"There is something covering my eyes," remarks Daniella. "Also something is pressing on my right hand.... am I in some sort of trap?"

She tries to flutter her eyebrows against the pressure of the object holding them down.

"It's okay if you want to remove the cucumbers, dear." says a particular voice.

"Oh." realizes Daniella. "LOL."

Daniella uses her left hand to awkwardly remove the cucumbers off of her eyelids. She cautiously opens her eyes as they meet a blinding white ceiling.

She looks around the room, which is filled with other empty reclining chairs. She sees her purse and carry-on next to her seat. She tries her best to look to her side and sees a masseuse massaging her hands. Daniella notices that she has her clothes on, so that's a relief.

"Hi." She greets a masseuse.

"Hello." replies the masseuse.

"Sorry, um, I have a thing with my memory and like jet lag... especially after I fall asleep... sort of like Fifty First Dates if that makes any sense... could you remind me where I am, what time it is, and what exactly is going on?"

The masseuse kindly nods. "No worries at all. You're at the airline spa."

"Right."

"It's 7:09."

"Wait, WHAT-"

"Your flight was delayed. We always keep an eye on your boarding times, any updates, and ensure that we give you an appropriate treatment duration in relation to your boarding time."

"What time has my flight been updated to?"

"It's been delayed indefinitely?"

"Like canceled?"

"I believe those are two different things. We can keep an eye out for updates as we go along."

Daniella sighs. "Thank you."

The masseuse continues to massage her hands. "Hmmm. Your palm became extremely stiff. Everything alright?"

Daniella hesitatingly nods, and then shrugs.

"Why don't you take the day off? Why don't you take care of yourself?" The masseuse suggests to Daniella.

"The last time I tried to run away from things I was literally dragged back." Daniella tells her with a calm and cold tone.

"But only if you let the problem drag you back. Resisting a problem only makes it worse. Always take care of yourself before taking care of the problem." the masseuse states as a matter of fact.

Daniella reacts as though she heard her words straight from the mouth of a shaman or a prophetess and nods with deep reverence for her words of wisdom. A few seconds later, her synapses seem to properly work. Eureka, she supposes?

"Oh! My! God! You are absolutely right, ma'am!" exclaims Daniella. "Perhaps this is all happening because I've been overworking myself. Maybe the Universe thinks that I'm burnt out and wants me to stay grounded and rest. And like maybe this is happening because I'm just not getting it... but like I am now!"

The masseuse nods along and smiles. It's hard to tell if she is nodding and smiling because she genuinely agrees with Daniella or because she is being polite. Daniella is coming off with a lot of Pepe Silvia energy at the moment but she is currently oblivious of that fact.

"I need to... like totally Eat, Pray, Love myself! I need to take a day off! I'm taking the day off! Thank you so much!"

"Always happy to help." warmly responds the masseuse.

After her spa session, Daniella pulls out her phone and makes a list of all the stuff she'd like to accomplish for the day or until a reset occurs... whatever comes first.

Smiling like the Cheshire cat, Daniella heads straight for the Duty-Free Shop... specifically the beauty section. She makes her rounds around the perfume section and catches a glimpse of Gucci Guilty.... after being instantly hooked on the sample, she goes straight to the cashier with a bottle. Just before she picks up her bottle, she remembers a longing that she felt a long time ago: the chocolate -covered coffee beans. Mischievously grinning, she runs to the confection section to pick up a large packet of chocolate-covered coffee beans, specifically the family pack. She also decides to pick up a large pair of Gucci sunglasses... Daniella is feeling a strong affinity to Gucci despite the fact that Gucci was never really her thing until "today". The cashier gives her a strange look as Daniella presents the family pack of chocolate-covered coffee beans, sunglasses, and perfume at checkout, but Daniella blissfully ignores any external judgements.

Strutting out of the store, Daniella shoves a bunch of her caffeinated confections into her mouth and takes another whiff of her new fragrance off of her wrist. She laughs maniacally as she sprints around the airport with her purse and carryon. That in combination with wearing her sunglasses indoors, she really wouldn't be surprised if a kid, scratch that, a couple of kids, pulled out their phones and recorded her on TikTok. In most circumstances, Daniella would be afraid of that very fact, but given her life for the past eleven "days", nothing seems to scare Daniella Spencer anymore.

Her sprint is childish, carefree, almost like the main character in a throwback 90s film. She's going where the wind takes her. She's running with it. "I am freaking crazy, but I am free." she repeats to herself in a mantra as she goes around the airport with neither a single care in the world nor a single damn given.

After encircling the terminals for a while, a happily exhausted Daniella finds herself back at Gate 3 for the first time "today". Looking at the somewhat vacant terminal and noticing that her flight is still assigned to said terminal, she shrugs and decides to sit back down. The caffeine high and sugar rush, after all, is beginning to crash and burn within Daniella's body.

As soon as she sits down, she suddenly remembers something:

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD"

Her eyes widen as she begins to pat her entire body down for the crayon filled note.

"No no no... where is it? Where is it? Where is the f**king note?"

A light pops up in her head as she suddenly remembers that she placed the piece of paper in the back pocket of her jeans. Daniella begins patting her butt non-stop and shoves her hands into her back pockets as her heart rate goes dangerously high. She feels a piece of paper there. "Oh, thank god." she remarks to herself. She pulls out a piece of paper and reads through the list in order to refresh her memory:

The Happenings so far... ish.

1. Luca basically ghosts me... or we never knew each other? Luca sends his first text although he later seems to not know of it????

2. We can't call or find each other. Luke = Barista at home airport. "Enjoy & Reset" = His Starbucks messenger. I fall asleep at Starbucks.

3. Flight delayed. I go to Starbucks. Luke = Barista at departure airport. We chat. He has to "reset" the machine. I purposefully fall asleep = reset. I got a text. Luca sends the first text.

4. Upgraded to Business class. two kiddos. i drink a few glasses of champagne (3 or 4ish glasses). I meet Luca. he has giant teddy bear. i fall asleep. teddy bear = sweetheart? L sends first text.

5. I make a run for it and try to switch flights. Everything rewinds. Dragged back. Child with teddy bear. Teddy bear = Sweetheart? Child = creepy. L sends text.

6. Upgraded to business class (again). Stewardess is with the child who scares me. Child is with Sweetheart. Child is also called "Sweetheart"....??? Luke = sexy millionaire (i think) who invented the RESET app. L sends text? Turbulence. I hit my head while trying to tie shoes. knock out/black out.

7. I'm at home. Luca is travelling. I sent the text L usually sends. Roles are completely switched. Room and house are too clean. pepe silvia episode. Lightning strikes the car.

8. Empty airport. Sweetheart = giant talking bear who is very very real (to me) who feeds me. v sensitive. only refers to me as "Daniella Spencer". we fight(ish) a couple of times. nasty flashbacks of bad behavior at airports. We move and travel around the airport. shoves me from the moving walkway. the moving walkway is neverending. lots of fog. we find exit, fog blocks vision, hits head.probably ran into wall or door?

9. Wake up at the airport. red paper plane with hand written note in crayon: "WAKE UP DANIELLA SPENCER" so it has to from Sweetheart?! I freak out, i fall.

10. I wake up at train station. red plane station. agent thinks i have amnesia. i get taxi, traffic on bridge (considered unusual). i leave taxi and sprint. also gets hit by car. kicked in shin by the child at security lines. i swear and fight with everyone. sprint across airport. miss flight. faint.

11. ...????? Luca is now a Golden Retriever.

Daniella pulls a crayon and taps gently against the paper, making tiny little dots on the piece of paper. She makes an update to #12....

12. Woke up in the airport/airline spa. Cucumbers, hand massages, and everything. Took a day off. Went shopping, and ate a lot. Flight seems to be delayed indefinitely? Finally got my chocolate covered coffee beans. Got Gucci sunglasses + perfume too.

Daniella pulls out her phone and opens up her messages. She scrolls through the conversation that the Daniella belonging to this reality had this morning around 6:11am:

Luca

all set! got everything? your boarding pass? your chargers? your socks?

Daniella

i think i'm going through my own version of inception...

Luca

?

Daniella

i think i'm experiencing some deja vu...

Luca

okay? you alright?

Daniella

i think so? idk.

Luca

maybe just fall asleep after take off? did you get enough sleep last night?

Daniella

i think so? idk i think i'm going crazy

Luca

maybe if you close you're eyes you'll feel better?

*your

are you nervous again?

Daniella

maybe idk? i swear i feel asleep at the gate waiting to board

Luca

maybe do that after takeoff???

Daniella

why do you always say that? did you not read what i just said??

nvm. flight just got delayed. we have to leave the plane.

Luca

how come? i thought you already boarded

Daniella

i did. then they asked us to leave.

don't know why. they won't say.

Luca

okay. that's kinda weird. keep me updated?

Daniella

will do!

"Hmmmm..." thinks Daniella. "It looks a lot like that conversation I had back when...." She looks back at the list and lands back on #2:

2. Flight delayed. I go to Starbucks. Luke = Barista at departure airport. We chat. He has to "reset" the machine. I purposefully fall asleep = reset. I got a text. Luca sends the first text.

"Ah! Right there! When the flight was delayed... But like...... that's about it...." she silently continues. "Oh. I should definitely send him a message. He must be freaking out right now." She quickly types on her phone:

Daniella

Hey babe! Sorry for the late text! Looks like flight has been delayed indefinitely. I'm just killing time at the airport.

She puts her phone down and glances at the list. She gets a message:

Luca

No worries at all!

Keep me updated!

hope you're having fun! 😃

She hearts his message. He hearts her previous message. Daniella places her phone in her purse.

She turns her attention back to #12 on her paper. She reads that point again and updates it. It now reads:

12. Woke up in the airport/airline spa. Cucumbers, hand massages, and everything. Took a day off. Went shopping, and ate a lot. Finally got my chocolate covered coffee beans. Got gucci sunglasses + perfume too. Flight seems to be delayed indefinitely? Looks like I spoke to Luca prior to flight delay and just spoke to him....

She taps her crayon against the paper once again and adjusts one last observation to her statement:

12. Woke up in the airport/airline spa. Cucumbers, hand massages, and everything. Took a day off. Went shopping, and ate a lot. Finally got my chocolate covered coffee beans. Got gucci sunglasses + perfume too. Flight seems to be delayed indefinitely? Looks like I spoke to Luca prior to flight delay and just spoke to him.... Nothing eventful or noteworthy... or even memorable happens...

Happy with her statement, Daniella folds the paper and places it back in her back pocket. She takes a deep breath and allows herself to be truly relaxed as she slouches on her seat.

"For the first time in a while, I am actually at peace with this weird loop-thingy. Whatever happens after this... happens I guess." She shrugs and concludes as she closes her eyes and drifts off.

She feels a light nudge around her shoulders and forearms.

"Hey.... Babe? Babe?" Daniella hears as she is gently shaken awake.

"Are you awake?" asks a male voice.

To Be Continued... 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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