Love At First Flight

5:30 AM

*Alarm beeps*

I roll over to turn off the alarm on my phone.

‘This is the big day’

I think to myself. This is going to be the first time that I catch a flight by myself. I say and pray asking for protection. I shower and dress for the day. My bag was packed the night before. I grab my bag, purse, and keys. I look back at my empty apartment one last time. I drive my red Prius to the airport parking garage. I take the shuttle to the American terminal. I walk up to the self checkout machine and look puzzled.

‘Hmm, it’s asking for a barcode.’

I don’t have one of those. I look around to see if anyone could assist me. I find this young guy who is checking boarding passes.

“Excuse me, this is my first time flying, I am not sure how to use the machine.”

“You need your boarding pass number.”

“Oh this is all I have.”

I show him the Costco Travel reservation papers.

“You need your boarding pass number.” He rolls his eyes.

I look away and clench my jaw. I shake my head and turn back to him.

“I will just give them a call.” I give him a smile. I roll my eyes and walk away.

I look for the number on the reservation. I look down at my watch. I have only 20 minutes before I have to board the plan. I put my phone in my purse. I scan the airport. I see a woman who is directing the lines.

“Excuse me.”

A huge smile spreads across her face.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

“This is my first time flying by myself and I feel so lost.” I throw my hands up in defeat.

“Lets see.” She takes the reservation from my hands.

“Okay, All you need to do is type in this number into the machine.”

“OMG! Thank you so much!” I hurry over to the machine. My boarding pass prints out. I ran past the young guy from earlier. I stuck my tongue out as I passed him. I giggled to myself. I walk up to the boarding terminal.I hand my ticket to the attendant. I walk on to the plane. This was my first time flying first class. My seat humber was A4:13. I place my bag in the overhead compartment. I slump down into my seat. I pull the shades down and close my eyes.

“Excuse me.”

I look up and I see pure perfection in human form. I quickly sat up and moved my feet, so he could pass by.

“Umm, sorry about that!” I blurt out. I look away embarrassed by how loud I was.

He sits down next to me and smiles.

“Don’t be sorry about that, I just didn’t wake up.”

I turn away.

“I was just resting my eyes.” I bat my eyes at him. He laughs.

“Do you mind if I lift this up?”

“Not at all!” I quickly grabbed my phone, which slipped from my lap.

“Nice catch” I chuckle

“Thanks”

He extends his hand to me. I grab and shake his hand.

‘Wow, that’s a firm grip.’ I think to myself.

“Hi, my name is Al.” We shake hands for an awkward amount of time.

“Hi, I am Tiffany. It’s nice to meet you Al.” I finally release his hand and give him a shy smile.

He looks out the window.

“The sky looks so beautiful.” He looks over to me and smiles.

I look up from my phone and out the window. I only see white clouds.

“It looks pretty white out there.” I chuckle.

He shakes his head.

“You have to look beyond the clouds. Open your mind to the true beauty within the view.”

I lean in closer. I stare for a minute. Then I see it! The sun was peeking through the cloud. I could see the blue sky.

“I see it!” I get all giddy.

He has the biggest smile on his face.

“You have to enjoy the beauty that’s all around it. Just like the beauty I see before me.”

I jerk back.

“I bet you say that to all the ladies.”

“I only complement the rare gems.” I start laughing. He looks confused.

“What’s so funny?”

“My middle name is Diamond.” He laughs.

“Your parents named you Tiffany Diamond, like the jewelry store?”

“Uh, Yes! Is there a problem with my name?” He puts his hands up in surrender.

“Not at all, beautiful person, name, and personality.” I roll my eyes.

“Uh huh.”

“Is your trip for business or pleasure?”

“Much needed pleasure!”

“Oh is that right?”

“Yes, I just need a break from my life right now.” I look down to check the time. It’s 11:11 am.

“ Nice!”

“What about you? Business or pleasure?”

“A little bit of both. I am going to Atlanta to shoot a film.”

“Oh, so are you an actor or something.”

He laughs.

“Yeah, something like that.” Then there’s an awkward silence. He looks over at me.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Are you single?” My eyes get wide.

“Uh something like that.” He raises his eyebrow.

“I am in the final stages of my divorce.”

“Sorry to hear that? So that means that you are single.”

“I guess you can say that.”

He flashes that gorgeous smile again.

“Would it be ok if I get your number?”

I look away and think to myself.

‘It’s been a few months, that should be enough time right?’ My intuition urges me to say,

“Yes!” His face lights up.

We exchange numbers. The plane is getting ready to land. The plane stops. I stand up and open the overhead compartment.

“Wait a minute!” He rushes over.

“Here let me get that for you.” He grabs my bag and hands it to me.

‘Awwwwwww’ I think to myself.

“Thank you so much Al.”

“I will text you when I am done filming today.”

“Okay.”

“Talk to you soon!”

“Bye”