Sofia and Tomás ran through Barajas Airport, bags swinging, hearts pounding. Gate C12. The screen above the door still showed their flight number — Madrid to Barcelona, 08:45. But as they reached the gate, they saw immediately that something was wrong. The door was closed. The gate attendant shook her head. They were fifteen minutes too late. The flight had already departed.
On the taxi ride home that evening — they had bought new tickets for the 11:15 flight, but the damage was done — they tried to work out what had gone wrong. It had started the night before. Tomás had assumed the check-in deadline was 45 minutes before departure, but it was actually 75. Neither of them had checked. Then, that morning, Tomás had left his wallet on the kitchen table. They had gone back to collect it, losing 25 precious minutes.
The taxi driver had not known a quicker route to the airport and had taken the motorway, which was heavy with rush-hour traffic. By the time the taxi pulled away from the kerb outside their flat, they had already lost too much time. By the time they reached Terminal 4, the gate had been open for less than ten minutes. By the time they arrived at gate C12, completely breathless, the last passengers had already boarded.
The cruelest detail was the restaurant. For their fifth wedding anniversary, Sofia had booked a table at a famous seafood restaurant in Barcelona's Barceloneta neighbourhood. The restaurant had confirmed the reservation just that morning. Now Tomás had to call and cancel it.
"At least we have a good story," Sofia said, as they sat in the departure lounge waiting for the 11:15. Tomás did not look entirely convinced.