lanie checked the ti on her phone for what felt like the hundredth ti, her fingers tapping on the arm of the hard plastic chair restlessly. The noise of the airport buzzed around her but all of it faded into the background as her eyes flicked once more to her screen. Still no ssage from Adam.
With a frustrated sigh, she tapped on his na and called him again. Just like before, the call didn’t even ring twice before it was rejected. A generic voicemail ssage played, the sa clipped tone telling her he was unavailable and would get back to her later. But he hadn’t. Not all day.
And she was worried. Becasue he’d been so agitated and angry with Saira for using his child to manipulate him. They had not even tested any DNA or made any claims but already she’d been using the child.
lanie bit her lip and wondered if she should call Saira or ask soone to find where she was staying.But then decided against it.
If Adam wasn’t answering her calls, he must really be busy. After all, they had only loosely discussed the idea of him flying back with her, nothing concrete. Perhaps sothing had co up and so he simply couldn’t make it. But she did not know why, her gut was churning.
She leaned back in the seat and stared at the glowing departure board, weighing her options. Should she wait a little longer? Go check her bags in? Return to the hotel in case Adam cos back? Or just give up and take the flight ho?
Just then, she felt a sudden tug on her arm, and before she could react, a small body hurled into her side. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked down, startled. A little boy clung to her with surprising force, his face buried against her jacket.
"Hey!" she gasped, moving back slightly to get a look at him. When he lifted his face, she blinked in surprise.
"You?" she said with a smile, recognition dawning. "Aren’t you the kid from the hotel yesterday?"
Adir nodded and gave her a toothless grin, completely unbothered by the confusion he’d caused and the way he’d startled her, "We’re going away for a holiday! This is my first ti travelling on an airplane. My daddy usually never takes , but then he surprised with a vacation! And now I found you here!"
lanie chuckled at the little boy’s enthusiasm and patted his head, "Well, that’s nice of your daddy. But why are you running around the airport all by yourself? Aren’t you worried you’ll get lost before the vacation even starts?"
At her words, the boy froze. His eyes widened like saucers, and he twisted around to scan the crowd. His head turned left, then right, then left again.
"Oh no," he whispered, his face going pale. "I think... I am lost." He looked up at her again, clearly distressed. "You’re right! I did get lost! You’ll have to help find my daddy now!"
lanie blinked at him, trying not to laugh at his dramatic reaction. But her instincts kicked in almost imdiately and concerned, she stood up imdiately as she took the little boy’s hand.
Before lanie could ask Adir where his father might be—or even where he’d last seen him—a figure ca rushing through the crowd, breathless and frantic. The man’s eyes scanned the area wildly until they landed on the boy. In the next second, he was there, almost yanking Adir’s hand from hers in a grip that was tight, desperate.
"Adir!" he gasped, dropping to his knees and crushing the boy in a hug. "God, don’t ever do that again. Don’t ever run off like that!"
lanie frowned for a mont? Adir? Wasn’t that the na of Saira’s son as well? However, before she could ponder over the coincidence, she was startled by the panic on the man’s face.
If the kid had turned pale at the idea of being lost, the father looked like he’d seen death itself. His shoulders trembled slightly as he gripped the boy, his breathing laboured, as if he’d been sprinting across the terminal in sheer terror.
"I just wanted to see the planes!" Adir said, his voice muffled against his father’s chest. "I saw her and I—"
"You don’t run off like that!" the man snapped, his voice harsh with fear, not anger. "You scared half to death. What if sothing had happened to you?" He pulled back, cupping the boy’s face. "You cannot do that again, Adir. Do you hear ?"
"I’m sorry, Daddy," the boy said softly, clearly chastened now.
lanie watched in silence, unsure if she should step in or walk away. Sothing about the way the man was reacting- it wasn’t just a concerned parent reuniting with a lost child. It was sothing else. He looked as if the world had nearly collapsed. After all the child could not have been away from the man for more than a few minutes.
Then, slowly, the man looked up.
His gaze t lanie’s—and all the color seed to drain from his face.
Where only a mont ago there had been fear and relief, now there was sothing else entirely. Shock. Confusion. And sothing close to dread. His arms remained around the boy, but his entire posture stiffened.
"You! What are you doing here?", the man asked sharply. "Shouldn’t you be with..." But then he stopped talking and simply glared at her.
lanie blinked, her brows furrowing at the abrupt shift in the man’s tone.
"I... I was waiting for soone," she replied carefully, caught off guard by his accusatory stare. "Why? Is it a crim now to be at the airport?" She asked sarcastically, thoroughly irritated by the man’s look.
It wasn’t as if she had been about to kidnap the child or sothing!
But the man didn’t answer right away. His jaw clenched, and his grip on Adir unconsciously tightened as he gave her one look and walked away, muttering sothing under his breath.
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