Free Two Days in Biarritz by Michelle Jackson Page A

with briefcases in hand. Not many holidaymakers this time of year.
    Inside the plane, the cabin crew were allocating passengers to their seats. Annabel stood back – next to the cockpit door. She was in no hurry to be seated, or to return home to Dublin for that matter. The captain squeezed out through the cockpit door before making his final arrangements with the red-cap before take-off.
    “Annabel!”
    She turned her head and was confronted by Shane Gleeson, looking spruce in his black uniform with four gold bars on his cuffs.
    “I don’t believe it,” she said as she threw her arms around his neck and they embraced warmly.
    “Well, you’re a sight for sore eyes, Annabel – you look great!”
    “The way I feel this morning I don’t think that’s true! But you don’t look too bad yourself, Mr Gleeson,” she grinned. “Who’d have thought all those years ago on Dollymount Beach that we’d meet this way . . . and hey, I was just with Kate! She lives in France now.”
    His eyes lit up on the mention of Kate’s name. “I met her, a couple of years back. I suppose she’s busy with her husband and the boys?” He gave a sombre nod of his head.
    “Actually, she recently split up from Stefan,” Annabel said.
    “I don’t believe you!” He looked pleased at this news. “God, there’s so much I’d love to talk to you about,” he said with a shake of his head. “If this was pre-nine-eleven I could have you up in the cockpit and we’d have a great old chat but we have to be so careful now with security regulations.”
    “That’s fine,” Annabel smiled.
    “I have to go – talk later?”
    “Sure,” Annabel smiled.
    Shane took his paperwork from the red-cap and went back into his tiny cell-like cockpit.
    Annabel took her window seat and started to read her copy of Hello magazine. She couldn’t concentrate on anything much as she could hear Shane’s voice over the intercom.
    Shane and Kate. Maybe she could get the two of them in touch again. He seemed very interested when she mentioned that Kate’s relationship with Stefan was over. Meeting Shane was a godsend. She needed a way to break back into her friend’s life.
    The Boeing 737 settled into a cruise at thirty-eight thousand feet and Annabel ordered herself a brandy and ginger ale. So what if it was only eleven-thirty in the morning? She always associated flying with brandy, especially when she was on her own and had a chance to drink it in peace. She crossed her legs and the tattoo on her ankle caught her eye. It was the only physical link between herself and Kate and she was so glad now that she had made her go through with it. They were meant to be friends forever, and the engraving on her ankle was testament to it. She reached down and brushed her fingers over the marks. The Third Eye was very significant to them both – especially at the very beginning of their relationship.
     
    “Is there anybody sitting there?” Annabel asked, standing with her mousy blonde curls and pressed school uniform, before a table for two occupied by a single girl..
    The girl looked up from under her mop of black hair to see who the voice belonged to. She clearly wanted a table to herself so she could spread her books and bags around, but the class was filling up and it looked like she was going to have to share her table.
    Without answering, she moved her bag off the chair and stuck her head back into her book.
    Annabel didn’t know at the time but Kate was still angry with her parents for leaving their lovely home on the other side of the city. Thirteen was a horrible age to start all over again and make new friends.
    “Hi, I’m Annabel, I’m new to H owth – all the other girls seem to know each other, don’t they?”
    She gestured around the room at the girls sitting on the edge of desks and huddled around each other relaying the news from the summer holidays.
    Th e girl looked up at Annabel once more and grunted.
    “I’m Kate, ” she replied.
    “I