I gave my dad a hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks for the great visit, Dad." I smiled into his shoulder.
"Thanks for coming to the party. Your grandfather was so happy to see you girls. John's picking you up, right?" I nodded. He patted my arm as he turned and walked around to the driver's side door. Remembering something as he opened the door, he leaned over the roof of the car. "Oh, by the way. I used my miles to upgrade your seat. I hope you don't mind." Grinning, he climbed into the driver's seat, waved cheerily across the passenger seat as he shifted into gear, then merged into the Tuesday morning traffic heading for the airport exit.
I grabbed the handle of my suitcase and wheeled my way into the concourse. The transition from the humid August morning to the air-conditioned airport triggered goosebumps along my bare arms exposed by my white sleeveless blouse. As I checked my bag, the clerk enthusiastically noted my change in seat-fortunes.
"Oh! I see you've been moved to first-class! Very nice!" She smiled as she printed my boarding pass.
"Oh, that's my dad's doing... our family spent Saturday at my rich uncle's house, so I guess he's feeling a little competitive."
"Ha! Hey, whatever gets you those complimentary drinks, right?" She winked as she handed me my claim ticket and boarding pass. "Enjoy your flight."
The line at security was short, and the early morning terminal of the small regional airport was mostly empty. I bought a bottle of water then took a seat near my gate with a little less than half an hour before my flight was scheduled to begin boarding. Crossing my legs and smoothing out the hem of my preppy pink skirt, I retrieved my book from my large leather purse and set it on my lap.
Taking a sip of water, I surveyed the collection of passengers on my post-dawn commuter flight. I caught myself silently judging the predictable assemblage of performance-polo wearing sales-dads with phones holstered to their belts. "Don't be such a judgy bitch, Sarah. You're beginning to sound like Brandy." I mentally scolded myself a second time for the equally-judgy, unflattering comparison to my younger sister. My shiny blue high heel dangled and bounced playfully from the end of my toes as I tucked my water between my hip and the armrest and opened my book.
Forty minutes later, I had become so engrossed in the story that I had lost track of time and missed most of the ongoing boarding announcements. Only when an older woman knocked my high-heeled foot with her purse and touched my bare knee to apologize, was I jerked back to reality. Looking around at the rapidly emptying concourse, I jumped into frantic action.
"Omigodthankyou!" I frenetically blurted out, confusing the poor old bird as I leapt up and rushed to the rear of the thinning line of boarding passengers.
The gate agent raised her eyebrows as she read my seat assignment, having watched me sit through the first ten minutes of boarding. "Enjoy your flight," she muttered as I hustled down the ramp.
Pre-flight beverage service had started in the first-class section as I huffed my way into the cabin. Dewy beads of sweat bloomed across my hairline, and I felt a stray rivulet of perspiration curve at my jaw and lazily trickle down the line of my throat. Apologizing to the stewardess in my embarrassment, I read my boarding pass for the fiftieth time that morning and counted five rows back: the last row of the first-class cabin. My window seat was still open, and all I could see of my seatmate was the back of his brown sportscoat as he was bent over, digging around under the seat in front of him. I arrived and apologetically asked to be allowed by to get in my seat.
"Huh? Oh yeah, no problem at all." He straightened to stand, and I got my first clear look at him. Towering above me, the handsome, mid-40s black man smiled as he eased halfway into the aisle to let me pass. As I squeezed by, my rear gently brushed against his thigh. I hurriedly scooted into my seat, tucking my book into the seatback pouch and opening my phone to text my parents that I was on the plane.
"Boy, am I glad to see you!" He grinned as he settled back into his seat, casually inspecting my legs as I tugged and smoothed my skirt's hem across my pale thighs. I raised my eyebrow slightly, curious about where he was headed with this conversation starter. "I was sure I was gonna be stuck next to some smelly, fat guy. But now that I see you, I guess that makes me the smelly, fat guy." He patted his flat stomach and let out a deep laugh that was interrupted by the stewardess. Without asking for my input, he confirmed champagne for both of us then carefully handed me my glass.
"I'm Murray, and I am on this ridiculously early flight because I'm traveling to check in with a few of my business partners. What about you?" I was caught mid-sip and clumsily rushed my swallow to respond.
"It's nice to meet you, Murray. I'm Sarah, and I'm on this flight because when I planned my trip, I thought maybe I'd go in to work in the afternoo-"
"But now you're having second thoughts and thinking about playing hooky? Naughty! I like it!" He delivered the line with a wink and another hearty belly-laugh, and I snickered before continuing.
"Ha! Well, anyway, I'm here in first-class because my dad is a little insecure about how wealthy his brother-in-law is. Also, you certainly aren't fat, and as far as I can tell from here you don't smell bad..." I joked back, timidly tucked a lock of my red hair behind my ear, then smiled and opened my book, expecting that his interest in talking to me would fade and we'd each settle in to pass the flight.
"Do you take this flight often? Me, I probably make this trip like ten or fifteen times a year. It's amazing how often these jokers need me to meet with them in-person." I looked up from my book to find Murray staring expectantly at me again, awaiting my answer.
"I was out here visiting my parents. I only come out, like, twice, maybe three times a year. You know, usually just around the holidays." I smiled and waited to break eye contact, anticipating the conversation would end so I could turn back to my book.
"So, I really lucked out to catch you this fine, but scorching morning!" He beamed as he continued. "What's the occasion for the rare summer visit then?" I explained the family party for my grandfather's birthday that had drawn me to the coast. As we taxied and took off, I expanded my story -- in response to his good-natured questions -- into descriptions of the guestlist, the catering and wine spreads, and the make-up of my family. I found Murray so surprisingly easy to talk to that it didn't feel unnatural when I launched into a short rant about my worries that my career was stagnating and my insecurities fending for myself so far from my family and hometown.
Finally catching myself pouring out my heart to this stranger, I blushed and apologized for prattling on, turning away to look out the window in my embarrassment. I hadn't expected to see the lake below the plane, and I realized just how long my monologue had dragged on. I apologized again for being overbearing and dominating the conversation for almost our entire flight.
"Psssh, are you kidding?" he chuckled good-naturedly as he peeked again at my legs. "I fly almost every week, and you're the best seatmate I've had this year! I should send your dad a nice 'thank you' for getting you that upgrade." I smiled and blushed in response.
Overhead, the intercom crackled to life with the pilot's landing announcement. The plane's smooth descent was interrupted a few times with light turbulence, and I braced with embarrassment as my breasts noticeably jostled and squirmed beneath my blouse despite the gallant efforts of my bra. Finally, the plane touched down, screeching to earth then wheeling across the tarmac.
As we taxied, I powered up my phone to find texts from John apologizing that he'd had a meeting pop up and would not be able to give me a ride. I scowled at the screen then shoved it back in my bag without answering.
"Bad news from the boyfriend?" Murray asked.
"No... well, yeah... but no. Not really. I mean, he's not, like... I guess he's kind of a boyfriend... or whatever..." I stammered, explaining that he was busy and couldn't pick me up. Murray nodded sympathetically.