Page 5 of Wicked Truths
Chapter Two
FRANCESCA
I stareout of the tiny plane window at the dark stormy sky and curse the weather. It was supposed to be sunny and warm today.
Where the hell did this severe thunderstorm even come from? Because I’d love to send it back.
Of course, with the shitty weather, all flights were delayed today, pushing my time of arrival of three thirty this afternoon to eight tonight.
It would have been quicker to rent a car and drive home, but I wanted to get home as quick as I could.
If I had driven, I wouldn’t have had to spend a small fortune to mail most of my belongings home.
I could have already unpacked all of my belongings, gone grocery shopping, and been relaxing on my couch drinking a glass of wine.
Instead, I am still on the plane, hungry, and tired from the long and stressful day.
And if that’s not enough, the pilot had to veer off course to avoid the worst of the storm, which pushed our arrival back another fifteen minutes.
Thankfully, I was able to message Dad earlier and inform him of the big delay, but once my phone was turned off and I was seated on theplane, we had another smaller delay because flights were being redirected to that airport because of the storms.
Dad’s probably been waiting at baggage claim for a half hour or more.
I’ll chalk this up to a lesson learned and will drive next time. If there’s a next time. I don’t plan on moving away unless something catastrophic happens, and even then, I might not move.
The flight attendant makes her way down the aisle, making sure everyone’s seat is upright and the trays are put up as we are about to land.
The plane is only half full, so hopefully, getting off won’t take too long. I’ve only flown a handful of times and getting off the plane took forever.
My stomach growls, letting me know, once again, of just how hungry I am. Ordering pizza and lounging in my pajamas sound like a great end to this horrible day.
I might see if Dad can stop by a grocery store on the way in so I can get a bottle of wine and some snacks, too.
As soon as the plane touches down, I turn on my phone and send a message to Dad, letting him know I just landed and will be out front as soon as I can get my suitcases from baggage claim.
I stay seated as everyone else stands and grabs their bags from the overhead bin before slowly making their way off the plane.
I grab my purse and backpack before following the crowd off the plane. Not wanting to keep Dadwaiting, I speed walk to the baggage claim, but he isn’t anywhere to be seen.
Maybe he’s waiting outside in his car. I did tell him I’d be out front as soon as I grabbed my bags.
Grabbing my phone, I read the notification on the top of my screen informing me of an unread message from Dad sent over two hours ago.
He had a meeting pop up, so he was arranging for a driver to come get me, and he should be waiting outside when I’m done getting my bags.
Happy birthday to me, I guess.
Not that I mind spending the night alone, but having a stranger escort me to my apartment wasn’t the plan.
Maybe he won’t mind stopping at a grocery store for me to buy some snacks. After all, if he knows Dad, then he probably knows about me.
An announcement comes over the speaker system alerting passengers of flight 5265 that all bags will be delayed a few minutes because of the storms.
Just a few more minutes until I can finally relax and leave the travel horror stories behind.
My fingers hover over the screen of my cellphone as I contemplate sending a quick text message to Joey. I type out a short message before hitting send.
How was practice? Are there any new players that seem promising?