After what felt like an entire weekend of celebration, Daniella Spencer is reboarding her flight once again. In fact, this has been the longest "loop" that she has been on since the beginning of her adventures. She feasted with her family until all of their bellies nearly exploded on "Thursday", shopped at the airport until they dropped and watched American football on "Friday", partied non-stop on "Saturday", and savored the perfect lazy "Sunday" with her family. All of these crazy events took place in none other than the airport! Daniella didn't want to leave, but her family insisted that she continued traveling. They agreed to part ways on "Monday".

Daniella has been using quotation marks to label each day in her head in order to truly feel as though it was truly Thanksgiving... it could have been calender-wise, but on the other hand, it might not have been... but at the same time, it could have.... the concept of her new timekeeping begins to confuse her when Daniella reminds herself of the one lesson that Destiny has managed to hardwire into her mind after all these Happenings: Time is, however, we wish to define it.... at least that's how Daniella chooses to interpret it for now...

After an extremely long and tearful goodbye with her parents, along with the rest of the family, Daniella once again boards Flight 77X.

As Daniella settles into her typical seat, a strong perfume enters her nostrils. "Don't tell me I'm gonna have to move again..." Daniella remarks to herself as Lexi approaches her.

"Excuse me Miss... Spencer?" begins Lexi.

"Yes?" Daniella verbally responds while inwardly hissing.

"It appears that we have overbooked your seat."

Daniella slowly nods. "Okay..."

"As an apology for the inconvenience, we would like to upgrade you to Business Class." continues The Stewardess.

"I don't mind at all." answers Daniella as she peers behind Lexi to see a random-looking child standing behind Lexi.

"Huh. No tricks this time, huh?" Daniella thinks to herself. "Anything to help!" she answers out loud.

Daniella silently follows Lexi into the Business Class cabin, which, of course, continues to appear heavenly. "Looks like I've been behaving lately. Thank you, Universe! Or maybe this is Destiny continuing to treat me! In that case, thank you Destiny! I should bake her a bunch of cookies and have her eat all of them on my kitchen island the next time I see her...." mentally notes Daniella as she settles into her seat.

Lexi once again offers to take Daniella's belongings. The latter accepts the former's offer and Lexi proceeds to place Daniella's purse and carry-on into the overhead compartment. Daniella feels a shiver and gets goosebumps (or chicken skin) all over her body. She notices how tall and stiff the hair on her arms is standing.

"Wow! Freaky much! What exactly is going on?" Daniella pauses for a few minutes and has a thought that enters her mind:

"Wow. This strangely reminds me of when I first met Luke... that particularly reality when I first met Luke or at least when I met him in that specific reality... He looked so sexy in that suit..."

As she lets that simmer into her head, a sudden sense of sadness begins to dawn upon Daniella, causing her to frown inwardly.

"Oh right. I say that about Luke, but then I was quick to throw him under the bus when confronted with a choice... one that Destiny was extremely insistent that I answered. When Destiny/fake femme Luca was terrorizing me in the car before I hit my head, I choose Luca... or least the version of Luca that I have been familiar with... until now I realize.... but there's something about Luke that feels more familiar... more comforting... more intimate... like I can't seem to remember anything about this man.... but he feels more like... home, but even deeper than that... what's deeper than feeling at home with someone? Love I suppose? I don't know... but whatever that feeling or word is, I'm beginning to realize that I never quite had that with Luca to begin with... or am I just feeling that way because Luke has 'entered' the picture? UGH!!!! This is so confusing and difficult... why, out of all the people in The Universe, do I have to be stuck with this specific problem????"

As Daniella concludes that specific train of thought, a young woman settles herself next to Daniella. They exchange smiles. Not wanting to appear rude, Daniella decides to introduce herself.

"Hi! I'm Daniella Spencer."

"Mary Christmax. Nice to meet you."

Daniella chokes as they shake hands. "I beg your pardon?"

Mary chuckles. "Mary, spelt like the common name. Christmax, but with an x at the end."

Daniella nods. "Cool name. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"May I ask -"

"How I got named 'Mary Christmax'? What can I say? My parents are really big on holidays... and they pride themselves on being edgy... That's the official explanation I got anyway." she says as she begins to laugh.

"It's a cool name. Especially with the X."

"My mom's a huge fan of "X"s and my dad is a huge fan of Christmas... they didn't want to call me "Noelle" or "Holly" or anything like that because they didn't want to be basic like that."

"How hipster of them."

They snicker and laugh. "Oh parents.' remarks Daniella.

"I know right?" responds Mary. She pauses and takes a mindful look at Daniella's face and takes it all in."You're glowing."

Daniella is touched by the comment. "Awww. Thank you."

"But you also look like you're going through a conflict." continues Mary.

Daniella awkwardly nods. "Oh. What gives you that impression?"

"There's a conflict in your eyes.

Daniella furrows her eyebrows. "Oh. I guess that obvious huh? You know... you do seem familiar... there's just something about you..."

"Perhaps there is..." Mary pauses. "Unless I'm presuming or intruding. In that case, I'm sorry, I just... pick up on things."

Daniella realizes that sorrows and conflict may be a lot more obvious than she realizes. The intercom interrupts their conversation by Lexi herself:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt sign. If you haven't already done so, please stow your carry-on luggage underneath the seat in front of you or in an overhead bin. Please take your seat and fasten your seat belt. And also make sure your seat back and folding trays are in their full upright position. If you are seated next to an emergency exit, please read carefully the special instructions card located by your seat. If you do not wish to perform the functions described in the event of an emergency, please ask a flight attendant to reseat you. We remind you that this is a non-smoking flight. Smoking is prohibited on the entire aircraft, including the lavatories. Tampering with, disabling, or destroying the lavatory smoke detectors is prohibited by law. At this time, make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position and that your seat belt is correctly fastened. Also, your portable electronic devices must be set to 'airplane' mode until an announcement is made upon arrival. If you have any questions about our flight today, please don't hesitate to ask one of our flight attendants. Thank you."

Daniella takes in the safety instructions, which she has practically memorized at this point. She politely nods through the instructions and merely waits for the flight to take off at this point. Once the plane is in the air, Daniella turns herself away from the window and back at Mary, who is taking the time to flip through the various magazines.

For some unfathomable reason, Daniella has a feeling that she should at least somewhat divulge her information, without appearing too mad, of course.... so she does.

"You were right by the way," Daniella says to Mary, instantly grabbing the latter's attention as she puts her magazine down.

"I was?"

"Yes?"

"Well... go on... but only if you wish of course.

Daniella takes a deep breath and opens her mouth. "I am caught between the... affections of two men I find myself caring for... each for very different reasons... nothing immoral or questionable of course, but I know I can only pick one. I would pick both but I prefer monogamous relationships... and I want only one person. The last time I was presented with a choice, I'm afraid I picked the wrong person... so I think... but-" she loses her grip on her articulation. "...Yeah. So there's that."

Mary looks at her with intrigue. "Huh. Can I ask you a question?"

Daniella nods and shrugs. "Why not?"

"It seems to me that by admitting that you picked the wrong person that you clearly made a choice, seemingly favoring the other person. Am I wrong?"

Daniella ponders this for a moment. "Yes... and no... I barely know who the other person is..."

"There's a hesitation to your tone," observes Mary.

"Only because I like to keep my loyalty to the other.... but also to the other at the same time... I don't know." shrugs Daniella.

"You know... I've often found that using loyalty as a justification to stay in a relationship for loyalty's sake can often broom unhappiness... not to mention disaster."

"What makes you think I'm unhappy with said person?"

Mary shrugs. "You said it, not me. Perhaps you should consider removing yourself from the situation altogether."

Daniella looks at her strangely as she considers those words.

"You okay, Daniella?"

"Yeah... yeah. It's just... it's so simple that it's hard. If that makes any sense. Do you know what I mean?"

"Sometimes we make things harder than we need to be just for the thrill of it."

"There's never any thrill in difficulty, though."

"Oh but isn't there? Don't we all get a sick kick from procrastinating our work until the impending deadline? What about gossip? What about that adrenaline rush we get whenever we engage in an argument with another person. You're going to tell me that there's no drama there?"

Daniella chuckles in amazement. "Wow.... You do make a point. Gosh, you're so wise... What are you a psychic? A shaman? A witch? A therapist?"

Mary chuckles. "Something like that... and so much more."

"Well, well, well... sometimes you find wisdom in the most unlikely of places," remarks Daniella, who immediately turns her head away from Mary to discreetly cough. "Sorry about that." apologizes Daniella. She coughs again and apologizes again. She coughs again. This time, it is more of an aggressive cough.

Mary gently pats her on the back. "There, there, let it out, Daniella. Let it all out," she assures Daniella as the coughing becomes more rapid and harsh.

"Oh my god. I was completely fine today. What's happening to me?"

"The cold air of the plane has that effect on people at times..."

Daniella came up with a really great retort that she wants to say out loud but she feels as though her coughing is blocking and censoring her proposed next words.

Still patting Daniella's back, Mary looks around the cabin. "Could we get some help, please? My friend is super unwell."

Lexi runs over to stabilize Daniella's cough and get it under control.

"Daniella, would you like to go to the airport clinic to get that checked out?"

Daniella looks at her as though Lexi had completely gone mad, saying "It's a little too late for that, don't you think? We're literally in the air right now... "

Lexi reflects the expression that Daniella has on her face. "Ummm... what? We're still on the ground. The gates are literally still open. Passengers are still boarding."

Daniella immediately stands up and looks around and finds that people are still indeed coming onto the plane.

"Let's get you some help." says Mary.

"I'll be fine... I think..." responds Daniella.

Mary places her back on Daniella's back and guides her into the aisle. As she does this, Daniella gives her a defiant and confused "WTF" expression, but Mary gives an insistent but reassuring nod.

"Just... trust me on this one, okay?" asks Mary.

"But why would you risk missing your flight for me? Someone you've just met?"

"Because like you've said before...You did say that you're always with me...."

Daniella gives Mary a weird look. "I never said that to you I said that to-"

Daniella interrupts herself and has a realization. "DESTINY???????"

She winks at Daniella.

To be continued... 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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