Right Down The Line

10

Bee's POV:

"What you find-ah"

Furrowing my brows, I scrunched my eyes shut tighter. I smelled citrus soap.

"What you feel now"

The song was getting louder, closer to me.

"What you know-ah"

I twisted around in the silk sheets, shifting onto my back as I took in the bright phone screen that was now being held about an inch from my face, Cheryl Lynn's face and voice overwhelming my sight and sound.

"To be real!"

I put my hands over my eyes.

"Harry," I moaned, drawing out each syllable.

"Don't 'Harry' me," his voice matched the volume of the music. "This Harry gave you the most comfortable spot in the place and let you sleep for the entire flight."

Now that he mentioned it, I did feel pretty well-rested. Still though, there are better ways to wake up.

I removed my hands from my eyes to see him on his hands and knees a few inches from me, holding his phone up and bopping his head to the beat of the song. The small bedroom was still dark, but the sliding door was open to the lit-up hallway outside. Harry's image was barely more than a silhouette.

I paused, just watching him, unable to match any sort of energy to his right now.

I squinted my eyes at him, putting my fingers in my hair to get a feel for what it might look like right now. I cleared my throat to rid my voice of that just-woke-up sound. "Can we talk about the fact that you were literally hiding in here for the beginning of the flight?"

"Did I scare you?" His tone was teasing.

"Yes," I said without hesitation, nodding.

He chuckled, crawling to the end of the bed and getting up to stand in the doorway, leaning his hip against the wall. He turned the song off and pushed his phone into the pocket of his black track pants. So he had put on some clothes, I noticed, a baggy yellow t-shirt hanging off his body.

"I was absolutely hammered," he began proudly, "I arrived early and told everyone to not bother me - well my exact verbiage I think was," he held up his hands in air-quotes, "'Act like I don't exist until I leave that bedroom'." He settled once again against the doorway wall. "They seemed to take that quite literally," he said, sounding impressed and a little amused.

I propped myself up on my elbows, staring at him. "You're very flouncy," I observed.

"Well, we're almost home!" He said. "And as I recall, you" he pointed at me, "hate the portion of the flight where the wheels touch the ground. So here I am, once again being very kind," he did a small bow, "to give you a warning that we'll be landing soon."

I eyed him thoughtfully again. Despite his animated demeanor, that actually was a nice gesture because I probably would've shit my pants if I woke up unsecured in a strange bed - alone - upon landing.

"Thank you," I said casually, starting to sit up. "Bathroom?"

He pointed to a door just outside the bedroom, then he wordlessly turned around and sauntered toward the cabin.

I took my time in the bathroom to wake up a bit more. After using the toilet and washing my hands, I splashed cold water on my face and gave myself a once-over in the large mirror. I chuckled at my appearance, knowing that I decided on this outfit because I anticipated being in business class on a normal flight with about two hundred other people. I could've at least selected a different black t-shirt.