With Thanksgiving, crowded airports and delayed flights always come hand in hand. Melanie knew this from too much experience, as she'd been flying to one place or another for the holidays more years than not. And like clockwork, tonight, just a couple days before the big turkey holiday, Melanie was stranded in an airport waiting for her flight to finally get the go ahead. Heavy snow and winds had come pouring in hours ago, and though it was not as nearly as bad as it was earlier, the planes were going nowhere. The estimation was at least another three hours before boarding.
It was late, dark, and relatively quiet, despite all the other stranded travelers that had taken to sleeping in the terminal to wait for their own delays or standbys. She sat in a row of plastic seats facing a large window looking out over the tarmac, but the darkness and the falling snow made it impossible to see anything but her own reflection in the glass. Beside her, her husband Ryan sat looking through a magazine.
She watched the two of them in the reflection. He looked calm and engrossed in his reading, apparently completely unfazed by the fact that they'd been here for more than half a day now. He wasn't slouched in the chair, his clothes still looked newly pressed, and his face didn't show the slightest hint of exhaustion or frustration, two things which had overtaken Melanie hours ago. He was the classic example of tall, dark, and handsome, and she loved him for being hers.
While Melanie could handle bad situations better than most, this delay was especially trying on her. Her dad and sister were waiting for her at her sister's home in Vegas. She had seen them just a few weeks ago, but Thanksgiving was important to her, and she was missing it. Anxious and tired, Melanie decided the best thing she could do was try to sleep away the hours until the plane was finally ready. She'd already had two naps, but as her eyelids grew heavy, she knew sneaking in one last snooze was more than possible. She leaned over, rested her head on her husband's shoulder, and was out in seconds.
--
Melanie wasn't sure how long she'd been sleeping, but it felt like hours had passed by the time her sparkling gray eyes saw the dimmed lights in the terminal again. She was going to look at her watch for the time, but stopped when she saw the reflection of the line at a restaurant behind her. Before she'd closed her eyes, the restaurant was full, and even had a line of people waiting at the door, led by a guy with a loud, obnoxious laugh and a 10 gallon cowboy hat. She saw that now the restaurant was just as full, still with a line, and the man in the hat was still at the front, still laughing too loud, waiting to be seated. Deep as it had been, she couldn't have been sleeping for more than a few minutes.
She also found that, in her short nap, she had moved off her husband's shoulder and was turned and twisted, using the back of the chair as a headrest. This was odd, since it wasn't as nearly as comfortable of a position, so she slid back to the side, resting again on his shoulder gently and laid her small hand on his knee, hoping for more sleep, but knowing it was useless. She was wide awake, and her eyelids were no longer heavy.
She stared downward at nothing, lost in space for several moments before something caught her attention. A movement, slight but definite. Her eyes shifted into focus and she saw the source—something in her husband's pant leg was moving, no—growing, and it was growing outwardly from his crotch. A small smile crept across Melanie's strikingly beautiful face.
I had been in the airport for about six hours too long, and I finally kinda snapped when this family with too many kids sitting nearby began playing some portable video game machine. They were all screaming and fighting over it, and the machine itself was at max volume. Asshole parents were letting it happen, even though everyone around them was irritable and trying to sleep.
I almost said something that probably would have gotten me kicked out of the terminal, but instead I just stood up, grabbed my bag, and walked to another section, far away from the brats. With an airport filled with delayed passengers, a seat was hard to come by, and I almost regretted giving up my place before I spotted an empty seat near the windows. I rushed to it, finding on old guy doing a crossword puzzle on one side, and a young blonde woman sleeping on the other. Not wanting to bother the woman, I asked the old guy if the seat was taken. He didn't respond, so I asked again, louder. Still nothing. I could have gone louder, but then I would've woken up the blonde and probably a few other people in the generally quiet section. Rather than make enemies, I decided just to sit, and if someone came to throw me out in a couple minutes, then so be it. Any time away from those punk kids was worth it.
I sat down and pulled out a magazine, flipping through absentmindedly, more concerned with being busy than being entertained. I had only been there a couple seconds when the blonde woman to my left suddenly shifted, laying her head against my shoulder. I thought, simple mistake. She probably didn't even know she'd moved. I'd just have to wake her and push her over. She wasn't bothering me, and it was really pretty nice to feel an attractive woman lying against me, if even for a moment, but if I let it go on, she would be really embarrassed if she woke up and found sleep lines on her face from my jacket. I was about to nudge her when something stopped me.
She laid a hand on my knee, and gave my leg a short, gentle stroke. I froze, immediately turned on, but still feeling the responsibility to wake her and let her compose herself. I might have waited a little, savoring the feel of a good woman so close, relishing in her touch. It had been a long time for me.
I looked forward to the window and caught our reflection in the glass. We looked like a nice couple. I'm tall, with light brown hair and I don't mind saying a nice build and handsome face. But this woman was a show-stopper, a familiar type of beauty, someone who looked neither cute nor hot, but was in that heavily desirable mix of erotic glamour in between. She had the understanding face of a young mom, the kind who would put junior to bed an hour early so she'd have extra time to please daddy.
