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I figured Angelica was already on board when I didn’t see her in the departure lounge. She’s usually early for everything – anally so.
Imagine my surprise when she was the one holding up the flight, making all of the passengers grumble. Poor thing. She looked frazzled when she boarded, and then to have her bag break and spill like that…I’m amazed she wasn’t reduced to tears.
As I sit in my wide leather seat, sipping on a glass of complimentary champagne, I’m swamped by guilt. Angelica is probably feeling cramped and uncomfortable in coach, with barely enough legroom to stretch out. It’s not fair that I get to enjoy all of these luxuries while she has to suffer.
I hate not having her by my side. I know how scared of flying she is. If she was sitting by me, I could distract and comfort her. I feel like shit after promising her she wouldn’t be alone and that I’d be by her side.
I make a decision right then and there. I’m going to switch seats. I quickly flag down a flight attendant and explain the situation, but she won’t budge. I plead with her, telling her that it’s an emergency and that I have to be next to my girlfriend.
I’ll give my seat to the guy in coach who’s sitting beside Angelica. But she just shakes her head and tells me that it’s against company policy. I ask if I can straight swap with Angelica but she refuses that option too.
I feel helpless and frustrated. The injustice of it all is suffocating. How can they be so heartless? The seats are paid for, who cares whose ass is actually sitting in which seat?
Getting to my feet once more, I walk to the back of the plane to check on Angelica again. Maybe I’ll ask a different flight attendant if we can switch seats. But when I get to the very back row, Angelica is sleeping – not exactly soundly if the small crease between her brows and the white knuckle grip on her armrests are anything to go by. She even has her seatbelt still on.
I can’t bring myself to wake her up. She looks so exhausted, and I know how hard it must have been for her to fall asleep on this plane. The adrenaline of take off must have really taken it out of her.
I feel guilty for not insisting we switch seats in the first place when the snappy air stewardess mentioned that her seat was in coach.
But I shouldn’t have let the guilt get to me. Just because I’m in business class doesn’t mean Angelica can’t handle being in coach. She’s a strong woman, and I need to trust that she can handle herself.
I take a deep breath and head back to my seat. As I sit down, I notice the man next to me staring at me with a sympathetic gaze. He must have overheard my pleading with the airline employee to let me switch.
“It’s tough, isn’t it?” he says, his voice soft and kind.
I nod, not trusting myself to speak. It’s ridiculous, really. I’m getting worked up over something so small, something that Angelica would probably tell me to stop worrying about. But I can’t help it. I just want to make sure she’s okay.
The man next to me continues, “You know, my wife and I always fly coach when I’m not travelling for business, but we make sure to bring our own pillows and blankets. It makes a huge difference.”
I nod again, grateful for the advice. Maybe I can do something small for Angelica, like give her my neck pillow and blanket. It’s not much, but it’s better than feeling helpless.
I walk to the back of the plane again – I’m definitely getting strange looks now – and carefully place my travel pillow under Angelica’s head, and then cover her with the soft cashmere flight blanket I always use. She seems a little more at peace and she’s managed to let go of the armrests in her sleep.
I just hope it’s a smooth trip.
As the flight continues, I try to distract myself with the in-flight entertainment and the food. But my mind keeps drifting back to Angelica. Is she awake now? Has she eaten anything? Is she scared? I feel like I’m failing her, even though I know that’s not true.
Finally, we land and I rush off the plane to find Angelica. She’s waiting for me at baggage claim after I got held up at immigration, looking tired but relieved. I rush towards her and wrap my arms around her, feeling grateful that the flight was incredibly smooth.
“I’m sorry,” I say, reluctantly letting her go. She seems surprised by my sudden affection, but it’s all I could think about for the entirety of the flight. “I should have insisted that we switch seats as soon as you boarded. I tried to convince the airline staff to let us swap, but they were having none of it.”
Angelica smiles at me, her eyes sparkling with amusement despite her exhaustion. “It’s okay,” she says, “I managed just fine. And you gave me your pillow and blanket, which made all the difference. Thank you.”
I feel a surge of admiration for her. She’s always so strong and resilient, even in the face of adversity. I vow to always be there for her, no matter what.
We collect our bags and make our way to the rental desk to pick up our car, but Angelica surprises me when it’s our turn in line and she steps forward and says we have two reservations.
“What?” I ask her as the woman behind the counter prints out our paperwork. “Why do we have two rentals?”
She looks at me like I’ve grown another head. “Umm, because there’s two of us?”
“But we’re going to the same place. The same hotel, the same work, the same party. It makes no sense to have two vehicles.”
I’m surprised the company would spring for this, but then again, they did get me a business class seat. Or someone did. Me and not Angelica. That reminds me, I’d better call the office later and get them to fix our return flights. I don’t need to fly business, but whatever seat I’m given, I need it to be next to Angelica for the return flight.
“I’ll see you at the hotel,” Angelica says, grabbing her paperwork and her keys and giving me a cheery wave.
“Wait! Do you want to follow me to the hotel?”
