In The Spotlight Extras

What are you doing New Years?

One hour to my flight.

I just don't understand who sets a meeting for January 2nd.

"Leafy!" Firey calls out from behind me.

I wave back at him with a smile.

"Hope you're okay at your parents'! I'll miss you." He blew a kiss, making me giggle like a school girl.

"Bye, honey. I'll miss you too." I waved him off and turned around to see the stupidly long security line. Guess I better get comfy,

"Under federal law, all persons in this airport must..." I'd heard this same message 5 times now. Sitting in the gate, I didn't want to dig around in my purse to get my earbuds, since in minutes I'd be boarding the plane, and it's just one more thing to carry.

Doomscrolling on my phone, I got a notification from my airline's app. I tapped on it without looking.

My flight was delayed.

An extra hour.

Niceeee.

Okay. Okay. It's okay.

5:30 PM, December 31st. I posted a picture on my Snapchat story that I still can't believe Grassy convinced me to download. I captioned it '1 hour flight delay' with a little annoyed emoji.

Look at me. Old, decrepit, 30-something, grandma Leafy is on the socials.

As I chewed on a granola bar, I decided I might as well grab my earbuds now.

The music surrounding me calmed me down a lot. I'm always taken back to the first time I heard a song when I hear it again.

This one reminds me of the time I tried (and immediately gave up) Kon Mari.

Ironically, that was pretty much just as miserable as right now.

I blast the music as loud as it'll go and look for some grub that isn't downright disgusting- not to mention overpriced. All I've seen so far is a salad place.

Today is not a salad day.

I keep walking until I see a McDonalds, which I wouldn't normally go for. Oh, what the hell? It's cheap comfort food.

I especially like that I don't even have to remove my earbuds. I just order at the kiosks and there's no need for interaction with another human at this wretched place.

So I eat there, enjoying the change of scenery. I kill about 20 minutes.

When I return, no one who was at my gate is there anymore.

"Ma'am?" I ask the woman at the ticket counter. "Are they boarded?"

"Flight 2857 just boarded about 5 minutes ago, you have plenty of time to get to Nashville." She smiled politely, which made me want to rip my hair out.

"No, no, no! Nashville? No!" I broke down into tears in front of this random woman. "I need a flight to LAX! Oh god. They said there was a delay!"

"It cleared up. I'm sorry. I think you need to talk to our airline counter."

I rolled my eyes. Delta.

"No flights? Not a single one?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"This is a small airport. But, we can set you up in a room. In the hotel, I mean."

"God, okay." I rubbed my face. It was going to be a long night.

The thought jostling around my head was 'Why weren't you listening to the announcements?' If I listened to my thoughts like this, I would explode.

Luckily, a new sound came. A knocking at the door. I opened it.

"Firey? How the hell did you get through security."

He gave me a peck on the forehead. "Bought a ticket to the cheapest flight I could find," he whispered. "I'm sorry about your flight."

"It's fine."

His brow furrowed. "No it isn't! If the app tells you when your flight is delayed, shouldn't it tell you if it comes early?"

I shrugged. "It's dumb." I shook my head. "Never mind that. What are you doing? You should be at home! Enjoy New Year's Eve. Watch the ball drop."

He made a 'really?' face and gestured to the tv. "You need someone to kiss at midnight, don't you?" He sat down on the bed, and reached out his arms to cuddle.

I squinted at him. "Fuck it, okay." I laid down next to him and he ran his fingers through my hair. "This isn't exactly a good omen for how next year's going to go."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "What? Let's not forget the reason you're flying on New Year's in the first place."

"For a work conference, I know."

He hugged me closer. "Because you are successful and amazing."

I kissed him on the cheek. "Whatever you say."

(Heyyy! So this chapter went through four iterations, and I ultimately wasn't happy with any of them. So, here is this, hope you like it, and here's to 2024!)