บท 6: Damsel in distress

Raymond slowly finished his coffee and walked toward Gate number 19. Boarding was just starting and as he was a Business class passenger, he went in ASAP. He kept his laptop out and stowed his bag. He again immersed himself into his laptop, planning new strategies as to how to poach in new investors.

The flight was about to take off and Raymond was really glad to see the seat to his left was empty. He really hated it when people snored around him or tried to be excessively chatty. Since it was a 23 hours flight he just wanted to relax and focus on his work. He was just about to hibernate his laptop as per the takeoff protocol when he saw a flight attendant escorting a girl inside the cabin.

She was the same girl, who had left him all intrigued. The same girl with whom he had the coffee spilling encounter today.

She looked pretty distant and broken just like before. She looked pretty tired too. Dark circles had started crawling in onto her pretty face. There was something about her that drew his attention. Something very sincere. She looked very frail and sank into her seat immediately and then she started looking out of the window.

Raymond was shocked to find himself drawn towards her.

"What is wrong with her?"

"Why is she in such a state?" all these questions were swirling inside Raymond's head.

Raymond, in general, was never interested in women. Never preferred to speak with them until it was related to work. He was once involved in a romantic relationship before and it didn't end well for him. Ever since he always felt that falling in love was just a waste of time. And according to him, there were far better things to do in life than just to fall in love and then to eventually get hurt. He literally loathed women and he had his own reasons to do so.

Just then the flight attendant came and asked the girl to put the seatbelt on. It was only then that Raymond realized she was still crying. He saw her putting a fake plastered smile on her face for the attendant as she was worried about her. She told her that she was ok when clearly she was not.

After a few minutes, the flight took off. Raymond moved his glance and started to re-focus on his pending work.

A few seconds later the seat belt signs were turned off and he switched on to full work mode. As it was a super early flight the lights were switched off for people to sleep. Raymond had his reading light on to complete his work on the laptop. Even though his fingers were swiftly moving on his keyboard and his entire focus was channeled onto his laptop, he was still stealing occasional glances at her every now and then.

He was unsure whether he was worried or just curious about her.

Tears were finding their path down her cheeks. But even in pain she still looked beautiful. Her hair was messy with strands falling all over her face. She was a nobody for him, but her tears were shaking him to the core. The moment he saw her wiping her tears with her sleeves he felt a lump in his throat.

"Why is she affecting me so much?", Raymond wondered. And in the next moment, he called the flight attendant and asked for some water and tissues for the damsel in distress.

He was himself surprised with his own actions for he was a man who considered women 'morally repugnant'.

'Chivalry' was so not him.