Romantic Fanatic

Boarding

Suddenly a strong hand grasps my arm. Could it be??

I wildly spin around to see what this mysterious lover is trying to confess to me. 

"Ma'am, It would be preferred if your feet were covered before entering the aircraft." The flight attendant politely explains.

My shoes! I must have left them at the terminal seat! The other flight attendant starts rummaging around in a box labeled first aid. She pulls out two blue latex gloves. 

What a perfect way to start my new life. 

I tug my suitcase behind me as I walk down the aisle. Everyone I walk past seems to be curiously eyeing the gloves on my feet. This is humiliating. I find my seat and sit down, exhausted. I'm on the seat closest to the aisle while an elderly woman sits in the window seat and a sleeping airport boy is in the middle. He looks about my age... I wonder if he's French! 

Wait wait wait, I need to stop. Look where all this romantic thinking got me! On the aisle seat with gloves for shoes. Dang, I wish I was in the window seat. The plane starts moving. I wonder if someone's found my shoes by now. We take off and my ears pop. I put in my headphones and click play on Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift. I'm not going to New York. It's just got the vibes I need. "It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat..." Exactly! Who cares if I have gloves on my feet! Who cares if my life has been exhaustingly boring up until this point?! This is the reason the book started in the airport! I can do this!

After all the hype I just gave myself, I feel like doing something cool and important, I guess I forgot I have to sit on this plane and do nothing for a few more hours. The adrenaline from the day seems to rush out of me like a wave pulling back into the sea. I start to slowly fall a s l e e p. 

My eyes flutter open and snap straight to Airplane Boy next to me. We lock eyes and my heart punches me in the stomach. Was he watching me while I slept? If he was an old man I would say that was insanely creepy, which I try to keep in mind. I watch his eyes find my anti-shoes and his eyebrow twitches. Aha! Didn't realize the girl you were watching was crazy, aye? 

He looks up with an adorably concerned face.

"I forgot my shoes at the airport," I explain, annoyed. 

"Oh no! That's pretty unfortunate." he suppresses a giggle.

Great. He is French and he is charming. But! Let's not forget he was looking at me while I slept. 

"What brings you to Paris?" He asks small-talk-ishly.

"I'm moving."  

"Fantastic! May I suggest the first thing you do when you arrive?"

"Yes of course!" I blurt. Eat a baguette? Take a walk? Sit at a cafe?

"Get a pair of shoes, silly." He giggles.

Ugh. So he's kind of cringe. But watching him laugh at his own joke makes me smile too. 

"So, what were you doing in America?" I ask 

"I was filming an ad for perfume" he replies nonchalantly 

Is it getting hot in here? honestly I believe him, with a little makeup, he totally belongs in a perfume ad. What are the chances that I get seated next to probably the coolest most attractive person on the plane. Everything is going perfectly. I've been contemplating weather the wedding should be a beach or forest setting, when I spot the flight attendant walking down the aisle with a cart of drinks. I'd know that smug face anywhere. Could it be??