The sky was cloudy even at thirty thousand feet.The modern aircraft was piercing through the sky as Marilyn stood at the galley at the back of the plane, thinking the letter that had shook her. It had been a month since she had received the news, but she could not bring herself to accept it. She had been demoted from her international flight schedule shuttling between Singapore and Beijing, to a shorter local schedule. Today would be her last day serving on flight number, SQXXX. Her high flying career, as an international air stewardess would end as of tomorrow. Marilyn could imagine her remaining years in Singapore Airlines spent on some airbus ferrying between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, or maybe condemned like all air stewardesses to ground jobs.
'Marilyn? Marilyn!' 'Huh?' Marilyn snapped out of her reverie, to see Elaine, her colleague glaring at her. 'Marilyn, will you please see what seat 47E wants? The service light is on.' Elaine asked, with a tinge of annoyance in her voice. She was busy putting away the food trolley. The other stewardesses kept quiet, but Marilyn could see that they too, were unhappy with her. 'No one respects the downtrodden or loser,' she thought to herself. Marilyn looked down the aisle. Indeed, a small light was lit above seat 47E. She started down the narrow aisle of the economy class to attend to the passenger. The other stewardesses were at a different part of the plane. Sitting down, she started feeling sorry for herself again. She wanted to be alone. Her heart was heavy and anger was rising in her. She had sacrificed her life for this lousy job, 'a high class waitress job,' she chided herself.
'And now like sugar cane fibres thrown away when all is done.' She felt angry. It was not the first time she had felt angry. The last time she lost her temper with the other stewardesses and lost their companionship in the process. When she had seen to the passenger's request, she returned to the back of the plane. 'Miss, can I have a glass of orange juice, no ice, not even chilled? For my medicine?' A female voice with a heavy Chinese accent interrupted her reverie. Marilyn looked up and saw a Chinese woman. She was tall for a Chinese, and her long straight hair only accentuate her physical assets. Marilyn stood up and came face to face with the lady. She knew straight away that she was from China because by the built, she knew that Southeast Asian Chinese had smaller builds. 'Where are you seated? I'll take it to you.' She tried to smile at the lady. The lady had two large almond shaped eyes, set in an oval face. Her lips were curvaceous and full. There was a mole on her left cheek. Strangely, that black mole only accentuated the fairness of her skin. Marilyn noted her beauty, and the politeness of the lady. Many passengers were so rude, as if they enjoyed being arrogant and rude.
'42A. Send it to me later. I have to...' The lady smiled back, as if knowing that she was being admired, and went off. Marilyn watched her as she entered the toilet. Marilyn walked to the food section and busied herself with the orange juice, opening a new pack and pouring it into a plastic cup. Before she left for the passenger's seat, she checked her makeup just to make sure it was perfect. In her mind, she was wondering what sickness did the lady have. 'Strange, isn't it? I think my problem is terrible and we have a poor good looking lady on probably some serious medication,' she murmured to herself. 'Maybe I should be thankful that I have got my health and spirit.' She was talking to herself to boost herself esteem. Nothing worked like a good self motivation talk.
There was a man sitting in 42A, a window seat. She checked the seat number above his seat to make sure she got the right one. The seat next to him was empty. She glanced around the cabin, scanning the place for the face of the passenger she saw earlier. 'What seat number was it now?' She mumbled to herself. A sea of faces greeted her. Although this flight was headed from Singapore to Beijing, the nationalities on the plane was as varied as any United Nations gathering. The balding Japanese man sat in the aisle seat, oogling at every stewardesses since he got onto the plane. Two rows in front of him was the Australian trekker who came abroad in a T-shirt and a comfortable pair of bermudas. In the next row, an irrate Singaporean housewife was taking a short break from her sleeping children. Marilyn remembered faces easily enough, and she was sure that the lady passenger was nowhere in sight. 'Maybe wrong cabin?' She was puzzled. 'Maybe this man was just sitting in her seat.' She thought, but the man in the seat was gazing out of the small window, into the darkness outside. He looked sad. She was not sure whether if she should disturb him.
'Marilyn, what's wrong?' Elaine, her colleague, asked quietly as she approached Marilyn on the aisle. 'I can't find someone.' Marilyn said, a little frustrated that Elaine had to come up to her. Now the other stewardesses had another fault to pick on. Quickly, she explained the situation to her colleague. 'Let's approach the guy. Maybe he's her boyfriend, or something like that.' Elaine took the orange juice from Marilyn's hand and walked to seat 42A. 'excuse me, sir. Are you in the wrong seat?' 'No, this is my seat.' Marilyn noticed that the accent in the man's voice was similar to the lady's. 'Is there another lady companion with you?' Marilyn blurted. Somehow, that seemed to insult the man. 'Do you know anyone else on the plane?' Elaine asked.
'No, why are you asking me this?' The man looked annoyed and stared at Elaine. 'It's not me sir, it's my friend Marilyn who asked me to ask.' 'What do you want? Make it simple.' The man was definitely annoyed by the disturbance. 'Your funeral,' Elaine whispered Marilyn and handed the orange juice to her. 'I'm sorry, sir. It's just that a tall Chinese lady came up to me, asking me for orange juice. She gave me your seat number to send it to. But we could not find her. We just thought that you might know her.' Marilyn started looking around. 'It's a mistake, sir, Marilyn here is clarifying it.' Elaine cut in. 'Marilyn, let's not bother the gentleman...' Elaine tapered off as Marilyn quickly butted in and spoke. 'How does she look like?' The man asked suspiciously. 'She's tall, about six foot in height, with long straight hair, and a mole on her left cheek.' Marilyn gave the man a short description. She had expected the man to deny knowing the lady, but strangely, the man grew quiet.
'Let's leave it as it is...' Elaine was pitiful. 'She asked you for an orange juice? Okay, I'll take it.' The man reached his hands out to take the orange juice from Marilyn. As he did, he gave Marilyn an odd look. 'Thank you both.' When they reached the back of the plane, Elaine turn to Marilyn and spoke. 'Marilyn, I know that its your last day here. But I expect you to give the same level service that you normally do. Please stop all this unprofessional nonsense and concentrate on your job!' Elaine was angry and she wanted to give to Marilyn. 'Come on, Elaine, someone is unhappy that she has to go tomorrow.' Some other stewardess sniggered. Marilyn had a good idea who it was. They were all so eager to see her go. She did not bother to reply, but went on with her tasks. All the stewards and stewardesses went out of their way to search for this Chinese lady. On discovering that there was none and Marilyn was just imagining, they started to tease and insult her.
'Maybe the Chinese lady went out for a walk.' 'No, no. She went for a Mahjong session,' and so on and so forth. The episode of the orange juice made Marilyn doubt herself. The act of doubt tore her spirit and heart apart. How could she prove to all that someone ordered the orange juice. The question in her mind was did anyone order or did she just imagined it like what everyone was saying. The more she thought about it, the more she felt they were all right. The guy in seat 42A was the last to leave. He sat there patiently, waiting for another passengers to disembark, before getting up to leave. The stewardesses lined up at the exit, smiling at all the passengers s they left, wishing them all pleasant journey. it was not sincere, but a job requirement. As he came up to Marilyn, he stopped.
'I'm sorry over the drink incident earlier. I hope I did not get you into trouble.' He was apologetic. That shocked Marilyn. 'It's okay. It's my last trip on this flight.' Marilyn smiled at the guy, fighting away the selfpity. The apology was like a well deserved pat on her shoulders but that did not explain the lady. The man saw it in her eyes. 'Anyway, I think you deserve to know this about the Chinese lady.' 'There was a Chinese lady right? Where is she?' Marilyn asked. Hearing this, all the other stewardesses had gathered around Marilyn, hoping for another chance to poke fun at her. The missing Chinese lady passenger was milled out to the maximum. 'The description you gave me earlier describes my wife closely. She had just passed away recently.' 'Oooohhh, Marilyn, a ghost followed you around, even at thirty thousand over feet above the ground.' Elaine burst out. Giggles broke out among the crew at the jibe. The churns of laughter irritate Marilyn. She gave a blank look at them.
The guy frowned at the statement, as he continued. The guy shook his head in disgust at the stewardesses for their bitchiness and stupidity. He had to reveal the truth if not for Marilyn's sake, at least for his wife's sake. 'So you buy one ticket and your wife travel free...' Elaine was hilarious. 'In fact I bought a ticket for her too.' There was silence. Marilyn was attentive. She wanted an answer. The others were getting control of themselves. 'Where she was seated?' Elaine was bold. 'If you must,' he took a pass and handed it to Elaine. All the other stewardesses crowded around. Marilyn knew immediately. She stretched out her hand to say something to thank him, not knowing why. 'I'm sorry to hear that,' she was sympathetic. 'Thanks. In fact, I am going to Beijing because my wife's last wish was to be buried there. That's why I am taking the coffin with me.'
He said calmly as he took the document from Elaine's hands and walked out. It took sometime to register but it finally did. The coffin was being flown to Beijing, it was right there in the aircraft. The lady Marilyn saw was the corpse in the coffin.
'Marilyn? Marilyn!' 'Huh?' Marilyn snapped out of her reverie, to see Elaine, her colleague glaring at her. 'Marilyn, will you please see what seat 47E wants? The service light is on.' Elaine asked, with a tinge of annoyance in her voice. She was busy putting away the food trolley. The other stewardesses kept quiet, but Marilyn could see that they too, were unhappy with her. 'No one respects the downtrodden or loser,' she thought to herself. Marilyn looked down the aisle. Indeed, a small light was lit above seat 47E. She started down the narrow aisle of the economy class to attend to the passenger. The other stewardesses were at a different part of the plane. Sitting down, she started feeling sorry for herself again. She wanted to be alone. Her heart was heavy and anger was rising in her. She had sacrificed her life for this lousy job, 'a high class waitress job,' she chided herself.
'And now like sugar cane fibres thrown away when all is done.' She felt angry. It was not the first time she had felt angry. The last time she lost her temper with the other stewardesses and lost their companionship in the process. When she had seen to the passenger's request, she returned to the back of the plane. 'Miss, can I have a glass of orange juice, no ice, not even chilled? For my medicine?' A female voice with a heavy Chinese accent interrupted her reverie. Marilyn looked up and saw a Chinese woman. She was tall for a Chinese, and her long straight hair only accentuate her physical assets. Marilyn stood up and came face to face with the lady. She knew straight away that she was from China because by the built, she knew that Southeast Asian Chinese had smaller builds. 'Where are you seated? I'll take it to you.' She tried to smile at the lady. The lady had two large almond shaped eyes, set in an oval face. Her lips were curvaceous and full. There was a mole on her left cheek. Strangely, that black mole only accentuated the fairness of her skin. Marilyn noted her beauty, and the politeness of the lady. Many passengers were so rude, as if they enjoyed being arrogant and rude.
'42A. Send it to me later. I have to...' The lady smiled back, as if knowing that she was being admired, and went off. Marilyn watched her as she entered the toilet. Marilyn walked to the food section and busied herself with the orange juice, opening a new pack and pouring it into a plastic cup. Before she left for the passenger's seat, she checked her makeup just to make sure it was perfect. In her mind, she was wondering what sickness did the lady have. 'Strange, isn't it? I think my problem is terrible and we have a poor good looking lady on probably some serious medication,' she murmured to herself. 'Maybe I should be thankful that I have got my health and spirit.' She was talking to herself to boost herself esteem. Nothing worked like a good self motivation talk.
There was a man sitting in 42A, a window seat. She checked the seat number above his seat to make sure she got the right one. The seat next to him was empty. She glanced around the cabin, scanning the place for the face of the passenger she saw earlier. 'What seat number was it now?' She mumbled to herself. A sea of faces greeted her. Although this flight was headed from Singapore to Beijing, the nationalities on the plane was as varied as any United Nations gathering. The balding Japanese man sat in the aisle seat, oogling at every stewardesses since he got onto the plane. Two rows in front of him was the Australian trekker who came abroad in a T-shirt and a comfortable pair of bermudas. In the next row, an irrate Singaporean housewife was taking a short break from her sleeping children. Marilyn remembered faces easily enough, and she was sure that the lady passenger was nowhere in sight. 'Maybe wrong cabin?' She was puzzled. 'Maybe this man was just sitting in her seat.' She thought, but the man in the seat was gazing out of the small window, into the darkness outside. He looked sad. She was not sure whether if she should disturb him.
'Marilyn, what's wrong?' Elaine, her colleague, asked quietly as she approached Marilyn on the aisle. 'I can't find someone.' Marilyn said, a little frustrated that Elaine had to come up to her. Now the other stewardesses had another fault to pick on. Quickly, she explained the situation to her colleague. 'Let's approach the guy. Maybe he's her boyfriend, or something like that.' Elaine took the orange juice from Marilyn's hand and walked to seat 42A. 'excuse me, sir. Are you in the wrong seat?' 'No, this is my seat.' Marilyn noticed that the accent in the man's voice was similar to the lady's. 'Is there another lady companion with you?' Marilyn blurted. Somehow, that seemed to insult the man. 'Do you know anyone else on the plane?' Elaine asked.
'No, why are you asking me this?' The man looked annoyed and stared at Elaine. 'It's not me sir, it's my friend Marilyn who asked me to ask.' 'What do you want? Make it simple.' The man was definitely annoyed by the disturbance. 'Your funeral,' Elaine whispered Marilyn and handed the orange juice to her. 'I'm sorry, sir. It's just that a tall Chinese lady came up to me, asking me for orange juice. She gave me your seat number to send it to. But we could not find her. We just thought that you might know her.' Marilyn started looking around. 'It's a mistake, sir, Marilyn here is clarifying it.' Elaine cut in. 'Marilyn, let's not bother the gentleman...' Elaine tapered off as Marilyn quickly butted in and spoke. 'How does she look like?' The man asked suspiciously. 'She's tall, about six foot in height, with long straight hair, and a mole on her left cheek.' Marilyn gave the man a short description. She had expected the man to deny knowing the lady, but strangely, the man grew quiet.
'Let's leave it as it is...' Elaine was pitiful. 'She asked you for an orange juice? Okay, I'll take it.' The man reached his hands out to take the orange juice from Marilyn. As he did, he gave Marilyn an odd look. 'Thank you both.' When they reached the back of the plane, Elaine turn to Marilyn and spoke. 'Marilyn, I know that its your last day here. But I expect you to give the same level service that you normally do. Please stop all this unprofessional nonsense and concentrate on your job!' Elaine was angry and she wanted to give to Marilyn. 'Come on, Elaine, someone is unhappy that she has to go tomorrow.' Some other stewardess sniggered. Marilyn had a good idea who it was. They were all so eager to see her go. She did not bother to reply, but went on with her tasks. All the stewards and stewardesses went out of their way to search for this Chinese lady. On discovering that there was none and Marilyn was just imagining, they started to tease and insult her.
'Maybe the Chinese lady went out for a walk.' 'No, no. She went for a Mahjong session,' and so on and so forth. The episode of the orange juice made Marilyn doubt herself. The act of doubt tore her spirit and heart apart. How could she prove to all that someone ordered the orange juice. The question in her mind was did anyone order or did she just imagined it like what everyone was saying. The more she thought about it, the more she felt they were all right. The guy in seat 42A was the last to leave. He sat there patiently, waiting for another passengers to disembark, before getting up to leave. The stewardesses lined up at the exit, smiling at all the passengers s they left, wishing them all pleasant journey. it was not sincere, but a job requirement. As he came up to Marilyn, he stopped.
'I'm sorry over the drink incident earlier. I hope I did not get you into trouble.' He was apologetic. That shocked Marilyn. 'It's okay. It's my last trip on this flight.' Marilyn smiled at the guy, fighting away the selfpity. The apology was like a well deserved pat on her shoulders but that did not explain the lady. The man saw it in her eyes. 'Anyway, I think you deserve to know this about the Chinese lady.' 'There was a Chinese lady right? Where is she?' Marilyn asked. Hearing this, all the other stewardesses had gathered around Marilyn, hoping for another chance to poke fun at her. The missing Chinese lady passenger was milled out to the maximum. 'The description you gave me earlier describes my wife closely. She had just passed away recently.' 'Oooohhh, Marilyn, a ghost followed you around, even at thirty thousand over feet above the ground.' Elaine burst out. Giggles broke out among the crew at the jibe. The churns of laughter irritate Marilyn. She gave a blank look at them.
The guy frowned at the statement, as he continued. The guy shook his head in disgust at the stewardesses for their bitchiness and stupidity. He had to reveal the truth if not for Marilyn's sake, at least for his wife's sake. 'So you buy one ticket and your wife travel free...' Elaine was hilarious. 'In fact I bought a ticket for her too.' There was silence. Marilyn was attentive. She wanted an answer. The others were getting control of themselves. 'Where she was seated?' Elaine was bold. 'If you must,' he took a pass and handed it to Elaine. All the other stewardesses crowded around. Marilyn knew immediately. She stretched out her hand to say something to thank him, not knowing why. 'I'm sorry to hear that,' she was sympathetic. 'Thanks. In fact, I am going to Beijing because my wife's last wish was to be buried there. That's why I am taking the coffin with me.'
He said calmly as he took the document from Elaine's hands and walked out. It took sometime to register but it finally did. The coffin was being flown to Beijing, it was right there in the aircraft. The lady Marilyn saw was the corpse in the coffin.
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