Chapter Two

We had a little breakfast of Sausage and Egg Sandwich with fruit smoothie at our large dinning room with the entire household. Madison was ranting off what my dad should bring as she packed her long blonde wavy hair into a bun, stopping it from being a nuisance while my brother munched off the Sausages from the wooden coloured, eight seat dining table with a complexly compacted chandelier hanging from above and diving with it’s golden glory into the middle of the posh German table where a Peruvian Lilies flower vase stood. My mum was on a video call. She was wanted to model for a beauty cream brand and she was giving her personal assistant orders on what to do to make sure it went as planned.

**

John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport  – an aerodrome vast in magnitude and even more momentous to NYC's economy appeared as nothing but a speckle as my dad’s executive SUV limo tore down the route passing through supermarkets, stalls, few buildings, and a skyscraper. 

It became larger as each minute passed like it was justifying why it had six passenger terminals, four runways, lounges, ARK pet oasis – all being world class . It was criss crossed with variety of colours and along with it was an uneven influx of commuters and passengers that swarm in and out of places like bees migrating to a zone they’re attracted to because of the aura the basic colour gave of.

“Get 'em luggage out”, my dad told our driver – a queer young man with a lot of freckles, always dressed in checkered blue shirts and with a funny Hawaiian accent as the car sped silently into the JFK’s car park.

“Aye sir”, he replied wasting no time to hold the door out for my dad before proceeding to the Limo's trunk to bring out our travel bags. 

I and my dad and our driver who was helping us with our luggage went shopping for some pullovers and beanies for me as well as ski apparatus while my dad got himself an ox blood coloured slim fitted five piece suit and even a few sweaters for our driver who took the trouble of escorting us to the designated waiting zone for first class passengers and after pushing two tickets towards the guard at the waiting zone, I and my dad found a perfect place to rest with posh leather chairs and glass tables with lots of wines – and flower vases, too whilst our flight was being prepared.

**

“Ever been to Bulgaria?” my dad asked trying to start a conversation with me as he poured the Italian Pinot Grigio wine for himself then for me, too.

“Nah, only been to Scotland and Spain in Europe” I responded as I connected to the airport’s WiFi and that was all it took for him to narrate how he’d met my mum far away in Bulgaria when he had gone for a vacation with his two favourite pals.

He was a great talker and he was well versed in so many amusing subjects that it took nature through sleep to stop me from listening to him as he told me about the cradle of humanity, away in Africa, Ethiopia, precisely where wild lives and humans blended into one happy entity and about his massive project he was going to spawn over there soonest. I told him I’d gladly go with him but when the time came, I didn’t. By then he didn’t even know where I was. No one did – not even me.

He was a jovial man – almost my height with long dark hair that was turning a shade of grey, always well trimmed beards that got a special treatment too every time he had a massage and a customized recommended glasses that caged his fading blue eyes. He was a business guru too and knew the perfect occasions to keep his emotions off like during business meetings, contract signings and the rest and I always thought his blue eyes grew sharper whenever he was being serious. 

He was the perfect match for my mum and he was lucky as well to have have her. After all, it’s not everyone that gets married to a model – a successful one at that who’s figure wasn’t disfigured after three kids.

**

“It’s already time”, my dad hollered to me as he placed his large hand on my shoulder gently sucking me out of Dream land. He had kept himself busy with a magazine when I was asleep. We found our seats on the first class cabin with a light golden filter permeating through the airtight atmosphere. My seat was by the window – giving me a panoramic view of the soft, blue clouds. I plopped down on it still drowsy from my interrupted sleep. About three minutes later, we were airborne and I was sound asleep leaving my dad to his magazine, and the waitress with hazel coloured eyes that reminded me of chocolates, and our bottles of champagne. 

It was a ten hours flight and I wasn’t asleep for more than an hour aboard the plane. I had a delicious Ravioli and Dulce de Leche cake accompanied with a Martinelli'S Sparkling Apple Cider wine and strawberry frozen yoghurt within my first three hours on board while my dad had a Chicken Cobb Salad. Later on, we both had Viennese Schitzel alongside a more than our fair share of air turbulences. I passed time on my phone by reading a few chapters of an engaging eBook on GoodNovel – “The other one” by Samuelade then had an almost unending chat with my dad about Africa, aliens, vampires, Harry Potter and BlueStream Advercomp – his company. 

I excused myself and went to pee in the airplane’s toilet. I pushed through the door that revealed a less illuminated section. There were about five cubicles for males and another five others for females both separated by a pallid creamy door.

I took my time peeing whilst humming to myself and getting used to the heated space I was in. When I got out and was sanitizing my hands, I heard a soft sound – almost too soft… of a female… groaning?... two toilets away from mine – still in the men’s section.

My heart started thumping hard against my ribcage and I could feel the hair on my skin stand. I was in utmost apprehension and if only for that moment, I wished I had a… weapon.

I started towards where the sound was the loudest, sweat trickling down my forehead and matting down my hair. I got to the entrance and tried to nudge the door open. Locked.

I tried pushing it open again with more force but it didn’t budge. Then I heard another soft, throaty groan from inside, then quick, consecutive sharp slaps and more moans.

I peeked through the key hole and to my shock, saw the hazel eyed waitress bent over – her pink flowery thong caught in her knees, a small framed man was thrusting into her for all he was worth.

He continued non-stop and she groaned in return. After a few seconds, he did too and released into her. Oops!

I found my way back to my seat and shut my eyelids to wash off what I’d just seen. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the waitress in her usual position – with her hazel eyes, smiling at me.

**

The elegantly modeled, thoroughly ornamented and soaring building – a total of eleven floors known as Hotelgenix, the seven stars world-class hotel was where we had our reservation booked back in America had sent a ski helicopter to pick us up as our plane touched down on the Bulgarian soil. 

Winter had begun in Bulgaria about a week before it did in American and almost everywhere was snow-clad – from rooftops to avenues and even, the helipad where we were to land – we had to hover in the air for a few minutes while the topmost of 11 floors building was scraped of the snow.

My room and my dad’s was two-in-one. That is, my room could only be accessed by a door that coupled both rooms together. My room wasn’t half as fancy as my dad’s chamber with its king-sized water bed and heater and ceiling that modified into different colours and designs and a well-equipped stereo that hummed sweet tunes in the background. My room had a fairly large bed and candlelit chandeliers, an heater, too and a PlayStation I didn’t discover till my last days.

My first nightfall was cold – too cold and even the Bulgarian stars failed to unveil themselves in all of their glamour illuminating the dark night. Perhaps, they felt the chill too and decide to stay warm at home in their milkyway. Or maybe, they sensed my presence and didn’t want to be witnesses to my impending doom. Maybe.