Love Spirit

by Mariadelmar

(Translated by Elizabeth - Edited by Terry for ever)

Prologue

The young man driving his rented Corvette was extremely vexed. Luckily the traffic in New York was not heavy at the time. He drove at break-neck speed and didn't care the least about exceeding the speed limit. The music on the radio was playing extremely loud, loud enough to prevent him from thinking. He changed gears like a maniac, he stepped on the accelerator till it reached the floor and pushed the car to its limits. The only thing he cared about was leaving this place as fast as possible. The traffic light was about to turn red but he didn't seem to care at all. He passed it just before it turned red. He kept speeding without cease. Soon he would leave and get back to his jail. Maybe after all it was better that way. He had made a mistake to consider getting here in the first place. Little by little he approached the airport. He would take the first flight to London and would not look back. Suddenly a tear ran down his cheek. He stepped on the accelerator even harder, wishing to sweep it away. He wiped it with the end of his sleeve and continued in his wild way. The moment he arrived at the airport he dropped his rented car at a corner of the parking lot, took his travel bag and started his journey back home.

The young girl was very excited. For the first time in her life she felt so impatient. The bus was about to arrive at the airport. She had finally accomplished her goal. She had worked hard for that, she had tried her best, she had stayed awake studying many nights and at last she had made it. She had been very lucky, and should be very careful from now on. She wasn't afraid of anything anymore. Everything would turn out great. She had finally managed to turn the page and soon enough she would harvest her efforts. This journey was in itself a great adventure. The bus reached at last the airport's entrance. It stopped and people started getting off. The young girl took her travel bag and her suitcase and started dragging it slowly on the ground. She looked at the door with the sign “departures” on it. She took her ticket out of her bag and held it tight against her heart. Everything she had dreamt about was just beginning.

Candy approached the airport counter where she was to check in.

“Good evening”, said the clerk and took her ticket. Candy put her suitcase on the band. The clerk stuck on it the “New York” sticker. Then she started preparing her boarding card.

“You know, it's the first time I'm flying. Could I get a window seat?” Candy asked.

“Of course, please hold on a minute to see what I can do,” said the clerk and then checked the flight plan on her computer.

“There is a window seat available”, she said.

“That's great!” Candy answered, smiling.

Afterwards, she took the boarding card and headed to the duty free area. Candy had never in the past had the chance to visit the duty free area. Once, Annie had given her a very nice, expensive perfume. Candy wanted to buy a bottle of it now and, since she was traveling, it was a chance to get it at a lower price. She had not much money, but she had managed to get the sum she needed.
She got at the perfume area. Oh, it was so nice. So many bottles, so many brands. Candy thought she had some time. She could smell some of them, maybe she wouldn't buy the one Annie had given her. She started looking at them, one after the other. She tried smelling them in order to make a decision. After a while she had made up her mind. She was impressed by a superb perfume, in a small red bottle, which had the smell of vanilla and of some flower she couldn't specify. She took it and headed to the cash desk. The cashier packed it into a pretty little bag and handed it to her. Luckily it wasn't more expensive than she expected. Candy took her precious perfume and got out to the corridor, to continue her way towards the plane. As she was walking to the corridor she kept looking back at the perfumes. Suddenly she took a knock on the head. She turned around. A young man had just passed by and had knocked her with his bag on the head! How beastly he was, he hadn't even turned around to apologize for appearances. Candy just caught a glimpse of him from behind. He was very tall, with long, brown hair. His pace was rather fast. For a moment Candy seriously considered running after him and kicking him really hard on the shank bone. Instead, she decided not to do anything, since she was just beginning a new life and nothing could spoil it for her. She just rubbed her head, because she was still feeling pain from the knock.
Finally she walked towards the departure gate. A little later she was there; gave to a clerk her boarding card and the woman cut in it two. She gave her one of the two halves and wished her a nice journey. Candy walked in the air gate that ended inside the plane. After a while she was at the door. The air-hostesses welcomed her, wished her a nice journey and checked her ticket. A steward showed her which way her seat was. Candy looked at the number on her ticket and went towards the seat. On the aisle seat was sitting the boy that a little earlier had knocked her on the head. He was almost lying on his seat, had his feet outstretched, and showed no intention of moving from his position. Candy couldn't discern his look because he wore sunglasses. She decided not to give him any consideration. She tried to open the hand luggage cabinet, but it was impossible to reach it and put her bag inside. She kept trying, until the young man, without saying a word, stood up, opened the cabinet for her and placed her bag inside. Candy passed and sat on her fantastic seat, next to the window just like she had asked. The young man settled again in his seat, in the same position he had before.

’What a jerk!’ Candy thought. Yes, but he had helped her with her handbag. OK, so what? A while ago he almost bumped her off.

She decided not to pay attention to him anymore. After a while it was announced that the plane was ready for take-off. All the passengers had fastened their belts, and so had Candy. The young man next to her would not move. In a while the process of take-off started; the plane started to gather momentum. A few minutes later the stewardess came.

“Excuse me, sir, you have not fastened your belt, and the sign is lit,” she told him.

The boy did not speak, and fastened it obviously annoyed.

Candy took her Discman out of her handbag and started listening to the soundtrack of her favorite movie, Amelie. As the plane gained height, for a moment she thought her heart would tear her breast. In a while it was flying at a great altitude and its route became steady. Candy, even though she never got in cars after the accident she had a few years ago, wasn't afraid at all of traveling by plane.

The flight had started and after a while the stewardess came to ask them what they would like to drink. Candy ordered an orange juice and the boy next to her a glass of whiskey. For the first time, she heard him speak; his voice was really amazing. But she couldn't discern his look because of the sunglasses he wore, and that bothered her. What on earth he wanted the sunglasses for in the middle of the night? Anyway, judging from his clothes, he must be very rich. His sunglasses were of a well known brand, just like the shirt he was wearing. The air-hostess served them their drinks, and Candy drank her orange juice light-heartedly. The boy drank his glass of scotch silently.

“What on earth has gotten over me and I'm concerning myself with him all the time?” Candy wondered. “That's enough!”

She took the sleep mask the stewardess had given her earlier and decided to take a nap. She wore it carefully and looked at the ceiling. She wondered if she could look out from the end of her nose without being noticed. Anthony had showed her some tricks of the kind in the past at the orphanage. She got a little blue remembering him, but she tried right away to chase the memory away.
She looked towards her co-passenger, pretending to be asleep. A while later the young man took off his sunglasses and cast his eyes on her. Candy could see him clearly now. He had amazing sapphire eyes, he was really handsome, and for a moment, and a moment only, reminded her of Anthony. The young man was staring at her. Candy thought that he caught her looking at him and immediately closed her eyes. Why wear those awful glasses all the time, when his eyes were so beautiful?

“What a weird guy...” she thought.

After a while Candy felt the need to go to the bathroom. She took off her mask and got up. The boy looked at her inquisitively. He definitely had very soulful eyes. Candy looked back at him, he seemed not to have understood that he should make way for her. A moment later he moved in his seat, and Candy could pass. As she was passing by her legs rubbed slightly against his knees.

Terry had started to be rather amused by that girl. From the moment he saw her, she attracted his attention. She was rather tall, but not as tall as him. She had blond hair, which she wore in two loose pigtails, emerald eyes and many freckles. Very cute freckles! She wore a short skirt and a while ago her legs had touched his as he was moving to let her pass. Luckily, there was something fun in this journey. The problem was that Terry was not in the mood at this moment. He saw her coming back to her seat. This time he made more way for her and she got to her seat. He wondered if she would get up every so often to go to the bathroom. He saw her wear her mask again and turning her face towards the window of the plane. She rested her head on the side of the seat. Terry took a magazine to read wanting to distract his attention from her. After a while he noticed that the young girl next to him was really asleep. Her chest was heaving gently in tune with her breathing. She seemed so innocent; she was like a little angel. Her skirt had gotten up, maybe a little more than it was appropriate, and Terry started to feel extremely hot. He decided to go to the bathroom too and wash his face to come back to his senses.

Candy woke up a little later. She had finally fallen asleep without realising it. The air-hostesses had started serving dinner. When she got to them, the stewardess asked whether they wanted pasta or fish. Candy wanted spaghetti, it was one of her favorite dishes. She asked light-heartedly for her spaghetti and the stewardess gave her the tray, which she put in front of her. She was ready to start eating eagerly when she heard the boy's answer to the question what he would like to have. Nothing at all, that was his answer.

“How is it possible not wanting to eat anything? Oh my, he is nuts!” Candy thought to herself.

In the end, he got only a coke. Suddenly Candy lost her appetite. It would be rather rude of her to eat her dinner heartily while the boy next to her wasn't eating anything. She tried to use her good manners and eat her meal slowly. Candy was eating and the young man was staring at nowhere. For a moment he glanced at her while she was gulping her spaghetti, and she thought she would choke. Candy decided not to eat any more. The air-hostesses were passing, taking away the trays. She gave back her own and took a coke too. The night was about to fall, and Candy felt really exhausted.

She had finally fallen asleep without the mask. She was awakened by the sound of the breath of the guy next to her; he seemed fast asleep. Candy opened her eyes and saw the young boy sleeping peacefully. He looked really tired. His head was leaning towards her. Candy could now observe him freely. He had really long eyelashes and beautiful lips. For a moment she felt the desire to touch him, but when she thought about it she changed her mind. She had started getting tired and stiff from all the hours in the plane seat. He too seemed in a similar situation. Luckily, they hadn't a lot of time ahead of them. In a couple of hours, at the most, they would land in London. In a while breakfast was to be served. She couldn't help wondering if the young man would have something to eat this time. Indeed, a few minutes later the process of serving breakfast started. But Candy had to go to the bathroom again. How would she pass if he was asleep? This journey came out to be a torture. She could neither step over him nor wake him up. She decided to wait patiently, with the hope that he would wake up because of the serving process. A while later the stewardess came but he was still sleeping. Candy couldn't take it much longer, so she decided to do something about it.

“Excuse me,” she said to the stewardess. “I want to go to the ladies' room, but the gentleman here is sleeping and...”

“Don't worry, miss.” The stewardess thumped right beside him an empty glass and the boy jumped startled from his seat. He opened his eyes, looking in perplexity from Candy to the stewardess.

-”Will you have breakfast, sir?” she asked.

-”Yes,” he said, still confused.

-”May I pass?” Candy asked.

-”Of course Miss Freckles” he answered.

Candy immediately caught fire.

-”What did you call me?” She asked him.

-”Miss Freckles,” he repeated loudly, laughing. Candy didn't want to pay him any more attention. He was awful, irritating and rude. She passed quickly and headed to the bathroom. She came back a little later, after she had combed her hair, brushed her teeth and freshened up. She walked with her chin up, determined not to care at all about the boy in the next seat. He made room for her one more time and she passed. The stewardess had left her breakfast, which Candy decided to eat with relish, not caring the least about his opinion. But she couldn't help noticing that once more he hadn't touched his food, he was just drinking coffee. Anyway, she didn't care what he did! Enough was enough!

Time passed quickly and the captain announced their arrival in London. Candy had fastened her seat belt and she was looking out the window, wanting to admire London's beauties from above. The city looked very beautiful, full of green and multicolored. It looked more like a small village. She was excited. The airplane started the landing process slowly. Candy held her breath until she felt they were touching the ground again. Luckily the pilot was skilled, and performed a three-point landing. As soon as the plane stopped moving, the young man got up. He opened the hand luggage compartment and took out Candy's handbag first. He placed it for her on her seat and smiled at her. Then he took his own bag, hung it on his shoulder and walked towards the exit. Candy looked at him walking away and she felt a bit disappointed, as he didn't even turned back to look at her.

A while later she was patiently waiting for her suitcase. She looked everywhere for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Was it possible that he had no luggage? When Candy arrived, the luggage of their flight hadn't started to come out yet. Where could he have gone? Now that she thought about it, she still couldn't understand why she was thinking about that boy. It would be better to leave these thoughts, and concentrate on her studies that were about to begin. Candy took her suitcase and headed towards the tube station. She had to ask, to find out how exactly she could get to the college.

Chapter 2