Is It Too Late?

One thing I’m very grateful to my brief stint in education was learning how to handle a professional grade video camera.

I've always had a fascination with cameras; as a kid I used to film these terrible "movies" that starred me and my action figures in low-budget recreations of my favorite fight scenes from television. The only person who ever saw them is my mother, and she always adored them while encouraging me to do more even when I outgrew them.

Now as a grown man, I’m the one operating behind the camera that makes dumb quips every now and then while Aaron carries the show as the charismatic pretty face.

Works just perfectly for me, even if I am still paying off those pesky student loans…

I moved the admittedly heavy piece of equipment on a smooth sweep to get the establishing shot of Aaron as he walked through the terminal to board the plane. Surprisingly, the people behind us were being considerate and kept their voices down while he recited his practiced lines. More from curiosity and nosiness if I was to guess but still appreciated.

“The locals that reside on the island are very proud of its alleged ties to Greek mythology. While Cyprus is historically known as the birthplace of Aphrodite, Cyrenádos was supposedly her playground where she left behind a special gift to mankind. According to legend, those that fully believe in true love will be destined to find their fated pair once they’ve set foot on its sands. Let’s find out if that’s really true, shall we?”

I silently praised Aaron for being able to walk and talk so confidently, a trait I was honestly envious of among other things. He had been so worried about messing up earlier but whenever the camera started rolling he just became a natural in front of it. Sure, he had mishaps here and there but didn’t everyone? When it really mattered he came through just fine.

“Perfect.” I said after stopping the recording. “I’m glad that worked out first try, seeing as it would have been super embarrassing to have to walk back and try that again if you had screwed up.”

Aaron gave me a sarcastic laugh as he lifted his middle finger. Ignoring him, I turned to the couple behind us with a smile.

“Thanks for being cool and letting us shoot that.” I told them sincerely.

The brunette woman grinned and shook her head. “Not at all, it was worth it to hear that interesting tidbit he was talking about. It just further proves to us that this trip was a perfect idea.”

The man she was linking arms with and leaning against… did not appear to fully agree with her sentiment, if his expression was anything to go by. But then again I was no relationship expert, maybe he was just constipated.

Turning back to face forward I made sure to keep pace with the flow of people as I returned my camera to the safety of its case. We were almost to the entrance to the plane itself, and that allowed me a moment to just glance around with my own eyes and not my camera’s.

One thing I couldn’t help but notice as we were boarding was there didn’t seem to be a single child to be found amongst the other passengers. Not that I was expecting any, given the adult nature of the attractions. It’s just given past experience I guess I was surprised that there wasn't a married couple dragging their poor kid along with them, since there usually was at least one or two.

Oh well, no skin off my nose.

We quickly located our seats towards the center and mercifully we were able to book one with a window view, which Aaron did not even argue in giving to me. I rarely get bouts of motion sickness on flights but it was better safe than sorry.

As we settled into our seats I noticed there were some brochures slipped into the pockets on the back of the chairs in front of ours, filled with information on the multiple Greek islands. I pulled one out to flip through out of curiosity.

Aw, man. The restaurants in here looked really nice - that was the part I always looked forward to the most on our trips; eating all the delicious food. Call it whatever you want but I’ve always been one of those guys that are a part of the old-fashioned saying “The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”.

Soon enough a third guy came and plopped himself in the aisle seat for our row; he appeared to be about our age but was noticeably more disheveled in his appearance and wore a grey t-shirt with Greek lettering on the chest paired with dirty jeans.

"Tell me you're a college frat without telling me you're a college frat..." Aaron mumbled to me under his breath, and the corner of my mouth naturally lifted in a half-smirk.

“Hey, at least I can’t smell him from here.” I whispered back.

“True.” He agreed, speaking at a normal volume again. Aaron turned to the man sitting next to him and offered a hand to shake.

“Hey there, I’m Aaron Gosling. I figured I should introduce myself, since we’ll be sitting next to each other for quite a while.”

That’s another thing I admired about Aaron; his ability to be open and approachable to new people even if it didn’t always work out. For me it was hard to be the one to break the ice, much preferring to remain in awkward silence than potentially embarrass myself in front of another person let alone a stranger. But Aaron made it look so easy sometimes that I wish I could have his confidence.

“Jacob Kale.” The other man introduced with a small smile, firmly shaking Aaron’s hand. His eyes shifted towards me and I felt inclined to respond.

“Ryan Carter.”

“Nice to meet you guys.” Jacob said, carrying himself pretty maturely for a supposed ‘frat’ guy.

“So what brings you to the Greek Islands?” Aaron asked casually.

“I’m just going for a rebound, my ex broke up with me two weeks ago and I‘m on Summer Break so I figured what the hell?”

I wish to retract that ‘mature’ comment… But Aaron – having way more tact than me - responded much more gracefully than I would have.

“Hey that just means she wasn’t the one, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t really believe in that kind of thing, it’s a bunch of fantasy BS. No offense to you guys, though, if you do.”

“None taken, I don’t personally believe in it either but we’re heading to a place that made it their whole identity. Tell you what though, even if you don’t believe in it you might still try and use it to get lucky. That fated mate shit drives girls crazy." Aaron said, almost conspiratorially.

“He’s speaking from experience.” I pointed out, grinning when Jacob’s brows rose up.

“Don’t remind me…”

“Crazy ex?” Jacob asked.

“That’s being generous to dear Amy.” I responded ominously.

“Look, it’s a long story.” Aaron tried to downplay but I wasn’t having it.

“It’s a long flight.” I countered.

“You are bound and determined to make me relive this, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

He insisted on talking to this guy, he was going to keep me entertained while doing so.

Aaron carried on with his long tale of woe to our seat mate throughout the entire takeoff, leaving me the opportunity to just sit and relax with my own thoughts.

Out of the two of us, Aaron always had way better luck with attracting women to him. With his boyish good looks and dirty blonde hair that had natural waves and curls in it, he was just some abs short of being the standard dream boat in cheesy romance movies.

I, on the other hand, am very plain with my boring brown hair that makes me feel like a knockoff of a 90s pop star no matter how I styled it. I’ve been told that my blue eyes are very pretty, but I know my constant resting bitch face is what puts people off. In high school I made my morning teachers uncomfortable because that in combination with being tired made me look like a potential serial killer.

You can only imagine how popular I am with the ladies…

I try not to let it bother me and think about the here and now rather than the possibility that I’ll die a lonely old man with nothing but his film collection.

Hours later I looked out the window, and realized that we had started flying over the ocean. We have officially left the States behind…

Then it happened.

I started feeling a sudden wave of nausea... and looking out the window only seemed to make it worse.

The endless blue stretched in all directions, the remaining light reflecting on its surface barely hiding the darkness that lay beneath. The sun was just completing its descent beyond the horizon, almost appearing as if it were sinking into the sea itself.

That thought only seemed to trigger my body even more as I swayed in my seat for a moment before throwing myself back against the firm cushion behind me. I quickly reached into my pocket for the little bottle there.

"Doing alright there, Ryan?" Aaron’s voice cut through the white noise of the plane.

"I feel like I did when we tried to play Ocean Adventures.” I replied, pouring two yellow pills into my palm.

Aaron wordlessly handed me his small bottle of water that came complimentary with the snacks we requested earlier, and I accepted it gratefully.

"Wake me when we're not hovering over the Atlantic, please." I told him as I slipped an eye mask over my face, hoping that would help settle my body until the medicine kicks in.

"So when we land in about ten hours... Gotcha.” Aaron said with a hint of concern in his voice. “I hope your stomach will be okay, seeing as we've never seen how it responds to being on an island."

I let out a small groan at the painful reminder that this wasn't going to end any time soon.

Even when we got to our destination, we were still going to be on an isolated settlement of land, surrounded by thousands of miles of water. One random hurricane or tsunami was all it would take to wipe out the entire little smidgen of land.

“Is it possible he has Thalassophobia?” Jacob asked curiously.

...

Is it too late to turn around and go back home...?