Damn.
This is probably a very private moment for her and I’m sure she’s dealing with a lot of emotions. But that doesn’t stop me from wolfing down my lunch and walking over to see if she’s okay.
She doesn’t notice me right away, so I gently clear my throat. And when she looks up, I’m trapped in a sea of big, watery green eyes.
Double damn.
I give her a sympathetic smile. “Hey, sorry to bother you. I just finished eating and saw you sitting here crying and wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
Reaching for a napkin, she blots her face and nods. “Yeah. Thanks. This eulogy is seriously killing me because I have so many mixed emotions.”
All I can do is nod before I look to see if there’s a chair or something I can sit on. There’s not, so I end up crouching down beside her.
“He wasn’t a nice guy,” she goes on before stopping for a moment. “Okay, that’s not totally true. He was a great guy unless you were dating him. Then he was the absolute worst. Like a soul-crushing douche. But…as a friend, he was good. He was always laughing and looking to make everyone around him laugh too. Unfortunately, my primary memory of him is negative because of the heartless way he treated me.”
Considering he was an ex, that makes sense, and I certainly don’t want to know any specifics of their relationship because that would just be awkward.
“And there’s no way you can get out of doing this?” I ask.
“I wish. His mom is the sweetest person in the world. At times, I think she liked me more than my own parents ever did. And she’s already dealing with so much, so how could I do something like that to her?”
“There are no other friends who she could ask?”
“I honestly don’t know, but maybe that’s why she asked me. You know, because everyone else turned her down.”
I hadn’t thought of that.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” I say as I stand and straighten. “I’ll see you back on the plane.”
“Thanks,” she says with a sad smile, and I feel bad walking away, but we’re going to be sitting beside each other on the flight. Right now, she probably needs some privacy, so that’s what I’m giving her.
I wander around the lounge and grab a cookie and another drink before finding a seat close to the exit. Since this delay was weather-related, I have a feeling we might get to leave sooner than expected and I don’t want to be surprised. So, I sit, snack, and scroll through social media to kill time.
At two forty-five, I clean up and casually exit the lounge and make my way back out to the gate. It looks like everyone is there already—except for my seatmate—but I’m sure she’ll be here any minute.
Before I know it, we’re boarding and it’s utter chaos. It’s like manners went out the window and everyone’s clamoring to get on board, even though we’re boarding in the same order we originally did.
Why do people suck so much sometimes? I can’t help but wonder.
First class is called, and I look around again and don’t see the woman I should see and now I feel bad about leaving her alone up in the lounge. But the line is moving and I can’t let this stop me from getting on the plane.
Once I’m there and my suitcase is stowed in the overhead bin, I sit and let out a long breath, praying we’re really going to take off this time. The flight attendant—the same one from earlier, named Darcy—offers me a drink, and I accept. I take out my phone and decide to play a couple of games of solitaire to pass the time.
“Oh, thank God,” I hear someone say before they aggressively climb over my lap. I know immediately this person is not the one who’s supposed to be there and when I turn to look, it’s confirmed.
“Um…you’re not…”
“It’s okay,” she assures me—this older woman with a smug look on her face. “This was supposed to be my seat. I’m just glad I can finally have it.”
“Yeah, but…the person who actually has that seat…”
“Isn’t here,” she finishes with a haughty look. “What business is it of yours?”
I’m about to argue when…
“You’re in my seat.”
I look up, and there she is.
