Michaelishious - Vol. 2021

Dec. 19th: Quarantine (pt. 1)

"Your luggage, sir."

"Huh?"

I felt embarrassed for being caught spacing out right in front of the baggage carousel. Most of the passengers who had been on the same flight as me, had left a long time ago. I, on the other hand, remained staring at the same suitcase circling round after round on the carousel, and was too tired to register that it was mine.

"Isn't that yours?"

I snapped back to reality when I got aware that the woman was actually talking to me.

"Oh. Yes, it is," I smiled, but felt a bit awkward. I recognized her as the lady who had been sitting next to me on the plane, only on the opposite side of the aisle. Judging by the frown on her forehead while she was reading, it was probably a sad book. She even discreetly wiped away a few tears now and then, and she'd blushed shyly and thanked me when I handed her a tissue. One that was wrapped in plastic, of course, due to Corona restrictions.

"I thought so. I mean, I wasn't spying on you or anything. I just noticed it at the departure. You were the only one with a neon green suitcase."

That made us both giggle.

"I'm trying to create a new fashion," I joked with a half-smile and tilted my head to study her closer. She was tall. Maybe a couple of inches shorter than me, and she had a deep nuance of purple highlights in her otherwise dark hair. It reached her shoulders and framed her face in a way that complimented her cheekbones, that I caught a short glimpse of before she adjusted her mask. She wasn't wearing too much makeup, and after almost thirteen long hours on a cramped plane, I was impressed that it was still flawless.

"Really? So green's your thing, huh?"

There was a bit of an edge in the way she spoke, and a part of me got confused about whether she was teasing or challenging me.

"And purple is yours," I countered, and watched her gaze flicker a bit until she figured out I was talking about her hair. Her hand went up by reflex and she tucked a strand behind her ear, and even though I couldn't see her mouth, I knew she was smiling. I grabbed my suitcase, and being the gentleman that I was, I was just about to help with hers when she stopped me.

"Uhm... Corona restrictions," she said and pointed at one of the myriads of signs everywhere. Signs about how to sanitize your hands, how to sneeze into your elbow, how to touch things without really touching them and where to get tested. And it was exactly to one of these test stations we were heading to.

"The beer?" I asked, and once again I was amused when she looked at me in bewilderment.

"You've never heard about Corona? It's a beer. It's actually quite good, too," I explained, and let her stand in line first. And being the dog that I was, I took full advantage of the opportunity to admire her without her knowledge.

She wasn't the most feminine type. She was actually quite sturdy, but I liked it. It suited her and the little I knew about her personality. Now she tilted her head and rubbed her neck. Maybe she was tense and sore like me after sitting in the same position for way too long? I know she managed to sleep a bit, though. I didn't.

"This way ma'am," the middle-aged health care worker said to her. Then pointed at me and sounded just as enthusiastic as a robot.