The plane smelled faintly with warmth and the ghost of a hundred coffees served over the clouds. The hum of the engines was a low lullaby, deep and endless.
She held her phone in her hand. She wasn't scrolling for news or entertainment. She was just moving through photos, and through pieces of her life.
She scrolled through a blurry picture of Celeste at the hospital, holding Dominic's hand. A few snapshots of the twins making faces. A candid one of her and Celeste in the kitchen, laughing until tears rolled down their cheeks.
She smiled faintly at the memories.
She hadn't expected peace to feel this quiet.
The announcement came through the cabin, soft and practiced. The plane began to tilt, descending into the clouds. Amara didn't even notice that her elbow brushed against the small paper cup beside her.
The man sitting next to her flinched slightly. A splash of coffee landed on his pants, warm and sudden.
Amara turned to him, and gasped. "Oh no! Oh God, I'm so sorry—"
He blinked, then looked down, and laughed under his breath. "It's okay. Really. It's not noticeable."
But it was. The stain was there, dark and visible against the pale gray of his trousers. He grabbed a napkin, blotting at it gently.
Amara, panicking, reached for her bag and pulled out tissues. "Here. I wasn't looking— I'm really, really sorry."
"Hey," he said softly, and when she looked up, she met eyes that held nothing sharp, but only ease, and amusement. "It's fine. I promise."
She stopped, with the tissues still in hand. Her chest fluttered strangely.
There was something about the tone of his voice, calm, steady, and unbothered, that made her blink longer than she should have.
He went back to dabbing the spot with casual patience, but she found herself watching him. Her gaze traced the clean line of his jaw, the faint shadow of stubble, and the kind of smile that didn't rush to exist, but appeared slowly.
Something about him felt familiar, though she couldn't place why. Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was the moment. The softness of it, and the way the world sometimes felt like it was waiting for her to look up and notice.
She smiled awkwardly, trying to shake it off. "I'll buy you another one when we land," she murmured.
He chuckled. "I'll hold you to that."
He offered a hand a few seconds later, after wiping his fingers on a napkin. "I'm Travis."
She hesitated. Not because she didn't want to take it, but because it suddenly felt like shaking his hand would open a door she wasn't ready to walk through. Still, she reached out.
"Amara," she said quietly.
"Nice to meet you, Amara."
Her lips curved, faint and polite. "You too."
For a brief, dizzying moment, she saw Elias.
The rest of the flight was quiet. He dozed off halfway through, leaning back, while she stared out the window. The world below slowly becomes clearer.
She didn't know why her chest felt warm. Maybe it was the calmness in the plane. Maybe it was the way the sunlight found her wrist through the window, painting her skin gold. Maybe it was because, for the first time in years, she didn't feel like she was running from something.
She didn't look at him again until the plane touched down.
When the wheels met the ground, everyone began to move. Amara stayed seated, as always, waiting until the aisle cleared. Travis did the same.
He gave her a small, easy smile when he caught her glance. "Guess you're not in a rush either."
She shook her head lightly. "I'm never in a rush."
He smiled wider at that. His smile was knowing. He recognized the layers under that simple sentence.
They disembarked together, but didn't speak much. Just the occasional "excuse me," the small, accidental brush of shoulders as they followed the crowd through the narrow tunnel.
She could hear his footsteps behind her even after they left the gate. He moved behind her in an unhurried phase.
At the baggage carousel, Amara's phone buzzed with a message from Celeste. "You land yet? Dominic says Rodger will pick you up himself if you ignore him again."
Amara's lips curved into a soft smile. Her fingers hovered over the screen, typing back. "I just landed. Tell him I'm fine."
The carousel started rolling, and her suitcase appeared after a few minutes. She reached for it, pulling it down carefully.
She turned to leave, heading toward the arrival doors, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Hey."
She turned slightly. Travis was standing there, his suitcase in hand, and his coat slung over one arm. He had that same easy, patient expression on his face.
"Mind if we share a cab?" he asked. "We seem to be heading the same way."
Amara blinked. "Oh. I'm… actually, I'll be picked up." Her tone was polite, but clear.
"Ah." He nodded, not missing a beat. "Fair enough."
She adjusted her bag strap, ready to leave. But before she could take another step, he spoke again.
And then, the ache in her chest returned. The ache whispered of another man from another time.
And she remembered promising herself she wouldn't mistake kindness for destiny ever again.
"I'll be around for a week," he said lightly, like it was an afterthought. "If the universe doesn't hate coincidences, maybe we'll bump into each other again. Do you mind if we exchange contacts, just in case?"
There was something so genuine about his voice. There was no pressure, and no expectation.
Amara didn't look at him. She just smiled and faced forward again, toward the open doors where people were reuniting, hugging, and laughing.
He took the silence as his answer.
Still, she heard the faint chuckle behind her, that trace of amusement that didn't sound disappointed, only certain.
"You owe me a coffee if the universe decides," he said.
She turned just enough to glance at him, and smiled back. Her smile whispered goodbyes to him.
Then she wheeled her suitcase forward, into the bright light spilling from the airport doors, where the noise of the world waited… and maybe, just maybe, another story too.