Waiting For Flight 1103
He was waiting for flight 1103.
He didn't even realize anyone was standing next to him until she said "Seattle?" and he nodded.
"Is the flight delayed?" she asked, and he nodded again. He wasn't trying to be rude, he just wanted to be left alone. This was supposed to be the day he was leaving everything he knew behind. It wasn't time to make a new friend.
She said "Don't you love how airports bring people together?" and he nodded once more, hoping she'd find the conversation less than stimulating and move on.
"...perfect strangers" she continued. "People who'd normally never talk. But here we are, stuck, with nothing to do but wait, and somehow it's like we become one big family. Like we're all on the same team." Again, he nodded, knowing he'd never see this woman again once the flight began boarding.
"You're a quiet one, aren't you?" she prodded. "That's ok, I do enough talking for two." and she blushed, only slightly, shifting her eyes downward for just a moment to look away before returning to meet his stare head on as if with renewed confidence. Her green eyes intrigued him, but he tried not to let his curiosity show.
"Traveling far?" she asked, and he raised his eyebrows with an exaggerated nod. Botswana certainly qualifies as far.
"And you're traveling alone?" she asked, as once more he nodded.
"Looks like you've already seen a lot of miles..."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he wondered while debating whether he was more curious or annoyed with her. "Is she saying I look old? God, that's rude" he thought, as, in the background, a delay for the flight was announced. "Hhhmmmpt!" Boarding shortly indeed.
"Boarding shortly my ass" she said. "Here, hold this..." and with that, she handed him her jacket and strutted off.
"Oh, what a marvelous ass" he thought. He couldn't help watching it swish side to side as she quickly walked off to who knows where. Suddenly, she stopped and spun around to face him from across the terminal.
"I thought so" she said as he started to blush, averting his eyes to pretend he wasn't staring. With a triumphant grin, she turned again and continued to walk away, this time, with an even more pronounced bounce to her step.
She returned as quickly as she'd left; her red hair bobbing as she approached with a cup of coffee in each hand. Her cheeks had a hint of red that drew him in.
"Cream and sugar?" she asked, and he nodded as she was already handing him the cup in her tiny right hand.
"Thought so. You're the sweet type. I have a knack for just knowing these things. Anyway, I like mine black. Life's simple pleasures, you know?"
She was a short but curvy woman, an inch or two over five feet at best, with piercing eyes and a smile that stretched from ear to ear, though her mouth was rarely closed long enough to spot it.
"Yeah, I'm a short one" she said as he caught him doing a quick head to toe visual sweep of her body while she handed him the coffee.
"God, now I'm being rude" he thought as he took his first sip.
She said "It's ok to look you know" and she went on to make an analogy about art galleries and grocery stores. "I'm no Picasso, but it's fine to look all the same. A trip through the produce department is something else if you know what I mean. A man's got to earn his melons, but looking's fine. There's no law against that, especially not when it's a gentleman who's looking."
He blushed again. What else could he do? He'd been acting like anything but a gentleman.
"So I said it looks like you've put a lot of miles on that thing" she reminded, while pointing at his backpack.
Feeling relieved that she wasn't judging his character, he nodded with a smile even though he'd only recently bought it at a thrift store. He had no idea where it had been, and at this point, he was having a hard time imagining where he was taking it now.
"Women like a man well traveled" she said while inspecting his baggage. "You learn things when you travel. You learn about the world, and you end up learning about yourself along the way." With that, she looked him in the eye as if she knew that was precisely how he felt. Then she blushed once more, and turned away, taking a step back to stand beside him.
Ahh! Finally, this strange woman was quiet. Initially, the silence was good, but it led to awkwardness as they just stood there. Ten minutes passed, though it felt like an hour. All he'd wanted was to be left alone until he could get on the plane and relax. It would be a short flight to Seattle, then a quick transfer to his flight out of the country. And yet, he enjoyed her presence, even if he wasn't sure why.
"Do you mind?" she asked, as she ran her fingers down the inside of his wrist, resting her hand in his. He couldn't believe he didn't jump, but he didn't. She caught him so off guard that he didn't even move.
Her small hand was very warm. He wrapped his fingers softly around hers.
"God I hate traveling alone." She said with a sigh. "The world feels so big sometimes, like it could swallow me up and nobody'd know." She said it felt like she wasn't even alive sometimes. "I just need a touch to know I'm still here."
He didn't know what to do. Rather than think about it, he gripped her fingers a little tighter because he'd felt that way too, but how can one come right out and say such a thing?
She looked at him through the corner of her eye as they stood there, side by side, and he smiled. He wanted to put his arm around her - this perfect stranger - but he didn't. Instead, he slowly ran his thumb along her fingers as they continued to hold hands. For what seemed like an eternity, they just... stood there.
He slowly nursed his cup of coffee until he finished it, at which point he reached to place the cup in a nearby trash can, but she took it from him. "I'm done too" she said, and clearly she was. She let go of his hand and swiped her jacket from his shoulder as she started to walk away.
"This is crazy" he thought. "I've got to say something... anything..." But before he could say a word, she turned to face him one last time and said...
"Don't."
She lobbed the two empty coffee cups into the trash can.
And she walked away.
Next: Bitch-Box Window
The apartment was quite small and only had one window, but then again, it only had one room, unless you count the bathroom, which her wet, naked body was now dripping water all over...
...keep reading?