An Agreement With Mr Wilde

Episode three

Flight MM4 slowed down to a halt on the tarmac of the Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta, Wisconsin.

The airport bustled with varieties of activities as different people of various races, skin tones, and ages, shuffled around while brushing between one another.

The door opened and passengers, weary from the long journey, gradually descended from the plane with their suitcases and bags held in their hands.

As cab drivers appeared out of nowhere in a bid to convey the passengers who needed a ride home, a brunette woman was also approached.

She stood straight with her hair bunched into a ponytail which was covered by a black face cap. She was barely recognizable in a pair of skinny black denim, white camisole, and plaid shirt jacket, easily towering over the cab man in the knee-length, black-heeled boots she had on.

Not to mention how she turned a few heads in the dark sunglasses protecting her eyes from the harshness of the sun and black face mask.

Except for the constant raise of her dark brows, much couldn't be said about her facial features.

She was an easy 5'7, but her carriage aided her a few extra inches, including the boots. The woman's luggage was gathered in a space next to her long legs where she stood, typing away at her phone.

"Hey, ma'am. Sorry to bother you. I can give you a ride if you want." The driver offered politely with his eyes peering at the sunglasses, curious to know the face that owned such intimidatingly impressive features.

Her typing stopped immediately after his voice reached her hearing. She took out an earplug while she leaned toward the man. "What did you say?"

He repeated his statement and she shook her head in reply. "I'm trying to call someone to pick me up, don't worry about it. Thanks."

The man shrugged and then walked away to meet other people who looked stranded and needed a ride to their destinations.

The brunette returned her gaze to her phone, trying for the umpteenth time to get a reply from her sister.

The screen on her phone showed about five messages sent to the same person but there were no replies yet.

"Dammit, Janice." She swore, glaring hard at the phone like it was the address. "Just pick up already."

She looked around her to see that most of the people who had alighted from the plane with her were nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes caught the last of them entering a car opposite the entrance of the airport.

Wondering what could be keeping her sister late, she dragged all of her stuff to a nearby chair in the waiting area while she picked a seat comfortable enough to relax in and convenient enough to still grant her eyes a clear view of the main entrance.

The lady leaned back in her seat with her sunglasses taken off her face to reveal a mysterious pair of frosty blue eyes.

She studied the architecture of the refurbished airport and the upgrade changes they made.

She couldn't believe that this same place used to be somewhere she loved coming to admire every time her Dad took Janice and her out for their mini excursions every Sunday.

Many years ago, when she was a vibrant eight-year-old, this place was a nightmare compared to what it looks like now.

It could have been because it was the first airport provided in their town, easing the need to travel to the city to take a flight to wherever the people wanted to go.

In this small town, she was weaned, went to school, had her first boyfriend and first kiss, and experienced her first heartbreak, including many other firsts.

From there, she got admitted into the state university and she had to move out to reach out for bigger and better opportunities that awaited her in Atlanta.

Her career as a writer began the moment she had been motivated by her parents to participate in a contest.

The lecturer stepped on that cold Wednesday morning, eyes pinned on her while he spoke of the approaching contest which was open to every eligible writer, that is, anyone who could join words together and create a certain rhythm only readers could deeply connect to.

Hastily, she had averted her eyes when she felt as though the man was specifically speaking to her.

When the class was over, she had begun packing her books into a bag just as everyone else around her was doing, but the older man requested to speak to her.

"I saw a few of your works, Miss Octavia Spencer, and I loved them. Would you like to partake in the contest? We need talents as exquisite as yours." His green eyes bored into hers imploringly.

She had stepped away from the man after giving him a halfhearted promise to think about it.

She had gotten home worried about it and reached out to phone her parents, who were beside themselves with happiness as they told her to go for it.

For them, it was their dream's dream coming true. But it was not the same for her. Of course, she wanted to be a writer, a very good one at that, but not for a contest. She wanted her works to be world-renowned and listed amongst the bestsellers.

However, unfortunately for her, her parents passed away before she even got into her penultimate year at university. They had been involved in an accident.

The crippling shock that traveled throughout her body as the news came in gave a staggering blow to her academics and she greatly suffered for it.

In a few months, she gathered herself together, pouring the entirety of her being into her studies and career like her parents would have loved if they were watching.

A publishing company already had its eyes set on her before she was through with her studies and she couldn't ruin that once-in-a-lifetime chance. As she cocooned herself into the world of solitude she carved for herself, the already poorly built relationship with her elder sister, Janice, dissipated into nothingness.

Janice had always been too busy to spend time with her little sister while growing up, but instead of busy working on her ambition of being a popular media personality.

It was almost a reality until she got pregnant with her childhood sweetheart, Quincy Murphey, who was already climbing the ladder of success and interacting with business conglomerate owners like his budding self.

The young couple was very elated when they discovered it, but as fate would have it, their dreams of a family were shattered like a ship dashed against the rocks during a stormy night on the sea.

The last Octavia heard of Janice was after the miscarriage when she had to call to offer her condolences.

Even their conversation was poor and stiff, unlike when she spoke to Quincy. If anyone else had overheard them talk to each other, it would have seemed as though they were siblings or, as rotten minds would instigate, lovers.

Years had long passed since the unfortunate incident, and Octavia had just stepped foot back into a place she never thought she could be able to because of the unforgettable memories they held.

The death of her parents, and the barely recognizable shreds of the tattered relationship she had with her elder sibling.

If it wasn't for her sister's engagement party which she was invited to by the woman herself, she wouldn't have batted an eyelash but wished the couple well from where she was.

A tap on her wrist startled her and she dropped her hand from her face in shock. It was the same cab man who had approached her almost an hour ago. She looked at her wristwatch to see that it was already past an hour since then.

"You're ready to take the cab again?" A beaming smile was spread out on his aged face.

Octavia checked her phone for the last time, discovering to her relief that her sister had sent an address even though another message spelled out that she was no longer available to pick her up and she should take a taxi to the address.

"You think I wasn't already planning to?" She muttered under her breath outside of the hearing of the man who was still waiting for her response. Her expression switched to a cheery one as she looked at the man. "Let's go."

Together, they grabbed a luggage cart to convey all of her bags as she let the man push them to the back of his car.

While he went to drop off the cart, she heaved the bags into the trunk of the vehicle and then shut it closed.

The car was soon set in motion and winded out of the airport road before linking to the main road leading to various places including Oakville.

She sat in the back seat not out of disregard for the older driver, but because she wanted to avoid any form of conversation.

She needed silence to smother her before the thoughts buzzing around in her head drowned her.

Trees wheezed past as she let her head loll over to the side, touching the window.

There was a sinking feeling deep in her gut that her life was about to take a dramatic turn following her return to this small town where her life began, where she left, and where she was going to live for the next few months... Or more.

Octavia took another curious look at the views of tall business buildings as the car navigated along a bride that she knew wasn't there in the past.

Her map pointed out that they had just left the federal road and were now heading to residential areas.