To Be Young And In Love In New York City

Epilogue

River

I carefully lean to my side and buckle Colette's seatbelt before doing my own. Taking a deep breath, I sit back into my seat and look out the plane's window. We're 30,000 feet above land, driving through a kingdom of pearl-white clouds. Colette's head is tightly pressed against my shoulder, her soft snores filling my ears.

We had gone to L.A. for a couple of days, just to take break from all our lives and the emotional rollercoaster of a month we had. It was her idea and I agreed to it. It was really fun; we had mostly spent our time in theme parks-Universal Studios and Disneyland to be specific. 

And now, we're heading back to home, our beloved New York City. 

Colette stirs awake, her eyes fluttering open. She squints her eyes at the light streaming in through the window, and I quickly shut it. She sits upright, pulling her head away from my shoulder and rubs her eyes. I watch her, as she spends a whole minute trying to wipe the sleep out of her eyes. 

Colette has this weird thing of wanting to spend time with me in the airplane. She thinks sitting in the airplane side by side is one of the best spots where you can bond with your partner. 

Yeah, I don't get it either. She's been trying to fight off the drowsiness that keeps creeping into her so that she can "connect" with me, only to end up falling asleep each time without her even knowing. 

I sigh. "Colette, just go back to sleep."

"No!" She protests in a whisper-shout, because there are people sleeping around us. "We should do something fun!"

I roll my eyes. "Love, we're grown adults crammed into two economic seats with not even a fraction of leg space, surrounded by like a hundred people, 30,000 feet above the ground. How do you make this fun?"

Her eyes quickly move to my legs and she gives me a sympathetic look. "I forgot you were tall."

I give her a tight smile.

"There must be something. What do people do to entertain themselves on a plane ride?"

I think for a moment and smirk. "Bathroom sex?"

"The bathroom is so tiny. How do two people even fit into such a tiny room?"

I raise my eyebrows. "So you're considering it?"

"As if." She sticks out her tongue at me. I smile. 

I would be lying if I said I didn't wonder about Colette's sex life then and now. Sometimes I wonder how many people she has slept with. Sometimes, I don't even want to know the answer to that. 

Not that it matters, honestly. Whether she's slept with 0 people or a lot of people doesn't change anything about her. But if it was a big number, then it probably wouldn't feel as good, knowing that many guys knew what she felt like. 

I, myself, have only been with one woman, my ex. I wasn't one of those horny teenagers that rushed into. Frankly, I wasn't even that into sex until I was like 20. When I first did it, I felt satisfaction knowing that it was something I was patient about because it really was worth it, doing it with a person I loved. 

"What are you thinking about?" Colette looks at me, curiously. 

Should I ask her?

No, that's weird.

"Nothing," I say, putting my hand on her lap. The pilot announces that the plane is getting ready for landing. I ignore the rest of his instructions. 

"Tell me," Colette insists.