They got the last two seats back to Los Angeles. Blank faced travelers wearily entered the jet
for the last flight of the day and trudged up the aisle. They
had originally been scheduled to leave on the 5:35, but he couldn’t seem to “get it together” in
time to get to the airport so she had to scramble to re-ticket. She felt frazzled and desperate. All she wanted was to get home to her
apartment. To be alone. “This is flight 173 bound for Los Angeles
with a scheduled arrival time of 10:17.
If Los Angeles is not your final destination, please let a flight attendant
know.” The trip had been a disaster. He was somehow still oblivious to her radical
change of heart. He now sat next to her with
his knit cap, sweat pants and Vans. He
looked a decade younger than his 28 years.
Up until last night, she had thought that was cute. Now she couldn’t wait to get off this plane
and get away from him as soon as the flight landed at exactly 10:17 PM.
He had adopted the SoCal stoner/brain damaged vibe that was
so en vogue with seemingly every male in the 75-mile radius of Los
Angeles. This was despite the fact that
he was originally from Boise. It was all
part of the new identity he had created for himself. The bored flight attendant made a monotone safety
announcement into the intercom. He
stared at his phone playing a game slouched in his seat saying “I like this
game because, it’s like… a puzzle… heh heh heh!” Oh God.
The swiftness with which her feelings about him had changed shocked even
her. Just one day ago she found him
completely cute, his childlike manner completely endearing. Now all she wanted was for him to take his
leg away from brushing up against hers.
They had traveled to the Bay Area for her college roommate’s
wedding. She had expected all of her
friends to warm up to him as she had and think he was “darling”. He was so fun and spontaneous. However, in this case “fun and spontaneous”
had meant him getting high on the loading dock with a busboy while she stood
alone on the dance floor looking for him.
Her friends had been polite. They
were always polite. One even suggested
that “he seems nice”, though it was obviously a gesture more than an actual
feeling. She felt a shudder of
embarrassment when she realized how others saw him. How they saw her. After that, she could not recapture the
flicker of attraction that had blown out.
It had all happened in an instant.
After the reception, they had stayed at her roommate’s apartment
instead of a hotel. Boxes containing her
childhood years were stacked in the far corner awaiting storage. The only remaining furniture was the double
bed and kitchen table. Sound echoed
around the nearly empty apartment. There
was a chill. She had curled up on the
bed and faced the wall away from him, waiting him out to leave her alone. He pressed himself against her back
presenting his erection against her backside as an invitation she refused to acknowledge. He made small kisses on her neck as she stared
at a Monet print leaning against the wall, hoping he would stop. She pretended to sleep. Eventually his stroking of her had matched
the same rhythm of his breathing and he lulled himself to sleep. In the morning she carefully got out of bed
without waking him, moving into the kitchen like a cat burglar.
She had been short with him all afternoon. He hadn’t seemed to notice even when she
thought she might scream when he caused them to miss their scheduled flight. How was it possible for him to take 90
minutes to shower and pack a small overnight bag? They were late leaving the city and then
traffic had trapped them. She
frantically had gone through every permutation of potential return flights on
her phone while he had advised her to “chill out”. It had been a quiet wait at the airport for
their later flight. The hum of the
engines picked up urgency as they rolled down the runway. He was staring at his phone, his mouth
slightly open. A small cartoon character
hopped across the screen. He smiled and
made a small laugh. “Heh Heh Heh” He leaned his head against her shoulder and
she stiffened reflexively. She sat
absolutely upright. Another announcement
crackled over the intercom. “Please
prepare for takeoff.” She looked at the clock on her phone. 9:24.
53 minutes to landing. All she
needed to do was make it to 10:17.
She
could make it.
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