I have always had a fear of planes; a confined space, up very high with no way out until you land, if you do. It is terrifying. Fear is a funny thing though; it has held me back from travelling my whole life. I am 22 now and I need to try and overcome this fear so I can finally see the world. First on my list was Sydney, Australia.
It was a lovely day in Sydney; sunny and just warm enough. I was walking to the Oceanic Airport waiting to catch my flight, 815. My next destination was Los Angeles California to visit Venice Beach and the art there, especially the Starry Night mural. I have a few hours to kill before I can actually board the plane so once inside the airport I headed to find a bar. On my way there I noticed all of the people I walked by; rushed, calm, crying and confused. All of these people had their own story for being there, not all good reasons by the looks of some of their faces. I passed about a dozen restaurants and gift shops before I finally found a bar less crowded than the rest. I walk in and have my eye on an empty booth in the back; I grab a drink and go sit down.
I've now been in here for an hour. Time flies when you're talking and flirting. I get up and pay the tab. While I am waiting for the bartender to give my card back with a receipt, I notice an attractive man is looking at me. I look at him and smile, and then return my gaze to the bartender. His gaze lingers and I look back at him. He has brown hair you just want to run your fingers through, brown eyes you could get lost in and a very nice smile. I also couldn't help but notice he had nice muscles. He was the first to speak, breaking my trance.
"Hi there." He begins "Enjoying the view?" he says laughing,
"Hi, uhh yeah I'm sorry." I reply embarrassed
"So where are you travelling to?" he asks, smiling at me
"I am headed to Los Angeles. My flight actually leaves in an hour…" I say
"Huh, mine does too, I wonder if we are on the same flight." He says
"Flight 815" we say in unison
"I'm Jack by the way, nice to meet you." He says
"I'm Alora, nice to meet you Jack." I say smiling at him "Well, I will see you on the plane. Bye." As he says goodbye, I get my card and receipt and start to walk out, as I turn back around Jack brings his attention back to his drink and I see his smile fade rather quickly. I recognize that distracting sadness all too well. But sadness has never looked so good honestly.
As I reach the gate, I take the farthest seat from everyone else. I was looking at the faces as I walked to my seat. There were a few couples; the first couple was young, beautiful but her eyes weren't full of life- she seemed distracted. The second couple was older but they were obviously so in love, the way they looked at each other is honestly what everyone hopes for. I passed by a bigger guy with the cutest curly hair; he was invested in his music, a tan blond, blue eyed southern stud; a total heartbreaker you just know it, a woman my age who was pregnant; so beautiful – glowing, and a handful of others. I reach my anti-social seat by the window and pick up a magazine from the seat next to me. I'm mindlessly flipping through the pages and happen to look up and see the most attractive man I have seen all day. My eyes are glued to him. Seconds later he looks up and our eye locked. They are a lighter shade of blue than my own and I am just lost in them. He is an older man and bald but that is honestly just my type. I can feel my cheeks burning, blushing bright red. I break the stare and giggle to myself. I look back at him and smiled. I then noticed the wheelchair and at that moment he looked away as if he were ashamed. He was then assisted onto the plane along with the lucky first class. I was hoping I was sitting near him; I want to talk to him. About a half hour later we all get to board the plane.
I take my seat and notice him two rows behind me. I put my carryon over my seat and hope he is checking me out. As I go to take my seat, I notice Jack is one row ahead of me. He says hi to me again and we cat for a couple minutes. After that I finally sit down and shortly after I sit the plane starts moving. I hold tight to the armrests and close my eyes, ready for this flight to be over.