Gathering Storm by Jess Parry Read Free Book Online

Siobhan got up pulled her little overnight bag down and went into the bathroom to freshen up. Brushing her hair in the mirror, she took a moment to really look at herself.
    Her grandmother always called her little fairy, at first it was because she was such a tiny child, but when she hit 14, she hit a growth spurt shooting up to almost 5’8”, she was still shorter than Sarah, but wasn’t complaining. Her hair was shoulder length with waves that could be unruly and all over the place, but today looked to be behaving quite well. Her eyes were a deep moss green surrounded by dark lashes. Her mouth wasn’t pouty, but it was a little wider than she thought it should be. Her chin came to a slight point with a little dent – that came from her dad. She still couldn’t see what the fuss was about when people said she was beautiful, cute maybe, but stop dead in your tracks with your mouth open responses were for Sarah not her.
    Putting her makeup back into her bag, she opened the door and made her way to her seat. Sarah grabbed her make up bag, explaining she had packed hers in the suitcase like an idiot and headed to the bathroom. Emerging a few minutes later looking as breathtaking as ever, Siobhan looked over at Jason and noticed he was watching Sarah make her way back to them.
    Clearing her throat, Jason blinked and then looked at Siobhan smiling he squeezed her hand.
    “When the hell are we going to land” Sarah called as she plopped back down into her seat “I’m so over the airplane, I want to be on the ground”
    As if on cue, by Sarah’s ranting, the captain came on stating they were beginning the decent. Tightening her seatbelt, Siobhan grabbed Jason’s hand as this part of the flight always gave Siobhan shivers. As the plane would begin descending, she always felt like she was falling into the unknown and a crippling fear would close around her. Darkness would begin to close around her and she would feel a tightening in her chest.
    As a child, she would unbuckle her seatbelt and climb into her father’s lap whenever they flew and began their descent. The first time she had done it, the flight attendant had gotten up to see what was wrong. Her father had started to put her back into her seat, but noticed how pale she was and the wild look in her eyes. He’d shaken his head at the attendant and pulled Siobhan into his lap , he had wrapped his arms around her tightly . He had kissed the top of her head and whispered to her everything was fine and if she counted down from 10 by the time she hit 1, she would feel the wheels touch ground.
    Closing her eyes and squeezing Jason’s hand, she felt Sarah reach over grabbing her other hand.
    “10”…”9”…”8” they began counting together , Siobhan felt a little of that pressure start to dissipate from her as her friends support gave her strength.
    “Siobhan, open your eyes, we’re here” Jason whispered into her ear as he undid her seatbelt.
    Opening her eyes she looked out the window to see the glass walls of the airport and several other planes pulling in to dock. Standing, they made their way out of the plane and through customs.
    At the luggage pick up there was a gentleman holding a sign with their names on it.
    “Wow, your dad got us a car here” Sarah exclaimed
    Feeling the blush heat her face, Siobhan looked over at the driver and smiled.
    “God, I love it when you blush” Jason whispered in her ear as he kissed her heated cheek
    “Hi, um…we’re the group you’re looking for” Siobhan said to the driver
    “Aye, welcome to Ireland” the driver responded in a lilting voice taking one of Siobhan’s bags and one of Sarah’s bags. They followed him out to the line of cars waiting to pick up passengers traveling home or visiting. Storing their luggage, they climbed inside as the driver pulled out into the busy traffic . The car headed away from the bustling cabs waiting to squeeze into the spot the car left.

Looking out the window, Siobhan