Swept Away

The Misunderstanding

“Damn it damn it damn it all! I’m going to be late! And it’s all that jerk’s fault. How could I have been so stupid?!” Maddy muttered as she rushed towards the airport.

“Excuse me” she said when she reached the counter.

The lady from across the counter smiled. “What can I do for you, ma’am?”

“Has the Delta airlines flight for New York already left?”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m afraid you’re flight just left fifteen minutes ago.”

“Are there any other flights that would leave now?”

The lady checked her computer screen before answering, “There is a flight available for New York at 12:05 a.m.”

“What?! That’s twelve hours! I can’t wait for twelve hours!”, Maddy exclaimed.

Maddy sighed. “Fine. Listen, help me out here. I have to get to New York fast. Can’t you do anything?”

“I’m sorry ma’am, because it’s a holiday season, we don’t have any more seats left.” she said.

“Oh what do I do now?”

“If you require a hotel, we would be happy to provide you with a room.”

Maddy instantly brightened up. “I would love that! Thank you.”

“If you would be kind enough to share it with another gentleman. There aren’t any empty rooms, and that room is the only one we could provide you.”

Maddy couldn’t believe her eyes. Not only was she going to wait twelve hours for a flight, she was going to have to share a room with a complete stranger, too? Could this day get any worse?

Nonetheless she took the offer and booked the room. She entered the room and looked around for her roommate. Not finding him, she proceeded to settle in.

Just as she had started to get comfortable, she heard the door to the washroom open and what she saw made her jaw drop.

Gorgeous, was the first word that came to her mind. A man, not much older than her, was standing by the door with a towel wrapped around his waist, his chest bare and chiselled. He ran a strong hand over his soft brown hair as he looked at her in confusion.

“I don’t remember asking for an escort. Are you sure you’re in the right room, lady?”

All of a sudden, that man lost all of his charms on Maddy.

“Excuse me? Did you just call me an escort?! Is that how you treat women? Or is it that you’ve had so many escorts, you can’t tell the difference anymore?” she said, her voice dangerously low.

The man realised his mistake and immediately blushed a shade of deep red.

“s**t! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say that. It’s just… well can you blame me? You suddenly come in, don’t even knock and that outfit is…”

“My outfit? What’s wrong with my outfit?” she said, defensively.

Although she did agree that her outfit was a little on the slutty side, but that was only because she was planning to meet her boyfriend. Well, her ex-boyfriend now, but anyhow, this guy had no right to comment on her dress.

“Look, I’ve had a tiring day and I’m not really thinking right. Can you just tell me who you are?”

“The airport officials gave me this room which I’m supposed to share with you.”

“Huh? They didn’t tell me anything like that.” he said, confused. Then said, “You know, I think I’ll let this one go, since they got me a hot woman as my roommate.” he said as he winked at her cockily.

Maddy rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? You literally called me a prostitute mere two minutes ago and now you’re flirting with me?”

“Sorry about that. Let’s start over, shall we? I’m Axel, nice to meet you.” He said, stretching his hand forward.

“Maddy, short for Madeline. Pleasure.” she shook his hand.

“Madeline? Like that cartoon show ‘Madeline’?” he smirked then started to sing the intro song.

“I’m Madeline I’m Madeline

I may be very small”

“Stop it.” She said as a smile tugged at her lips.

He stopped and stared at her. “You look pretty when you smile.”

“Cliché”

“You know what they say, ‘cliché is the new slay’.”

She looked at him incredulously. “Who says that?”

“I did, a second ago.”

“Oh my god, I’m stuck in a room with a walking talking cliché machine.”

“I can do more than walking and talking, y’know?” Axel said, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

She rolled her eyes and let out a tiny laugh.

“When does your flight leave?” Axel asked, suddenly.

“Twelve hours later. When does your flight leave?”

“An hour after yours. So we have approximately twelve hours to get to know each other.”

Maddy raised her eyebrow. “And what if I don’t want to tell you anything about me?”

Axel smirked. “Then I’d be even more curious to know about you. It is precisely the mysterious type that turns me on.”

“Are you turned on right now?” Maddy asked, her voice all husky.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

This kind of mindless flirting was not her. And yet, she found herself drawn to this free spirited, total stranger.

And so, she began to tell him how Jason and she had come to India. How he had broken up with her because she was “too stuck up and seemed fake” minutes after their first flight, which made her late for the connected one.

The whole time Axel listened to her attentively. It had been a long time since she opened up to someone. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

When she was finished, Axel asked, “Did you love that guy, Jason?”

Maddy thought about it. “You know, now that I think about it, I might’ve been in love with the idea of being in love with him. I’m already in my thirties, there was pressure from my parents, Jason was successful and I had a non-existing social life. Do you know how hard it is to find someone nowadays?”

Axel grinned, “You never know, you might find one, say, in a shitty room given to us by shitty government workers.”

She didn’t know what came over her, but when she looked at Axel, his eyes seemed warmer than usual, his voice huskier and his demeanour, alluring. She leaned forward slowly and, saw Axel do the same. Maybe it was the shock of ending her two year old relationship, she didn’t know. All she wanted to do was kiss him.

When their lips met, she felt tingly all over, her body heated up and she melted. The kiss was light but it was nothing like she’d ever felt before.

“Wow, that was amazing.” said Axel, quietly.

When she leaned forward to kiss him again and possibly take this to the next stage, Axel stopped her.

“As much as I want to, let’s not do anything more. We’re never going to see each other again and I’m really not into meaningless sex.”

Maddy blushed. “Yeah you’re right we shouldn’t. Sorry.”

Axel held her face in his hands. “Don’t apologise. I’m sorry. So tell me, what are your parents going to say about your break up?”

“They’ll be disappointed in me. But there’s nothing they can do about it. It’s my life, my decisions.”

Axel smirked. “You were a rebellious child, weren’t you? Hey, you wanna go to the roof?”

“Sure.”

The view was beautiful. They sat near the railing swinging their legs.

“You haven’t told me anything about you, you know.” Maddy said.

“Alright then, prepare to be blown away.”

And then he told her how he was a painter and how he wanted to travel the world and gather inspiration. It all sounded so dreamy. Maddy was hungry for that kind of freedom.

As he talked, she felt hypnotised by his voice and fell asleep on his shoulder.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty.”

Maddy opened her eyes. “Huh, what time is it?”

“Its 11:50. Almost time for your flight.”

“What? Already?”

“Yeah, come on, I’ll accompany you.”

She got her bags and they headed to the airport.

“Maddy? Thank you for the wonderful time. I loved every second of it.” He smiled.

Maddy felt her heart melt. “I felt the same way. I wish we could do it again.”

“Alas, the God works in mysterious ways.”

When it was time to say good bye, Axel took her in his arms tightly. When he pulled her apart, he said, “Whatever I told you about myself was all lies. I’m not a painter, though I wanted to be one. Despite everything, when I said I loved spending my time with you, that was the truth. Maddy, I think I’ve fallen in love with you. Happy New Year and farewell.” And then he was gone.

As she got on the plane, she felt tears stream down her face. She realised that she had fallen in love with Axle too.

But I’m never going to see him again, she thought, as the tears refused to stop.