“Hello, do you mind if I sit next to you?” a young gentleman met her gaze
“Sure.” She gave a wary smile
“My name’s Jack and I really do prefer an aisle seat” he spoke politely
“Hi Jack, I’m Larissa. Guess I’ll be disturbing you when I need to go to the loo then” she joked
“Haha. I can work around that. Do you travel often?” 
“Um, no not really. I wish I had the time to…”
“Ahh, Larissa, can’t we all say that? Time is something we need to set aside and do those things we’ve always wanted to before it’s too late” his eyes and smile made her instantly feel at ease.

The plane conversation with Jack turned into a 10 hour deep and meaningful which seemed like 7 minutes. It was as if the world had stopped spinning and a thousand bits of data transmitted between two strangers. 

Maybe it was worth believing again.

She rolled her bags off the conveyor belt and walked out into the fresh air. ‘Honey, whatever it takes to break away from the disappointment and get back on track in a healthy way, you should try it’, her mother’s words echoed inside her.

Whatever it took.

She had always wanted to see the world and capture beautiful pictures. Here she was standing in a foreign land. She brought with her questions, she brought with her a spirit which was wavering, she brought with her a soul which was yearning to be touched deeply again.

“There aren’t guys like that everywhere Larissa”, Jack’s comment made her smile

Yeah, she thought, evidently I haven’t seen enough of the world else I would have believed someone like you existed.

She was going to see the crowds go wild, she was going to see a million sunsets setting over still waters, she was going to cycle, to run, and to find that freedom.

When the sun rises, and the beautiful orange autumn leaves fall gracefully, when I hear a song you liked or when a brief moment of your personality passes through my mind, I don’t regret. I don’t have answers. I don’t need it. This is not to say that I haven’t had my load of struggles.

You weren’t like the others where I could forget them after a certain period of time. But you made your point. I didn’t know what to think. But I decided I didn’t need to have a response. I decided to let that part go. So now what remains is a stress button which doesn’t seem to work, a pile of songs, an empty stave of chocolate ice cream, a baseball cap, and a simple promise to fall in love. That’s all I need.

Because any more and I would still believe that it happened.