A/N: Thank you to an anonymous reviewer, ' .Fugii', 'dancer99', 'xxx-benedictbrothersfan-xxx', and 'nononononononono' for reviewing! I hope you all enjoy chapter four! :D
Friday morning arrived much sooner than I wanted it to. I'd spent the night tossing, and turning- totally sick at the prospect of the convention. My alarm rang at 7, and I was forced to accept the inevitable- I was actually going to Paris, and actually going to the convention. Dragging myself from my bed, I moved sluggishly towards the shower, washing my hair and shaving my legs. Rejuvenated, I brushed my teeth, wrapped my towel around me, and moved back to my room to select an outfit for the day. After much deliberation, exasperation, and utter frustration, I finally settled on a pair of light blue skinny jeans, and a thin navy and white striped top- they were comfortable for a plane journey, and very Parisian! Looking at myself in the mirror, I silently appraised myself. At 5'7 I was of average height, with an average build, and average brown eyes. Average, as you can probably tell, was the best way of describing me. Although I envied my twig- like friends, who had super-sonic metabolisms I kind of liked my body. I was toned from regular netball matches, and weekends spent hiking in the Peak District, which was right on my door step. Grabbing my comb I wrestled with my hair, attempting to de-tangle the mass of curls, before blow-drying it, and adding a layer of mascara to my eyelashes.
"There." I muttered to myself in the mirror, somewhat satisfied with my appearance. I was ready to go. The taxi was arriving at 9, and it was 8.45 now, so I decided to grab my suitcase and wait outside my flat for the taxi driver to arrive and take me to the airport.
Locking up, I headed down the stairs, dragging my suitcase behind me. It made a worrying thump every time I descended a step, as it whacked against the step below it. I probably should have risked the decrepit lift. Pushing open the double doors of the flat's lobby I dropped my suitcase to the floor, and sat on it. I probably looked like a homeless person, but, quite frankly, I didn't care. Grabbing my beach bag, which I was using for my hand luggage I checked I had everything. Passport- check, phone- check, purse with credit card in it- check, insurance form- check, plane tickets-check, taxi form-check… The amount of things you had to remember was ridiculous- I didn't know if, even at 24, that I was quite prepared for the responsibility. Lastly, I pulled out the leaflet about the convention- I'd packed it in my hand luggage so that I could have a quick glance through it before arriving in Paris. As I was looking, a car pulled up beside me, honking. I looked up.
"Taxi for East Midlands airport, love?" the cabbie asked. He leaned out of the window and leered at me. He was, at a guess, around thirty five, with a thin, greasy pony tail and yellowed teeth. Crossing my arms over my chest self-consciously, I replied with my best attempt at a smile.
"Yeah, that's me". I handed him the form that the Net had sent- the pre-paid receipt for my journey. He skimmed it quickly, before nodding to himself, and getting out of the car to the boot. The stench when he passed me was vile- worse than when I'd had to sit next to 'Stinky Sandra', for a whole year in chemistry at GCSE. I'm sure an hour with him in a confined space would be just wonderful. He picked up my suitcase and lobbed it in the boot.
"Do you want to sit up front with me, darlin'?" he asked, shooting me what I presumed what his attempt at a seductive smile, but all he proceeded in doing was showing me the cocoa pop remnants left in his teeth. I tried to hide my disgust at his lack of personal hygiene, not to mention his slimy personality.
"No thanks" I replied cheerily, before lying through my teeth. "I always sit in the back- I get travel sick if I sit in the front." I laughed. "It's quite bizarre really! I mean, most people get travel sick if they sit in the back, but not me, no! I always insist on sitting in the back." He looked at me quizzically- not believing this story at all, but, before he could argue I all but yanked open the door and flew into the left back seat- pulling the door shut quickly behind me, and placing my bag on my lap- a physical barrier between us.
"Alright, love, your loss." He grinned, pulling his door open, and starting the ignition. "Let's go." I smiled enthusiastically in response. 'Yes' I thought, in my head 'let's go as quickly as possible, so that I can get the hell out of this car!'
There was silence, for a few minutes as we drove out of town, before he tried to make conversation.
"So, love, what's your name?"
"Alexis." He seemed to be expecting me to ask him the same question, but I had no interest in continuing the conversation. He waited a few beats, finally realising that I wasn't going to ask back.
"My name's Terrence, but you can call me Terry." He glanced at me in his rear-view mirror, and I nodded in response- turning my head to look out of the window, so that I avoided making eye contact with him.
"So…" he valiantly continued- attempting to break the awkward silence. "You got a boyfriend then? Pretty thing like you must have all the men gagging for it!" My lips curled in revulsion- he was so crude.
"Yep" I lied. "He's a black belt in karate- trained by Jackie Chan himself. He was supposed to compete in the London Olympics, but he got banned for beating up a man who tried to hit on me. Pity, he would have won gold- he's lethal." I sighed dramatically "He's actually meeting me at the airport- I can get him to give you an autograph if you'd like?" Terry had paled considerably after hearing this.
"No, don't worry" he squeaked, pushing his foot down on the gas pedal, so that the car shot forward. "I wouldn't want to trouble him, I'm sure he's very busy." He didn't let his eyes stray from the road after that, navigating the winding country lanes with all the skill of a formula one racer. I snickered behind my hand- it served him right.
We arrived at the airport in no time, with Terrence chucking my bag onto the pavement, and racing off as if the hounds of hell were at his heels. I couldn't stop myself- I keeled over laughing, wiping the tears from my eyes. Hopefully that encounter would prevent him from pulling any moves on any future female passengers! Turning to grab my suitcase I bumped into something, or someone, sending my beach bag flying and all causing all of my documents to fall out.
"Crap" I muttered, dropping to the floor to pick up anything I could find. Shoving the stuff back in my bag, I stood up to see a man holding my convention leaflet. Double crap. Non- savants weren't allowed to see that!
"Thanks" I said, smiling brightly as I plucked it from his hands. 'Please let him not have read it!' I prayed silently. He was a fairly tall man, with cropped blonde hair, blue eyes and a friendly smile.
"No" he whispered, grabbing my arm lightly. "It's okay, I'm a savant too!" He pulled out a matching leaflet from his backpack, showing it to me with a grin to prove his point. I let out a giant breath of pure relief.
"Oh, thank God" I replied, putting my palm to my chest, as if to slow my racing heart. "I thought I'd really messed up."
He laughed, "No, thankfully it's just me. You heading to the convention too, then?"
I picked up my suitcase from the floor, wheeling it next to me as we proceeded to the airport's entrance. "Yeah, I wouldn't be if they hadn't made it mandatory, but it can't be helped. Who are you flying with?"
"EasyJet. You? Oh, and I know exactly how you feel." He sighed. Confused, I turned to look at him- it was extremely odd to find another savant that positively detested the idea of finding their perfect other half.
"Same. We might be in seats near to each other! You don't want to find yours either?" It was so refreshing to hear from someone who held the same views as me!
He scratched his neck awkwardly- a way of hiding his discomfort at the idea of the convention, I guessed. "No, I've been with my girlfriend for nearly six years, and I'm totally happy. I want to get married, and forget about this whole, stupid soulfinder business." He sighed, frustrated. "My parents keep on insisting that we'll break up though, that I won't be happy with her, and that I'm meant to be with my soulfinder. I've been to four conventions over the past couple of years- the local ones, you know? Not just the global ones. I made a deal with my parents that I'd go to five, and that if I didn't find her, then I wouldn't go to any more, they'd stop badgering me, and they wouldn't disapprove of an engagement to Catherine. This is the last one, the last part of the deal. So, fingers crossed I won't find her, and I can propose when I get home, and be taken off the Net's list forever!" He crossed all of the fingers on his left hand to prove his statement. We began to wander towards the EasyJet check in desk, as we talked.
"I told Cath that I was off on a business trip for the weekend- I felt awful lying to her, but I think it's better than telling her that this weekend could be when I meet my soul mate, and that there's a high chance I'm going to have a paranormal connection with her. Anyway-" He sighed, rubbing the stubble on his chin.
"What about you?" He asked. "Why are you so against it?" Reaching the back of the queue we dropped our cases at our feet, and turned to face one another.
"My sister met her soulfinder at 17, and then he died a year later in a fire. She was distraught, and still hasn't really recovered. I don't want that. I don't want that total reliance on one person. Besides, I'd rather find love myself- rather than being forced to love someone just because of an attraction I can't explain." He nodded in agreement, as we shuffled forward.
"That's awful" he exhaled as he said it, shaking his head at her misfortune. "I completely get where you're coming from with that, though- I feel the same way. How old are you, by the way." He asked.
"I know, she was devastated, and still is. I'm 24. You?"
"Ditto. Want to try?" I knew exactly what he meant.
"Okay" I murmured, looking into his eyes. Could he really be my soulfinder- I couldn't imagine us being anything more than friends. Mind you, it wouldn't be so bad- he'd be thrilled with my rejection, and we'd both be able to move on with our lives.
"I'll try you first." I felt his voice in his mind then. 'Hello?' he asked me. I laughed in pure relief.
"Nope! Nothing!" He beamed broadly. "I'll try too- just to be sure." 'Hello' I asked him. His grin grew even bigger.
"Nothing for me either! Looks like we'll just have to be soulfinder hating friends, right-" He paused awkwardly. "Hang on; I don't even know your name yet."
"It's Alexis" I reply, holding out my hand for him to shake.
"Sam" he grins, grasping my hand tightly in his, and giving it a firm shake. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise."
And that was how our friendship began. Conversation flowed easily between us, and, as the check-in lady gave us seats next to each other on the plane, we had plenty of time to talk. Sam, it turned out, lived just a couple of miles away from me, and yet we'd never met. Crazy, right? His savant power was invisibility, although, he could only use it for about five minutes at a time, as it sapped his energy at an alarmingly quick rate. Still, it was pretty damn cool!
We passed quickly through security, and onto the plane. It was due to set off at 11.20 English time, and took approximately an hour and a half. But, as France was an hour ahead of the UK, we lost an hour, and so were expected to land at around two French time- give or take a few minutes. Stowing our hand luggage in the overhead lockers Sam and I took our seats. The row was made up three chairs. An elderly lady was sat in the window seat. I sat next to her, whilst Sam sat in the aisle.
As the other passengers took their seats she tapped me on the arm. I turned to her and smiled.
"You're a wonderful couple" she said, motioning to me and Sam.
"Oh, we're not-"
She cut me of "How long have you been together? You'll make wonderful babies!" I could hear Sam snickering next to me- deliberately pretending he couldn't hear our conversation.
"No, you're misunderstanding" I said slowly- not wanting to offend her. "We're not together. We're just good friends- nothing more" Her face fell.
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear" she said, clapping her hand to her mouth in embarrassment.
"It's fine" I assured her. "Don't worry about it."
"He is rather handsome though, isn't he?" she whispered, trying to be discreet. Unfortunately, her 'whispering' was as loud, or if not louder than her regular voice, so it had no effect. "You could definitely have fun with him!" Sam was now visibly vibrating with laughter at her comment. "If only I was 30 years younger" she sighed.
"He actually has a thing for older women" I replied slyly. This was payback for him letting me deal with this awkward conversation on my own. She nodded at me knowingly, and I gave her an exaggerated wink in reply. Satisfied, I grabbed my phone from my pocket, and plugged my headphones in- preparing to listen to some music to pass the time. I looked over at Sam. His laughing fit had stopped abruptly once he realised that I had given the cougar the go-ahead to seduce him. I laughed at him, and he shot me a glare in response, which only made me laugh harder. Mission accomplished.
The rest of the flight passed in a comfortable silence, I listened to my music, chatted to Sam, and made sure we swapped numbers- I'd definitely keep in contact with him. Unfortunately all of these distractions still didn't take my mind off the impending convention. We landed on time and moved quickly through passport control, before heading to the baggage carousel. Grabbing our luggage we made our way towards the arrivals gate.
"So, this is it." I said, pausing before passing through the gate.
"Yep. We're actually here. Let me give you a hug, Lex"
"I hope you don't find her" I said, embracing him, although it was muffled as my face was pressed into his shoulder.
"You too. Well, find him, not her." He grinned, giving me a final squeeze. "See you tomorrow, Lex! I'll text you so that we can sit next to each other for the video." We picked up our bags and walked through the gate.
"Sounds great" I replied, with a smile "We can laugh at it together." He grinned in reply, giving me a last final wave, before he headed off to his hotel. I turned in the opposite direction- I'd arranged to meet my sister by the taxi rank, so we could go off to lunch together.