Читать книгу Three Days Left - Priscila Uppal - Страница 6

The stewardess was middle-aged, but dressed in a short skirt and low-cut blazer she looked younger, reddish-brown wavy hair held up by two matching blue barrettes. She smiled and offered David his complimentary pillow and blanket, her bust angled generously for a quick view. As she tilted her head to attend to the next aisle, David caught her gently by the arm. He looked out the window next to the emergency door at the deep blue sky and white pompous clouds. “I’m sorry. I must be very tired,” he told her.

She adjusted her hair, tucking a loose strand behind her ears. “Yes?”

“I can’t seem to remember where this plane is going.”

“Going?”

“Yes, I’m sorry … I’m not feeling well.”

She gestured toward his sickness bag.

“No, I just need to know where we’re going. I mean, am I on my way to Florida? My mother lives in Florida.”

“No,” she replied, “but we might be on the way to see your father.”

“My father. My father is …”

“We stay in the sky. Don’t you remember? A new kind of vacation for a new kind of life?” She dropped a glossy pamphlet in his lap on top of the complimentary blanket, smiled dutifully, and continued down the aisle.

Why spend thousands of dollars on hotels and restaurants on your vacation? said a beautiful woman in a pink business suit to an equally good-looking though dishevelled girlfriend. Why? When nine times out of ten it rains and your wallet gets stolen? He turned the page and both women were now dressed in light cotton sundresses, lounging in airplane chairs with tall colourful drinks in their hands, sharing a good joke. Why bother? When you can get carried into the air and served like a queen without leaving your chair or your country? The girls laughed and drank and laughed and drank and David looked around him and he was the only one alone. There were young men chatting with young women and couples playing cards and food being ordered from shiny menus and many a person with headphones watching movies and eating popcorn when all of a sudden David’s emergency window opened.