Here I am finally joining the club ;-) I've made up my mind to give it a shot and write a Huli FF myself...I've NEVER written a FF before in my life *lol* so please be good :-P naaaah just kidding, I want you to be honest...if you think I shouldn't go on just shoot it, kk? ;-) I haven't planned how long it's gonna be yet, I keep tweaking it in the process..
Ok enough blabbing...here we go!!

'Boarding the flight now. Hope they’ll let us land in NY. Letcha know! Xoxoxo’

Hugh flipped off his cell phone and slipped it into his jacket’s pocket, then got up and started to make his way to the gate. He handed his passport to the lady who couldn’t help smiling at the familiar face. He smiled back perfunctorily entering the plane and headed to the business class window seat marked on his boarding pass. He waited for all the passengers to get on board and since nobody came to sit next to him he leaned back in his seat and stretched out his legs, then closed his eyes and waited for the plane to take off from LAX.

Snow had been falling heavily for the past 7 hours in New York and Hugh hadn’t known till the very last moment whether he’d be able to leave. But the snow had let up a bit eventually and so plane had been given the green-light.

Lisa had been in constant touch with him all the while and kept him posted on the weather conditions. She had been in NY for a week now and was slated to leave on her exotic get-away in two days, December 23. Her vacation would surely be a far cry from his own, but then again their lives were different, worlds-apart, always had been.

The notion made Hugh shift uncomfortably in his seat while the flight attendant’s voice interrupted his train of thought and brought him back to reality. They were approaching JFK where they’d be landing in half an hour.

The airliner landed at 5.20 pm East time. Hugh peered out of the window: it was still snowing and the sky was overcast. He could tell that a wind was rising seeing how the snowflakes swirled in all directions. He had a connecting flight to London scheduled 6.40 pm which didn’t leave him much more than an hour. Once he reached the gate he picked out a fairly secluded row of seats and flopped down in one of them.

He took the phone out of his pocket and switched it back on to get an alert of a missed call from Lisa. He cracked a smile and promptly dialed her number.

The phone had barely rung twice when he heard the familiar squeaky voice: 'Heeeey, ‘r ya in NY?’

Something stirred inside him and a shiver ran down his spine. He talked to her everyday and yet she invariably had that effect on him. No matter how desolate he felt, his friend’s voice always managed to put a smile back on his face and warm him soul.

‘Heeey Liz, yep landed a few minutes ago! Saw your missed call, what’s up?’

'Oh good! 'Cause the weather is getting worse again…airports in London have been closed and blizzards are expected to hit NY and the East Coast through the night…Have you checked the flight board? What does it say?’ Lisa spoke fast, there was anticipation in her voice.

'Oh bloody hell! Nope haven’t checked anything yet…but wait, the board is just above here, hold on a sec…snap it’s already marking a delay, though it doesn’t say how much! Damn it!’ Hugh snorted with annoyance.

'Oh that’s booty…no wonder though. It’s a helluva awful weather out there in England. Guess you should go and ask, hopefully they’ll tell you more.'

'Yeah..K then I’ll call ya back and letcha know. Thanks for now…bye Liz'

'No prob! Fingers crossed..bye!'

As soon as he finished the call Hugh walked over to the information desk. There was a huge line and people seemed to be all worked-up. Reconciled to a long wait he joined the line, but ten minutes had barely passed when an announcement rang out over the loudspeaker: ‘We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but snowbound we’ve been forced to cancel numerous flights’- the voice rolled off a long list of destinations and London was amongst those- we’ll provide you with further information as soon as possible’.

‘Bummer. What am I gonna do now?’ Hugh muttered to himself. Almost as a reflex he found himself calling Lisa. The phone, however, rang off the hook and he felt a twinge of disappointment that he quickly brushed away. He needed to call Jo and let her know he wasn’t coming.

‘Hugh? I was just about to call you, all the airports are closed here!’ she said with a hint of concern in her voice.

‘Sorry I didn’t call you earlier but it’s been quite a hassle as you may easily guess...Pretty much all the flights have been cancelled so I’m stuck in NY. It’s stormy over here and they might soon close this airport as well. It seems there’s no way I’m gonna be able to fly out today…’

‘Yeah I figured…so what are you gonna do? It’s gone kinda late by now on your side too…’ Jo asked. It was kind of a rhetorical question as there wasn’t much for him to do other than spending the night in NY and wait it out.

‘I’m gonna ask for a hotel nearby, there’s plenty around here’ he said without hesitation. His answer or maybe the way he said that sounded rehearsed, but after all that is what he was going to do: look for a hotel.

‘Oh sure! Ok then, Hugh, I’m gonna go to sleep now…it’s quarter after 11 over here…’

‘Yeah, I’ll try to catch an early flight tomorrow. Not sure about the first part, but yeah I’ll definitely be home tomorrow sometime!’

‘Ok, I’ll talk to you in the morning then, bye!

‘Say good night to the kids, bye Jo’ No sooner had he hung up than his phone rang again. Hugh glared down at the display and checked the ID: it said Lisa.

‘Hey Hugh, sorry I didn’t pick up the call earlier but I’d to rush upstairs and forgot to bring the phone with me’ Lisa said apologizing to Hugh.

‘Oh no prob Liz, I figured. By the way…guess what? I’m snowed up!!! Geeze..all flights to London got cancelled so I’m stuck here till tomorrow’. He sounded thrown off.

‘Oh…I’m sorry dear…what a glitch!...’ she trailed off for an instant not sure whether to go ahead and make the offer… ‘Well the storm is getting worse and you don’t wanna run the risk to bunk at the airport, right? I’d say you hop into the first cab at the ready and come over to my place!’ There she was. The question was out.