Snatches from my Memoirs (UK)- Part Two

Part two:

All the stationeries and shops I searched did not bind papers. I was desperate. I had got less than two hours before I had to move to the train station. I tried calling up my friend and his phone was closed. I was literally in a pickle. I started to panic. My head was clouded over with cold fear that I gave up on searching and decided to go my school department and tell Jackie, the Department’s Coordinator, about it.

- Hi Jackie! Do you know any place around here where I can get my research papers bound? I used to go to the student’s union shop and to my utter astonishment it was closed today.

-I really do not know. Let me see how thick it is.

-It’s not that thick. It’s about 85 pages

-Well, I can do that for you. Just leave it with me and I’ll do it.

-Oh, thanks Jackie. You are a life saviour. You know I am flying home today

-Oh really?

- Yes.

-Great! Safe home trip.

-Thanks!

Relieved, I went back to my room. I put the final touches and made sure that I had everything I wanted in the bag. I had got two more hours to go before leaving to the station. I came online and threw a post or two in the ES. There were two of the ES girls online back then

It was 3:00. I had to shut down the laptop and put it back in its case when suddenly a tremendous thunder clap tore through the sky. It was the first time ever I hear it thundering with that unprecedented force in the UK. It rained a lot but all the previous rains were quiet and peaceful. I drew the window’s curtain to gaze at the blackest blanket of clouds that I ever witnessed hovering ominously over my residence. I was like oh my God this ain’t finish any soon! Only then I came to understand that this day of my life was like no other. It was raining in buckets. Heavy big drops of rain were mercilessly lashing at my window.

I had to leave or I’d miss the 4:10 train to the airport. I was thinking of taking the tram to the train’s station since I did not have much baggage with me for I shipped most of my stuff. Though the tram’s stop was not far away from my block, I thought that getting a cab would be safer and faster.

The taxi dropped me at the station at 3:30. I purchased a single ticket to the airport and went to the platform (it was 6a lol) to wait. The rain started to ease away yet the skies remained grey still. It was 4:00. Ten more minutes to go. 4: 10 and no sign of a train. I looked at the electronic board overhead just to make sure that I got the train’s time correct. It read 4:10. I was not mistaken. I was wondering what might have gone wrong. The trains were always on time. At least I was used to that fact: the punctuality of trains in the UK.

The minutes trickled away and still no sign of an approaching train. The people around me started looking at their watches apparently thinking of what I was thinking: what went wrong. A while later the board’s announcement changed. Now it read: Train to Manchester Airport is delayed!

I was like oh this is surely not my day! Everything was either closed or delayed! The next train would come in an hour’s time. I absolutely could not wait that long. I called up for a taxi.

- Hello, can I have a taxi to the airport please?

-Where from?

- The train station!!

- It’s for £65.

It’s OK. I need the taxi immediately please.

The taxi arrived after one minute or so. I did not even expected it to arrive that fast! I talked to the cab driver about what happened which was the start of a prolonged chit chat. We talked about the UK and the good and bad things about living there. He moaned about the huge amount of taxes he has to pay every month. And I as usual was faking my sympathy with him. I told him that I do not have to pay taxes where I live. He was Pakistani his name was similar to mine. He then started raving about how good our name is! I told him that it is BLESSED! He could speak a little Arabic. He used to work in Saudi Arabia and Turkey prior to his permanent stay in the UK.

It was still pouring down when I arrived at the airport. He asked me what terminal my flight was at. I told him it was terminal two. Emirates always operate at terminal two because I had flown on Emirates twice before at that very terminal. It was all automatised to me by then. I arrive at the airport and walk straight to terminal two. However, I could not find Emirates airlines check-in desks anywhere in terminal two this time. I was taken aback! WHAT? This just cannot be! On what used to be their information desk, a paper was stuck that said that they have moved to terminal one!! Terminal one meant one heck of a long walk!! I was fasting by the way

To get to terminal two I had to walk for 20 minutes hauling my bag behind me which weighted 27 kg at the check-in counter. That was a real physical pain. By the time I arrived at terminal one I felt like all my strength had drained away. The string of delays did not end at the train station. The flight had always been delayed for about half an hour. Why? Because the aircraft had not arrived yet lol. The buzz phrase of that day was: WE APPOLOGISE FOR THE DELAY! I got sick of apologies!

I boarded on the plane. I was drunk with limb-wrenching tiredness. I tampered with the TV screen fitted in the seat trying to listen to some soothing music. I could not find my type of music so I clicked on a movie. It was Angels and Demons. I just watched a few minutes before I slouched back into a slumber. I opened my eyes to realise that we were flying over the Gulf and in less than two hours we’d be arriving at Dubai’s Airport. I did not feel like sleeping anymore. The snacks trolley was next to me and the blond flight attendant asked me whether I wanted coffee or tea. Tea. Any milk? Yes, please.

I put the cup of tea on the tray attached to the seat in front of me. I took my first sip and put it down again. It did not taste good to tell the truth. It was without sugar. They served sugarless tea. I placed the cup on the tray and tried repositioning myself on the chair when all of a sudden and as if it were a scene taken from a bollywood movie, the cup of tea slid down the tray to pour all its steaming content on my jeans!!I was frozen to the spot. Waves of shock were pounding against my temples. My forehead broke into cold beads of sweat. I could not move for a minute or two trying to get in terms with what had just happened. That was the last straw. That could not happen to me. Not now! Not on that day in that place at the very time ! Two hours before I had to go the packed airport! I have had my share of jinxes already! Thank god that it was still dark at that time and the cabin’s lights were dimmed and the chair next to me was empty. No one noticed the accident even the old woman sitting closet to me.

I looked down again at the stain on my jeans! I was like oh not there! The cup of tea dropped on the most embarrassing place of one’s body imaginable! I was like oh people would think that I wetted myself while I was sleeping on the plane! I wanted to do something about it but I could not think of any! My head was filled with ice that numbed my senses! I grabbed a tissue and helplessly started to wipe away the inevitable. It was useless. A full cup of tea penetrated through the fabrics of the jeans. A while later, I summoned the last remnants of my courage and pulled down my shirt to the farthest end it could reach downward and hurriedly scurried to the lavatory. In the full light of the loo, the scale of the embarrassing catastrophe which took place right down my waist began to materialise in front of my eyes! Hysterically, I started to clean the huge stain with water and toilet paper. Nothing had changed. I just hoped that the plane would take more than two hours before landing! If it was still the beginning of the flight, there would be enough time for the blotch to dry out and it would calm me a bit but were nearing the end of the journey which made things all the more worse. It was the pinnacle of embarrassment!

Throughout the remaining time of the flight I kept sopping up at the damp patch. The old woman noticed my frenzied state which I helplessly tried to mask with my usual nonchalance. I told her everything. I do not know but I felt a bit relieved after telling her about it. She consoled me in her typical English manner. A few minutes before the landing she asked me whether it dried out or not and told her that it nearly disappeared. It did not actually fully dry out but the hot wave of air that met me once I stepped out of the plane in Dubai was hot enough to complete the two hours’ time job.