Catherine O'Connor - Obligation To Love

‘Maybe the ruins, but not the resorts,’ replied Hayley, her nose wrinkling with distaste. He made his approval at her words clear, and shrugged his broad shoulders.

‘It is the way of things,’ he said philosophically. ‘Where are you staying?’

Hayley was about to answer when the lights above them began to flash. The captain’s voice was brisk but calm, as he instructed everyone to fasten their seatbelts. Hayley froze, unable to move. For the very first moment in her life she understood real fear. The captain was still talking, reassuring everyone that there was nothing to worry about, but Hayley was oblivious to his words, or the instruction to belt up. She felt utterly sick, stunned. Her face drained of all colour, making her eyes appear large and frightened. Her pulse began to race. She sat stiff, transfixed, unable to do anything, her breathing was increasing in speed; she felt she was choking. She took huge gulps of air, but was unable to breathe properly. History was with cruel accuracy repeating itself. Her parents too had died on an air flight and now all her worst fears were confirmed. They were going to crash ! The thought swirled around in her head, blotting out everything else. It screamed through her brain, preventing her from doing anything. Her mind was a mixture of fear and memories that were stretching her to breaking point.

‘Get your belt on,’ Alex ordered her, glowering at her with unspoken anger. Hayley remained still, staring straight ahead, her nerves preventing her from even registering his hard voice.

‘Hayley, your seatbelt!’ he snapped. He caught Hayley tightly by the wrist, and dragged her back to her senses. He sounded so aggressive that her eyes shot to his. She saw his dark brows meeting above his hard-boned nose, and the lines that were deeply ingrained beside his mouth. She pulled the belt across her waist and fumbled as she had done on take-off with the buckle. He snatched it from her, his big hands casting away her small ones with a determined gesture of impatience.

‘There,’ he said simply, snapping the belt closed with firm finality. Hayley winced at his tone; it was bereft of the smoky warmth she had heard earlier. He had already tossed aside the coffee-cup and re-sited her folding table out of the way.

‘You’ll be all right,’ he reassured her.

Suddenly Hayley looked very much like a child. Her hand shot to her mouth to stifle a scream as the aircraft dived. She wasn’t alone in her fear; a collective scream sounded around the plane as it began to plummet to the ground. Hayley sank her teeth into her hand, unaware of her actions, but determined not to scream. She heard Alex mumble a curse in his own tongue, as he pulled her hand away and clasped it tightly in his.

‘Look at me!’ he commanded, pulling her closer to him, his grip tightening around her wrist and biting into her soft flesh. Hayley’s head shot up, fear etched on every feature.

‘I’m frightened,’ she confessed in a whisper, unable to stand it any longer. Her voice was choked, full of all her unspoken fears and memories. Alex drew her even closer.

‘I know.’ His voice seemed to crackle with intensity. ‘But we will be all right,’ he reassured her, satisfying her. Hayley tried to respond, but her mouth was dry and her head hot and dizzy. She could sense anger in him, and it bewildered her. He had every right to be angry, she thought, though still slightly puzzled. Who wanted to be stuck next to an hysterical woman? She forgot the immediate danger as she was mesmerised by the fiery and unyielding determination stamped on his face. She swallowed the dry, painful lump in her throat. Suddenly she wasn’t sure what was more frightening: Alex’s latent anger, or the impending plane crash. The craft unexpectedly dipped dra-matically again and Hayley shut her eyes tightly, blocking out the horror of the situation. She grasped tightly at Alex’s capable hands, unaware that her nails were digging deeply into his flesh.

We’re going to crash ! was her only thought.

FEAR strangled so tightly at Hayley’s throat that she was unable to cry out aloud, but every nerve in her body was shrieking. She felt sick with terror as the thought of impending disaster loomed in her mind. The aircraft seemed to fall for an eternity, then the bumps began. Hayley’s eyes shot open and she was confronted with Alex’s dark midnight gaze. She stared numbly.

‘What’s happening?’ she breathed through thin lips.

‘Absolutely nothing,’ he replied, shaking his head dismissively. ‘I think we hit a storm, so we descended, and now we’re going through a series of air pockets,’ he explained patiently. Suddenly aware that she had kept hold of his hand, Hayley began to release her grip. Then the plane took another dive and she immediately panicked. She tensed immediately, squeezing Alex’s hand again for support, but not before she had registered his laughter. A few more minutes passed, each one seeming like an eternity. Hayley had never experienced anything like this before. At last the serene voice of the captain reassured everyone that everything was fine. Hayley listened attentively, and the captain gave the same explanation as Alex had already given her. The flight resumed its normal height and she gave a huge sigh of relief, her heart-rate decreasing. She sank back in her chair.

‘Thank God,’ she breathed to herself, a wave of relief flooding over her.

‘Does this mean I can have my hand back?’ enquired Alex drily. Hayley dropped his hand, noting with some embarrassment the deep imprints left by her nails.

‘I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t realise...’ she began, totally flustered.

‘I was only too glad to be of assistance,’ he interrupted her, with a velvet teasing quality, and his eyes dancing with unconcealed delight. Hayley tried to shrug off the incident with the same amount of nonchalance, but she knew how frightened she’d been, and how reassured when she’d had hold of his hand. She had depended on his strength and the steady grip of his hand around hers, warm and hard.

Somehow she had felt safe and secure. Instinctively she knew that, while he was there, all would be well. Hayley felt a trickle of bad memories in her mind, causing her to shudder. Then a vivid picture suddenly flashed before her eyes: she was stuck in a tree, it seemed so high off the ground, and yet, when her father had stretched up his arms, she had leapt into them, confident she would be caught. She remembered the thrill of his arms wrapped around her tiny waist, and she knew for the second time in her life she had experienced that emotion again. The thought made her head spin. She had been loved in that moment, safe and secure in her father’s arms; yet it had been a fleeting one: she was soon placed firmly on the floor while Melissa demanded attention.

‘I hope the rest of the flight passes without incident,’ she said lightly, trying to dismiss such thoughts from her mind. She had never been dependent on anyone and the idea worried her.

‘I should imagine so,’ Alex said, ‘and, if not, I am always here for you,’ he reassured her playfully. Hayley tried to smile, but it died on her lips at his remark. She was not used to this coquettish game and was quite sure he was a master at it.

‘I have embarrassed you, yes?’ he asked, a trace of concern apparent in his accent. Hayley shook her head and flicked her hair over her shoulders, a habit of hers when she was agitated.

‘No, not at all,’ she answered too quickly, the speed of her reply revealing her true feelings. He nodded sagely at her, holding her in his hypnotic gaze.

‘Tell me, what exactly is your job?’ he asked conversationally, and Hayley was grateful for his neutral line. She responded, unaware of the rapt attention he was giving her...