should put of his mask right away. Even though she had not known this man for more than two hours, she surely did not want to see him die of asphyxiation. Yet he proceeded to throw his head back onto the cushioned seat and cross his legs in a leisurely manner.

It was obvious that the plane was losing altitude quickly and that crashing into the Atlantic Ocean was imminent, something that worried Emit to no end. She started to squirm in her seat, searching for the emergency exits and closing her window shade all the while hyperventilating. Thankful for her mask that supplied oxygen, Emit took deep breaths in order to deflate her panic. If she did not survive this plane crash, she would never have the chance to visit Germany.

Just then, in one swift motion, the model scooped her hand up from her death grip on the arm rest and held it tightly within his own, thin hand. He did not look at her, but instead looked straight forward at the chaos that was ensuing toward the front of the plane. Emit did not mind his action and found a bit of solace in clutching the beautiful man’s hand.

“Im freien Fall,” (German: In free fall) the model said as he continued to look forward with a peaceful mien about him. It didn’t even register to Emit that the man next to her spoke German as she was too preoccupied with the possibility of her death.

It was getting rather chilly after a few seconds of elapsed time and Emit look up from her entwined hand to the front of the plane that was detaching itself from the rest of the aircraft. Small pieces of aluminum flew around the parts of the plane and Emit ducked her head in order to dodge them. Mouth open in horror, Emit could not fathom that she was on a plane that was about to smash into a large body of water.

The omnipresent blue liquid was close now and Emit was staring ahead at it as the plane zoomed closer and closer to it. Everyone watched in fear as they scream in terror at their apparent fate. Emit squeezed the model’s hand harder as she watched the other passengers flail uselessly and unbuckle their seatbelts so that they may jump from what was left of the plane and into the depth of the sea. The scene was much like that of the movie Titanic when the ship had broken in half and people willingly jumped to their deaths.

It was at that moment that Emit turned to the model next to her, and it was that same moment when everyone began to disappear. Slowly, the people on the plane began to fade as if they were all holograms that were now faltering. The model’s hand, Emit found, could not be held any longer and she desperately tried to touch him again, grabbing at where his hand was slowly becoming invisible. The entire population of the plane began to fizzle out and immediately, it was void of people save for Emit. She began to panic even more so now that she was completely alone.

As a last resort, she began to pinch herself in order to verify that this was indeed not a dream. When she felt pain, she gasped and ripped the oxygen mask from her face, pushing the grey button to release her seat belt and set herself free. Just as she did so, she took a deep breath before she was slapped in the face with cold water that pinched her entire body with needles.

Once underwater, she quickly ejected herself from the sinking wreckage and began to swim away as not to be sucked in after the plane. If the movie Titanic had taught her anything, it was that the sinking of a large object created a massive suction force that was difficult to escape. Her head broke the surface and she looked around to see no evidence of the accident that had just occurred. The ocean was completely empty and there was no sign of activity around for miles and miles.

Figuring that she might as well end her misery here, Emit closed her eyes and allowed herself to be dragged down to the bottom of the ocean with the rest of the airplane. All the while, thoughts of Germany plagued her mind.

Perhaps her body would end up there after all.