Jennie was none too pleased with the thought of a half-day layover at Dallas/Fr. Worth International.
Well, nothing an airport bar, a pack of camels, and a good book wont cure she thought to herself, reaching up for her overhead baggage. Several people bumped their way past her. One hurried man in a dark blue business suit crowded past her so furiously that her strappy red sandal turned the wrong way shooting a stabbing pain through her right ankle.
"Ouch!" she snapped.
"Mm, sorry" he mumbled not even stopping to see if she was ok.
Asshole, she thought to herself, gingerly rotating her ankle to stretch out the sprain.
Once in the airport, she made a direct beeline for the first bar. She propped her bag up on one side of her on the counter, and the Kansas City Star directly on the other side. Stay away....was the message she was strategically giving out to anyone who happened upon her. She ordered a rum and coke, lit a camel, and opened her novel. Over the next 20 min, the bar became quite crowded and she ended up having to put her bag and newspaper on the floor under the bar as people asked "is this seat taken?". The gentleman on her right looked like he needed about 24 hours of sleep and a hot shower. The man on her left sat quietly reading and sipping a green-bottled beer.
Her right ankle still throbbing, she crossed it over her left leg and reached down to rub it with her fingertips. She noticed the green-beer-bottle man use his peripheral vision to look at her foot. Maybe he was a doctor, she thought, noticing her ankle had swelled up just a bit since the sprain. Then again, maybe he's just looking at my legs...that would be more my luck. Where's the handsome doctor when a girl really needs one, anyhow??
She winced as she pushed the swollen spot just above her ankle bone.
"I'll bet that if you asked the bartender for a bag of ice, he would give it to you." the stranger said to her tipping his beer back.
"Well, this is what I get for wearing unconventional shoes for traveling!" she smiled back at him.
He smiled and turned back to his book.
"Where are you headed?" Jennie asked him, bored of her book, and wanting to find out more about this man who had taken a tad of interest in her foot. With a newfound self-love of her own feet, she was a little thrilled that he had noticed...why not find out if he perhaps was a foot lover. Never having met one personally, the thought was provoking to say the least. Besides, he was nice-looking, and he had a goatee. What a weakness!
"Las Vegas." he replied.
"Business or pleasure?"
"Both, you could say."
"Sounds fun...by the way, I'm Jennie."
"Hi, Jennie, I'm Dean."
Just then a waitress walked up to them and told them that a booth had just been freed, and if they would like it, she could seat them. The bar stools had all been taken, and many people were standing behind the counter waiting for a stool to open.
Dean started to say, "Oh, thanks, but we're not"---"We'll take it." Jennie interrupted raising her eyebrows in question towards Dean.
"Sure, ok." he said.
They were seated in a circle booth in a darker corner of the bar.
"Mind?" Jennie asked him, pulling a cigarette out of her bag.
"Not a bit."
"Thanks."
"What are you drinking?"
"Rum and Coke."
Dean signalled a waitress and ordered Jennie another drink, even though hers was only 1/2 finished.
"How long is your layover?" Jennie asked him.
"Well, supposedly for another 4 hours." he replied.
"Yeah, me too. But, we seem to have the perfect spot for people-watching!" she joked.
"I actually like people-watching."
"Me too."
"So, how did you sprain you ankle?" Dean asked her.
Hmmm....another foot reference. Jennie made a mental note. Well, it could be genuine concern.
"Some guy pushed past me while we were getting off the plane."
"Nice...gotta love those pushy people who are always in a rush to be somewhere important."
"NO kidding."
"Would you mind if I propped my foot up on the booth? I think it would help the swelling."