I'm so ready for a vacation but not looking forward to the long flight ahead. The airport was crowded, flights were delayed and people were anxious. I contemplated getting something to eat, my own flight having been delayed another hour. I took a seat and started rummaging in my bag looking for gum instead.
"Here, do you want a piece?" I look up to see an older woman, mid-thirties, with dark curly hair smiling at me, her deep brown eyes crinkled. She towers over me in my little airport seat, offering me a piece of gum.
"Oh yes, thanks!" I say with a smile. As I take the gum from her outstretched palm, I feel the heat of her hand on mine.
"Do you mind if I..." she trails off as she gestures to the seat next to me.
"Oh, please go ahead," I say, "my flight was just delayed again." Her sweet scent fills the air surrounding us as she sits down next to me.
She angles her body toward me, "Oh, the flight to Barcelona? I'm on that one too. I'm Aliza."
"Nina," I say, shaking her outstretched hand. It's a firm grip but her skin is soft.
We fill the time waiting for our flight with small talk. She's a lawyer with her own practice, defending human rights for clients all over. A radical, she tells me. I'm an undergrad student, semi-interested in the law but not sure of my future. She's going to Barcelona for work, a last-minute trip, her third time there. I've never been, but I'm looking forward to the food and the wanderlust. We commiserate over the brutal weather in New York this month and the frustrating flight delays.
Her body is angled toward me, our legs occasionally brushing against eachother. We are both wearing leggings, dressed for the comfort of our long flight. My eyes drift down to her mouth as she talks, my attention on her full pink lips. When she is not looking, I sneak a glance at the rest of her. Her full chest in her sweater, her shapely legs folded beneath her.