Tuesday, May, 15
Alexandria, Egypt, 5:45 pm local time
The blood drains from Nadine Ross' face and she freezes. The sounds from the street fades.
She slips her phone back into the pocket of her beige cargo pants. "I've got to go," her thoughts are a mess and she can't make eye contact with Chloe.
"Something wrong?" Chloe queries, frowning.
"My Ma's in the hospital."
Wednesday, May 16
Alexandria airport, Egypt, 0:55 am local time
"You could have just dropped me off at the airport, you know." Nadine stuffs their bags in the overhead compartments. The red eye flight out of Alexandria to Johannesburg is uncrowded, so there's space for their luggage and they could book seats together.
Glancing at her partner, it occurs to Chloe that she doesn't have a good reason to be sitting here. This was a family thing. So why did I book two tickets? What am I doing here?
They have spoken little since Nadine had received the call from her aunt.
For outsiders, Nadine's posture is calm and collect. But she's also been staring at the same page of the inflight catalog for the last fifteen minutes.
Spontaneous isn't a word Chloe would use to describe Nadine. And having her drop everything in the middle of a scouting mission?
Nadine liked to plan. Her backup plans had backup plans. Chloe, on the other hand, loves to divert from a plan, just to make things interesting. It drove Nadine nuts.
That call had thrown her off her game.
Chloe reaches across. Nadine's hand is cold. She rubs her thumb over the back of Nadine's hand before pulling back. It's a small gesture, a reminder she isn't alone.
Nadine seems to appreciate not getting a lame "it's going to be okay" speech.
"My aunt said Ma fell from a ladder. Something about trying to fix the porch light," Nadine rolls her eyes and slips the catalog back.
Nadine bites her fingernails, something Chloe has never seen her do before. She gets the distinct impression that Nadine is holding something back. But she will not press the issue. They have over ten hours of flight ahead of them.
If Nadine wants to share something with her, there'll be plenty of time.
Wednesday, May 16
Inflight to Dubai
The older couple next to Chloe has fallen asleep. They were snoring even before the crew had dimmed the cabin lights.
"Do you mind?" Chloe's voice is low as she puts her pillow between them.
"Go ahead," Nadine's tone is indifferent.
With all her thoughts running rampage, she isn't getting any sleep, anyway. Which doesn't mean Chloe can't get rest? They've been up and about for 18 hours. Getting comfortable in an airplane seat is an art. One Chloe has mastered.
She pulls her legs up and leans against Nadine, glancing at her, as if waiting for her partner to shrug her off. But Nadine doesn't. She takes a long breath, taking in the vanilla scent of Chloe's shampoo. It doesn't have the soothing effect she's used to.
She replays the last conversation she had with her mother a few weeks back. They had fought about Nadine teaming up with Chloe.
"Treasure hunting?" Her mother sounded disappointed, her South African accent thick when she spoke English. "Why don't you come home? You've got more than enough serious job offers here."
Nadine had remained silent. How could she explain it to her mother? Explain the thrill she'd experiences when she is on a chase with Chloe? She wasn't good with words that was Chloe's strength.
"Nadine, please be reasonable." Her mother had urged.
"Ma, I'm good at this!"
"This isn't a job," her mother had started but Nadine cut her off.
"Enough! I'm not coming back home. There's nothing left for me there."
"Nadine!"
"No, Ma! For the first time I'm happy where I am. I'm not giving that up."
"She's a thief. I've asked around and your new partner has quite the reputation."
"She doesn't care about that and neither am I."
Wednesday, May 16
Inflight from Dubai to Johannesburg
Not being able to sleep, Nadine uses the onboard WiFi to check her cell phone for new messages. Her aunt has written saying she is at the hospital but still waiting to talk to a doctor.
Rubbing her forehead with her free hand, she feels a headache spreading through her skull.
She envies Chloe for her ability to sleep almost everywhere. She could pass out as soon as her head rests on a pillow. Or anything resembling a pillow. Nevertheless, Nadine dozes off a while later, too.
The vibration of her phone startles her awake. Fishing it from her pocket, Nadine unlocks it and reads the message. Her body stiffens, and she scoots back in her seat. The movement stirs Chloe, who blinks awake.
"What is it?" Chloe stretches her arms and legs as much as the seat in front of her allows her.
"Ma's been- she's been put in a medically induced coma?" Nadine manages. She slowly types and sends a reply, then stares at her phone's screen.
"I'm so sorry. What happened?" Chloe moves a strand of hair out of her eyes and sits up, putting an assuring hand on Nadine's arm.
"Not sure."
Chloe squeezes Nadine's tense forearm.
She studies Nadine for a while, her squirreling leg and the rubbing of her fingers. It was one of Nadine's tells. One when she was mulling over a problem she didn't want to talk about. Others bit their nails, Nadine rubbed her thumb over the tips of her fingers. What if Ma's not waking up?
"Wanna talk?" Mild turbulences have woken up most of the other passengers.
"About what?"
"Nothing, I'm just bored." Chloe shrugs, ignoring the tone which Nadine used to brush her off, "thought you might entertain me."
Another air hole is shaking the cabin up. Some people grip their seats, some even yelp. Nadine is as unfazed as Chloe. And she knows Chloe's not just bored. It's her way of checking up on her. Nadine knows her long enough to know the difference. If she was actually bored, she'd be chatting up a steward or stewardess or someone from first class to get better drinks and food.
But here she is, diverting me from going down the rabbit hole, Nadine chuckles at the absurdity.