Parkerimmediately turned around, an embarrassed, apologetic look on his face, before he noticed that it was her that his water had landed on.Thenshe swore his expression turned to one that said this was payback for her spilling his drink in his lap on their date so long ago.
Hedid press the button to call a flight attendant, though, and the nice lady got her plenty of paper towels to soak it up.Buther efforts didn’t exactly leave her jeans dry.Pleaselet them dry before we land, she silently prayed.Shecould only imagine how embarrassing it would be to walk through the airport once they landed looking like she’d had an accident on the plane.EspeciallywithParkerthere to see it.
Shedidn’t know the eleven others who were going on this same retreat (and she refused to believe thatParkerwas one of them), but she suspected she would know them well by the end of the week.Shedidn’t want wet pants to be their first impression of her.
Oncethe excitement of the surprise fountain and the soaked lap died down, the cabin lights dimmed, and everyone with window seats around her started closing the shades.Betweenthe lowered lights and the hum of the airplane, drowsiness hit her pretty strongly.
Herdad had come over to “spendChristmas” with her last night before they both left on their separate trips, and she couldn’t bear to cut the evening short to pack when she got to see him so infrequently lately.Plus, she kind of wanted to remind him that she was his daughter and they had a bond.Shehad to do all she could to make sure she wasn’t forgotten.
Sohe left late, and she stayed up even later packing.Thenshe had to wake up super early to get ready for the day, finish packing, drive to airport parking—which had been a bear of a drive with all the holiday traffic—take the shuttle to the airport, go through security, and still make it to her flight without being rushed.Andshe was feeling the lack of sleep now.
Theaudiobook could wait.Shewrapped her headphone cord nice and neat, slipped it into its pocket in her bag, slid her phone in alongside it, then pulled out her neck pillow and drifted off to sleep.
Six
Parker
Parkerpulledhis ear buds from his ears.He’dbeen watching a movie on the screen attached to the seat in front of him when the five-year-old seated next to him whom he’d been chatting with at the beginning of the flight started crying.
“Hey, buddy.Doyou need help with anything?”
Thekid shook his head, but he still kept crying.Nota loud cry—just an upset one.
“Areyou hungry?Istill have my cookies from when they brought us snacks.”
Still, the boy just shook his head.Parkerglanced at the teenage girl sitting by the window, and she just shrugged, likeDon’tlook at me—Idon’t know what to do.Heheard the flight attendant right behind him talking to someone.Maybehe could get her help afterward.
“Doyou need something to drink?Ordo you need to go to the bathroom?”
Theboy shook his head. “Ijust want my mom.”
Theflight attendant tappedParkeron the shoulder, so he turned his attention to her. “Excuseme, sir.Butdo you mind switching seats with the boy’s mother?”
“Oh, not at all.Ofcourse.”Hehurried to pack his headphones, water bottle, and cookies into his shoulder bag, said goodbye to the kid, and then stood up to see where she wanted him to move to.Theflight attendant was motioning to the aisle seat in the row directly behind him.
“Thankyou so much,” the boy’s mom said before slipping intoParker’sseat.
Parkernodded and then stared at the seat the woman had vacated.Itwas the one right next toKelli.Maybehe should’ve asked where he’d be moving to before agreeing.AtleastKelliwas asleep—maybe they could avoid any awkward chatting.Especiallyif that chatting was going to end up being about his water landing in her lap.Hesat down next to her and put his ear buds back in his ears.
Hestarted the same movie again, hoping to pick up where he left off, but he was having trouble keeping his mind on it when he was so close toKelli.Eversince he had caught the tail end of her phone conversation withJamesin the copy and print room years ago, he had forced himself to only think of her as a coworker.EventhoughJames, from what he saw at a couple of company parties, wasn’t nearly good enough for her.
Andthen he had started datingStephanie.Butnow they were both single, and he was noticing her again in a way he hadn’t allowed himself to for so long.
Hedidn’t know why he was allowing himself to think about her now.AsStephaniehad not-so-nicely pointed out, he had enough flaws of his own to prove that he wasn’t good enough forKelli, either.Besides—he had thought he and his ex were happy and hadn’t seen their breakup coming.Hedidn’t trust himself to know when things were going wrong anymore.
Heturned the volume on the movie up even more and made himself concentrate on it.
Whichworked pretty well for a good thirty minutes.ThenKelliturned slightly in her sleep, and she leaned to rest her head on his chest and shoulder.Thescent of her freshly-washed hair was right there.
Heshould wake her up.
Exceptshe looked so peaceful and so relaxed.Maybeshe needed the sleep.Maybehe could just nudge her enough to stay in her seat without waking her up.Heslowly moved his shoulder, nudging her toward the middle of her seat.Ittook a minute, but he got her there.Hecarefully started pulling himself back, testing to make sure that she wasn’t going to fall over when he wasn’t holding her up.
Eventually, he got to where his shoulder wasn’t touching her anymore, and he started breathing again as he moved back to his normal position in his seat.
Butwithin five minutes she shifted again, her head finding his shoulder.Shehad the neck pillow, so that wasn’t what had pulled her toward him.Maybeshe just needed to lean on something.
Once, back when he was in college, he was on a bus headed home forChristmas, and he fell asleep.He’dwoken to find that he’d been leaning against the shoulder of a woman who was the age of his grandma.He’dbeen embarrassed, sure, but also really grateful.Ithad been the best sleep he had gotten in a while.Sometimesyou’re really tired and you need the kindness of the person sitting next to you to be a support.Hecould do that forKelli.Hejust needed to turn the volume of the movie up louder to keep his thoughts off her.
