Page 20 - You Only Live Once [BooksLD]

This girl reaches the counter first. Right behind her, a woman whose
shoulder tattoo reads ‘Be Kind’ shouts at her. She gently smiles in return
while offering her to move forward. Now standing right in front of me, she

says, ‘Nice bag’.
‘Thank you,’ I reply. No person is bad, how you look at them is a
reflection of your own self. A friend of mine would always remember
others by the cars they owned, while I never even noticed their clothes. I
feel that we must always look up to somebody. Everybody is unique and

has something unique to offer. It helps you keep yourself grounded.
‘Would you mind me asking where you got it from?’

‘Oh! Why would I?’ I shrug, ‘It’s a birthday gift! My father brought it
from the U.S.’
‘Lucky you! Your dad must be amazing, huh. He must love you so much.
What a gift! Perhaps I will never get to know what model it is,’ she replies.

‘Yeah! It would be kind of rude to call him up and say—Hey! Dad.
Where exactly did you get my bag from?’ A broken laughter erupts out of
me.

We laugh in unison like school children do over the most stupid jokes,
and even engage in a high five. To be honest, her innocence reminds me of
one of my friends from school. My father kept us moving between cities all
through my life and I never got to meet her again. I could never find her on
Facebook either! But this woman felt like that old friend uniting after years.

I bid her a happy journey as I am now the first person in the queue. She
moves towards the boarding gates.

‘Hello ma’am,’ says the beautiful attendant from the ground staff. Her
name card reads Melania.
‘Hello, Melania,’ I say as I hand her my phone with the flight reservation

details.
‘Window?’ she inquires with a smile. ‘Yes,’ I say. It’s going to be a long
flight.

‘How many check-in bags?’ she asks almost mechanically. I believe that
after call-center executive jobs, this one is the most demanding. The most
awful tragedies might hit you personally, but you’ve got to smile still.

‘Two.’ It’s three actually, including the box full of questions in my mind.