Meanwhile, in the international airport...

all was still,
quiet, as the song that the Hawaiian beauty danced to had
ended.
But, it lingered.
Her jasmine scent and essence stayed.
Sweeter than the song that played.
The last piece of music heard.
Now there were only announcements, an update the public address strained one word.
The word was 'delayed'.
But, I could hear it clearly as a shrill,
alarming and warning of danger.
To that I am not a stranger.
I am attuned.
I seem to be the only one that hears that word, that dreaded vernacular that is pestilent to the traveller's ear.
I am stopped in my tracks.
Is everyone oblivious or am I in oblivion?
People mill about with their eyes locked on phone screens.
Smiles seem to indicate a pathology blatantly ignored,
leaving me to stand bemused.
In amazement, I become amused.
Because I don't care.
I met the woman of my fantasies and the fantasies of these men still in drools. They search.
I search myself for tears, sweat or blood.
I feel nothing! Nothing...
I utter expletives and continue searching my pockets.
Into a cold sweat, I panic. Frantically breathing.
I sit down and my lungs are seething.
I catch my breath using an exercise I was taught as a child.
"She robbed me." I say to a stranger.
"I know." he says sympathetically. "That's the reason I'm sitting here in the corner as well."