Letting My Brother's Best Friend Take My V-Card (Jessie and Luke)

OFFICER JESS

The air in the security office was stale, thick with an indifferent kind of tension that only made everything worse. Laura and I sat across from a stone-

faced airport officer, his uniform too crisp, his gaze a mix of disinterest and irritation as he glanced between us and the stack of paperwork in front of him. He was chewing a pen cap like it was his lunch. I watched the sweat bead down his forehead just like it pooled around He flipped another page without looking up, a slow, almost mocking turn of his wrist. "I don't know what you're expecting here, ladies," he said, voice cold and impatient. "We're dealing with hundreds of flights. You'll have to be patient."

I grit my teeth, trying not to let my frustration show. Laura's hand was clenched around mine, her grip tight enough to cut off the blood supply to my fingers. "We were told they'd land

safely," I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. "But there's been no word from them, no confirmation. We need to know where they diverted."

The officer raised a brow, barely stifling an eye- roll as he glanced at the manager beside us, then back to his papers, scratching his pen lazily across the page as if humoring a couple of hysterical tourists. "If there was a diversion, we'd have heard by now," he drawled, clearly disinterested. "And if not... they're probably weather like this."

14:02

285 Mouchers

"Minor delay?" Laura's voice trembled with a desperate edge, her face paling as she looked at the storm footage still playing on a screen over his shoulder. "Look at what the storm did outside-this wasn't minor. They were flying right into it!"

The officer heaved a sigh, shifting in his seat with all the energy of someone forced to listen to a tedious story for the tenth time. "Miss, every

flight has a protocol. You can relax until we have more official information. The last radio from the captain said that they were diverting."

"Relax?" I clenched my hands so tightly they were numb, barely able to keep my voice from breaking. "We're not going to relax until you tell us where they landed. We're asking you to check again."

He glanced at his watch, clearly annoyed now. "Like I said, we're busy. But..." He sighed again, picking up a list and running his finger down it with exaggerated slowness. "If it'll get you out of here faster..."

He scanned a few pages, looking like it was the last place he wanted to be. His expression didn't change as he turned to the final sheet, his finger

tapping on it as if for emphasis, his mouth. pulling into a slight frown. After a few long seconds, he just shook his head, setting the paper down without a word.

Laura's voice was barely a whisper. "Did you...did you see their flight number?"

The officer raised an eyebrow, flipping the stack back with a bored swipe of his hand. "If it were on that list, I'd have said so." He gave a dismissive shrug, shifting his attention back to his computer as if we were no longer there. "Must've gotten rerouted somewhere else." 14.02

OFFICER

1288 Voucheril

Somewhere else. Somewhere? His dismissive tone was like a slap to the face, the reality settling over me like a stone in my stomach. He wasn't even pretending to care.

"Could you at least tell us where else they might be?" I asked, barely holding it together. I could feel Laura beside me, her breathing quickening, panic written across her face.

The officer shrugged again, barely meeting my eyes. "Look, we've got flights landing up and down the coast. These things. happen. There are also a lot of islands with landing strips, and some of the pilots are very familiar with them." He gestured vaguely as if that was ans "Best to wait for the airport to contact you. If you get any contact."

The indifference was suffocating. It felt like my blood was boiling, the helpless anger clawing at me. But before I could snap, he finally pulled out his phone, dialing a number and muttering something rapid-

fire in Indonesian, casting us one last irritated look as he turned away.

Beside me, Laura's fingers tightened around mine, her hand ice cold. She whispered, voice breaking, "Jess, what...what does this mean? Why won't he tell us anything?"

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, more for my own stability than anything. My mind spun as the officer muttered into the phone, his gaze fixed somewhere far away as if our world wasn't crumbling right in front of him.

Finally, he hung up, barely looking our way. "No further updates," he said. "If anything comes in, you'll be contacted."

OFFICER

And just like that, it was over. No apology, no empathy-just a hard look that made it clear we weren't worth his time.

Laura's hand was still trembling in mine as we stumbled out of the office and into the corridor, where the airport noise was a low, pounding hum. My thoughts blurred, panic

clawing at my chest, and a wave of nausea rushed through me. The walls felt like they were closing in, and I could feel my own breaths. becoming quick and shallow. I made it to the bathroom jst in time to lose the contents of my airplane meal.