<a class="postlink" href="http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc465/saphiraah1/airport.jpg">[ img ]</a><br/><br/>The sun pounded and abused the tarmac, causing shimmering waves of heat to ripple over the black pavement in the distance. The heat was like a physical weight. Naturally, this was the case on a day like this.<br/><br/>The shift only started an hour ago, and already the three senior members of staff in the Dallas Airport tarmac crew had called in to report personal emergencies. Johnson's mother went in for emergency surgery, Boldger's wife was having her baby 2 months early, and Avery was hit by a car while biking her way to work. The remaining crew were all new and highly inexperienced. They'd been sending luggage to the wrong planes since Senior Manager Brant Morris arrived for his shift.<br/><br/>Even now, he was gritting his teeth to keep from shouting into the telephone currently pressed to his ear in an iron grip. Veins stood out on his neck and his face flushed with irritation as he tried to patiently explain, yet again, how to scan the labels on each suitcase and see that each case made it where it was supposed to go.<br/><br/>So occupied was he, that he failed to watch closely as the newest member of the crew he was personally supervising fueled an executive jet parked on the tarmac. The young man concentrated with obvious effort, mentally reviewing each and every step as he completed the task for the first time.<br/><br/><br/>*****<br/><a class="postlink" href="http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/sportytraci29/sandra_bullock_02.jpg">[ img ]</a><br/><br/><br/>Shanan London sat at yet another airport bar, perched gracefully on the stool. The drink on the bar before her sat mostly forgotten as the majority of her attention was directed to the tablet before her. Stylus in hand, she rapidly flicked from application to application, often pausing to type a note here and there. The sounds of the chaotic airport failed to penetrate into her attention as she worked. Her only breaks from the tablet were to look up at her glass. Always as she sipped, her eyes made a slow circuit around the room, never resting on any one detail for long. It was all the same. Just like every other trip.<br/><br/>Well... almost the same. This time, there was this head ache. She never got headaches. She never took sick days. Which is why she failed to pack so much as asprin with her on these over-night business trips.<br/><br/>"Gonna be a long day..." She muttered to herself as she lifted the glass to her lips and sipped yet again.