people who are begrudgingly waiting for me to take a seat so they can get to their own. I glare at the teenage boy with his ridiculously shaped hair, all gelled up like he’s a princess in a boy band.
“Yeah, you’re waiting on me,” I retort icily. “Which means when I’m done, it’s your turn to go. And I’ll go quickest if you wait the quietest.”
I hope I didn’t use too many long words for this little shit. I fit the briefcase in place, never breaking eye contact with this suddenly uncomfortable Justin Bieber wannabe. Then I slowly make my way to the window seat, prompting the man-child to look away and hurry down the aisle. As the line resumes, I pull out my phone and check my email.
Thomas Dorf
Subject: Enjoy your flight
Hey Champ, just want to let you know no hard feelings. You can’t win every bet, right? Sometimes you have to remember you’re only human and that the world does not bend to your will. Keep that in mind and maybe next time you’ll win big – or at least something at all – on a winning horse.
Enjoy that Economy seat. I hear the food is… colorful.
-Thomas
My eye twitches.
I delete that message right away, never wanting to be reminded of my humiliation. Then I sift through a few others, trying my hardest to mentally block out the sudden screaming of children filling the air. My head begins pounding.
I shut my eyes and try to calm down. I’m unusually angry. Angrier than I’ve felt in a very long time. It’s wrong. I know I’m being unreasonable, but fuck, I’ve had a shit day from hell, and the last thing I need is to be sleep-deprived. Everything is gnawing at me more than usual. I’m not like this, I tell myself. I’m saner than this. I’m better than this. Still, the old me likes to rear its ugly head from time to time.
“Um, excuse me?”
Opening my eyes, I check the time on my Sohne watch.
“Hello?”
Time isn’t passing. How much longer do I have to wait –
“Excuse me, sir! Are you deaf?”
My head shoots up, and I immediately make eye contact with an angry brunette glaring down at me.
“No, I’m not deaf,” I snap back, matching her snide voice. “What do you want?”
With an icy look, she retorts, “My seat.”
I lift a brow, tone dry. “Then go find your seat.”
Leaning over, she grits out, “You’re sitting in it.”
Two
Aidan
Fuck me. I don’t recall people in Economy class being rage cases like this tiny little thing here.
I pull my ticket out of my pocket and look at the seat number.
“I’m window seat,” she tells me in a defensive tone. “Don’t argue it. I’m really not in the mood for bullshit today.”
“Yeah, well that makes two of us,” I mutter.
“If that was the case, you’d have gotten up by now.”
Little Rage-Case is right. I’m the next seat over. Looking up at her, I say, “No need to bite my head off, darling –”
“Don’t call me darling. Just move.”
“With your tone of voice, you’d think this problem can’t be so easily corrected.”
“The problem is I’ve repeated myself three times and you’re still not getting up.”
I think I’m broken because my glare is doing nothing to intimidate her. Well, shit, she’s a feisty little thing, isn’t she? And judging by her barely there clothing, I’d say she isn’t a shy one either. She’s got a handkerchief of a white tank top on that accentuates her cleavage. Her short-shorts can pass for underwear, barely hiding her ample ass. She’s not at all what I’m used to. And while her clothes leave little to the imagination, her face stands out the most. It’s smooth and spotless, heart shaped with lightly applied make-up that make her blue eyes leap out of her tanned skin. Her dark pin straight hair falls just below her shoulders, and I spot random red strands throughout.
Huh.
I’ve spent the majority of the last decade bossing people around, so I’m not sure how to feel being bossed by her, but I stand up anyway. I’ve admitted defeat just hours prior, no use fighting something else now.
When I sit in my seat, she moves to hers, brushing her smooth legs against my suit pants. I’m hit with a fruity scent that’s pleasant and not overwhelming like women her age that seem to think perfume is an alternate method to showering.
Taking a seat next to me without batting me another eye, she opens her elephant print mammoth sized