Kassandra raced through the airport and bulled over other fliers to find her connecting plane. By the time she arrived at the first electronic board listing the departures, it was like she was preparing for the eight hundred meter run. She slipped her bag off and massaged the cramps in her shoulder it left behind.
As she caught her air and relieved her discomfort, she directed her attention to the board.
"Come on! Come on!" Kassie was pointing at the board and moving a finger along each city. Her heart leapt at the sight of the flight to Colorado Springs departing at six that evening but sank at the message next to it. "Gate number to be announced at a quarter till six! Why don't they know what it is now? Sigh."
Kassie had a half hour to spend doing something. She didn't want to kill it since that implied wasting it and she'd done enough of that on her mother's couch the past five years. Her tummy was rumbling at her. All that activity in her gut had her noticing the aromas floating through the air. The fries from the burger joint, the herb-laden pizza sauce from the Italian eatery, and the fried tenders from the chicken shop were all mouthwatering. She could spend that time munching. She stepped left, right, and straight ahead but couldn't settle on her choice of entrée. Kassie patted her jeans pocket and realized it was full of things that jingled instead of folded.
Kassie walked towards her left. "Small fries it is!"
A few minutes later, she was walking in the direction of the lounge to wait for news of her gate number. The potatoes burned her fingers and lips but they had the right amount of salt and were hot from the fryer. It also took half of the money she had left. Like that, despair replaced the moment of happiness from devouring those fries.
Kassie found what appeared to be the last pair of seats in the lounge that weren't occupied. One was for her and the other for her shoulder bag. She hoped the bag would deter anyone from occupying her space. She welcomed the chance to mope all by her lonesome.
Her little butt landing on the chair was soothing—as soothing as sitting on a lump of hard plastic could be. The aching fled from her feet and there was a temptation to take off her ankle boots before realizing she wasn't inside her four walls. She was beginning to wonder if the cost of beauty was worth paying.
Kassie leaned against the chair's back and relaxed. She forced a grin across her lips. As much as she griped, it wasn't all bad. The chance to leave her mom's sofa in pursuit of the life she dreamed of in a city hundreds of miles away from everyone was enough to have her inwardly doing flips. She also learned how men must feel being on the end of a barrage of nags. It was her hope that her passion could be found out of range of mom's pestering...err, her encouragements to make something of herself.
After high school, Kassie stepped on a university campus and it took all of two seconds to realize college life was for someone not named Kassie Singleton. She spent the next five years tapping at cash registers, hanging fashion in boutiques, and flipping patties while she searched for the reason for her existence.
Whenever she passed the homeless on the streets, especially those that had served, something always tugged at her strings. That led her to making beds and soups at the local homeless shelter. She spent most of her time lending an ear to the veterans and taking in their stories. Tales of them watching friends fall in front of their eyes and returning home with few skills other than being able to pull a trigger led many of them to where they were. Kassie dripped tears for them. Mama Singleton's heart cried for them but she also lamented how her daughter could live off such empathies.
Kassie found a nonprofit in Colorado Springs that built homes for the families of those that wore a uniform for the country. She could have worked for such a place in her hometown of Charlotte but that would have been in reach of Mrs. Singleton.
Kassie wouldn't make enough to move near Rodeo Drive but she would be doing something that had her anxious to see the sun each day.
It wasn't long after shutting her eyes when a voice brought her from her relaxation. She pretended it was an imagination figment but it was persistent.
She opened her eyes to find a pair of legs behind black dress pants. As Kassie lifted her chin, she found a turquoise blouse, and above that a face with brown hair dark enough to be confused with black unless seen at the right angle. She also had eye shadow that mimicked her blouse's hue and teardrop earrings that did the same.
Her cheeks puffed and her pink lips moved again as she aimed a finger at the chair beside Kassie. "Hi, can I have this seat or does your bag still need to rest?"
Kassie smirked and placed her bag on the floor between her ankles. "No, it's fine."
The woman stood her rolling bag upright and slipped off her overcoat. "Thank you. The chair is nice but what I really want is something queen-sized and feeling like a bed of cotton."
Kassie said, "That sounds perfect about now. When I get on the plane, I'm grabbing my pillow and going nighty-night."
The woman folded her coat and laid it over the back of the chair. "Where is your flight taking you?"
Kassie would have preferred to be left to her thoughts but maybe a little chitchat might pass the minutes.
She scanned her black six-inch stilettos. Added to the rest of her attire, Kassie contemplated whether she could afford to sit next to her. She carried a whiff of some sweet scented spray at the perfect subtlety. Maybe she could bear the following few minutes after all.
As the woman sat, Kassie said, "I'm going to Colorado to be a part of a nonprofit that builds houses for homeless veterans. I think I'm happier than I ever been!"
Talking about it was enough to have Kassie schoolgirl giddy.
Her words seemed to put a grin on the lady's lips as well. "That's amazing!" The woman tapped Kassie's knee. "You must have a kind heart."
Trickles of excitement passed through Kassie when the woman touched her. She hadn't an inkling why but she stored the thought away for later.
Kassie angled towards her new chat partner and lifted her voice over the clamors of the people nearby. "And where are you going? You look as though you have a lot of three letter abbreviations after your name."
The woman waved off her observation. "Oh, no, no. I don't have any of those. I'm headed to L.A. to pitch my fashion ideas to one of the largest clothing stores out there. I have my designs in a few mom and pop outlets in my hometown but if this company likes my clothes, big time here I come! I'm so nervous my tummy hurts! Oh, I forgot my manners. I'm Alyssa."
She extended her hand and its pink manicured nails towards her. Kassie accepted the invite with a trio of slight shakes. Her hands were silky smooth and Kassie trembled again.
"Kassandra but Kassie is fine."
"Nice to meet you, Kassie!" Alyssa said it like she was in glee to have met her acquaintance. "Your blue and white scarf is cute. It seems to complement your cream sweater."
Kassie chuckled. "Hehe, are you also the fashion police?"
Alyssa shook her head in a frenzy. "No, not at all. I meant to come across as complimentary not judgmental. Sorry."
"Relax. I'm only teasing but my sense of fashion never developed. I just throw on anything that I think looks cute and feels good to me. Maybe I got lucky today."
Alyssa's tension morphed into a smile that displayed each of her pearls. "That you did."
Kassie was proud of the chenille sweater she discovered in the clearance aisle. It was like wearing a blanket and gave her plenty of room to do stretches if she desired. Her blue jeans went well with it but then again, there wasn't much in which you couldn't wear those.
Kassie slid the corner of her eye towards Alyssa. The fashion designer used the lull in the conversation to sneak peeks with her own sly eye. Kassie's heart pumped a little quicker and her cheeks flushed. Stirring started between her legs and she tried telling herself to slow down.
