John was running late. His flight was scheduled to leave in less than thirty minutes and he’d yet to make it through the TSA line.
“Excuse me,” said John, brushing past a family of four in line. He held his briefcase over his head as he maneuvered through the crowd, a polite nod and a smirk accompanied each step forward as he grew closer to the front of the line. He stopped when he reached a woman who was sitting atop her carry-on with her feet stretched across the length of the line. “Excuse me, Ma’am. I’m in a bit of a rush.”
“So am I,” she replied, brushing her red hair behind her ear. “I’ve been watching you. You’re quite rude.”
“Listen, I’m going to miss my flight.”
“I have a feeling everyone on the plane would be better off.”
“I don’t have time for this.” He stepped over her legs and continued towards the front of the line.
After passing through the scanners and collecting his belongings on the other side, he strutted towards the gates of his flight, his briefcase in one hand, while the other held up his pants as his unbuckled belt clanged with every step. When he arrived to his gate, he looked down at his watch and noticed he had ten minutes to spare.
He walked into a nearby coffee shop, where a woman with silver hair down to her shoulders was standing in line as she gazed up at the menu.
“If she’s taking her time I’d like to place an order,” said John. “One small black coffee. Hurry up, too. My flight is almost boarding.”
“You must be pretty important,” said the woman in line ahead of him. “It’s not every day I meet someone so important.” She had a grin across her face that revealed her sarcasm.
“I’m a regional manager of the world’s largest fast-food chain,” said John, buckling his belt. “So yeah, I’m pretty important.”
“Which one?” she asked. “Of course,” she pointed up to the name of the coffee shop posted over the menu, “none of the fast-food chains I know of come close to the popularity of Java Bean Paradise.”
“We have coffee too,” he snapped. “It’s nothing special. Cashier, how about that cup?” The cashier placed a cup onto the counter and he fished a wrinkled five-dollar bill out of his wallet. “Keep the change.”
“Big spender,” said the woman. “You must be first class.”
“There weren’t any seats left.”
He grabbed the cup and drank it as he walked towards the gate for his flight. With five minutes left, he found an open seat and sipped his coffee. As the plane began to board, he got up, tossed his cup out, and got in line.
“Fancy seeing you here,” said a voice from behind him. He turned around to see the woman from the coffee shop. “How was your coffee?”
“Could’ve been better,” he replied.
John showed his boarding pass to the attendant. As he walked down the long hallway leading into the plane, he checked over his shoulder. Soon the crowd of people left the woman from the coffee shop trailing too far behind to see.
He walked down the cramped aisle, until he found his row and put his briefcase in the overheard compartment.
“Pardon me,” said a voice from behind him. “This is my row.”
He turned around to see the woman who’d blocked his path at the TSA line.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said. “I’m happy you made it in time. I was really worried about you.”
“I bet,” replied John. He sighed and looked at his ticket for the middle seat.
“Can you put my carry-on in the overhead?”
The woman sat down at the window seat and placed her purse on the floor in front of her. John sat in the middle; his arms folded, and closed his eyes.
“We meet again,” said a familiar voice. John opened his eyes to see the woman from the coffee shop taking the aisle seat beside him. “You’ve been in such a rush we haven’t had time to be properly introduced. I’m Mary.”
“It’s only a two hour flight,” replied John. “We don’t need to introduce ourselves.”
“Mary,” said the woman sitting by the window, “I’m Allison.” She stretched her arm across John to shake Mary’s. “I see you’ve had a run-in with my nameless pal here too.”
“John. My name is John. You both happy now?”
“John is the regional manager of a big fast-food chain,” said Mary.
“Small world,” said Allison. “I’m CEO of Java Bean Paradise. What fast-food chain do you work with?”
“You’re,” John shook his head, “what? Why aren’t you in first class?”
“This flight booked up right away, my assistant did what she could. What’s your excuse?”
“Same thing,” replied John. “I don’t have an assistant, though.”
“You just weren’t fast enough,” said Mary. “But lucky you, now you’re stuck between two beautiful ladies.”
“Yeah, lucky me,” said John.
Allison watched as the luggage was tossed onto the conveyor belt and loaded into the plane. She noticed her suitcase, passed down by her mother, with its worn leather siding, and scribbled marker from when she was a child intertwined with the branding prints on the brown cloth, tossed onto the belt as if didn’t carry a lifetime of memories. It’s traversal onto the plane was nothing more than a mindless task by someone who’d done it a thousand times before.
“This plane should’ve left already,” said John. She turned and caught a smile from Mary on the other side of him.
“I heard the two flight attendants talking when I went to the restroom,” said Mary. “I think we may be sitting here a while.”
“Then they need to let us know,” said John.
“Wife and kids waiting at home?” asked Mary.
“No,” John pinched the bridge of his nose, “nothing like that. It’s been a long trip is all.”
“Business or pleasure?” asked Mary.
“You’re kidding…” John’s voice trailed off as he closed his eyes.
“What about you, Allison?” asked Mary.
“Business. Meetings and the like. We’re expanding overseas faster than we thought we would. I’ve spent the last four days in boardrooms. What were you doing in Chicago, Mary?”
“My husband and I would go every year to visit our friends. They live in one of those tall apartment buildings that look out over the whole world. This year was the first I went without him.” Allison noticed Mary wipe a tear from her right eye as one from her left traveled down and dripped from her chin onto her shirt. “I’m not one to break tradition. It was nice to have the company for the two weeks I was there.”
“I’m so sorry about your husband,” said Allison. “Sounds like you had a good time.”
“It was delightful.” Mary sighed and got up from her seat. “I shouldn’t have ordered the medium.”
When Mary returned Allison poked John in the arm.
“I need to get out,” said Allison.
John pressed the power button for the screen on the back of the seat in front of him. There wasn’t much he could interact with, aside from the options menu to adjust the volume and brightness. He felt around the armrest of his chair and noticed the headphone jack.
“Going to watch a movie?” asked Mary.
“Might as well,” he replied. “This flight was supposed to be two hours and change, but we’ve been sitting here forever.”
“I don’t think you’ll be able to watch anything until take-off.”
John rolled his eyes and nodded his head forward. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and used the dark screen to check his hair in the reflection.
“No kids, no wife. How come?”
“I’ve been too busy,” he said. His hair was cut short on the sides and slicked back on top. “You don’t get to be where I am by wasting time.”
“Seems Allison might be in the same boat you are.”
“What makes you say that?” he asked, patting down a stray hair.
“There’s no ring on her finger.”
John got up from his seat when Allison returned.
“I spoke with one of the attendants,” said Allison. “We’ll be taking off soon. Not much longer and we’ll be back in New York.”
“Finally,” said John.
The asphalt turned into a grey blur out the window as the plane drove forward and left all of Allison’s business meetings behind. She felt butterflies swirling around her chest as the plane lifted off the ground. She turned and saw John looking straightforward, all the color drained from his face and replaced with a nervous expression. She made eye contact with Mary, who was looking past John and seemingly trying to get a view out the window. She pushed her head back into her seat, to give Mary a better view, as the world below became a distant and beautiful quilt.
“Drinks?”
Allison looked over to see a flight attendant standing in the aisle with the drinks cart.
“Nothing for me,” said Mary.
“I’m fine,” said John.
“I’ll take a glass of wine,” said Allison. “Whatever white you have will be fine.”
“Let me pay for it,” said John. He pulled his wallet from his coat pocket and handed a card over to the attendant.
“Since he’s buying I’ll have one too,” said Mary.
Allison laughed and nodded to John when he looked over and rolled his eyes.
“Hers too,” he said to the attendant. “And,” he sighed, “I may as well have one. I think I’m going to need it.”
“It’s about to be a party in row ten,” said Mary, shaking her hands in the air.
Allison accepted her plastic cup and bottle as John passed them over to her. She unlatched the small table from the seat in front of her and placed her cup down, then opened the bottle. She glanced over to see John and Mary both doing the same.
“This is a good start, John,” said Mary. “Maybe you’ll win us both over by the end of the flight.”
John laughed as he filled his cup.
“How about a toast,” he said.
“To what?” asked Allison.
“To John’s pockets,” said Mary. “May they run forever deep!”
“I guess that’ll do,” said John, raising his drink.
They all pushed their plastic cups together in front of John and took their first sips. Allison looked out at the clouds as she cradled the cup in her hands. She tried not to think about the calls she had to make when she got home, or the meeting she had to attend the next morning. She concentrated on the wisps of white out the window, and how she was able to cut through them as they cast enormous shadows onto the world below. She took a sip from her cup, it was sweet, and although the bottle was small it somehow felt endless, as if she could drink from it forever.
“Anything good out there?” She turned to see John trying to get a peek out the window.
“There’s a whole world,” she replied, “chock full of good.”
“Listen,” he said, followed by a cough as if he were choking on the words in his throat, “I’m sorry about earlier. That wasn’t right, what I did.”
“We both made it in time,” she replied. She raised her cup. “You’re off to a decent start for making amends.”
John nodded and turned to the small screen in front of him.
“Can you believe they charge eight bucks to watch a movie on this flight?” he said.
“Mr. Deep Pockets is complaining about eight dollars?” said Mary.
“Mr. Deep Pockets just spent over thirty on three doll sized bottles of wine,” he replied.
The three of them erupted in laughter.
“Speaking of which,” he placed his bottle into his empty cup and latched the table back up into the seat, “I’d better hit the restroom. Anyone else want me to toss their cups?”
“That’d be nice,” said Mary, handing him her trash.
Allison sipped the last few drops from her cup then handed everything to John as he stood in the aisle reaching over Mary.
She noticed Mary watching John as he walked away.
“Not bad,” said Mary, turning to Allison with a sly grin on her face.
Allison chuckled and shook her head.
“Tell me more about your trip,” said Allison.
“Oh there isn’t much to say,” replied Mary. “At my age it’s nice to get out and see friends and just have that time together. My husband, he liked to get out and do all the exploring, no matter how many times we’d been there he always seemed to find somewhere new to go. Would’ve been fifty-six years together this August. We met in high school, freshman year, and were married the summer after graduation.”
“It can’t be easy to lose someone after so long.”
“I miss him, of course, but I feel blessed to have so many wonderful memories. He would’ve given John quite the wallop if he’d been in line with me getting coffee,” she paused for a moment, “but I know John didn’t mean to be so rude, he’s impatient, not cruel. Robert, my husband, was also quite impatient. He could never sit still for too long without wanting to go on an adventure. When he retired, I made him a promise, that we’d never sit for too long, and that we’d go on as many adventures as we could afford. Our lives, raising four children,” she shook her head and raised her eyebrows up into her forehead. “That was the biggest adventure.”
“You’re truly lucky,” said Allison. “I’ve yet to have many adventures outside of work.”
“Well that’s no good. You must be,” Mary squinted her eyes, as she looked Allison up and down, “mid-thirties?”
“Yes, actually. Thirty-four.”
“You and John are quite the pair. Both of you consumed so much with work you’ve forgotten to make lives for yourselves outside of it.”
“I know, it’s just that it’s not easy when you’re so busy and — “
“Excuses,” said Mary. “They’re too easy to come by for some people. Say you have a billion dollars, a dozen houses, and a parking lot of cars, what does that mean to you when you close your eyes at night? You can’t see any of it, sure you can worry about it, but it can all be replaced.”
“Did I miss anything?” said John, standing in the aisle as he waited for Mary to get up.
“You were gone quite a while,” said Allison, relieved at his return.
“There was a line,” he replied.
“And you waited?” asked Mary. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He smiled. “Now let me sit down.”
John turned off the screen on the seat in front of him and yawned. He stretched as best he could with the limited space he had, and then turned his attention to Allison.
“Is she sleeping?” asked Mary.
“Looks like it,” he replied.
“Poor thing. Must be exhausted.”
“Can’t blame her. CEO of Java Bean Coffee, I bet she kept herself busy while in Chicago.”
“What about you? Was it really all business?”
“Heh,” he shrugged, “for the most part. There were a few people there I’ve seen before, we do this big meeting with everyone once a year. Cocktails afterwards, big dinner, all that. I was only there for three days, with the big meeting on the second, and book-ended with smaller presentations the other days.”
“At least you got to have some fun. Allison was all work. It’d sure be nice if someone offered to take her out to dinner, maybe show her a night on the town.”
“What’re you saying?”
“Don’t be so naïve, John. She’s a beautiful woman, and you’re,” she smirked, “handsome. Consider treating her to dinner a way to truly make up for your actions earlier, for both her sake and mine.”
“Don’t tell me you’d tag along to the dinner…”
“You’re not my type,” she said, followed by a hearty chuckle. “You both deserve a bit of happiness outside of the office. My fondest memories all include Robert and my family; you should have memories like that too.”
“Excuse me,” said a flight attendant from the aisle. “The fasten seat-belt signs will be on shortly. Can you please wake her,” she pointed to Allison, “and let her know?”
“Will do,” said John, nodding his head.
“Wake her up with a poke to the shoulder,” said Mary, “I know she’s pretty but this isn’t a fairy tale.”
John shook his head and nudged Allison until she woke up.
“W — what is it?” said Allison, followed by a yawn that passed to John and then to Mary.
“We’re going to be landing soon,” said John. “You need to buckle your seat-belt.”
“We’re there already?” asked Allison. “I was having such a wonderful dream, too.”
“In your dream were you stuck in an office staring at a screen?” asked Mary, looking over as she finagled with her belt.
“Ha,” Allison clicked her belt then looked out the window, “no, there was no office, or desk, or appointments. It’s getting fuzzy now, but I remember feeling soft, cozy. I was warm and not stressing over what had to be done later that night or the next day.”
“Sounds like you got a free vacation,” said Mary, “wish I had dreams like that. I don’t want to even think about the bills I’m going to see when I get home from this trip.”
Allison watched as the world out the window grew closer and closer. She picked up her purse from the floor and held it to her chest as the plane landed and rushed along the runway.
She looked out to the aisle as people began filing off the plane. Soon it’d be her turn and she got up to stand with John and Mary.
“Well,” said Mary, “it’s been a pleasure. Learn to take a break once in a while. And,” she nudged John, “don’t fill up on the bread.” With that, she disappeared into the line.
John got into the aisle and fetched his briefcase and Allison’s carry-on from the overhead, then motioned for Allison to go in front of him.
“What’d she mean about not filling up on bread?” she asked, accepting her carry-on.
“Inside joke,” he replied. “Feel like I’ve known that woman longer than my own parents.”
“She’s quite insightful, I’ll give her that.”
“Want to look for our luggage together? I mean, if you’re going to be waiting, just saying, I could use the company.”
“Sure.”
The luggage carousel spun round and round. Allison looked up to John, then back to the luggage, wondering what kind of suitcase he’d use. She didn’t need anything flashy, despite being able to afford it, and enjoyed packing the suitcase she’d seen her mother use so many times as a child.
“What’s yours look like?” asked John.
“Brown cloth,” she replied. “Covered with marker.”
“Why is that?”
“It was my mom’s. I’d cover the walls with crayons as a kid, and the counter-tops with pens. Eventually the only space left was her luggage, and it was the only thing I drew on that she didn’t yell at me for. I think it reminded her of me when she’d leave for her trips, and in that way it reminds me of her, if that makes sense.” She looked up to him to see his eyes on the carousel.
“I see it,” he said, and walked forward to grab it. “Here.” He placed it down in front of her. “You were quite the artist. Wish my luggage had some memories attached to it.”
“What’s yours look like?”
He held up his black briefcase. “Pretty much this.”
She stepped past him and to the carousel. “Is that it coming up?”
“Yup,” he replied, joining her at her side.
Allison pulled the suitcase off the conveyor belt and to the ground.
“You carrying bricks in that thing?” she asked. “I thought you were a regional manager.”
“Papers, suits,” he scratched the back of his head. “Books. Thanks for grabbing it.” He popped the handle up and pulled it out. “When you have time, I know you’re busy, would you like to get dinner?”
She smiled. “I’d like that.” She looked up and him, then noticed someone waving behind him. It was Mary, with a big grin on her face.
“Who’re you looking at?” John turned around but Mary had already gone.
“I think it was Cupid.”
Thank you for reading this week’s entry of my newsletter. I hope you enjoyed! Please share with friends and family if you wish.
If you’re looking for more reading options, I have a book available on Kindle as well as various serials on Kindle Vella.
The Centennial Courtship on Kindle.
Abigail Bloom's life is thrown into a sweeping romance when a new deputy rolls into the small town of Brooks Landing, but when her ex-husband enters back into her life, she's unsure if she can hold onto her new chance at true love. A break-in in the small town causes Abigail's ex to suspect the new deputy - Can she trust her new love interest or is he using her as an alibi?
Available on Kindle Vella:
John Prince's life in Peak Creek seems perfect. He's been seeing Cassandra Queen for six months and hopes to move in together. However, Cassandra resists the change, putting John's romantic future into question. When an opportunity to advance at work opens up, John feels his luck turning around. Katie Young, a recent transfer at the firm, has other plans. Their rivalry collides when they have to co-present during a company retreat.
The Fantasy of Love: A Romance Story Collection
The Fantasy of Love is a collection of stories all about romance, from first dates to anniversaries.
My Link Tree (Where to find me)
I used to be the guy mindlessly throwing luggage on the belt loader.