Barbara looked up at the young blonde as she walked down the airplane's aisle, carefully checking seat numbers. She looked frightened and excited at the same time. Big blue eyes tried to take in everything at once as her gaze darted across the cabin. Reaching the empty seat next to Barbara, she checked the seat number again and then smiled nervously as she sat down.
Barbara guessed her to be about 19 or 20, probably her first time away from home. She wore a plain white blouse and matching blue skirt. Watching her read the emergency card in the forward pocket, Barbara could only image what she would be like when they actually took off.
"First time?" Barbara asked.
"I guess that's pretty obvious," She answered. "I'm normally not this uncoordinated."
"Don't worry about it, I've been flying for almost twenty five years now, it gets so I worry more about crossing midtown in a cab more than I do about flying to Los Angeles."
"Samantha Thomas," She said as she extended her hand. "My friends call me Sam."
"Barbara Logan," Came the reply. "Nice to meet you. Don't worry, by the time we get to LA you'll be a veteran."
"Just don't be surprise if you find me holding your hand for support when this thing takes off." Samantha said.
Barbara's smile dimmed just a little. One of the reasons she usually took the Redeye from Newark to LAX was so she could sleep and arrive rested for a morning meeting. Now she began to worry that she would be up all night baby-sitting Sam. Then, thinking back to her own first flight and how worried she was about it, loosing a little sleep to help Sam didn't seem too high a price to pay. Ten minutes later, the flight attendants had finished their safety speech, one which Sam had followed with a keen interest. The fasten seat belts light had come on and the DC-10 took its turn on the flight line.
Barbara could feel Samantha tensing up when the cabin filled with the roar of the jet's engines as the pilot brought them up to full power. As the plane began to rush down the runway, Barbara reached over and took Samantha's hand in her own.
Sam gripped her hand tightly as the wheels of the jet bumped once then took to the air. The night sky filled the small window, leaving the city lights quickly behind.
After about ten minutes of climbing to gain their cruising altitude, the seat belt light went off. People then began to move around the cabin and get as comfortable as they could. A casual look around her told Barbara that most of her fellow passengers intended to sleep their way cross-country.
"I guess I can let go now," Barbara said with a smile. "We made it once again."
"Would you mind terribly if I held on a little longer?" Samantha asked.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt," Barbara responded. If that was the most attention she wanted, then maybe she could get some sleep after all.
With that, the 45 year old woman leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. Ten minutes later she was lost in dreamland.
Roughly two hours later, Barbara woke up, feeling the call of nature. The cabin around her was dark, except for the maintenance lights. Brushing her hair out of her brown eyes, she could see that most of the people around her were sleeping, the few who were not sat quietly reading.
Turning to her left, she saw that Sam was still wide awake. Still holding tightly onto her hand.
"Couldn't sleep?" Barbara asked.
"No, I tried but I'm still too scared," Sam replied. "I hope you don't mind my still holding on, it really does make me feel better."
"Well I'm afraid that you're going to have to let go for at least a little while, I need to use the facilities." said the Redhead.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Samantha sputtered and quickly released her grip.
"Don't worry, I'll be right back," The older woman said reassuringly as she rose and started down the aisle.
She had gone about six rows when she turned and saw Samantha right behind her.
"Figured I should make a stop too," She said.
