Shattered Boundaries!!

Chapter 2.

A week went by in a flash and my mum and I found ourselves at the airport with our bags, ready to relocate to Los Angeles. I was having mixed feelings about moving to Los Angeles because living in a new city without having any friends terrified me, the thought of leaving Jackson behind made me a little sad but then the thought of starting my new job at the university made me really excited

There we stood, 6:48 pm, in Newark Liberty International Airport waiting area as we shared our final moments. After saying my goodbyes to Jackson, my boyfriend, and Paula, my best friend, our moment was interrupted by the boarding announcement and I gave them a last hug before heading towards the tunnel and onto the plane after our boarding pass had been scanned.

It took longer than I was expecting and at some point, I thought were were going to miss our flight, but fortunately, we didn’t and we were ushered into the gate immediately after our boarding pass was scanned.

"30A, 30A, 30...ah, there it is.” I looked up from my boarding pass as I found our seat. Since I was a little bit terrified of flying, I made my mom sit by the window while I placed both our luggage into the locker then sat on the seat beside her and brought out my cell phone.

“My love, I called to let you know that I’m on the plane already…. Yeah, we’re fine. I’ll call you when we get to LA... Okay. Bye.. Love you too.” I finished with a smile then hung up, switched my phone to airplane mode, and then shoved her headphones in my ears, turning the music volume high.

As the plane began to taxi down to its designated airway, I shut my eyes tight, reassuring myself that everything was going to be fine in the new state and Jackson and I would work out fine with the distance.

The plane took off eventually at exactly 9:02 pm and a couple of minutes later the back-of-seat televisions started playing a cheesy version of the airline safety rules. I paid attention carefully and felt like I was the only one on the plane doing so. But who cares? I needed to make sure that I wasn’t putting myself in danger. I was also so sure that I was the only one calculating the hours of the flight. Weird, but I love being calculative.

“I’m gonna take a nap, honey.” Elena, my mom, informed me as she put on her earplugs and then rested her head against the chair headrest.

“Okay, Mom,” I responded with a slight note before pulling out my notebook and pencil then started to scribble the design of a new ceramic pot idea that had suddenly popped into my head when I noticed the guy sitting next to me trying so hard to peek into my notebook, persistently trying to strike up a conversation.

“Ever heard of the term privacy?” I rebuffed in a level tone as I continued to scribble in my notebook.

“Hey there, gorgeous. What could a beautiful lady like you be scribbling in that notebook?” The guy said with a slightly delighted voice.

I found his old-fashioned pickup lines quite annoying so I decided to ignore him, hoping he would take the hint and leave me to draw in peace. But he just couldn’t take the hint.

Come on, don't be shy. I'm genuinely interested in what you're working on." He spoke again.

I rolled my eyes and sighed inwardly, realizing that he wasn't going to give up easily. Reluctantly, I decided to respond, hoping to get him off my back.

I’m not really a friendly person and dislike someone invading my personal space.

“Nothing worth sharing with you.” I deadpanned.

“I bet it's something really cool. Why don't you show me? I promise I won't be disappointed.” He said, and I could hear the tease in his voice.

I rolled my eyes, growing increasingly frustrated with his persistence as I contemplated how to handle the situation without causing a scene.

“I’d appreciate it if you could stop speaking to me. I'd really prefer some peace right now.”

“Aww, come on, don't be cold. We could have a great conversation. I’m interested in what you’re drawing.”

Urgh…. What a pest!!

I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm despite my growing annoyance.

One of the things I hate so much is getting distracted whenever I’m working, and right now he is distracting me with his little talk. How else am I supposed to let him know that I am not interested in speaking with him?

I decided to be direct and assertive, hoping that he would finally understand.

“I'm sorry if I'm being cold or whatever right now, but I'm not interested in having a conversation with you or anyone else right now. Please respect my boundaries and stop speaking to me.” I told him off in a firm voice with my gaze still fixed on my sketch.

I wasn’t interested in finding out what he looked like because I knew he was going to look just as annoying as he sounded.

I think he finally realized that I wasn't going to give in to his persistent advances because he didn’t say anything after that. And although this would sound a little bit hypocritical of me I was kind of hoping for him to respond.

“Ouch! That hurt.” He finally spoke after a few seconds, sounding defeated. “Alright then, if that’s what you want. I'll leave you alone. I was genuinely interested in your drawing and also getting to know you. I thought we could be friends.”

“I’m sorry but you thought wrong.” I retorted on impulse, my voice a little harsher than intended.

“"Fair enough. I'll respect your space. But if you change your mind, I'll be right here, ready to talk to you.”

“Pretty sure I won’t be changing my mind,” I mumbled to myself.

I nodded, appreciating his acknowledgment of my boundaries, and returned to my notebook, determined to focus on my own thoughts and creative pursuits.

“Marlene… Sweetie... You didn’t have to be so mean to the poor guy. He was only trying to be friends with you. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.” My mom calmly rebuked me.

“Mom, you know I don’t enjoy talking to strangers. I protested as I glanced at her. “And besides, he was distracting me with his little talks. I’m really not interested in making friends.”

“Darling, you’re gonna have to bend your rules and start being a little bit nicer to strangers because you’re gonna need friends in this new city.”

I heaved a deep sigh as I stared at her for a few seconds before returning my attention to my drawing.

Can I just go back to New Jersey already? The thought of having to relate with strangers and making new friends makes me sick to my stomach. I’m not really much of a social person so I suck at making friends. A perfect example of how much I suck has been shown in my conversations with the persistent guy from earlier.

As the flight continued, the stranger and I maintained a respectful distance and he stopped trying to talk to me. We shared a mutual understanding of their different desires for social interaction.

I woke up some minutes later, although it felt like I had slept for hours. I rubbed her eyes as I heard the pilot speak, announcing the plane's landing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are beginning to descend into the city of Los Angeles where the local time is 9:40 p.m. and the temperature is approximately 76 degrees. I would ask you to please stow all large personal electronic items, such as laptops and iPads. You may continue to use your small handheld devices, switch to airplane mode, and we will land promptly. We hope you enjoyed your flight. Thank you for choosing Delta Airlines.”

I turned to the stranger and found him fast asleep, his head resting against the headrest and his AirPods plugged into his ears. My gaze lingered on him for a few seconds as I was busy taking in his facial features.

From the length of his legs, I could tell that he was quite tall. A six-footer probably. He didn’t look really young or old either. He looked to be about my age, or maybe a year, two years older and I’m only judging by the little stubbles on his jaw.

He had naturally tanned skin and his hair silky brown hair was packed into a neat man bun with a clean undercut. His chiseled jawline, thin brown perfectly arched eyebrows, thick black long eyelashes which I actually found beautiful, and his full heart lips lay perfectly on his face as he slept.

And his style? It was on point! He was rocking this effortlessly cool look, with a leather jacket that screamed confidence, and crazy jeans left little to the imagination.

He was dressed so effortlessly cool, like he just stepped out of a fashion magazine. He looked like just stepped off a runway.

He had the most captivating smile, like a ray of sunshine, and his eyes were this mesmerizing shade of blue that you could get lost in.

He is quite the charming one if I’m being honest.

Too handsome for me. I don’t really fancy boys that fall on the extra radar of handsome. I’m more into the average guy. I’ve had my fair share of dating really handsome men and it just never ends well for me.

Judging by his features, I bet he’s got blue eyes. I think he’ll look even more gorgeous with deep blue eyes.

He looks like the type of guy girls would be going crazy over. I’m a really good judge of character and I can already just see him using his handsome face to get whatever woman it is that he desires. A playboy, they say.

“You’ll end up boring holes into my handsome face at this point.” He said calmly, his position still as when he was asleep.

“Excuse me?” I said with questioning eyebrows raised and a disgusted look on my face, aware of the fact that his eyes were shut and he couldn’t see my expression. His cockiness was beginning to get on my nerves.

He opened his eyes then slowly turned his gaze to me, a cocky grin plastered on his face.

“I caught you checking me out beautiful.” He poured out. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about it though. I’m quite the sight.”

“A really annoying one.” I rolled my eyes and then mumbled enough for him to hear me.

He chuckled softly and I could feel the pride and cockiness radiating from him. It didn’t sit well with me for reasons unknown to me so I had to put him in his place.

“For your information, I wasn’t checking you out,” I said in contempt. “I was only wondering how you could look so good looking peaceful while you sleep and be the complete opposite when open your eyes. Your cockiness is quite annoying and I don’t like guys like that.”

“At least you find me good-looking. What a start to the journey of getting you to like me and not see me as an annoying jerk any longer.” He said, the same annoying look evident on his face and his voice.

Urghhh!! I shouldn’t have called him good-looking. He’s gonna be even more cocky and annoying than he was.

“You have less than two hours to make me like you and honestly, I doubt you can change my mind.”

“We’ll see about that.” He retorted then sniggered lightly, looked away from me then shut his eyes as he went back to the sleeping position he was in before.

What an annoying human being.

I rolled my eyes in irritation before shutting my eyes and prepared for a short nap.