After some consideration after my last chapter, I've decided to go back to writing in past tense. Hope nobody minds!

Just a quick reminder of location names that will be mentioned again in future chapters:

Jammy closet: the closet that does not shut fully. If it is shut fully, be suspicious.

Chapter 2

Mariah stood at her post and counted down the seconds until her shift was over. When that long hand reached the twelve position she had already decided that she was going to dart out of the boutique like a rocket and head straight to the bar for her usual chat with the girls and her latest bits of hot gossip.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Queen eyeing her up. At any moment, she was going to march right up to Mariah and tell her to adopt a more professional stance and how it was the way she came across that repelled any potential shoppers for buying their duty free designer goods. The woman was after all called Queen for a reason.

Mariah slowly inched towards the front with her eyes fixed on the clock.

Three. Two. One.

Mariah started to walk quickly out of the shop, with barely enough time to squeeze in a "see you" to her boss. She weaved through the sea of travellers and took the back stairwell to the appropriate floor and soon found herself in the bar with Mariam and Hilary. The two girls were chatting away prior to Mariah's arrival. Hilary had a glass of water sitting on a coaster in front of her whilst Mariam leaned idly against the counter as she spoke.

"So even though she says there's nothing going on, I beg to differ. Her sweet smile made me feel sick." Mariam concluded and shuddered. Saying Mariam has a romantic phobia is an understatement. The girl hated nothing more than romantic walks under the moonlight and the look of loved up couples as they gaze lovingly into each other's eyes.

"Oooh, who's this we're talking about?" Mariah enthused as she took her seat on the barstool next to Hilary.

"Salima." Mariam replied. "She came along to the bar after you two left last night and gave me all the gossip from her last flight to London and by the sounds of it things are back on between her and Kane."

"Is that so?" Mariah enquired as she suddenly remembered the gossip she'd heard in the office last night before she left work. "The word in the office is that Kane was also seen cosying up to some Londoner."

"This is new." Hilary said as she and Mariam looked at each other.

"This is why we have the gossip counter." Mariah said as if it's the most obvious thing ever. "Anyway, Dr K has just been demoted from her post in the control room for what I can only disclose as 'unknown circumstances' for now but Emily and Kenny are both in the running for her old post now."

"Well that can be scary. We all know how competitive Emily can get. She'd probably resort to murder if she has to!" Hilary pointed out as she recalled one specific time in which she and Emily both eyed up the last chicken and bacon Caesar wrap in the staff canteen. That was one scenario she would rather forget; if only the scar would let her.

"Anything else?" Mariam prompted.

"The rumour regarding Julia's job as an air hostess is now confirmed and she should be at a meeting about it with the board right about now." Mariah declared then pumped herself up for the final new piece of news. "And now for the big news: the CEO of this place is thinking about retiring in the next year or so."

"And?" Mariam eyed Mariah up then turned to greet a few other regulars who had just entered the bar.

"The CEO's heir is to take over."

"Who is the heir?" Hilary asked as she sat on the edge of her seat. Rumours relating to management was always a big hit with her.

"Nobody knows. Not even the gender but apparently it's someone who works amongst us." Mariah answers.

"Maybe it's that new guy who just started last week." Hilary suggested, "What's his name again? I think it begins with an M… Mys… Mys…"

"Oh, you mean Mystel?" Mariam finished for Hilary. "He seems like a cool guy."

"How can you tell? No one's seen him."

"Ozuma sees him about when he's off hiding at the rooftop." Mariam replied. The roof top was somewhere that Mariam, her brother Joseph, Ozuma and Dunga would often gather at for relaxation purposes, though it was frequent that Mariam and Dunga would start arguing over something insignificant. "He seems to like it up there too." Mariam added then excused herself as she shuffled along the bar to take the drink orders of Michael and Miguel, two of the engineers that took special care of the planes.

Miguel was hardly ever seen inside the actual airport itself, he spent most of his working hours in the warehouse area where all the tools and gadgets required for making repairs and carrying out maintenance checks were. Michael on the other hand was quite the opposite. He spent a significant amount of time in the airport flirting with foreign girls and winding up the cabin crew and sometimes pilots about how he was going to engineer the plane to crash nose first into the sea, and after a conversation with him one time, followed right away by a bumpy flight, Hilary made the executive decision to leave her job of serving people whilst soaring across the sky.

"So that Mystel guy seems like he'd fit the bill." Mariah said. "He managed to get a job here but never shows up and still hasn't been fired yet."

"Too be fair, the human resources department isn't great at firing the slackers." Salima said as she took a seat next to Mariah. She had her air hostess uniform on and a small suitcase trailing next to her. "Remember that time Raul had to fire Enrique from the customer service desk?"

Mariah and Emily couldn't not laugh at that one. Raul, one of the gentlest guys that worked in the airport, had to fire one of the boys who was voted by staff as the biggest player (narrowly beating Enrique to the post), the third most ignorant guy, following closely being Kai and Tala and the number one contradiction. After a three hour conversation and paying for almost a dozen drinks, Raul never did fire the guy.

"How can we forget." Mariah laughed, "I have never seen anything so awkward before!" Mariah recalled sitting on the same barstool that day as she was now and how hard she found it to keep in her laughter at the sight of Raul awkwardly shuffling in his seat next to a semi-drunk Enrique who had started to alternate the languages he spoke in.

"What's everyone laughing about?" Julia asked as she sat down.

"Nothing." Mariah, Hilary and Salima replied simultaneously.

The whole incident was still a sore point with Julia who had to pick up after her little brother. And failed. If there was a lesson to be learnt in the whole incident it was that Enrique's a good negotiator, especially when around girls. And drunk.

"How did the meeting with the board go?" Mariah asked. She eyed Julia up suspiciously. For someone who was supposed to have found out that she has to work with someone she hates, she seemed to be in a relatively decent mood.

"I've not had it yet." Julia said, "Why? Did you hear something?"

"Just wondering since you took so long." Mariah said, "And that you looked a bit too happy to have just found out that you'll be flying with Tala this Friday."

"I what?" Julia asked, her eyes wide open in disgust.

"That's what the board meeting's about. I heard it straight from the head office today."

"Fuck." Julia said, "Maybe I shouldn't go. Maybe I should just keep my job at the boarding desk."

"No way!" Hilary exclaimed, "You love being an air hostess."

"Yeah and I need you to keep me company when flying. Spencer is not a fun person to talk to! He just sits there like a potato." Salima whined, "And he doesn't talk much and when he does, he just insults me."

"Sounds like love." Mariah cooed.

Further along the counter, Mariam had somehow allowed herself to be cajoled into a game of poker against Michael and Miguel. Or, at least she let them think that. It was one of the reasons why Mariam enjoyed working in the bar. Every now and then someone would challenge her to a game of cards in any shape or form for free drinks if they won; on the flip side though, Mariam received a generous cash pay-out if she did. So far, she had not mentioned the croupier training she had undertaken before becoming a barmaid – that would be like committing financial suicide. (No one had ever thought to ask her about her year long absence from the airport after her flying incident.) Every trick and trade of every card game that could be won by skill Mariam knew the secrets of and every luck based game Mariam would rig in her favour. There was no losing for her. And after winning, it was likely that the challengers would request a rematch at a later date.

Easy money.

Mariam smiled as she looked at her cards; a sneaky smile that made the boys suspicious. She only wished that the stakes were higher.


Rei sat at his desk and stared at the blank word document. The job had fallen upon him this year to form the unofficial poll that all members of employees looked forward to. But where would one start? It used to be Mariah's job to form the voting categories but since she reduced her hours in the head office and took up the part time role at the trendy fashion boutique Royals, she had no time left to do such a task.

Rei sighed. He preferred the more serious jobs and frankly, creating voting categories was just not his job! That was a girl's job, or more specifically, Mariah's job! He closed his eyes and tried to think like the pinkette.

Most appreciated member of staff. Yeah, that's a good one.

Rei opened his eyes again and typed it into his computer and stared at it.

"No, that's too plain." He said to himself.

He needed help with this job and he knew exactly where to get help from.


"Read it and weep boys." Mariam declared as she threw down her cards and raked in her winnings, shoving it into her tin labelled 'Loser's pride' and then shut it and tucked it neatly back into its corner behind the bar.

"Not again." Michael moaned.

Miguel had cut his losses and quit while he still had enough cash to last him until his next pay day. He was smarter like that.

"Excuse me boys while I go serve my other customers." Mariam said as she shuffled along the bar and back to the gossip counter which she had deserted over an hour ago for an easy money making opportunity. "What can I get you, Rei?"

"Mariah." Rei said. "Where's Mariah? She's always here at this time. Every single day!"

"She'll be back. I saw her following Ming Ming earlier into the dressing room. Why don't you have a drink while you wait for her?"

Rei took a seat. "I'll have my usual."

Mariam nodded and turned to pour him his drink.

"Where's all the girls? Isn't this the usual meeting time?" Rei asked. The girls that he needed to speak to were never locatable when he needed them most.

"It is but Salima has to fly today, Julia has a board meeting and Hilary got a call about Tyson slacking off again so Mariah went to speak to Ming Ming so gossip hour got cut short. Since when did you care about gossip hour?"

"When I have to draw up the annual poll, it's all I care about."

"I've always wondered who draws up the questions." Michael said as he and Miguel shuffled along to join Rei at the gossip counter. "I also wonder who keeps nominating me for the biggest player and biggest oxygen waster categories."

"Biggest oxygen waster?" Miguel echoed, "Is that an actual category? Who else was nominated for that?"

"Enrique, Queen, Rick and Zeo amongst many others." Mariam listed.

"Is it just me or are they all people who got on Mariah's bad side last year?" Eddy asked as he took a seat. He had only been working at check-in for a month and he already gathered that much from word of mouth and witnessing the hostility between them first hand. He found most of the airport's polices and popular activities most amusing, the staff poll being his favourite, and he had already established that there is such a thing as gossip hour at the gossip counter and that if he's not careful, he could be the talking point.

"That's a good point. And it was all over the airport too when Mariah was pretty much at war with them." Rei said and the more he thought about it, that wasn't a bad category to have in this year's poll. No, that wouldn't do. The rules were the categories had to be relevant to his year's hot gossip. That's exactly why he was here, to find out.

"Just out of curiosity, who won the title?" Miguel asked as he took a swig of his beer.

"Yours truly." Michael said with pride and joy.

"I don't know why I still feel so proud of that…" Eddy commented.

"You realise that that's just a slightly nicer way of calling you useless, right?" Mariam pointed out with a raised eyebrow. She was in the midst of drying glasses behind the counter.

"Thanks for that." Michael said with a hint of sarcasm then looked at his watch. "Rush hour's over now. I'm going to leave now before I get insulted and conned into my overdraft."

"Wait, what time is it?" Mariam asked, her face alert.

"Coming up for half six." Rei replied.

"Fuck." Mariam blurted out then quickly shoved the glass in her hands into one of the shelves beneath the counter and quickly adding, "If you see Max, tell him I've finished my shift and left." Then ducked beneath the counter.

And right on cue, the blond appeared from the doors from the side of the mini stage and darted over to the bar, asking about Mariam.

"She's right here, my boy." Michael says with an almighty grin and a pat on Max's back. He may have lost this month's paycheck to the bluenette but this made everything almost okay again. "Have fun Mariam." Michael added before he left and he could barely hear the "fuck you" from Mariam as he strode out happily.


Tyson stood casually in the middle of the open space, partially blocking the opening to one of the several check in queues. It was meant to be his day off today but there was a special event occurring at the airport today: a wedding.

Tyson sighed. Who has a wedding in an airport? An airport. Seriously…

"Huge sigh there, Tyson." Daichi said as he strode past Tyson every 20 minutes or so. He was on duty, trying to keep the flow of the place running smoothly. He was one of the few people who did their job.

"Who has a wedding at an airport." Tyson complained. He didn't know what pained him more, his feet from the shoes the bridal party requested he wear or the fact that he could've been lying in bed watching endless episodes of Family Guy.

"I hear you." Dunga agreed, appearing out of nowhere. For a big guy, he seemed to have a natural talent for creeping up on people unexpectedly.

"I mean they're totally blocking the flow of things here." Tyson continued on his rant and shuffled over slightly to his right, allowing people to join the ever growing check-in line.

"Totally." Dunga nodded and watched as people struggled to get passed Tyson, ducking under the barrier instead of saying a polite "excuse me" for an eighth time.

"I mean, I feel like so many people are upset by this arrangement." Tyson's rage was boiling the more he went on and on and allowed his mind to think about that Family Guy box set waiting for him.

Like Dunga, Daichi had taken the initiative to stand somewhere less disruptive than Tyson and wondered if he should say something about it. He was about to when he was beaten to it.

"Tyson! You're blocking the line." Hilary yelled as she motioned for Tyson to step aside and bowed and apologised to the frustrated travellers on his behalf. She turned back to face the boy once everyone had passed and crossed her arms. "Tyson, can you at least not block the way if you're not going to make an effort? I don't even know what you're being paid to do here!" Hilary lectured then turned to leave to help out at the check in desk, muttering complaints about Tyson as she did so.

Dunga and Daichi stood and watched Hilary leave. Tyson looked physically angrier than before.

"Who does she think she is, yelling at me like that. She's not even supposed to be working down here." Tyson started to walk off in the opposite direction that Hilary had left in.

Dunga and Daichi looked at each other then made the decision to follow Tyson to wherever he was headed.

"What's her deal anyway?" Tyson continued on his rant as he wondered around aimlessly.

"I heard that's Hilary's distant cousin or some relative that's getting married here. Apparently they don't get along. Probably an act of spite, getting married in an airport." Dunga recalled paying some attention to Mariam when they were on the rooftop the other day. He also vividly remembered her saying not to tell Tyson of all people because he would definitely use that against Hilary and in some distinct Tyson-esque way. At least that's apparently what Hilary had said during gossip hour one time.

But was he going to ever do what Mariam had said and keep quiet about that? Of course not because in Dunga's world, a man who does what a woman asks is a woman.

"Is that so?" Tyson's interest had clearly been peaked. He turned back to face the larger man and continued to walk.

"Apparently."

Tyson was about to laugh out loud when he walked into an elderly lady, dressed up in a floral dress and diamante shoes. The lady and Tyson exchanged apologies and she started to walk away with her friend.

"As I was saying, I've not seen the other half of the family for years. I wonder if the Grangers are going to show up." The lady continued to walk along with her friend, another elderly lady.

Tyson's ears perked up at the sound of his last name but he wondered why. There were millions of people who shared the same surname as him.

"I'm not sure, the invites went out and I got a reply from Ryu but I didn't get a reply from his grandson, T Granger… I can't even remember what the T stands for!"

The conversation was getting interesting, at least in Tyson's eyes it was. They had mentioned his grampa's name and they had mentioned the first letter of his. He had subconsciously made a swift ninety degree turn and started to follow the two ladies.

"Oh, I just wished I knew what the T stands for."

Tyson was about to jump into the conversation when he noticed his grampa standing in the distance in a tuxedo, an unusual sight. "Grampa." He shouted, alarmed by his presence.

"Tyson." The boy's grampa sounded alarmed at the sight of him.

"What are you doing here?" They both asked each other simultaneously.

"I'm working." Tyson said and was about to demand an answer from the older man when the two elderly ladies joined in the conversation.

"Oh, Ryu, it's so good to see you again. Is this your grandson? He's all grown up now." Said the lady in the floral print dress. Her voice was shrill with excitement from bumping into an old acquaintance.

"I'm so glad you made it to my daughter's wedding." The second lady added.

Tyson looked back and forward from his grampa, to the lady in the floral dress and then to her friend. What was going on?

"You're at a wedding grampa?" Tyson asked in shock. His grampa did NOT mention this to him at all. "You're at Hilary's distant cousin's wedding?"

"What's wrong with that my home boy. It's good to get out and see homies." Grampa replied sheepishly. "You were invited too. I asked you if you wanted me to reply for you but you kept saying you'd take care of it."

"Uhh…" Tyson was left speechless. Now that his grampa raised the point, he vaguely remembered the conversation on an early morning some time ago.

"Anyway, Tyson, did you say hello to your cousin, Marcie Tachibana?" Grampa introduced and indicated to the second woman.

Tyson eyed her up. There was a large age gap between them. And why had he not met her before if they were cousins. He wasn't even aware of the fact that he had any. "Cousin?" Tyson echoed confused and eyed the woman up some more.

The woman, awkwardly shuffled under his gaze. "So, you know Hilary?" the second lady asked uncomfortably.

"Yeah, I know Hilary." Tyson confirmed bitterly. The memory of her scolding him was still fresh in his mind.

"She's my niece."

"Your niece?" Tyson's threatening look faltered and a face of sheer surprise took over.

"Doesn't that make you related to her?" Daichi asked.

Tyson had forgotten about him and Dunga. They had been quiet the whole time, taking a back seat as Tyson spoke to this lady, who he was unknowingly related to, and his grampa. But Diachi had raised a point. Did that make Tyson related to her?

"We better get going!" The lady in the floral print announced before dismissing herself with grampa and the other lady in tow.

Tyson barely reacted to their dismissal. He had better things to ponder. Daichi had raised a very good point indeed. Did Tyson have seniority over Hilary? That was a thought he seemed particularly fond of.

"If that lady is my cousin, that puts us on the same rank, right? She's got no seniority over me and I have no more than her, right?" Tyson asked.

Daichi looked at him confused. Being an only child and having no cousins, he barely knew anything – in fact, he didn't even know how one would have to be related in order to be classed as a cousin.

Concluding that he would gain no answer from Daichi (or at least anything reliable) Tyson turned to Dunga. The guy may look like a meathead but deep down; he was smarter than people gave him credit for. He knew this first hand from being conned on countless occasions.

"Yeah." Dunga confirmed.

"So… In a way if Hilary is her niece, she's kind of like mine too." Tyson said aloud, slightly unsure of it himself. He looked over to Dunga yet again for confirmation.

Dunga knew what he was getting at. Sure, that would make them kind of related but that didn't technically mean he had seniority over her. There was one thing that Dunga was pretty sure of though, and that was the fact that that woman was not his cousin. He was sure for several reasons, the main one being she was too old and she didn't refer to Ryu Granger as Grampa, an oddity for a family that was considered to be a strict follower of honorifics.

"Sure." Dunga replied and Tyson's face lit up as he leaped in joy and hopped off somewhere, probably off to find Hilary. Dunga smiled evilly to himself. Hilary needed her comeuppance for shouting at him the other day and what better way to deliver it than to have someone else do the dirty work for him while he sat back and enjoyed the show?

However, little did Dunga know what chaos he had just let rip through the airport.


This chapter is quite a bit longer than the last chapter and my usual chapters but I hope you enjoy it! Cause the real task starts next chapter!

silver-hedgehog