Romantic Fanatic

The Fortune

"I can sense that the two of you have a very entertaining story ahead of you."

Me and Airplane Boy? Could it be that we have a future together? Could it be?

We glance at each other as the woman slowly digs through her bag. She seems to find what she's looking for and begins to pull out a porcelain tea set. She places a cup and saucer in front of me and Airplane Boy. Before I have time to properly react to the fact that these were just loose in her carry-on bag, she pours a splash of tea into our cups out of a piping hot teapot. My mouth hangs open and no words form in my brain except "wha the fuhhh".

"No questions dears, just sip," she tells us contently as she drinks her own cup.

Me and Airplane Boy obey synchronously. We finish the tea and place our cups tentatively back on the saucers. The woman takes our cups and the steam from the teapot surrounds us in a mystical haze. The aroma smells like rain on flowers. 

She inspects my teacup curiously. Is she reading my tea leaves? As she tilts her head and furrows her brow, I notice the thin braids amongst her frizzed wavy hair. She really does seem like a witch, in the nicest way possible. She looks up and blinks in the slow way that old people do. 

"Of course, a goose!" She croaks. "A goose is a wonderful sign! That could mean... could mean..."

She trails off and her eyes shut abruptly. Her head slumps onto her chest. 

Oh lord. I think she just died. 

"Oh my god," whispers Airplane Boy, tapping her hastily. 

The old woman doesn't move. We spam the attendant attention button and a friendly flight attendant glides over. 

Airplane Boy stutters, "This woman, she- she was talking, and she-"

"She just died mid-sentence!" I interrupt. 

The flight attendant calls over assistance and they elegantly remove Window Seat Woman. I'd guess the rest of the plane has no idea that any medical emergencies even occurred. Me and Airplane Boy sit back down in shock. We don't look at each other or talk. 20 minutes later, Window Seat Woman appears beside us with the flight attendant at her side. 

"She simply fainted, no need to worry. She's doing much better now," the flight attendant reports as the woman shuffles into her seat. "We flight attendants will check up on her periodically. It would be best if you just let her rest as of now."

Me and Airplane Boy nod with a sigh of relief and the flight attendant leaves with a trained smile. 

"Well I ought to go to sleep, my apologies for the scare," Window Seat Woman says, grinning slightly.  

She drifts off to sleep, and I take in the fact that all of our tray tables are empty and stowed. I have no recollection of anyone putting away the tea set. 

The tea set. Maybe the tea set was never there. It seems more likely. I wish she would have told me what a goose in my tea leaves meant. She did say it was wonderful and that she sensed a future with me and Airplane Boy. We have definitely been through more than the average strangers in the last 3 hours. My heart swells at the thought of him. 

I look over at Airplane Boy to find him looking at me fondly. He looks away and smiles. I see the slightest blush appear on his face. Maybe he could feel the same way. Could it be?