folklore; conrad fisher

37: baggage

Formal dress? Check. Those stilettos that always gave me blisters? Check. An untamed amount of excitement over finally getting to see the people I'd been missing for years? Check, check, check.

I finished zipping up my carry-on suitcase, grinning widely as I got a notification that my Uber had arrived. It was a bit of a long ride to the airport that day, due to all of the weekend traffic. When I arrived, I rushed inside. Impatiently, I waited in the TSA line, and dashed to my terminal once I was out. I made it to my gate only minutes before the flight finished boarding its passengers. I wiped the mist off of my head, panting as I handed my passport and boarding pass to the gate attendant. She gave me an annoyed look, only making me feel worse about arriving so late.

When I entered the plane, I locked eyes with Conrad, who was sitting in first class. That lucky bastard. He was supposed to cancel his flight once he found out he got the job at the lab, but waited so long to do so, that he never ended up needing to anyway. Had he cancelled it, he would have been stuck having to re-purchase a last minute ticket, where he'd be sitting in the back of the airplane––like me.

I grabbed my luggage and squished it in between two carry-ons in the overhead bin. The one person in my row got up and allowed me inside, as I was sat in the middle seat. I clicked on my seatbelt and let out a deep breath as I finally settled into my chair.

About an hour later, the flight attendants came by, offering us complimentary snacks and drinks. I was chewing on some pretzels and pushing it down with Coca-Cola when I saw Conrad heading down the aisle. He stopped at my row and smiled, reaching over to hand me a chocolate chip cookie, one I assumed the first-class members were given.

"Wow, how fancy," I sneered, still accepting the cookie, "Did they give you guys champagne and caviar as well?"

"Yes, with gold flakes on it, of course." He joked back.

"Well, thanks for the cookie," I said, taking a bite out of it.

He rocked back and forth, "I've been trying to sleep for the past hour."

"The eye masks, pillows, and extra legroom aren't working?"

"Nope." He smiled.

I was still nibbling my cookie when I saw him gaze intently at the woman sitting beside me, in the window seat. She was fast asleep, her jaw hanging open as a light snore escaped her.

Conrad smirked, "Looks pretty cozy over there."

I was confused as to what he was getting at, until he reached over and tapped her shoulder. She grunted as she woke up, not pleased to have her sleep disrupted. She scowled at him, but the smile still didn't leave his face. I was mortified watching this all go down, wondering why Conrad decided to embarrass me on this flight.

"Hey, I'm sorry for bothering you," He said, "I'm sitting in first class right now, but you're right beside a good friend of mine, and I was wondering if you'd like to switch spots with me for the rest of the flight?"

She blinked twice, "Are you joking?"

I was just as stunned as the woman, looking at Conrad and wondering if he'd gone crazy.

But he was determined. He pulled out his boarding pass from his pocket to prove it to her. In big letters it read, 'SEAT: 2B'

"God bless you, boy." She said.

The man in the aisle and I got up, allowing her to exit as she raced towards the front of the plane. As she left, I heard her mutter to Conrad, 'Love makes you do insane things, I swear.'

"You couldn't have given me that seat!?" I argued.

He plopped into his new seat, "Nah."

"Well, I get to use your shoulder as a headrest, then."