Sunset Glow 1
Sunset Glow
Summary: Athens meets Riley, an American tourist/rock star, on a flight heading to Greece. They end up falling in love, or so Athens thought, until she finds out Riley, like a typical rock star, merely used her for a quick lay in the bed. Because of this revelation, she takes revenge but on an unexpected turn of events, Riley fights back and so comes his own plan of vengeance. Now their war goes a little too far and a bit out of control.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Characters and events similar to real life are coincidental.
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Chapter 1: Seat 11D
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“Straight ahead, right side.” The male flight attendant smiled at Athens with his perfect teeth that seemed to sparkle like the ones in toothpaste ads. Every time she boards a plane the thought that comes to her was that the fundamental requirement of a flight attendant is perfect teeth and if you have that in your résumé, then you have a big chance of getting a job.
“Thanks.” She said as she smiled her brightest grin. She was feeling especially great today and no one can ruin that mood.
“Have a nice flight!” He said watching her as she walked to her seat. The seats were spacious and luxurious. They looked soft and comfortable. The aisle was also large and there were only two seats on either sides of the large aisle per row.
She found her window seat, 11D. She smiled at the young handsome man with a shaved head and a really cool tattoo on his upper right arm on 11C. He reminded her of the hunk in the film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Viktor Krum. “Excuse me.” She said softly and he beamed at her with more than perfect pearly whites. When it comes to men, she was very particular with their teeth. She couldn’t bear the idea of making out with someone with rotten teeth. Yuck!
Okay, wait. What was that thought of making out with her seatmate for the rest of the flight doing in her mind? Get out! Get out!
She settled down. In a few minutes, the plane was in the air. Coincidentally, it was heading to the city that shared her name, to Athens, Greece. She closed her eyes. She imagined how her life would be. How she had looked forward to the day she would finally go to Greece and it was happening. She was flying to Greece and not just flying to Greece, she was moving to Greece. It was a dream, come true. Since she was young, all she wanted was to run a small bed and breakfast beside a Greek beach and live a peachy life.
She opened her eyes and took out The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne from her hand bag. She started reading. After forty-one pages, she heard a male voice from her right curse, “Damn it!”
She looked at her seatmate. “Everything okay?”
“My iPad battery is dead,” he said frustrated, “and I was in the middle of reading that novel.” He pointed to the book on her hands.
She closed her book. She looked long and hard on the cover. It was one of the first edition copies. It was a simple hardbound book and the book jacket had not even a photo except the title and the author on a Holocaust-Jew-prisoner-uniform blue and white stripes background. “This book?”
“Yeah. Bruno was about to go to the other side of the fence.” He said.
“What a coincidence!” She exclaimed. “What are the odds of a random seatmate in a random flight reading my favorite book?!”
“That’s your favorite book?” He asked, nodding towards the novel. He saw her bookmark inserted somewhere in the middle of the book. How could this girl possibly proclaim that the book was her favorite one when she was yet to finish the book? Sure he liked it so far, even though it seemed like some sort of children’s story, but you can’t really call something your favorite just like that. “You’re not yet done.”
She chuckled softly. “Actually, this is my third time reading it.”
“Oh.” He said under his breath. Apparently, she had finished reading the book.
“Here, you could borrow it. I have another book in my purse.” She took her bookmark which was a simple four-inch pink ribbon and handed him the book. She smiled and took out another one from her bag. It was The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho.
“Oh, I’ve read that book.” He commented.
“Really? Is it good? Is it worth my time?”
“Sure. Thanks for this, by the ways.” He raised the book she lent him.
Both of them opened their respective novels on their respective pages. “So, are you heading to Athens?” She asked him.
“Actually, yes. My friends and I are here for a vacation. We’ll be touring all over Greece! How about you?”
“I’m actually moving to Greece from New York City. I’ll be meeting my sister in Athens for a tour of the city then we’ll be heading to Skopelos to build our Bed & Breakfast.”
“Ooh. A B&B. Cozy.”
“It’s actually a lifelong project of ours. It all started when we had a vacation there with our parents. We thought of the designs, the name, and the visual plan when I was ten and she was twelve. When our parents died, they wished that we’d use our inheritance for the fulfillment of our dreams.”
“Cool. How’s it going so far?”
“Great! There are just a few more papers to be finalized. We’ve bought this large house by the beach and when we get there, we’ll renovate.”
“Seems expensive. What’d you do before this whole project jump started?” He asked trying to keep the conversation going. Somehow, he wanted to keep talking to her. He wanted to flirt with her even but he was afraid that she might think he was some kind of playboy and reject him as soon as he did. He could start a friendship with her though, it could be a start.
“Nothing. I just graduated journalism in college and I don’t have much money but I’m betting everything I have on Greece. I guess you just have to take risks and follow your dreams.”
“Amen to that. I can relate so well!”
“You do? What do you do?” She asked, eager to listen. The flight meal arrived and they continued to talk.
“I didn’t go to college because I was in a band and you know how those kinds of things go. Some are lucky, some are not, and it’s risky but whatever. Assurance is overrated, so my friends and I pursued our dreams in the music industry despite all and I guess we got lucky. I am making enough playing drums for a living.”
“You’re making enough for a trip to Greece.” She teased. “So, where are you from?”
“Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland.” He replied. “You know, I’m actually looking forward to this vacation. They said that Greece is beautiful and relaxing.”
“Mystical and captivating. Why do you think I fell in love with it?” She said dreamily.
A few moments of silence passed then she snapped out of her daydream. She looked at him and noticed that he was staring deep in her eyes. He was indeed handsome with large dark brown eyes, soft red lips, and a smile to die for. She averted her gaze but she still felt his eyes on her. She felt awkward and so she spoke up, “My sister and I play little games when we are bored and one of them is taking turns asking random questions and all players are required to answer. The crazier and more random the question is, the better. You ready?”
“We’re going to play?”
“Yeah. Are you game for it?”
“Okay. You go first so I could get an idea what kind of questions I should ask.”
“What’s the kind of transportation will you most likely use to travel aimlessly?”
“A motorcycle, just go around, anywhere I feel like it.”
“I’d choose a hot air balloon.”
“Good choice. Do you know how to fly a balloon?”
“No but it wouldn’t hurt to try. Crash a few times, sure, it’s part of the learning experience.” She tilted her head to the side and beamed. Was she serious when she said she’d actually risk her life to fly a balloon or was she just bluffing? Did she say that to sound cool in front of him? He saw that she was staring into space with a goofy smile. Maybe she was imagining herself in that hot air balloon. Maybe she was actually sincere with what she said.
In fact, she really was imagining her hot air balloon ride. She saw herself in an unusually gigantic basket with hundreds of colorful balloons tied to it. She’d be sitting on a leather armchair with a steering wheel in front of her controlling the weather vane propped at the basket’s handle. It was a basket version of Carl Fredricksen’s house in the film, Up.
“Anyways, your turn.” She said. Her face flushed of embarrassment as soon as she realized she was daydreaming again. Sometimes, her wild imagination just takes control and her mind wanders off somewhere. It was a habit she had to stop. Some people might think she was nuts because of these frequent daydreams. She glanced at him. Maybe now he thinks she was crazy.
Luckily, he didn’t notice because he wasn’t looking at her. He, too, was staring into space, thinking of a question. “If you were surrounded by sharks in the middle of the ocean with a knife on your hand, would you die fighting them or would you kill yourself to spare yourself from the pain of sharks gnawing on your flesh?”
“I’d rather die fighting!”
“Me too! Keep fighting, no matter what.”
“Okay, if you were in Harry Potter, what house would you be? I’d be a Slytherin because they know what they want and they give their all to get it. They’re determined.”
“I could be a Slytherin like you. I’m not really a big Harry Potter fan.” He replied. “If you could choose your gender, what would it be?”
“Female!”
“Male.”
“If you had a broccoli on your right hand and a cucumber on your left and you were going to slap the person in front of you, which one will you use to slap that person?” She asked.
He chuckled and when he stopped, both of them blurted out, “Cucumber.” at the same time.
They did that for hours until they ran out of wacky questions and started to read.
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Riley didn’t realize that he was sleeping until he was woken up by a soft voice mocking a gentleness used to wake up toddlers. “Wake up, sleepy head.”
He opened his eyes. Four blurry male faces hovered over him. The voice suddenly turned into an annoyingly familiar voice. “Riley, you idiot! Half the plane’s gone and you’re still asleep.” Apparently, it was Jack, his band mate, who was speaking. He hit Riley’s head with a rolled magazine one hundred times until he stood up.
He started gathering his stuff. When he was ready to leave, 11D caught his eyes. It was empty except for the book he borrowed from the girl that sat there during the flight. The girl that sat there. She was lively and filled with crazy ideas. She was carefree and fun. She was… Then it dawned on him that he didn’t know the girl’s name. His face fell and he sighed. He picked up the book and caught up with his band mates who were heading towards the exit doors.
As he walked, he scanned the book for some clue of her name. She must have placed a label on the book. He did find it at the back, Athens Ashley was stamped at the last page but he saw more than that. He saw more than he expected to see.
On the very first page, there was a note in a neat cursive writing. This book is yours now. Hope you like it as I did. I enjoyed our flight very much. Thanks.
Upon seeing that note, he felt something stir inside him. He just knew that he had to find her.
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