"Ladies and Gentlemen, the captain has not turned off the 'Fasten Seatbelt' sign. We ask that you remain in your seats for the duration of the flight. We are expecting to encounter severe turbulence..."
Lisa groaned and clenched her jaw. She forced the contents of her stomach back down as the plane skipped and lurched through the sky.
She hated flying. Goddamn, she hated flying. She hated flying on a good day, but this? This had to be the worst flight she'd ever experienced.
She had hoped to look around for Jennie before the flight took off. Lisa had visions of some grand, romantic reunion, going down on one knee right there in front of an airplane full of onlookers. Someone was bound to put it up on Instagram. How many "likes" would that video get?
But there hadn't been time for any of it. The flight attendants were already in the middle of the safety demonstration by the time she jogged down the jetway and onto the plane. Lisa had been ushered directly to her seat without so much as a "Welcome aboard!"
That's what she got for flying coach. How many years had it been since she sat back here in the cheap seats? Lisa rarely even flew first class nowadays - mostly chartered private jets.
She had felt a tinge of worry when the ticket agent first handed her the coach-class boarding pass. What was she letting herself in for, exactly? No way she wouldn't be recognised. She had a pair of sunglasses with her, but they didn't do much to conceal her identity. Would she be mobbed by fans? Five hours of pictures and autographs, wedged into a seat the size of a sardine can? Probably the last public appearance of her career, and she was going to spend it conducting the world's most uncomfortable meet-and-greet.
She hadn't counted on the turbulence though. It was driving her crazy, not being able to get up and search the plane for Jennie, but at least it was keeping her fellow passengers in their seats as well. Everyone was way too focused on not puking to worry about pestering her.
She felt the seat bottom drop away beneath her in a moment of pure free-fall before the plane seemed to bounce and tilt upward again. Worst flight ever. Jennie better be happy to see her at the end of this. Better be fucking ecstatic. Lisa kept one hand poised to grab the barf bag out of the seat pocket in front of her.
"Oh dear." said the voice to her right. "You don't look so good."
Lisa sucked in her breath slowly and held it deep in her lungs, waiting for the wave of nausea to pass. She turned to look at the woman sitting beside her. A little old lady - must be pushing 80 from the looks of her - working away at some crochet project. She must have been the only person onboard who wasn't motion sick right now.
"Maybe this would help, dear?" She pulled a pack of spearmint chewing gum out of her bag and offered Lisa a stick.
"Thanks." she muttered, grateful for anything to get the taste of bile out of her mouth.
She put down her ball of yarn and turned in her seat to face Lisa, taking her acceptance of the gum as an invitation to chat. "I think the woman in that seat before you had the right idea, getting off the plane when she did."
"What happened?" Lisa replied. "Did she get sick or something?"
"Oh no. It was the strangest thing. We were just about to take off, and all of a sudden she just stood up and started taking down her suitcase out of the overhead bin. And then she turned to me out of nowhere and said 'Thank you.' and gave me a kiss on the cheek! Isn't that odd?"
Lisa crinkled her forehead. "You didn't know her?"
"Never met her before in my life! So I just said 'You're welcome, dear, but thank you for what?'"
