Now Boarding

Despite Kelsey’s best efforts in the art of self restraint, all she thought about while standing in the boarding line was how divinely handsome he was. There was something about his chin as he looked out over the tarmac that said “I can cook a meal, pay the bills, and still nerd out over a video game, but in a way that’s cute and not smelly.” 

He probably had a nice apartment, decent job that didn’t destroy his life, and still found time to hit the gym, ya know, enough. 

It was one of those feelings that was objectively untrue; the only people boarding flights at this time were people who either didn’t have the money or the time for literally any other option, or in Kelsey’s case, neither time nor money. Her dad told her in no uncertain terms that she was to buy the flight back on his credit card, and while Kelsey appreciated the sentiment, he had also spent the last twenty-six years cultivating an attitude of stubbornness that prevented her from ever taking his money no matter how dire the situation was. So instead she spent eight hours in the airport waiting for her 11:47 flight from Milwaukee to Topeka. 

All realities that seemed to disappear into the overly average jawline of the man standing slightly down the line from her, giving absolutely no thought as to why he might also be there. She’d spent too much time giving too much thought to men who didn’t deserve it. 

“Now boarding group three, group four you may begin lining up on the window side.” 

He scanned his boarding pass and disappeared into the jetway. She stared blankly for a moment before the terror erupted. Where was her boarding pass? One pocket after another turned up empty before she realized it was in her hand. Kelsey chuckled, hand over her eyes, chest heaving, laughing to stop herself from doing anything else because she was too fucking stubborn to break down right here and now. 

That was what? Two years ago? She remembered fucking Derek yelling at her for how stupid she could be for losing his boarding pass. Okay maybe she imagined the yelling but honestly it would have been better for him to scream at her in front of everyone. The volume didn’t fucking matter but apparently to strangers it did. That was the thing. It was always so fucking quiet, quiet like this goddamn airport at 11:20 PM. 

“Now boarding group four, group five you may begin lining up on the chair side.”

Kelsey tapped her finger against her arm. She never once looked over her shoulder. She didn't need to. If there was one thing she knew absolutely for sure, it was that there was no way he'd come running after her. Assholes like Derek never came running. He probably wouldn't even notice she was gone until the hamper filled up and he would have to call his mom. From one of the gates behind where they boarded, a vacuum sparked to life, the dull droning a welcome interruption to the quiet.

"And last but not least, group seven now boarding. Final call for all passengers on Flight 968 Milwaukee to Topeka."

She took a step forward, then another, and then another, until finally, thankfully, the scanner pinged a green checkmark. 

“Enjoy your flight, ma’am.”

A/N:

A completely fictional little glimmer from some time at the airport yesterday. If you've enjoyed this, please leave a like and an insight below. If you really enjoyed this, tips to fuel my coffee addiction are always appreciated. All formatting is designed for desktops. All my works can be found below: