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.
As the water in the shower finally heated up, I stepped in as I let the scalding water run over me. The hot water eased the tension in my muscles as the knots in my back loosened up. Unwittingly, I let my thoughts drift to my father - the man I had looked up to, at least for a while. There were times like this when I wondered what he was doing, how he was doing. Was he still drinking himself into oblivion or was he a changed man now. Unfortunately, I had no way of knowing since I had cut ties with the man 2 years ago.
Although, I wish I didn't leave her there with him. I cut that thought off as my therapist, Ellie's voice rang in my head. They're all ifs and buts Luciana...it'll do you no good by dwelling on them. Let go of your inhibitions. And that's exactly what I repeated to myself before I let my mind wander to a dark place.
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around myself as I walked into my closet to take out my uniform. Since Liam had called me last minute, I hadn't gotten the time to get everything ready and pack my bags - something which I usually did way before in advance when I was set to board a flight. Lucky for me, I had an emergency bag full of clothes and other necessities which would suffice for the short flight.
Slipping into the burgundy outfit that consisted of a knee length skirt and shirt along with my black leather pumps, I sneaked a peek at my watch which told me that it was currently 7am - my flight wasn't due for another 4 hours at least. According to the schedule that Liam had emailed me, I was supposed to check in at 8:30am, since our flight to Oslo was scheduled to take off at 11:15am. If everything went according to plan, I'd be back in the comfort of my home in the early morning by day after tomorrow.
I was just about to leave my room and grab some coffee and breakfast from Gregory's, which happened to be my favorite cafe down the street, when I saw a small white paper peeking out from under my alarm clock on the nightstand. Well, I guess coffee would have to wait for the time being.
As curiosity got the best of me, I picked the paper up. A soft smile graced my face as I saw that it was a picture of my mother, Elena Rodriguez. She looked younger - around 24 - as she held a chubby 5 year old me in the picture. We both were all smiles as we looked straight into the camera, giggling about something. Good times. Those really had been good times.
Some of my best memories with my parents were upto the age of 7. We never really had any close relatives since nobody from my mom and dad's side had bothered to keep contact because they were against their marriage. Hence, my childhood had been pretty lonely since it was always the three of us - what with me being an only child. Come to think of it, my parents never really had a huge social circle either. So we spent most of the time together - going out to fairs or the park every weekend. I'd always have a blast riding the ferris wheel after which I'd eat a pint of my favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream.
I remembered the way Mama would chastise me for eating so much ice cream because she feared that I'd end up with cavities. Papa would then shut her up with a kiss and tell her not to trouble their daughter and let her enjoy her treat. A little laugh escaped my lips as I thought about my father. Everything was good - until it wasn't. My smile turned upside down as I recalled the changes that took place over the years to come.
Realising that I was wasting too much time, I tore my gaze from my mother's beautiful face as something akin to guilt weighed down on my heart. She had suffered too much - and for that there was only one person to blame. Shaking my head, I slid the photo back in the drawer as I moved towards the vanity that I had gotten for a discount in a garage sale.
I applied some light make up and made myself look presentable since that was a key requirement for my job - everybody liked to look at a pretty face didn't they? Snapping my compact shut, I took one last glance in the mirror, satisfied at the face that was looking back at me. I dragged my small suitcase out front as I looked around the house one last time before I locked the door - I had to make sure that nothing valuable was out in the open since this neighborhood was infamous for burglaries.
I got in the Uber that I had booked, once I had triple checked that everything was locked - you couldn't be too sure in a place like the Bronx, after all. As the cab started moving, I let out a sigh. After all that was said and done, I was kind of glad to be going to work right now, even if it meant giving up a day from my week long leave.
To be honest, work had always helped distract me from unwanted thoughts. It had always made me feel good - serving customers and being there at their service to make the journey as comfortable as possible. But for some reason, I couldn't shake off the absurd feeling that something bad was about to happen soon. I just didn't know what.
***
Meet my baby Luciana Rodriguez. She's fine asf y'all...if I could say so myself teehehe.
Fun fact...I always knew that I wanted to start the story with the first paragraph being about fate. That particular line hit me when I was half asleep at 10 pm so my lazy ass had to get up and write it down in the dark lmfao. Also for those of y'all that are wondering...yes, I am an old grandma and I go to bed at 9 pm jajsjns😭
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