Flying

Zach and I were in the airport, waiting for our flight to take off.  Of course he had to drag me out of bed, to get going.  Since I had fallen asleep, I hadn’t gotten finished packing and had to get up to do so before my tennis match, because we were leaving straight from the courts.  Our flight was late evening, but because of all of the flying precautions and checking procedures now, since 9/11, we were arriving to the airport 2 hours early.  And, since we were flying out of Omaha, we had to drive just over an hour to get there.  We were sitting at a table in one of the in-airport restaurants, playing Speed.  I try to keep a deck of cards on me at all times.  You never know when they’re going to come in handy!

“I feel bad for the people that are going to be next to me on the flight,” I told Zach, as I slapped a card down on the table.

“Why?”

“Because I stink!” I exclaimed.  Since we left right after my match, I hadn’t had time to shower.  I had pulled on sweat pants and a sweatshirt.  Normally, I was the person who looked put-together when traveling, as you never know who you were going to run in to.  I got that habit from my mother.  However, I secretly felt good being in sweats.  Sweats are my guilty pleasure.

I took a quick glance at Zach in between flipping cards to see him wrinkle up his nose as he said, “I know.”

“Jerk!”

“I’m playing.  But seriously, you can have the window seat.  Then the only person who will really be subjected to your grossness is me.”

“Hey now!  But I guess better you than anyone else!”  We both laughed.  The thing I loved about Zach (or I guess, rather, one of the many things I loved about him), is that we could tease each other, even if we were being serious, and not get mad.  He just really knew who I was to the core, and vice versa. 

We finished the game and meandered over to sit in some seats by our gate, as boarding was supposed to start soon.  We chose to people watch.  People watching is a past time that both Zach and I have always enjoyed.  When we went to the mall, he didn’t mind accompanying me, because he would sit on a bench outside of stores and just watch people.  Not only is it interesting because of the entertainment, but you can really learn a lot about humanity, too.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  But we usually give our quick assessments of people, as they pass.

Two young-ish males walked by us who were dressed in black combat boots and black trench coats, and looked like they enjoyed talking about their emotions and listening to metal.  Zach: “It puts the lotion on the skin.”  Me:  “Judging!”

A lady who looked to be close to 30 was walking by, talking loudly on her phone.  She had her hair died a bright, unnatural red color, had a leopard print sheer button down shirt on, with just a bra underneath, and too tight jeans, giving her an apparent muffin top.  Zach: “Trashy.”  Me:  “No… Just, no.”

Before we got to assess anymore, they announced us for boarding.  Since Zach had booked us first class, we boarded first.  When we got settled into our seats, a mother and her daughter, about age 10, sat in the seats behind us.  The girl had ear buds in when they passed by, and I was disappointed when they sat behind us.  I’m not one of those people that doesn’t like kids, but I don’t like when they’re behind me on airplanes.  They typically are annoying.  Whether it’s because they kick the seat, or bump it a lot, or get whiny because they’re bored.  It just isn’t enjoyable.  At all. 

I find flying soothing.  I love the power of the plane when it’s taking off, and after in the air, something about it causes me to fall asleep.  Shortly after take off, I feel myself start to drift off.  My head is rolling to the side when all of a sudden I hear, “Who let the dogs out? WOOF! WOOF WOOF WOOF! Who let the dogs out? WOOF! WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!”

My eyes popped open and I whipped my head to look at Zach, widening my eyes at him.  He put his fingers over his eyes and turned away from me, trying not to laugh.  The little girl behind me clearly liked one hit wonders from the 2000’s.  And singing with headphones on.  When no one else could hear the music.  And loudly.

“Zach!” I whisper hissed.  “Zach, this is horrible!”

It had quieted down, clearly indicating that the verse was playing.  But then it started up again, “WOOF!  WOOF WOOF WOOF!”

I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to muffle my increasing giggles.  He nudged me with his elbow, which made me laugh harder.  Then I heard her mom finally hush her.  Shortly after, I drifted off.

We arrived in NYC really late, and so we went straight to the hotel and checked in, and laid in bed watching television until we went to sleep for the night.

On Monday I woke up to a missing Zach.  I sat up and looked around and didn’t see him anywhere, and the bathroom door was open and the light was off.  I stood up and stretched, trying to loosen my tight muscles from playing tennis and then sitting on a plane for hours.  I walked over to look out at the city view from our room window.  I grinned widely, giddily, at the sights of the high rises and cityscape.  I glanced to my side at the table and saw a note on it.  Zach had scrawled:

A, Ran to find a Starbucks.  Love, Z

The previous day when I was packing, Zach had told me not to worry about packing toothpaste, because he had enough that I could use his.  We had gotten in so late, I had forgotten to brush my teeth the previous night.  I eyed Zach’s suitcase lying on the empty space of the television stand next to the television.  I went and started digging through his suitcase, trying to find his toiletries.  I went through the pockets of the suitcase and didn’t find anything.  I started digging through his clothes and towards the bottom when I felt something hard.  I stopped, feeling its edges with my fingers, knowing full well what it was.

I removed my hand, and pulling out from underneath Zach’s clothes, was a small, light blue box, that had Tiffany & Co etched onto it.