Chapter Four
New York City - Present Day
Shift Happens
There was fundamentally no reason whatsoever why Dabria Livingstone should have been flying into New York on the evening of the 16th March, during a seasonal cold snap in the early northern spring- other than, of course, to satisfy her overwhelming sense of curiosity. Dabria was financially well above comfortable but regardless, at this point, she would need to undertake some serious wheeling and dealing to be able to afford the object of her latest intrigue. Closing the glossy catalogue over which she had spent the last hour admiring various items, she replaced the lid to the black fountain pen she had used to scribble several short notes on pages: twelve, forty-one and fifty-three. Dabria thought wilfully. The satisfaction of her sense of curiosity would be manageable but the other would be more difficult.
Dabria liked her life, she was good at most things she did and had developed a habit of referring to everyone as, 'darling'.
'Ladies and Gentlemen please be aware that the seat belt sign has been illuminated, and the Captain would ask that you return to your seat and prepare for landing,' requested the voice over the planes internal intercom system.
Dabria moved instinctively in her seat and placed her left hand purposefully across her waist to make sure that the seatbelt was fastened while continuing to listen to the voice. The American Airlines flight AA40 would be touching down at seven forty-two pm into JFK Airport; a few minutes before the scheduled arrival. Following baggage claim, it would allow time enough, for the thirty-six year old, who had left Melbourne earlier that day, to be at her hotel by 9 o'clock.
Pushing the plastic window shade upward, the light from over the left wing of the plane lit up the sky far brighter than Dabria would have expected. She smiled at the comparison to a set of car headlights on high beam. On this occasion, at an altitude of nineteen thousand feet, she hoped amusingly, that the lights of the plane would not need to be deemed for oncoming traffic.
The plane unexpectedly lurched and her smirk disappeared instantly. From the corner of her eye, Dabria saw the hostess stumble. Her outstretched arms were trying to aid her in regaining her balance. Whatever had been in the hands of the hostess flew into the air and several of the passengers let out a cry in unison.
Have a nice week everyone...
Steven
ps - the pic was taken at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York - where I was staying while writing this chapter of 209 A Story - and also it is the destination of Dabria Livingstone - when she survives this flight into NYC...
