All Chapters of I Quit Chasing His Flight Path: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"Why are you up so early today?" Brandon Smith asked with a slight frown as he walked out of the bedroom, pulling his work suitcase.I held my mug and watched him carefully attach the four-stripe epaulettes to his white shirt."I couldn't sleep, so I got up to have some coffee," I replied.He walked over to the kitchen island, casually picked up the other cup of coffee I had just poured, and took a sip."Did you stay up late again last night watching those silly shows?" he asked."No.""Melissa Howard, your sleep schedule is becoming increasingly worse," Brandon said, his tone carrying its usual lecturing edge. He lifted his wrist to check his watch. "I'm flying to Frankwell soon. It's a four-day round trip.""Okay."Brandon seemed a little surprised by how overly calm I was today.Normally, before he flew a long international route, I would always get his stomach medicine, melatonin, and neck pillow ready a day early. I'd then pack them into his work suitcase.I would also

Over the next two days, I cleaned out my things bit by bit.I gave my neighbor the plant that I bought for the living room. I also called a secondhand recycling service to take away the rocking chair I had picked out for the balcony.Brandon didn't notice any of the things disappearing from the house. He only thought that my recent quietness was very pleasing to him."If only you had acted like this earlier," he said.In the morning, he sat at the dining table, eating the frozen waffles I had dug out and reheated."It's Wilma's birthday today. A few crew members are getting together for dinner tonight. You're coming with me."I stopped wiping the table. "What would I go for?""Aren't you always complaining that I never take you to meet my coworkers? Everyone's going today, so you can get to know them too."His tone made it sound like he was doing me a favor.In the past, I used to beg Brandon to introduce me to his coworkers. He would say, "They're all pilots. You wouldn't u

The sun in Dalco was blazing, leaving me feeling drained all over.I had rented a traditional-style house by Hirai Lake, having paid six months' rent upfront.The landlady was an older woman. When she saw me dragging my suitcase alone, she kindly helped me carry my luggage inside."Miss, did you come alone to Dalco for a vacation?""I'm not here for a vacation. I'm staying permanently," I said as I placed my books one by one onto the wooden shelf by the windowsill."It's nice to live here. This place is good for the soul," the landlady said with a smile before leaving.I collapsed onto the bed with its clean sheets and looked up at the carved beams on the ceiling.There was no roar of engines, no radar screens, and no waiting up for someone.That night, I got the most peaceful sleep I'd had in eight years.…Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in Reykiford, Brandon was going through something. I didn't want to know about it, but Natalie later told me everything on the phone.

Frightened, Wilma jumped back two steps at Brandon's roar. She had never seen Brandon like this.In front of her, he had always been a composed, well-mannered senior captain who handled everything with ease."Why are you getting mad at me?" Wilma's eyes turned red-rimmed, and her tears threatened to spill over."Is Melissa arguing with you over the northern lights trip again? I told you to give the ticket back to her, but you insisted on dragging me along. Now that she's run away from home, why are you taking your anger out on me?"Brandon glared intently at her. When he saw how utterly wronged she looked, he suddenly felt a wave of nausea churn in his stomach.This was the woman he had cherished and "cared for" for four years.Wilma's first reaction after Melissa left wasn't guilt. It was to quickly distance herself and even shift the blame."You long knew she had left, didn't you?" Brandon stood up and slowly approached her. "That day in the waiting lounge, you deliberately gr

After Brandon left Dalco, my life had completely returned to its usual peacefulness.Natalie told me that Brandon fell seriously ill after he went back. He had a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit and had to spend three days in the hospital on an IV drip.After he was discharged, he applied to the company for a transfer to cargo routes. He no longer flew passenger planes. "I heard it's because every time he walked into the cockpit and saw the empty observation seat, he would just zone out. He almost caused an accident. The company had no choice but to move him to cargo."There was a wistful trace in Natalie's voice, but more than anything, it carried a sense of satisfaction.As for Wilma, without Brandon to shield her, all her privileges at the company were stripped away, and coworkers she had offended in the past piled on one after another. Unable to withstand the exclusion, she quit voluntarily.I felt nothing at all.What became of them was no longer any of my concern.…One