6:51 p.m.
Two strangers waited in a TSA line at Miami International Airport for a flight that would not reach its final destination. One of them was close to breaking his neck due to constant impatient glances around the terminal to see what was taking the line so long to move. Ahead of him in line, unable to be seen because of her height, a woman was being hassled by a TSA agent for not having taken off her shoes, having a full water bottle, and having non-TSA-approved toiletry items.
“Sorry, I’m so sorry,” Lulu pleaded with both the agents and the people waiting in line behind her for every new hindrance to the line’s movement that came up. “I know, I’m sorry. Are my earrings okay, or should I take them out too?”
“They’re fine. Step through the detector.”
Lulu did as she was told and walked through, setting off the alarm at the head and chest levels.
The line groaned.
She was once again approached by the far-past-his-patience TSA agent. “Miss, do you have any other metal objects on you?”
Lulu brought her hands over her chest. “Just piercings.”
The agent gestured for her to step aside and radioed for a female agent for a pat-down. It got the line moving again, and Drake was satisfied that he could at least see the source of the holdup as he got closer to the checkpoint. In any other situation, he would’ve passed by the Canadian tuxedo-wearing valley girl and done a double-take out of admiration for her looks. In this situation, his thoughts boiled down to, of course, she wouldn’t know how TSA works, and he was satisfied that so many people were now skipping her. But before he could pass through, the woman received her patdown, was cleared, and rushed off to her gate.
Whatever, it’d be a petty victory anyway.
Drake made sure to have all of his ducks in a row when it was his turn to go through security, and he would get through in record time.
The instant he was cleared, the entire airport was informed of his existence. Over the speaker system came, “Drake Phillips and Louise Finch, please make your way to Gate 37 for boarding. Drake Phillips and Louise Finch, please make your way to Gate 37 for boarding.”
“Shit!” Drake picked up his feet and ran.
At the same instant his name was called over the speakers, his phone vibrated with an incoming call. He answered it while he ran.
“Hey!” he shouted into the phone. “I’m boarding now! Don’t worry, I’ll be there tonight.”
From the other end of the line, his brother responded, “Thank God. Mom was getting worried you were gonna bail again.”
“She’s lucky people in Miami suck. I’ll call you when I land. Don’t be late!” He hung up before his brother could say anything else.
A little further down the terminal at a fast food concession, Lulu heard the announcement that a plane at her gate was boarding. She checked her phone. 6:59 p.m.
“Shit!” She bounced on her toes, willing her food to come out of the deep fryer.
Over the speaker system, the terminal was informed that “Gate 37 is now closing.”
“Shit!” Drake and Lulu both exclaimed as they ran to beat the closing doors.
Drake arrived just as an airline attendant unhooked a key from their belt. “I’m here! Drake Phillips! I’m here, please, I’m so sorry, but I’m here.”
He, and most people in this situation, would most likely expect pushback. A dismissive, ‘Doors are closed, you’ll have to speak with ticketing.” To his surprise, he was greeted with a smile and a, “Glad you could make it! Almost took off without ya.”
Drake allowed himself to breathe. “Was kinda worried you would.”
The attendant scanned the image of the ticket on his phone. “It’s the holidays; it happens. You weren’t the only one rushing to get on.”
He was waved through, and the gate door locked behind him. Even though he was in the tunnel to the plane, there was still a worry in him that the plane would take off, leaving him stranded on the tarmac. But there, at the end of the tunnel, was a flight attendant welcoming him on board the narrow, four-seat-wide Airbus.
The benefit to being so late to board, Drake found, was that everyone was already in their seats with their bags stored overhead. It was the smoothest journey to his seat he’d ever had. Except that when he got to his seat, someone was already in it.
“I think you’re in my spot,” Drake said, recognizing the ditzy valley girl who had held him up at the checkpoint.
Both she and the older man next to her looked up.
“Me?” the old man asked, mildly confused.
“Her,” Drake clarified, pointing at the girl.
Lulu pulled her wired earbuds out of their place. “What’s up?”
Drake held up his phone with the image of his ticket displayed. “32E is my seat.”
“Oh, weird. Hold on.” Lulu rifled through her bag and pulled out a paper copy of her own ticket, which also read 32E. “Isn’t that funny?” she asked innocently.
“You’re in my spot,” he said again. “I paid extra for that window seat.”
From the tail of the plane, a stewardess approached them. “I’m going to have to ask you to take your seat, sir.”
“I’m trying. But this woman is in my seat, and she won’t move.”
Lulu replied by showing the stewardess her ticket.
The stewardess pursed her lips and barely forced a smile. “This happens sometimes. Some tickets are double-booked in case passengers don’t arrive. But there’s a seat right back here if you’ll follow me.”
Drake saw the seat she was talking about. It was technically empty, but currently occupied by a pet carry-on bag. Hard fucking no, he told himself.
“I shouldn’t have to move,” Drake argued. “I paid extra.”
The stewardess’s head drifted toward Lulu. It was late, her last flight before the holiday break, and she wanted nothing to do with this quarrel. “Ma’am, would you mind moving?”
Lulu bared her teeth in an uncomfortable smile. “I get really bad anxiety. I haven’t flown in like ten years.”
Testing everyone’s patience, that captain unintentionally joined the ordeal by making a message over the speaker, “Uhhhhhh, we’ve gotta ask all passengers to take their seats. We’re about to begin our taxi and uhhhhhhhhhh-await clearance from the tower.”
“Sir, please,” the stewardess insisted.
The old man sitting next to Lulu pushed out of his seat. “Agh, I’ll go. I don’t mind cats.”
Lulu's face radiated, the glow of her smile distracting Drake from his annoyance with her. “Oh my gosh, thank you!”
“Now, if you’ll please take your seat,” the attendant said with somewhat of a bite. Once the ordeal was over, she signaled to her partner in the front of the cabin to tell the pilot it was time to fly.
Lulu watched her new co-passenger as he shoved his carry-on into the overhead storage. His attitude wasn’t the best, but he had a handsome face with a resting expression that felt familiar to her. The mix-up was reasonably annoying, and this guy was probably like her; one day to the next. Also, if she was going to fit into a tight space with a stranger for the next three hours, maybe someone who looked to be around her own age would be a better conversationalist than the old man. Two twenty-somethings from Miami, both heading to New York for the holiday, there had to be some common ground. Even his style was cool, an unassuming mix of professional and punk.
His hair was almost the length of the beach crowd she tended to hang out with, but better kept. He had a nice build, but maybe not as nice as Tyler’s, who looked like he lived at the gym. At least, as much as she could hope, that would mean this guy might have some humility about his body or not make it his whole personality.
The lights dimmed in the passenger cabin. “This is your captain speaking. It is currently, uhhhhhhh, 7:15 p.m. We apologize for the delay, uhhhhhhhhhhh, we’re beginning our taxi to the runway.”
The plane jerked backwards away from the terminal. Drake sank into his seat with a deep breath, thankful that after everything that had happened that evening, at least he still made the flight. Conversely, Lulu couldn’t sit still. Her legs bounced with excitement. It was so obvious that it caught Drake’s attention, and staring at her, he realized what she was wearing for their trip to New York: summer clothes.
Again, over the speaker, “It looks like we’re gonna have uhhhhhhhhhhhh little weather coming into New York, but it’s nothing to worry about. Expected flight time is three hours and thirty-two minutes. There may be some turbulence once we’re in the air, but it will be nothing to worry about. The seatbelt sign is on and attendants, please take your seats for liftoff.”
Drake felt the space between him and the girl on his right suddenly close.
“I’m sorry in advance if I get annoying when we hit turbulence. I haven’t been on a plane in a while.”
He turned and saw her wide eyes staring at him. Like a girl with a crush, he thought, then cast the thought from his mind. Was that how she actually looked, or just a willful delusion since he hadn’t seen a look like that in so long, he didn’t know how to interpret it anymore.
“Just don’t make a scene,” he warned.
The plane engines roared, and the cabin rumbled. Lulu jumped, grabbing the armrests on either side of her, even though Drake was already using the one between them. Her fingers fell perfectly between his and didn’t let go.
“Sorry,” she laughed when she realized what she did. Still, she didn’t let go. But he pulled his hand away.
“It’s fine. You already took my seat, you can have the armrest, too.”
Lulu didn’t pick up on the sarcasm. “Thanks!”
The plane began to move forward along the tarmac. Lulu’s breathing increased. She was really going. She was getting the hell out of Miami. This was real!
To everyone else on the plane, it was just another trip. Plane goes up, plane comes down. Keep your mouth open to relieve pressure when it does both. But there was nothing routine about this for Lulu, and she took in every little detail of the ascent. Every shift in the plane’s lean, every change in the pitch of the engine’s whine, the way the flaps moved on the wing, was a memory she’d treasure. Even when her ears popped, she squealed with excitement.
She tapped Drake on the shoulder. “Did you feel that?” Lulu asked, pointing to her ears.
“What? No. You gotta keep your mouth open. It’ll prevent that from happening.”
Lulu rolled her jaw, ignoring his advice. “It feels so weird. Oh. Oh, no, that’s kinda annoying.”
“Just plug your nose and try to breathe out your ears,” he told her.
She looked at him then as if he was the crazy one. “Breathe out your ears? Seriously? Okay.”
“Whatever.”
Drake took off his sweater. He rolled it up into a ball, then stuffed it between his neck and left shoulder, and closed his eyes. Not even three seconds later, a light turned back on, and cold air blew against the right side of his neck. He cracked his right eye open and caught the girl he was stuck with, red-handed, messing with the air conditioning.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Just trying to get acclimated,” Lulu giggled. “I haven’t been up north in-”
“Ten years. Yeah, I got it. Didn’t have anything warmer to wear up there?”
Her eyes remained wide, but her innocent smile dropped. “Oh. Shit.”
“Hope you get acclimated fast.” Drake turned back over onto his side and tried to keep his eyes shut. His nap did not last long.
“You from New York?” Lulu asked.
Drake slowly looked back over his shoulder. The girl had taken the window seat from him, but she seemingly had no interest in looking out the window now that they were up in the air. And she wouldn’t speak again until he answered.
“Jersey,” he finally said.
Now that it was her turn, she wasted no time replying. “Going home for Thanksgiving?”
“Yeah. Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve had a long day. I was really just hoping to get some sleep on this flight.”
Lulu threw up her hands in defeat. “My bad, my bad. I’m sorry. I just get excited easily sometimes. All my friends like to point it out. Well, one of my friends does. He’s cool, though. Sorry! I know, I’m rambling. Oh! You wanna drink?”
Admittedly, Drake was amazed at her ability not to take a hint. And if she wasn’t going to let him sleep, maybe a drink to get him through the flight wouldn’t be such a terrible idea.
“Fine. Why not?”
As the drink cart came up to them, Drake ordered a Jack and Coke.
“We only have straight liquors,” the stewardess said with a forced apologetic grin. “But we do have Jack Daniel's.”
“Do you have Coke?” he asked.
“We do.”
“Okay, awesome. Can you pour the Jack into a cup with Coke?”
“We’re not really allowed to do that. Sorry.”
Drake pursed his lips and stifled a grunt. “Then could I please get a Jack Daniel's and a Coke as well? Thanks.”
The stewardess retrieved the two separate drinks from the cart and handed them to Drake with a small plastic cup and a thin napkin.
“Do you have those mini champagne bottles? The really cute ones?” Lulu asked.
“Would you like a chardonnay or a sparkling?” The stewardess asked.
Oh, there are options? Lulu gleefully thought to herself, not being able to decide which one would be a better proclamation to the strangers around her that she had something serious to celebrate. The chardonnay sounded more elegant. “Chardonnay, please.”
After handing Lulu her mini plastic wine bottle, accompanied by a small plastic cup and thin napkin, the stewardess handed Drake a card reader. Before he could pay, Lulu pulled at the cuff of his t-shirt sleeve.
“I’m really sorry to do this, but I don’t really have any cash on me.”
Drake’s phone, ready to pay his own charge, levitated only an inch above the magnetic field that would read his card info. And it stayed there, waiting to hear what ridiculous idea she had now.
“Don’t you have a card?” he whispered, courteous enough not to start another public argument on the plane.
“Yeah, but I’m kinda in the red right now. Do you mind spotting me? I’ll pay you back, I swear!”
Drake couldn’t help but be stuck staring at the gall of this woman. The gall, and other things about her appearance. The bright blue eyes, flushed cheeks, her cherry red lips. He even glimpsed her ears hidden under her curly blond hair that only came off the sides of her head because the numerous piercings she had in each forced the distance.
“Whatever,” he said, pulling his gaze away from her before it became obvious he was staring. “Don’t worry about it.”
Drake tapped his phone against the card reader, then the stewardesses gave their attention to the passengers on the other side of the aisle. He poured his Coke into the plastic cup, then mixed in the twenty-dollar shot of Jack Daniel's. When he brought it to his lips, the girl next to him once again felt the need to cut in.
“What do you wanna toast to?”
He did a slow pan back to the girl. “What?”
She shrugged. “Just thought we should toast to something. We’re both traveling. Flying. So, maybe we both have something exciting going on. We should toast to it.” No one would call Lulu conceited for wanting to celebrate her achievement with another person. There was no way anyone on this plane could possibly know what she was moving toward, but did that mean it wasn’t still a great achievement for her? She should have this moment to celebrate it, shouldn’t she?
“It’s Thanksgiving,” Drake said flatly, and knocked back the first gulp of his Jack and Coke. “Everyone’s traveling.”
Lulu slowly drifted back toward the wall of the cabin, cradling her cute little chardonnay bottle. In a whisper, she said, “Maybe this year’s a little different.”
Drake didn’t rise to the bait. He kept his eyes forward and concentrated on his drink until it was empty. Then, he would try again to get comfortable and sleep through the rest of the flight.
Lulu held her chardonnay bottle close and looked out the window. The lights of Miami were far, far away now. In a few minutes, there would be no trace of Florida altogether. And hopefully, she would never find her way back there again. She didn’t even give Tyler a proper goodbye, and she found she was totally fine with that.