Jaddi
It was the little boy who dropped his panda that saved them. The bear slipped out of his chubby hands smack bang between the automatic doors, stopping the family in their tracks for several seconds as the boy wailed and wriggled in his mother’s arms, and the dad let go of his daughter to retrieve the teddy and return it to the boy’s clutches. All the while the automatic doors remained open, giving Jaddi a clear view of what awaited them.
On the other side of the waist-high plastic barrier, separating those arriving from those waiting, a swelling crowd of friends, family and loved ones craned their necks, searching for the first glimpse of the next people to walk through. And boxing them in were a dozen men and women with notebooks and cameras. Lots of cameras. Even from the other side of the doors, Jaddi could feel the anticipation crackling in the air. Then, just as the family ahead of them moved through, just as the doors began to close, Jaddi saw him. Front and centre to it all, in a bright, lime-green T-shirt, was Harrison.
Jaddi gasped and grabbed Samantha’s elbow, dragging her to one side. So much for being like any other traveller. So much for obscurity. Panicked questions raced through Jaddi’s head. How was Lizzie going to react? She’d be pissed, that’s for sure. Hurt too? Frustrated? Sad? All of the above? Something sank deep down inside of her. Their bubble had well and truly burst.
‘What are you doing?’ Sam asked, staring around her as the doors closed.
‘Right,’ Jaddi said, dropping Samantha’s arm. ‘Don’t panic, but there are some reporters out there.’
‘Oh.’ Samantha raised her eyebrows, peeking her head over Jaddi’s as the doors closed again. ‘Do you think there was someone famous on our flight?’
Jaddi shook her head. ‘They’re here for us, Sam. For Lizzie.’
‘Oh, shit. We have to warn Lizzie.’
‘It’s too late; we’re through customs already. We can’t go back now.’
A woman from customs started to wave them through and Jaddi made a step to the doors, but Samantha stood rooted to the spot. ‘What do we do? No way am I going out there.’
‘Yes, you are.’ Jaddi took Sam’s hand. ‘Stay this side of me. Smile, wave and keep walking.’
‘But—’
‘Harrison’s out there. They’re waiting for Lizzie, not us. Best thing we can do is get through and wait for Lizzie there.’
Samantha nodded. ‘OK.’
As the automatic doors opened for them, Jaddi whispered into Samantha’s ear, ‘Look normal.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘I don’t really know. I just thought it would look more normal if we were talking. Here we go,’ she added as they stepped into clear view of the arrivals hall. Jaddi raised her head and grinned, waiting for the flashing of cameras and shouts from the paparazzi.
Nothing happened. Nothing changed. The journalists continued to jostle and crane their necks. Some talked on phones, others fiddled with their cameras.
‘Ha,’ Samantha said with a giddy sigh as she surveyed the reporters from a spot out the way. ‘They’re so busy looking for Lizzie that they didn’t even see us. Guess we’re not the famous ones,’ she grinned, nudging an elbow into Jaddi’s side.
‘I guess not,’ Jaddi said, frowning at the crowd. It wasn’t as if she cared about being famous, or recognised – not really anyway – but she cared about protecting Lizzie and had hoped to draw some of the attention away from her friend. Jaddi’s chest tightened.
For the briefest of moments Jaddi wondered, if she could go back to that night in October – when Lizzie had walked like an empty shell into their flat, when she’d fought so hard to swallow back the tears, and failed … when Jaddi had stared at the blank webpage on her laptop and pondered all of their futures – would she still have gone through with it, knowing how big the can of worms would become? The question left a mawkish tingle in her mouth.