Sequel (Advent Calendar 2016)

THE 17TH OF DECEMBER

The 17th of December

...

Making his way down the narrow path, his boarding pass and passport in hand, Rob searches for his seat.

He looks at his boarding pass, and then at the small overhead light in front of him. The seat numbers match. He looks down at the seat, and when he sees who's sitting in the seat next to his, he freezes.

Trying to pretend everything is fine, he takes off his rucksack and sits down, putting the bag under the seat in front of him.

He glances at her. She's listening to music. He can't tell if she's ignoring him or if she just hasn't noticed him.

She looks his way, not looking at him and all, her eyes scanning the people on the plane. She is ignoring him.

Grabbing his bag on the floor, he opens it and pulls out his iPod and his earphones. He chooses a playlist, leans his head back, closes his eyes and tries to forget the woman beside him.

He's almost asleep when a voice stops him from dazing off.

"Would you like anything from the cart, sir?"

Rob blinks, coming to his senses.

"A coffee, would be nice, please. Black."

The stewardess nods, pouring coffee into a plastic cup. "And you, M'am? Would you like anything?"

Rob becomes acutely aware of her body next to his as she leans towards the stewardess.

"Coffee, please. With milk."

"Yes. Anything else?"

"No, that's all."

The stewardess hands them their drinks, and they pay for them.

"You don't drink the coffee on planes," Rob blurts out when the stewardess has left.

"And you don't drink black coffee. Sometimes we do things we normally wouldn't do," she says, clearly talking about more than just coffee.

"Sure," he mutters.

6 hours and 23 minutes. That's how long he's stuck here with her.

Putting his earphones back in his ears, he lets the tunes distract his thoughts. With a touch on the white button on her earphones, Kristen's screen lights up as she unpauses her music. They're listening to the same song.

He wants to groan.

Taking a sip of his coffee, he turns his body slightly away from her.

He's still listening to music, when he starts to feel the same ache in his ears he felt during take-off. He tries to swallow, but it won't go away, and he curses himself for not bringing any gum. Remembering Kristen always has gum in her bag, he's just about to ask her when she stops himself. It's not that painful.

After five minutes, the pressure is still irritating his ears, and he can't seem to make it go away. Throwing in the towel, he turns towards her.

"Do you have any gum?"

She looks straight ahead, not reacting.

He reaches over, pausing her music. Her screen lights up. There's barely any sound in her earphones. Nice, Kristen.

"Hey!" she complains as the song stops, glaring at him.

"Do you have any gum?" He asks her, before she can start her music again.