Unrequited Love

Chapter 1 - Luciana

I'm a big believer in fate. If it's meant to be, it will happen. Just like the incessant ringing of my phone as I stepped through the front door of my apartment. Wiping the sheen of sweat off my forehead that had formed after running a mile at 5:45 in the morning, I swiped right and picked up the call as I saw my boss' name flashing on the screen.

"Luciana. We need you to clock in today. Sheryl called in for an off since she's due anytime now."

I see. No hello or how are you doing. He really cut to the chase without wasting any time. Rubbing my forehead, I suppressed a groan at the thought of turning in to work during my week of leave.

"Why can't it be somebody else Liam? You know that I called off work this week." I said exasperatedly as I pushed open the door to my apartment.

"I hear you Luce but you need to understand where I'm coming from too. Our head purser is giving birth right now and you're already aware that we have a shortage of staff. I'm really trying to accommodate everyone here but -

"Fine."

"Excuse me?"

"I said fine. I'll come in today."

I heard a notable sigh of relief from the other end of the call as I mentally prepared myself to pack my bags and get whisked away to God knows where this time. Sure, being a flight attendant was fun when you got to travel to different countries and discover their cultures. Not to mention, the food was always top tier.

However, the not so fun part was the hectic schedule. Sometimes it felt like my life was whizzing past my own eyes and I had absolutely no control over it or how to slow down time. Yes, that's how hectic life is. And let's not forget jet lag. Goddamned fucking jet lag.

"Great. I'll email you the schedule and the cabin crew details."

Before I could even respond, the line went dead. Rude. I should be used to this now. Liam was probably the most eccentric person on this planet and as grateful as I was to have a boss as cool as him, there were days when he drove me batshit crazy. But his heart was in the right place, I guess.

I stepped into my 5th floor flat as I looked around the kitchen, which no doubt consisted of almost empty cabinets. Jesus, I really needed to catch up on my grocery shopping. But before that, I needed to shower. A really hot shower preferably.

I stripped out of my black sports bra and leggings as I walked into my small but cosy bathroom. The granite tiles were pristine clean as always as I looked at my reflection in the mirror - the woman looking back at me looked tired but happy. Something that I wasn't four years ago. Back then, I'd let myself believe that I was not capable of finding happiness in life. Until I woke up one day and decided that enough was enough and that it was high time that I take control of my life and happiness - it was either that or rot away for the rest of my life in my parents' house. And here I was, at the age of 25, where I could finally say that I was content with the way I was living my life.

Gaining the courage to move out on my own and rent an apartment after getting my college diploma was one of my biggest achievements to date - the second one being getting my dream job obviously. It may not mean a lot to others my age, but it meant a lot to me. I was where I was right now simply because of my hard work and not because of a fucking trust fund, believe it or not. It had taken years of saving until I could finally move out and make a home in the Big Apple - far, far away from my childhood home in Florida.

I was proud of myself - something I repeatedly reminded myself of since there was no one else to do it for me. Apparently, my therapist also thought that saying affirmations like so would help me regain my confidence and self esteem. It seemed to be working so far.