Hey everyone!

It's my second time here at the Wattpad Block Party. And I cannot be anymore excited about being a part of such a stellar celebration. A huge Thank You to our amazing host for giving me this opportunity again!

So without any further ado, I present to you my short story 'Work'. Happy reading ☺

Clara McLaren wasn't amused at all.

She was sat on a plane that was supposed to take her back to her home city. But then there were two problems. For one, the flight touched down at the San Francisco International Airport two hours later than scheduled. And now, it just wasn't taking off to its next destination which was Los Angeles. Her home city.

The reason being one of the passengers was still not on the plane. Since all the seats were full and only the seat next to her was vacant, math and logic came at a lightning speed to Clara.

She checked her watch. And frowned. She didn't wanna miss her best friend's lake party. Because Clara didn't even remember the last time she'd strutted around in a bikini 'cause that was a pretty long time ago. Say, a month? Five weeks tops.

***

"This is the final boarding call for Elijah Scane booked on flight UA 6537 to Los Angeles. Please proceed to Boarding Area F Gate 72 immediately."

That announcement at San Francisco International Airport caused Elijah Scane to panic.

"Can't miss this!" he told himself as he heaved his bag over his shoulder and ran faster than ever.

Eye witnesses at the airport saw the handsome young man dashing across the airport like a gust of wind. Elijah Scane let out a sigh of relief when Gate 72 was a stone throw away.

Meanwhile, inside UA 6537, Clara McLaren glanced at her watch, for what she would call, the millionth time and frowned even harder.

"If I am to miss the party today, this passenger better be a hot guy worth missing out anything for." She warned her fate.

Because the last time she sat on a plane, it was next to an old bald man. And none of the artists from the celebrated music industry crooning into her ear phones in full volume could drown the snores that came out of his barbaric nostrils.

But things were different this time. Her poor destiny had apparently given in to her threats because she saw this drop dead gorgeous young man in faded jeans and black swag shirt walking the aisle towards her seat while trying to locate his own.

Clara gawked at him. His tall frame, though veiled with clothes, made it evident that he had a perfect body any woman would want to feel against her. Didn't matter whether he wanted to convey it or not but his dark black eyes spelt sensuality to any girl who would stare. The alluring shape of his lips could easily make him the best kisser ever and his jawline, that had a tinge of facial hair, gave him a raw & intense look. His black hair that flopped slightly over his eyes complimented his attractive features.

Inspite of his inebriating sex appeal, anyone could make out that he was a gentleman.

He was a man to be loved, not lusted on. But sadly, Clara didn't know love. Hence, she felt the other 'L'.

Elijah figured that his seat was next to the girl who surely seemed to be attracted to him. And he too couldn't resist looking at her. She was hot, what with her brown expressive hazel eyes, shoulder length cherry blonde hair and red glossy lips.

Sparks flew from both ends.

All the passengers were seated. The air hostesses, the pilot and the other cabin crew members were at their correct places. Flight UA 6537 finally took off on a fascinating journey to LA. Fascinating only for two particular people on the plane....

"Well, I believe the most interesting stories are born on a flight. And I can be sure of that when it comes to You & I." Elijah flirted, beginning a conversation.

"Oh, is it?" Clara smiled huskily. "Well, it could be true for us."

"Elijah Scane here."

"Clara McLaren."

"I'm confused. Is your name more beautiful or you?" he asked in a velvety voice.

"Speaking of which, I must say you're as sexy as your name," she responded in the same manner.

Elijah chuckled. "So do you live in Frisco?" he asked.

"Nope. Had work here. I live in LA. And you?"

"I live in LA too," he answers in surprise. "We ought to have come across each other before in the city."

"Well, LA is big. And very much populated. So even if we were in the same place anytime, there might have been thousands of people between us," she joked.

"Trust me, if you'd been in the same place as me, there's no way I wouldn't have noticed you. You're not the person I'd want to miss, no matter the crowd," he said with a charming smile.

Clara was smitten. The guy sure knows how to be irresistible.

"You know what, I have the exact words for you," she said.

"But I hold no regrets of not having met you before as we're here now and having a wonderful time?"

"Sure! And I suppose we'd be meeting a lot many times in LA for coffee, dinners..." Mostly dinners.

"We really do think on similar lines," said Elijah. "So, what do you do for a living?"

"If we're getting to know each other, I guess a coffee shop would be a best place to start with," she said coyly.

"If I get to know something about you now, I might be able to do something special for you when we see each other the next time at a coffee shop," he responded in a deep n husky voice, leaning towards her.

Clara bet her heart missed a beat.

"Well, to begin with, I love my work. It fills me with pride and satisfaction. It is something which I'm very much passionate about. At the end of the day, it gives me sheer happiness," Clara chirped.

"That's pretty amazing." Elijah smiled. "To be honest, I feel exactly the same thing about my work. It makes me feel so grateful about having done something really good. We sure want the same things, don't we?"

"Yeah! I think we do have the same likes, dislikes and beliefs," she nods. "So what work do you do?

"I'm a wedding planner." Elijah replied, "I organize weddings, get people married. The joy that I feel by doing so just cannot be explained with words. Love & marriages are the best things to happen to anyone."

THAT caused Clara's flirty smile & cheerfulness to fade away in an instant. She felt as if she were swallowed by a three-headed ghost. As a matter of fact, she'd have preferred being eaten by a three-headed ghost than this.

"What happened to you? Are you okay?" asked Elijah, amused, "It's your turn now."

"Ermm....trust me, you wouldn't want to know what I do...after....what I...told you about....how I feel...about my work," she fumbled.

"Hey, C'mon!" Elijah was startled, "I'm sure you do something great too."

"Well...ah, If you insist, I..I'm a Lawyer," she replied carefully.

"That's good! What lawyer are you? Civil lawyer? Criminal lawyer? Corporate lawyer?" he enquired eagerly.

"A Divorce Lawyer."

"A what?"

Clara bobbed her head.

"Oh," Elijah muttered, feeling dumbfounded. He slumped back on his seat, facing the front. That was huge. Like a really huge shock to him. His eye brows must have disappeared in his hair. He was that speechless.

And in THAT particular moment itself, both of them realized in a jiffy how ridiculously incompatible they were.

The most ever awkward silence followed, the one that makes you feel that ants are building the Hogwarts castle in your stomach.

"So you find happiness and contentment when you get people divorced?" he asked, making the staunch disapproval in his voice quite evident.

"Yep. I don't know how you feel the same when you get people married. I mean, you're basically ruining two lives by getting them hitched," she expressed amazement.

"Nothing can be worse than a divorce. You break lives, I join lives," he countered.

"I make sure my clients have fast divorces. Thus, I don't break lives, you do that. I make life easy for people Love & marriages are crap. Everybody should know that," she quipped.

"I assume that you got a couple divorced in Frisco?" he expressed disdain.

"Yup. I got them divorced 55 hours after their wedding," Clara says proudly. "They had some minor argument so I suggested they better separate if they don't want to have big arguments in future. They agreed. And they now live happily ever after."

Elijah flinched in discomfort as he heard that.

"Okay, I get that it's not amazeballs to you." She leaned back on her seat. "And I assume you got a couple married?"

"I surely did. They won't need a reckless divorce lawyer as theirs is a lifelong bond of love & commitment. "

"Jeez! Spare me the big words. Hope they do, but can't be sure. And reckless is cool," chirps Clara, "Hey, next time I'd ask my clients if you planned their wedding!"

"You don't have to do that 'cause the weddings I plan last for seven lives, not just one," he said, piqued.

"You mean, like, Harry Potter and the Seven Books?"

Elijah gave her a disapproving look.

"Fine," she mumbled. "But one thing I really do understand is weddings are a profit profit business 'cause people spend like insane on having the perfect wedding. You are surely making big bucks, dude," she remarked.

"Planning weddings mean much more to me than just business. I've clearly said that before," he says sharply.

"But there's obviously---"

"You know, I think its best we don't talk anymore." Elijah interrupted her firmly.

"Okay," she shrugs. "Peace off."

The rest of the journey was uncomfortably quiet. Clara could sense that Elijah wanted to walk out of there that very moment. But then, you can't really walk out of a flying aircraft, can you? That's how your freedom gets restricted in the worst imaginable way.

The plane touched down at LAX sometime later. Elijah Scane wanted to permanently erase being in UA 6537 off his life. But the same didn't hold true for Clara McLaren.

"Elijah wait," she called out to him as he exited the airport. "You cannot just walk away like that!"

He stopped but didn't turn around to face her.

"I really don't want this to be a goodbye," she said, walking up to him. "We were good before the whole work thing."

"Exactly. But now we are not good. Can never be."

He was about to walk off but her words stopped him once again.

"I can't believe you are pushing me away because of my choice of career."

"It's not about work at all, Clara," he rectified. "It's about us being poles apart, two conflicting humans. Don't wanna sound rude but your thoughts, beliefs, ideas appall me a lot. We're so different that we shouldn't have met on the first place. Maybe the Gods above are having a bad day today. Which is why they were careless enough to make You & I meet."

"Long story short, we won't be seeing each other at cafés or dinners....?"

"I don't see that happening ever. And I hope you're on the same page as me on this." he replied.

Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Elijah Scane walked away.

Clara McLaren sighed. And she walked away too. In the opposite direction.

~~**~~

Well, that's it from me. Thank you so much for reading!

Hope you liked it. Feel free to share your views 'cause I'm super eager to read and reply to them.

Yours Sincerely,