A Flight's Desire

Chapter 6: First Conversations

Robin turned her head to the left, hoping that he wasn't talking to her, but Ben's gaze was on her. She prayed that she wasn't blushing the way she usually did when she came across a video of her favourite character played by him. She had watched almost all of his movies and yet, she smiled every time he talked with a different accent, never getting used to the fact that actors led different lives through their characters. "What?" She asked, surprised that he had been the first to start up the conversation when she was racking her brain while thinking about the same.

He beckoned to the guitar case politely. "Do you play?" He knew that it was a stupid question to ask because she had been carrying it with her, but it could have been a gift for someone.

"Oh!" She looked at the case and lifted her right eyebrow at it. "Yes, I do."

"I tried to learn to play it when I was in school, I think," he started. "I couldn't get past six months of classes." He laughed at the memory of him telling his mother that he wanted to quit because he couldn't get the chords right, receiving a pity laugh from her.

"It is tough and I don't blame you for stopping," she said, having thought about quitting herself, but her will had been persistent at that time and she wished that she still had that will power.

The conversation started to flow smoothly like the journey of a fresh stream in the middle of the woods, which was surprising for both of them because they were introverts and rather loners really. They kept to themselves most of the time and were only comfortable around family and a few known friends.

"How long have you been playing?" He inquired. The way she was acting, it didn't look like she knew him because she was....different. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he wanted to know more about her.

She thought about the correct time period before answering. "Pretty much all my life." She remembered the first time she had held a guitar in her hand, which was in seventh grade. She had chosen a guitar with a sticker guide for the chords that helped her muscle memory to play.

The pilot interrupted the next talk that they were going to have and both of them were relieved as they didn't want to annoy the other. Silence spread through the bird once again and the only sound that was heard was the sound of the engines roaring to get it up to a flight safely.

Robin closed her eyes and regulated her heart pace to a minimum as she prepared to bear the pain that was starting to form in her ears. She had chewing gum with her in the front pocket of her bag and even though the effects of flight travel showed up late, she was only waiting to start reading to keep herself distracted, having an ulterior reason for the same. Similarly, Ben had his fingers crossed and his palms rested on the arms of the seat. He prayed for a safe journey, concentrating on happy moments like the green colour of the grass, the warmth of the sunlight, the swaying of a dandelion, and not on the Final Destination. He couldn't bear the thought of that franchise making him have an existential crisis once again.

The bird was successfully in flight and the usual turbulence did not help the two of the acrophobics that were sitting next to each other. They tried to keep themselves calm and wondered if they should feel claustrophobic yet. Once the seat belt sign went off, everyone brought out their phones and laptops to keep themselves occupied.

Robin dug through her bag and pulled the copy of her book along with her laptop. She knew that she had to work on the second book after the constant reminders from the publishers. Ben thought of watching a movie but he didn't want to spook the woman next to him as he wanted to take notes down for the mistakes that he made while acting. Although he didn't like watching his own movies, it was essential for progress.

And so, having found nothing else to do, he decided to ask the woman for help. He turned to face her and was about to open his mouth when she silently groaned to herself. "Good God, why are you doing this to me?" He saw her reading a paperback with black and white illustrations on the cover, which was all he could make out.

The sight of a physical copy of a book excited him."Is everything okay?"

Robin looked up at him and blamed herself for her out-of-the-way reactions to situations. "No, uh," she smirked. "I was thinking about better ways in which this paragraph could have been written." She did not know how and why she was admitting that or the fact that she was comfortable with talking with him but she was, and that may have decided everything for her.

"Well, that is a tough part of being readers. I would suggest that you trust the author. It is what I would do anyway, even if I don't like how the plotline goes sometimes."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Even when the author is me?"

He gaped at her. "That's your book?"

She was taken aback by the admiration in his voice. "Guilty." The word was out of her even before she could take a breath and not get lost in the reality that she was actually sitting next to her favourite actor.

"Wow! Can I read it?" He leaned forward in eagerness and prayed that she wouldn't take his request the wrong way. Her eyes widened at his question and her jaw fell open in surprise. "I forgot to buy a book at the duty free store and I'm beating myself up for it. And I've never met another author before, which makes this all the more exciting."

"Uh..." She considered her options while going over basic English in her head. She had a saved copy of the book on her laptop, obviously. Should she allow the one actor in the world that she really liked to read her book? She couldn't say 'no' either because of Ben's talking-with-the-eyes trick. "Sure." She shrugged and handed him the book. What could go wrong, she thought.

"I am forever indebted to you." He bowed his head down like a gentleman after taking the wonderful paperback from her. He looked at the front of the book and nodded at its beauty. It was a whirlpool of darkness against the white background. The book was called 'Out of the Blue' and he read her name on the bottom of the page. "This is gorgeous. Robin Hale."

"Thank you." She smiled at his generosity. "And Robin is fine."

"I'm Ben Summers." He put his hand forward. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." What else could she say? She wanted to run in the opposite direction, but that wouldn't be polite, now would it? And there wasn't much of an area to cover by running.

He was about to open the book when he voiced out a concern. "Is it okay with you though? I hope I didn't interrupt anything. It looked important but I got carried away by the look of a new book if I am being brutally honest."

She laughed at that. "I guess we are more alike than I thought," she smiled. "No, it is completely fine. I have a saved copy here." She gestured to her laptop. "Besides, I'm honoured that someone would want to read my book. I....hope that you like it." Her lips pursed together at the line that she told everyone who showed interest in reading her book. She would always be nervous, no matter how much New York Times categorised her book in the Bestsellers category.

Ben could see her genuineness and was glad that he had been open about wanting to read her book. "I'm sure that I will."