*DISCLAIMER* I DO NOT own The Phantom of the Opera, its storyline, or its characters. Please R&R.
I woke up at precisely 3:30 AM, by the sound of my blaring alarm. I willed myself to get up and out of bed in order to get ready to head to the airport. I headed over to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Once I was out, I quickly dried myself and headed to the closet to change for the airport. I decided to go with a large pullover sweatshirt and black leggings paired with chunky sneakers. I brushed and dried my hair, quickly putting it in a bun afterwards.
I grabbed one of my small backpack purses and made sure to put my passport, cellphone, and other essentials inside. I made sure to put the backpack over my shoulder and grabbed my suitcase. I packed the day before and checked through my checklist before heading out. Once I made sure everything was in there, I closed it up and headed out the door, making sure to grab my carry-on with my shoes inside.
I walked out the door and took the elevator down to the lobby. Erik was waiting for me, and waved at me once he saw me. We had barely gotten a chance to speak, when the driver pulled up in a Range Rover. "Here, why don't you go in and take your seat. I'll take your luggage and put it in the trunk," said Erik. "Okay. Thank you, Erik," I replied with a small grin. "My pleasure."
We arrived outside of Meg's apartment building next to pick her up. Erik quickly got out and put Meg's things in the trunk while Meg took a seat right next to me. Once Erik was back inside we drove over to Nadir's apartment and picked him up as well. Nadir placed his own bags in the trunk and walked around to talk to Erik from outside of the car. Erik rolled his window down to hear him. "Don't worry about having to move so that I can get in back, I'll just sit up front with the driver," said Nadir. "Oh, we weren't worried about that," said Erik mockingly. Both Meg and I giggled as Nadir rolled his eyes and moved to sit up front.
We got to the airport at about 5:00 AM, which was a little off schedule from what Meg had initially got our bags weighed and checked in then continued on. All three of us made it through customs and security checks in just under 30 minutes which was unusually quick. Erik got a different type of ticket which meant that he had to do all of these checks separately from us, but he said he'd meet us once he was done. Meg, Nadir and I directed ourselves to the correct terminal and found Erik seated near our gate. We walked over to Erik and took our seats next to him.
We boarded our flight shortly after, Meg and Nadir ended up sitting together and Erik and I ended up sitting together. As soon as the flight attendants walked through their speech, we took off. I was extremely nervous about this flight, I hadn't flown in almost 4 years and even then I was terrified. "Are you okay, Christine?," asked Erik. I looked over at him and gave a fake smile, "yeah! Perfectly fine," I said in a squeaky voice. "You don't sound very fine to me. Why don't I get you a drink, it'll help you calm your nerves," he said.
After a while, I decided to watch a movie on the tv screen in front of me. I decided to watch 'Coco' which I absolutely love. The way the mexican culture and family is such an intricate part of the movie reminds me so much of myself and family. I can never make it through the end of the movie without crying, and I've seen it over 100 times… and that's not an understatement.
Miguel had just finished singing 'Remember Me' to Mamá Coco and I was in tears. The movie was coming to an end and the part where Coco and his family are surrounded by their deceased family hits me differently now that Mamá wasn't around. Erik must have noticed because he took one look at me, "Christine, are you alright?," he asked. I wiped my eyes, "yeah, I'm fine. It's just the movie 'Coco' it gets me every time. Especially now that Mamá isn't around," I said.
Erik nodded in understanding. "I see, I've personally never seen the movie. I'm more of an action movie type of guy," he said. I laughed at that, "Why am I not surprised?" Erik chuckled. "Well, I guess I'll have to give this 'Coco' a try sometime," replied. I nodded and laughed at this, "You definitely do. Any recommendations for me?," I asked. Erik seemed to think about it for a moment, "Yes, actually. I'd recommend 'The Hitman's Bodyguard'. It is the perfect mix of comedy and action in one," he said. "Well, I guess I'll have to give this 'Hitman's Bodyguard' a try sometime," I said in my best Erik Destler impression.
Erik chuckled, completely entertained at the fact that I was playfully mocking him. "I see that you have finally calmed your nerves, and you're no longer crying. You're laughing," he said amused. I started laughing, "I am, aren't I?" I looked over at Meg and noticed that her and Nadir were talking away. They looked a little cute if I have to admit. After looking at the time on the plane I noticed it was about 10am, I was very tired from waking up in the middle of the night and if the yawn that escaped my mouth wasn't enough of a sign, I was extremely tired. The only thing holding me back from sleeping was the fact that I was more than 1,000 feet in the air and everything could come crashing down at any moment.
Erik noticed that Christine seemed extremely tired. He knew that if she wasn't going to sleep it was because she was still frightened of being on the plane. "Christine, why don't you try and get some sleep?," he asked. Christine looked over at him nervously, "I want to go to sleep, I really do. But I can't fall asleep, not without overthinking everything that could possibly happen if I do fall asleep," she said.
Erik got up to look for his bag in the overhead bin, once he located it he returned to his seat with the bag in his hand. He dug through the bag looking for an item, once he finally found what he was looking for he pulled out a gummy bottle of Melatonin. "Here, why don't you take one of these? I promise I'll keep an eye on you while you're asleep," said Erik. Christine seemed to hesitate for a little, "You promise?," she asked with a puppy dog look on her face. God, she looks so adorable when she does that. Shaking all nonsense thoughts from his head, Erik nodded. "I promise," he said. Christine nodded and stuck her hand out waiting for Erik to place two gummies in her hand. After taking them, Christine watched another movie to let the medication take effect.
The medication kicked in about 30 minutes later. Erik realized this as he felt a slight pressure on his shoulder. He looked over to see Christine fast asleep, resting her head on his shoulder. Erik wasn't exactly sure what to do, he considered moving her head to a different position but opted to let her rest. This feels very nice anyway. Erik wasn't used to human touch, very rarely partaking in any interactions that involved any sort of touching.
After a while Erik closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep. Unbeknownst to both Erik and Christine, two pairs of eyes had their eyes on them and quickly took advantage of this rare moment. Meg, the owner of one of the pairs, decided to sneak up with her phone and snap a picture of the two on her phone. Nadir, the owner of the other pair of eyes, stifled a laugh.
Before either could notice anything happened, Meg quickly put her phone in her pocket and shuffled back to her seat. Nadir quickly pulled his phone out and turned to Meg. "You have got to share that photo with me!," he exclaimed. Meg giggled, pulling her phone out as well. "I'll AirDrop it to you."