The Emirates Pilot | طيار الإمارات
"She flies for Emirates, crossing the world. He's the passenger she keeps meeting. At thirty thousand feet, they finally connect."
The Emirates Pilot
طيار الإمارات
I've flown millions of miles.
Dubai to everywhere, everywhere back. The sky is my office.
He keeps appearing in first class.
I'm Captain Layla.
Forty-two, Emirati, one of the few female captains at Emirates. The cockpit is my kingdom.
Richard travels constantly.
He's fifty.
British, investment banker. London, Hong Kong, Dubai. Always my routes.
"Captain, excellent landing."
"Thank you, Mr. Harrison."
"Richard. Please."
It becomes a pattern.
Every few weeks, my flight, his seat. We exchange greetings. Nothing more.
Until Dubai.
"May I buy you coffee? At the airport?"
"Captains don't socialize with passengers."
"What about former passengers? My trip is over."
"Then you're not a passenger anymore."
Coffee becomes dinner.
He's intelligent, humble about his wealth. Listens more than he speaks.
"Why do you fly?"
"Because above the clouds, there are no borders."
"That's beautiful."
"That's freedom."
"You're different from other pilots."
"How many pilots do you know?"
"None like you."
"Flattery won't get you upgrades."
"I'm in first class. Where would I upgrade to?"
"The cockpit. With me."
The first kiss is in a Dubai hotel.
His room, city glittering below.
"This is unexpected," he says.
"I prefer spontaneous over planned."
"Like turbulence?"
"Like adventure."
"I want more than random flights."
"What do you want?"
"To be wherever you're landing."
"That's everywhere."
"Then I'll be everywhere."
He undresses me while jets take off outside.
The rumble of engines, the thrill of altitude.
"Beautiful."
"Richard—"
"Captain Layla. Let me fly with you."
We make love while Dubai sparkles.
The future's city, our future beginning.
"Ya habibi—Richard—"
"Right there?"
"Aiwa—take me higher—"
Two years later
He moved to Dubai.
I still fly. He's always waiting when I land.
"Happy?" he asks.
"Best destination I ever found."
"Where's that?"
"You."
Alhamdulillah.
For skies that connect.
For passengers who wait.
For flights that become love.
The End.