Landing 2

In an airport full of people, nobody was there for her.

When I gave him the flight number and arrival time, he answered that he just couldn’t wait to give me a crushing hug; we didn’t go into details about our meeting. Maybe they’re filming, and he’s super busy right now

She fished her phone out of her backpack. Oh, and I forgot that I had turned it off during the flight, he must have messaged me

He hadn’t. She texted him and waited. It could be anything: work, a poor connection, low battery.

One hour passed. She took a deep breath and let the air come out slowly. Then she called him. An unfamiliar voice answered.

“You weren’t going to meet me, were you?” she asked softly. “You’re someone else anyway.”

Yes, he was. Someone else, a stranger. A tech freak, a magician of the digital world. His life was boring, tasteless and flat; he wanted to experience the excitement of a celebrity’s life, to be admired, desired.

When she reached out, he thought she was a silly woman who wanted to be in the spotlight or a gold digger or anything except for what she really was.

He realized that the actor’s fame or wealth meant nothing to her. She didn’t even care for the actor. She was interested in the man inside the actor.

Imitating his voice was a piece of cake. Creating pictures of him was easy. He deep-faked the videos and the video calls using AI.

He never expected to fall in love with her, but her smile, her pure heart, her witty spirit, and her sharp mind were irresistible.

He wished he could take everything back and tell her the truth, but it was already too late; she was in love with the actor. So he kept pretending out of fear of losing her. Would she give him a chance? He loves her and —

“No!!”, she said. “You can’t both love and deceive someone at the same time. Love is for the honest, the brave, for those who dare to change, to fight, to confront challenges, to go through chaos carrying their soul’s light”.

She ended the call. She was pale like death, and she was grateful that she was already sitting down; otherwise, she would have collapsed on the floor.

So all this was for nothing? No, nothing ever happens just for nothing. There’s always a reason, even if I can’t see it right this moment.

And now what? I’ll go to the European country as was originally planned. I learned the language, I’ll be fine. But not today, I need to sleep and rest first

She got into a taxi, thinking to ask the driver to take her to the nearest hotel, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she changed her mind.

She asked the driver to take her to the studios where the actor would be filming, as his official social media account had informed his fans.

“Woman, you remind me of your grandmother”, her mind laughed. She smiled. Her lovely grandmother.

Her brothers were in the construction industry, and they worked together with a skilled young man on a project, who had travelled from the country’s north just for this.

Before going back home, he went to their place to say goodbye. Then he saw her grandmother. He just stared at her and left. A few months later, her grandmother sent a letter to him saying that he made a good impression on her, and if he felt the same, would he come back for her?

He did. They lived together in love and harmony for more than 60 years…

She took her notebook and a pen out of her backpack, and she started to write. When she finished, she tore the written page off the notebook, folded it and put it in her pocket.

When she arrived at the studios, the security gave her a hard time, but she managed to get permission to meet the actor for a few minutes.

He greeted her with a smile- that magical smile she came to love so much- and she said: “I arrived here a few hours ago because I was supposed to meet someone who, for the last 4 years, pretended to be you.

I just wanted to see the real person before leaving. Thank you for giving me this chance. In this letter, I explain everything”. She handed him the folded page and stood up to leave.

“ Please!”, he stopped her while reading the letter “if I don’t take advantage of your patience I’ll ask you to wait right here for one hour”, he said, “by then I’ll be done working and we’ll go somewhere nice to eat, I want to get to know this woman who crossed half of the planet for my sake and loved me for years. Will you wait for me?”

Her answer was a melodious, happy laughter.