Before she can stop her uncontrollable blinks, the oversized teddy is now right in front of her.

"It appears that we have underbooked your flight." The giant teddy bear hops even closer to Daniella's face, instantly spooking her.

"Don't do that! Please stay where you are... Yes! don't do that!" scolds a scared Daniella.

"Sweetheart" blurs out the giant teddy bear.

"What?!" Daniella gaps

"My name is Sweetheart, Daniella Spencer!" the giant teddy bear answers with an oversized smile.

"You've gotta be f**king kidding me. The teddy bear can talk! You can talk?! Wipe that creepy smile away!" Daniella screams out loud.

"You are not real! You are not possible! You are not here! I'm not here!"

Sweetheart, the teddy bear, maintains a polite, understanding, and patient creepy smile.

"Ah." is the only thing that he makes out and then continues to speak.

"As an apology for the inconvenience, we would like to upgrade you to our business lounge. Do you mind if I help with your carry-on?" continues the teddy bear, who has a notable high pitch cartoony kiddie voice.

"I do mind everything that came out of your mouth because you are not real. Teddy bears don't talk. Not at all, not ever!" whisper-screams Daniella.

"Anything to help?" Sweetheart asks her calmly.

She takes a few steps away from him, away from her former spot. Before she can react, Sweetheart reaches and takes hold of her purse and carry-on, turns around, and then starts hopping away.

A panicked Daniella follows the teddy bear who appears to be moving faster than humanly possible into a Business Class lounge and drops her carry-on in a pastel-colored diner-style booth. Everything smells and appears heavenly. "I suppose it can't hurt to enjoy this as much as you can Daniella Spencer! After all, who knows? It could be the last time you do this... or not." He silently shrugs with an oversized smile.

Sweetheart once again offers to take Daniella's belongings and places them in the overhead compartment that appeared out of nowhere.

"Wait! That wasn't there before! What is happening here? Where are we? Where am I?" screams a slightly panicked Daniella.

Of course, this is not the first time that she is experiencing this kind of weird and surreal interaction but this time it is next level. Keeping track of these things is becoming more and more challenging for Daniella.

"Would you like a glass of champagne before now?"

A speechless Daniella shakes her head, pondering on the meaning of 'before now'.

"Would you like a glass of champagne before boarding?"

"I said no! Can't you read my head shake?!"

"Would you like a glass of champagne before sleeping?" the teddy bear asks her a third time without a smile.

"Would you like a glass of champagne before tying your shoes, Daniella Spencer?"

"What the f***k did you just say? What's up with all of these weird questions?! EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH IS STRESSING ME OUT! BE QUIET!" shouts Daniella.

Sweetheart stares at her blankly and starts crying.

Daniella awkwardly sits in the booth and watches him cry for a moment before she decides to get up and comfort him. "I'm sorry... Sweetheart."

He hugs her and drags her to the ground with him as he sits on the ground. "No!" laments Sweetheart. "Don't apologize at all! I should be the one who apologizes! I'm sorry Daniella Spencer!"

"You don't have to call me by my full name, you know."

"Sure thing, Daniella Spencer."

"I..." she takes a deep breath. "Okay."

He squeezes her and gives her a tight hug. She hears her stomach growl again. "Can I at least get that hot chocolate and those warm buttery croissants, please?"

Sweetheart gets up and gently places Daniella back into the booth like a doll. He pats her on the head with one of his fingerless arms and hops away. "Coming right up, Daniella Spencer!"

"You don't have to call me - you know what, nevermind!"

Sweetheart instantly reappears with a basket of warm buttery croissants and a kettle of hot chocolate. Daniella instantly drools at the sight of her food.

"That's a lot of food," remarks Daniella. "Say if I finished all of this within a second... is there like a limit?"

"Not at all as long as you can handle yourself!" Sweetheart answers with a wink. Creeped out by the dialogue, Daniella nods.

"Cool. Thanks...." she answers. "Would you like some of this? Can you.... eat any of this? No offense."

Sweetheart smiles. "None at all, but I'm a stuffed teddy bear! What do you think?"

"Right."

Daniella rips up a croissant, dips it into her hot chocolate, and eats it. "Is this -"

"Caffeinated?" asks Sweetheart. "No... I'm sorry Daniella Spencer, but I could go fetch coffee beans for you to chew. Would you like some, Daniella Spencer?"

She drops the remainder of her croissant back onto her plate. She clears her throat.

"Is everything okay, Daniella Spencer?"

"Sweetheart-"

"-Yes?"

"How did you know about the coffee beans?"

"Do you still want them?"

"Am I going to need them?"

"I don't know, Daniella Spencer. Are you?"

"Don't dad-joke me."

"I'm not a dad. I'm a bear. A teddy bear to be exact."

"Answer the question, Sweetheart!"

"Which one? You're speaking really really fast."

"The first one!"

"Ah." replies the bear. He pauses and tries to look visibly pensive. His face grows from smiley to frowning. He starts to tear up and pats at the stream going down his face.

"Oh no. I'm sorry. Don't cry Sweetheart." she says while awkwardly hugging Sweetheart.

"It's okay. I'm just very -"

"Stressed?"

He gives her an innocent puzzled look. "I don't know what that word means."

Daniella takes a deep breath. "Stressed is like when you feel very... unable to do something because it makes you nervous... or very afraid.... or it's like a big deal. It's like a violent... mean... nervous feeling... at least that's what I think it means... does that make any sense?"

"I think so."

"Is that what you're feeling?"

He nods. Daniella removes her scarf and wipes his tears.

"Thank you, Daniella Spencer. Can you ask me your first question again?"

Daniella pauses to comb through the past few memories. A lot has happened in what seems to feel like a short amount of time.

"Sweetheart, how did you know about the coffee beans?

He shrugs. "I don't know. I just do."

She blinks rapidly, which captivates the bear. "You blink a lot when you're shocked..." he observes.

"I never told anyone about the coffee beans... at least I don't think so?"

"No, you didn't."

"Then how do you know about them?"

"I just do. I know you never got them because of one of the thingies."

"The thingy?"

"Yeah!" answers an enthusiastic Sweetheart.

"What's the thingy?"

Sweetheart pauses for a moment. Daniella hopes that he doesn't start crying again. "It's just a thing that happens. You do something and then the thing happens... and then another thing happens and then... here we are!"

Daniella nods as she tries to understand his explanation. "Okay. So you seem to know the word 'caffeine', but not the name of this.... happening?"

"OOOOOH!" Sweetheart exclaims while hopping up and down, which is an overwhelming image for a much tinier Daniella. "I LIKE THAT NAME MORE. CAN WE CALL IT THAT? CAN WE CALL IT A HAPPENING?"

"Sure."

Sweetheart offers his fingerless paw for a high five, which Daniella reciprocates. "YAY!!!!!" he shouts.

She wants to make a silent observation about the bear, but fears that he might be able to read her mind since he seems to know about the coffee beans. Speaking of which...

"Can you like... read my mind, Sweetheart?"

"I don't know. Do you still want the coffee beans?"

"Do you think I'll need them?"

"Maybe... maybe not."

Daniella begins to pace. Sweetheart watches her with intrigue and begins to imitate her.

"Am I the only passenger here?"

Sweetheart shrugs. "I just stay here."

"Have you ever been outside?" She asks.

"Outside of the lounge or the airport?"

"I only know the airport."

"This airport? Like this particular airport?"

"Are you stressed, Daniella Spencer?"

"Yes! And I just want to go home!" snaps Daniella.

Fearing she might have scared him again, she takes a deep breath. Sweetheart hugs her and picks her up. He strokes her head. "There, there, Daniella Spencer. It's going to be alright. I want to go home too. Just promise me you won't fall asleep in the car again..." There's a brief moment of deafening silence. "Your eyes are widening again, Daniella Spencer."

He puts her down as she continues to stare at him.

"You know, it's rude to stare."

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart. It's just that... you remember that?"

"I remember a car. I remember seatbelts. I remember you were really sleepy.... that's all I can remember in that specific... happening."

Daniella's mouth is agape at this point, but it begins to mold itself into a smile.

"Would you like to go home... specifically with me, Sweetheart?"

Sweetheart excitedly nods and jumps up and down.

"Great! We need to go get back into my car... and then we need to find a friend of mine."

"How?"

"We need to leave the lounge."

"Great! I'll get your things."

Sweetheart grabs her belongings and begins to leave the lounge with them in hand. As he moves a lot faster than his size would suggest, Daniella finds herself having to catch up. "At least my cardio will drastically improve by the time this is all over..." she remarks to herself.

"Ready?" asks Sweetheart.

Daniella nods. "Wait ready for what?" she asks him as she narrows her eyes.

"Ready for the Happening happening right now"

"Wait, what does that mean, Sweetheart?"

"Well what should it mean to me or to you?" the teddy bear asks her in confusion.

"What should be happening right now, Sweetheart?"

"Well I don't know... what do you want to see happening at this hour in this time lap?" the teddy asks her with a serious face.

"You don't know what is happening but you know what a time lap is? Are you kidding me right now Sweetheart?"

"If I wanted to kid you, you will be flying in a red paper plane, Daniella Spencer!"

"What does that even mean Sweetheart?"

"Stressing again Daniella Spencer? Stress is just not your friend... It just looks ugly on your face..."

The giant teddy drops her bags and stares at her intensely without blinking for what seems like an eternity. Drawing a long sharp breath, he blurs out right in her face.

"Ready now?" His voice radiates on her skin in small tingling waves.

Daniella nods.

Unbeknownst to her, a red plane flies above their heads just a few steps behind them.

The most unlikely duo in the vast universe leave the airline lounge and begin to venture into the seemingly empty airport.... but if Daniella managed to discover Sweetheart within minutes, what else... or who else... might they discover along the way? There's only one way to find out.

To be continued...

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Enjoy, Vote, Comment, Share, Follow, and Stay Tuned! Love hearing from you! Please comment!