(Leve
DrØmet i Norge)
Monday
12:30 p.m., London
“I thought we were all sitting together.” Chloe said, looking at her boarding pass as she walked down the gangway towards the plane with Ben, Rose, Paul, Christian, Mark and Kate.
“There probably weren’t enough seats left together.” Paul said. “It happens quite a lot, especially if you’re late in checking in.”
“Yeah, it happens to us all the time.” Mark said.
“But you only travel First Class, so it’s unlikely you’re going to be at the other of the plane from each other.” Kate said.
“We don’t always travel First Class!”
“Are we today?” Chloe asked.
“Oh no.” Kate said. “Our cheapskate friends only see us fit to fly economy.”
“So rude.” Chloe said, poking Ben.
“Who bought your ticket?” he asked.
“You did! So why aren’t we going First Class?”
“You’ve been hanging out with celebrities for too long, Clo.” Kate said. “You’re turning into a diva!”
Chloe laughed. “I’m only joking. I don’t care where I sit, I’m more worried about the plane crashing and us all dying.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about – I’ll save you!” Ben said.
“I don’t think you will.” Chloe said, looking at his ticket. “We’re not sitting together.”
“We’re not?”
“No, look – you’re in seat number 26F, and I’m in 13A.”
“Are you?” Paul asked.
“Yeah.”
“Cool! I’m in 13B.”
“Oh good, I won’t have to sit on my own, then.” Chloe said with relief.
“Are you in row 26, Ben?” Christian asked.
“Think so.” Ben said, looking suddenly sulky.
“You’ll be by us, then.”
“Why do you two get to sit together?” Ben asked.
“We got here earlier than you lot did. There were more seats left.”
“Can’t one of you swap with Chloe?”
“I’m fine where I am, Ben!” Chloe said. “Don’t worry, I can chat to Paul.”
Ben didn’t say anything.
“I don’t think you can swap seats, anyway. The tickets have got our names on them.” Kate said.
“Where are you sitting, Rose?” Chloe asked, looking at her friend who had so far been quiet.
“Um… 7B.” Rose said.
“Mark?”
“7C.” he said.
“Oh for God’s sake.” Rose muttered. “Can I have a word please, Chloe?” she said, taking her to one side.
“You’ve gotta swap with me. I’m not sitting next to him for 2 hours.”
“I can’t!” Chloe said. “You can’t swap seats. I need to talk to Paul, anyway. You know, without Ben around.”
“Oh.” Rose said, softening a little. “Is that all okay?”
“I think so. Ben’s been a little bit funny, but I think he’s alright. He hasn’t seen Paul for a while and we haven’t really talked about it, but… Well, you know what Ben’s like. If he doesn’t acknowledge something, it doesn’t exist.”
“Yeah. Look, sorry for having a go at you earlier about Mark. It’s just… difficult.”
“I know, I am sorry. But once we’re there you don’t even have to talk to him. I sorta wanted you to come as moral support for me in case things got awkward, or anything.”
Rose smiled. “Alright, but only if you’ll be my moral support when I get off this plane at the other end fuming with rage.”
“I think you’ve got a deal. Now come on, let’s go to Norway!” Chloe said, going with Rose back over to the group. “Right: people, plane, now!”
They all got on the plane, showing their boarding passes to the cabin crew and being directed to their seats, stowing their hand luggage in the overhead lockers.
“I’m glad I’m by the window.” Chloe said, as she got comfortable in her seat.
“You really don’t like flying, do you?” Paul asked, looking at her.
“I’ve only got acute claustrophobia and a neurosis over just about everything, I’ll be fine!” Chloe said with a smile.
“You will be fine.” Paul said, gently taking her hand.
“Paul, don’t.” Chloe said quietly, pulling it away.
“What?”
“You know what. You can’t do things like that any more, and you know Ben gets jealous.”
“Ben can’t see.”
“That’s hardly the point.” Chloe said.
“So what is the point?”
“Paul…” Chloe sighed. “Stop making it difficult.”
“I’m not making it difficult, I’m telling you how I feel.”
“But you’re not allowed to feel like that any more!”
“Oh I’m sorry, I’ll just go and flick a switch in my brain, shall I?” Paul said sarcastically.
“I just meant that… It’s been a long time, you shouldn’t still feel the same as you did then.” Chloe tried to explain.
“But I can’t help it.”
“Well I don’t know why that is. Everyone moves on, you leave things behind.”
“It wasn’t ever my decision to move on. It wasn’t what I wanted.” Paul said. “I only did it for you. Everything I did back then was for you.”
“I know.” Chloe said regretfully. “It was why you left the band, wasn’t it? Because of me.”
Paul nodded.
“Oh great, I’m responsible for even more misery.”
“No, it wasn’t your fault.”
“Of course it was!”
“No, honestly, it wasn’t your fault. I thought it’d be okay, seeing you and Ben back together and stuff, and Ben was even trying to be civil to me – doing it for you, no doubt – but I couldn’t cope with it. And every time we sang that stupid song…”
“Ben knew about that.”
“He knew I wrote it about you?”
“Yeah. It was kinda obvious. And embarrassing.” Chloe smiled. “But nice. I never said thank you.”
Paul looked at Chloe earnestly. “I love you.” He said.
“Oh Paul, don’t…”
“No,” Paul said, taking Chloe’s hand again, tighter this time. “I still love you, and I know it’s so stupid and that you never loved me, but I probably always will. But I don’t want to mess anything up for you, or ruin your holiday, or make you feel uncomfortable. I want us still to be friends, so… This is the last you’ll hear about it. I won’t bring it up again; let’s just… forget about it…”
Chloe smiled sadly at Paul and nodded before turning away from him and looking out of the window at the country they were rapidly leaving behind.
“Can you hear what they’re talking about?” Ben asked, leaning over Christian and Kate to peer down the aircraft at Chloe and Paul.
“Will you just sit down?” Christian asked. “Stop being crazy. You know there’s nothing going on.”
“Do I?”
“Ben!” Kate said. “Chloe hasn’t seen Paul for six months, of course there’s nothing still going on!”
“But don’t you think that after not seeing each other for so long, things might have…”
“What?”
“I dunno! Come up again!”
“You’re just insane.” Christian said. “You’re actually the most insane person I’ve ever known in my life.”
“But there must be-”
“Ben! Look at yourself – you’re doing it again!”
“What?”
“Exactly what you did last time to drive Chloe away!”
Ben suddenly looked serious. “I’ve never done that again. I never would. I-I didn’t mean to…”
“No, I didn’t mean that.” Christian said, suddenly remembering exactly what had happened to make things turn out like they did.
“Honestly, Christian, I wouldn’t.”
“I know, I know you wouldn’t, I wasn’t thinking. Just forget it.”
“Chloe loves you very much.” Kate said to Ben. “I know her, and I know that you’re the only person she ever talks about. I’ve never heard her so much as mention Paul, so you’ve got nothing to worry about as long as you don’t let it get to you, them being friends. Coz you’ll push her away again.”
Ben sat back down in his seat. “I know.” He said with a sigh. “I just can’t help worrying, that’s all.”
“Well you shouldn’t worry. Just have fun this week: forget about everything that’s ever happened between any of us, weird lot that we are, and just enjoy it being like old times, before everything got all…”
“Screwed up?”
“It did a bit, didn’t it?”
“Everyone went insane.” Christian said. “We’re all mad really.”
“And bad for each other.”
“Yep, that as well. But this week’s gonna be good. I can feel it.”
“All you can feel is the power trip as you continue to keep everything a secret!” Ben said. “Why will you not tell us where we’re going?”
“Norway!”
“I know Norway. But where in Norway?”
“Oslo. First of all.”
“And then…?”
“Then it’s a surprise!” Christian said with a grin.
“No! What are you plotting?! Do you know, Kate?”
Kate shook her head. “Absolutely not! You don’t think my boyfriend would actually tell me anything, do you?”
“You do know.” Christian said, smiling at Kate.
“Yeah, okay, I do know.” she admitted.
“So tell me!”
“It’s a secret.” Kate said, looking at Christian and smiling one of their sickening secret smiles at him.
“Do they have colouring books on this flight?” Ben asked in despair.
“Are you just going to ignore me the whole way there?” Mark asked Rose as she sat in silence next to him, staring straight ahead.
She didn’t reply.
“Don’t you think we should talk?” Mark tried again.
This time Rose started looking out of the window at the clouds racing by.
“Rose, I-”
Rose turned back to look at him.
“I didn’t ever want to see you again after what you did, I don’t want to be here with you right now and no, I’m not going to talk to you.” She said angrily.
“But we-”
“Mark! There’s nothing left to say and I don’t want to know, okay? Just leave me alone.” Rose said, turning away from him again.
Mark got up from his seat and walked up the aisle towards the plane toilet, locking the door behind him and leaning against the wall with his head in his hands, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to fall.
How had things turned out like this?