Smiles Echo In My Memory

“Could all passengers please fasten their seatbelts; we are about to land at Newark International Airport, New Jersey. The time is 8:33am, EMT. We hope you had a satisfactory flight, and enjoy your time in New Jersey.”
My eyes cracked open, and I blinked a few times, rubbing at the side of my face. I looked over at Frank, to see him fast asleep, his mouth open slightly, and his hand loosely attached with mine. His chest rose and dropped with each breath he took, his free hand entangled in his hair. He looked so funny, and you can tell that he hasn’t had much sleep in the nights before. I suppressed a giggle, and sat up, rubbing at my face to rid it of that numb, sleepy feeling. I looked over at the gap in front of me, separating Linda’s seat from the random woman sitting next to her.
“Linda, are you awake?” I whispered, leaning forward slightly, trying to see through the gap.
“Yeah, hon… You better get Frankie to wake up and get your belts on,” she replied, looking at me from behind her. I nodded, smiling at her, and she smiled back, turning away to look out of the window.
“Frank? Frankie, wake up, babe,” I whispered in his ear, so Linda wouldn’t hear.
“Mmm…” he murmured, shifting slightly, his hand resting on the back of his neck instead of his hair.
“Frank, get up you lazy fuck!” I growled, laughing slightly. His eyes fluttered open, and he groaned.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” he muttered, rubbing his neck and releasing his hand from mine. He ruffled up his hair, trying to make it look half-decent, taking a sip of his bottled water after.
“Have you not seen your hair?” he said, smirking at me.
“No…” I mumbled, grabbing at my handbag and pulling out my mirror. My hair was a complete mess, and the shorter bits at the back were sticking up, my fringe askew. It was really in need of a brushing, too. My eyes widened, pulling out a small brush from my bag. Frank laughed, buckling his seatbelt.
“Are we landing?” he asked, watching me put my side fringe back in place.
“Mmm,” I hummed, snapping my mirror closed, and pushing it back into my bag along with my brush. I tied up my seatbelt, resting my head back on my seat, Frank’s fingers lacing with mine again.

**

Me, Frank and Linda stepped out into the airport, walking through the navy blue arrivals door. It was fucking hot and incredibly sunny in Jersey, so I pulled on my huge black and white sunglasses, Frank doing the same to his plain black aviator ones. He pulled up the hood on his dark blue hoodie, which he had been carrying. The airport was huge, had that typical airport smell, and had a ridiculous amount of glass windows. There were a few cafés scattered around, along with a enormous Starbucks, and a couple of book shops.
“Coffee?” Linda asked, nodding her head towards the huge Starbucks that practically took up around a quarter of the vast airport space. Frank and I nodded in unison, following her to the entrance of the coffee shop.

Clutching an iced caramel macchiato, Linda flagged down a bright yellow cab, which I found really weird – I was used to the turquoise and white ones in Brighton, and the big, black ones in London. Linda got into the passenger side, Frank opening the door at the back for me. I smiled, climbing in and placing my bag next to me, sipping on my mint chocolaty chip Frappuccino. Frank got in next to me, rolling down the window and linking his hand with mine, which was pretty cold due to his coffee chocolate Frappuccino. I rested my head on his shoulder; I was really fucking tired, and I kind of had a restless sleep on the plane. I kept getting woken up by some fucking kid who kept kicking my chair – I almost swore at him, but he was only like, eight or something. Frank, of course, kept waking up too because he’s such a light sleeper and his seat kept jolting with every kick my seat got.
Frank let go of my hand, wrapping his arm around my waist instead, and entwining his other hand with mine, his coffee sitting in his lap.
“How long does it take to get to your place?” I asked Frank, just as the taxi started moving, driving onto the busy road.
“Umm… About 30 minutes, a little less. Depending on traffic,” he mumbled, almost on auto-pilot. I smiled weakly, burying my head back into the crook of his neck.
“Don’t go to sleep,” Frank mumbled, hitting my head with his.
“Why…?” I complained, sipping my cold coffee through the green straw.
“Because… Just don’t… We’ll be there soon,”
“You suck,” I grumbled, sitting up properly to finish my coffee.
“That sounds kinky,” he muttered, a smirk playing on his face. I rolled my eyes, hitting him playfully on the arm.