Chapter 2: Headphones

He spent a good portion of the flight second-guessing himself: What the hell was he doing? He'd never been overseas. He'd never even been to Halifax.

He'd purchased noise-cancelling headphones from a vending machine in the airport. They were overpriced, but that wasn't really a problem now. Besides, they were worth every penny. Having worked in offices for the majority of his adult life, he'd always had headphones or earbuds of some kind, but only now that he'd spent 12 hours locked in a flying can, one row in front of two young, rowdy brothers, did he realize the value of active noise-cancellation. At least they weren't chair-kickers.

When he transferred flights in Zürich, he rearranged his carry-on to accommodate the bulky cans.