Fast Friends

“Hi.” Silence. The little red-haired girl stared at the brunette one sitting under the slide. “Can I come under there?” Silence. The redhead plopped on the ground and scooted over. “I’m Tina.” Silence. “I’m six, you know. My family moved here last week. This is my first time at the park. Do you play here a bunch?” Silence.

“Michelle!” A woman called from a nearby bench. “Michelle, it’s time to go home now.”

The brunette girl climbed from beneath the slide and dusted off her jeans before running to her mom. Tina called after her. “Nice to meet you, Michelle! I can’t wait to play again soon.”

Michelle hooked her hand with her mom’s as they walked toward the car. “I see you made a new friend, Michelle. That’s great.” Silence.

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Michelle started her new kindergarten class the following day. She didn’t have many friends at her last school, but she’d only been there two months. She shyly sat next to her mother, idly swinging her legs as her mom finished enrolling her. Soon, the counselor crouched in front of her.

“Hi, Michelle. I’m Mrs. Stevens. You are in luck. You aren’t the only new student today. I’ve arranged for you to be in the same class. How does that sound?” Silence.

Mrs. Stevens led Michelle to the office foyer where none other than Tina sat. The redhead jumped off her chair and hugged the brunette girl tightly. “Michelle,” she squealed.

“Oh, I see you two already know each other.”

Tina grabbed Michelle’s hand and stated, “Mrs. Stevens put us in the same class. I can tell we are going to be fast friends.”

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Nineteen Years Later

“Oh em gee!” A high-pitched voice squealed, waking Michelle from her half-sleep. “Do my eyes deceive me, or is that Michelle Alberts in the seat next to me?”

Michelle groaned and pulled the airline blanket over her face, trying to block out the voice she thought she had left behind almost a decade ago. She’d just gotten comfortable, and now… this. She lowered the blanket and gently eased up one side of the eye mask. Michelle looked toward the cheery voice that had boomed down, interrupting her relaxation. Seeing the curly red locks on the woman who had her arms folded on the divider wall of the suite confirmed her worst nightmare. She dropped the mask back over her eyes, turned her back to the inner wall of the business class suite and pulled the blanket over her.

“It IS you! Michelle, you know I’m not going away. This is a twelve-hour flight, and you know I can be quite persistent. You might as well sit up and talk to me.” The voice was just chipper and insistent as Michelle remembered.

The brunette grumbled as she ripped off her eye mask and put her seat in an upright position. “Tina, we haven’t communicated in almost a decade. Heck, we even managed to avoid each other for four years going to the same university. What makes you think I want to talk to you now?”

Tina’s eyebrows furrowed together as her lower lip protruded. “Because it’s been seven years? Come on, Mick. Surely we’ve both grown up a lot since high school.”

Michelle scoffed and muttered something under her breath.

“Fine,” Tina huffed. She crossed her arms and threw herself back in her seat. “If you can’t take us being randomly assigned seats next to each other on an international flight to Berlin as a sign from the universe, we should at least try talking; that’s your problem.” She reached for the airline-provided noise-canceling headphones, slipping them over her ears as she furiously punched at the entertainment screen before her.

Michelle closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her head. She could feel a headache coming on, so she got up to search for a flight attendant who might have some aspirin. When she returned, Tina was still sitting in full pout mode. Michelle shook her head and chuckled. Maybe they had grown up in some ways, but some things could never change.

She knelt on the seat and reached over the divider to pull one side of Tina’s headphones down. The redhead glared at her, and Michelle threw her hands up in mock surrender. “You’re right. Fate has brought us together. I’m willing to talk if you are.”

Tina excitedly squealed and clapped her hands, tossing the headset aside. “What happened to you after you graduated? You did graduate, didn’t you?” Her eyes widened at the thought that Michelle may have dropped out of college. “I know you fought your dad fiercely about college, but you went. After that…” Tina then shrugged.

Michelle always found talking about herself difficult. When Tina gave her an opening to speak, she kept her explanation short, explaining she had indeed graduated with a major in music production and a minor in business. “I was fortunate to get an internship when I was attending Tech which led to a job right after graduation. I moved from Georgia to Los Angeles and jumped in feet first to learn what university classes couldn’t teach me about the music industry. What about you?” 

Tina told Michelle that after earning an undergraduate degree in Biology, she’d been accepted into veterinary school. “Graduation was a few weeks ago, and this,” she motioned around her, “is a vacation courtesy of my parents before I have to start adulting.” 

“A vet, eh? So, do I have to call you Dr. Pearson?” Michelle teased.

“That would require you calling me first, Alberts,” Tina teased back.

“Touche.” Despite not keeping in touch with Tina for so long, talking with her now didn’t feel as awkward as Michelle had expected. She let her mind float back to middle school.

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Seventh Grade

Michelle broke the popsicle stick in frustration. “Why won’t these fuckers stay glued?”

Tina patted her friend on the knee, reached over and pulled the box of sticks towards her. “Gimme,” she said as she reached for the glue. The redhead deftly secured the remaining sticks to complete the hamster maze.

Falling back dramatically, Michelle whined. “Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiina, we’re supposed to be partners in this project. I haven’t been able to do anything.”

“How about you time the hamster and record how long it takes him to get through the maze?” Tina’s bright optimism always seemed to make sense and ease Michelle’s tortured soul.

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“Michelle? Where’d you go?”

The brunette shook her head, clearing the thought and returning her attention to Tina. “Nowhere,” she mumbled, not wishing to share the memory. She realized the attendants were coming down the aisles with hot cloths. She took one and thanked the woman as Tina did the same. Michelle used the cloth to wash her face and carefully washed both hands.

Tina watched her and then mimicked what she saw Michelle doing. Michelle explained that dinner was about to be served, and this was much better than little packets of wet wipes. Tina admitted that her dad had obtained her a ticket in coach with his frequent flier miles, but apparently, she’d scored a last-minute upgrade because of his status attached to the ticket. “I’ve never flown overseas before, but this certainly seems the way to go,” she chirped.

“I convinced the record label that splurging on a business seat would help me arrive in Berlin more rested. That and I could work along the way.” Michelle shrugged, realizing that since fate had sat Tina Pearson next to her meant that rest and work would be in short supply on the flight.

After their meals were served, the two continued their casual conversation. Michelle asked about Tina’s parents and brother, and the redhead brought her up to date on all of her sibling’s antics. “He got married a few years ago.” She passed over her phone, proudly showing Michelle a picture of her two-year-old niece whose head full of curly red locks were just like her aunt’s.

“How’s your mom doing, Michelle?” Tina caught the momentary pause and looked over the divider.

Michelle’s eyes were closed as she took a few deep breaths. “She passed two years ago,” Michelle finally admitted.

Tina gasped as she clapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh, Michelle. I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” 

Before Michelle knew what was happening, Tina had launched her torso over the divider and wrapped Michelle in a tremendous hug. Michelle instinctively stiffened, then eventually relaxed and leaned into the comfort of Chole’s touch.

When Tina finally retreated, both their eyes were misty. “You’ve never been one for respecting personal space, Pearson,” Michelle managed to get out jokingly to try to quell the discomfort hanging in the air.

The redhead chuckled. “Do you remember when we first met?”

“At the playground or the next day at school,” Michelle asked, distinctly remembering when she met Tina Alberts. “You gave me a full-body hug when we saw each other at the counselor’s office. Like I said, you’ve never had any qualms about invading anyone’s space.”

“Those were the days,” Tina said wistfully.

“Yeah, those were the days."

After a few moments of silence, Tina began to speak again, hell-bent on keeping the conversation going. “So you know I’m headed to Germany for vacation. You mentioned work and a record label. What takes you to Berlin?”

Michelle explained that when she started at the label, her mentor saw her industry potential and wanted to ensure she had exposure to many different aspects of making a hit song - A&R, studio tech, and engineering. “If there’s a facet of running a label or producing a record, he’s made sure I experienced it. I busted my ass, gave four years of tireless dedication to anything asked of me. I now have the vague title of Associate Producer.”

Michelle said she was now being sent on a solo mission to Berlin. Her mission was to locate an artist who would explode in the United States and return to the States with the said artist under contract. Then Michelle would handle everything pertaining to that artist becoming a superstar.

“That sounds like a lot of pressure, Mick. But I’m proud of you. Why Berlin?”

Michelle chuckled. “Well, for one, Berlin has a booming indie music scene. Secondly, I’m fluent in German. But that’s a story for another day. You said you were going on vacation?”

“I almost didn’t make the flight, to be honest,” Tina laughed. “Aubrey was so angry with me since I caused us to be late getting to the airport.”

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Earlier that day

Tina kissed Aubrey on the cheek and thanked her for the ride. “Sorry to run; I’m going to be late.” 

The blonde chuckled as Tina was rarely on time for anything. She watched as her friend tugged her suitcase over the curb and headed into the airport.

The redhead rushed to the Delta Sky Priority line to check her bag. As a frequent flyer, her father used miles to purchase the airline ticket for Tina’s graduation present; therefore, she was able to reap the benefits of his Medallion status. The veterinarian was escorted through expedited security and rushed to her gate on an electric cart. She profusely thanked her attendant, who refused to accept the proffered tip. 

Tina was one of the last to board and quickly found her seat, breathing heavily as if she had run to catch her flight. One of the flight attendants soon approached her. “Dr. Pearson?”

She warily nodded, still not used to the recently earned prestigious title.

“Our flight hasn’t checked in full; would you like a complimentary upgrade?”

Being fresh out of veterinarian school, Tina was never one to turn down something free. She quickly retrieved her carry-on from beneath the seat and followed the attendant to the business class seats.

Once seated, Tina immediately began exploring everything in her immediate area—the amenities kit, noise-canceling headphones, pillow—all the things she’d never had on a flight before. She must have reclined her seat half a dozen times before the attendant responsible for that section offered her a glass of champagne.

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Michelle laughed after Tina told her story. “You crack me up, Pearson. You’ve never been on time in your life. You keep in touch with Aubrey then.” The three had been close friends throughout high school. 

“Of course. We were roommates throughout our undergraduate. When I went to vet school, she went to law school and stayed around after she graduated. Recently, she moved to L.A. to be an attorney at her family’s law firm.”

The former friends discovered they’d be in Berlin for about a week. Then Michelle would fly back to the States, and Tina would continue her vacation in parts of Eastern Europe.

“Since I already had a job, I went right to work after graduation,” Michelle explained. “No fancy vacation for me! But that’s cool. I’m doing my dream job and can’t complain.”

“Now, aren’t you glad you got that degree,” Tina teasingly goaded. “I remember the day you got the acceptance letter. You were so excited.”

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Senior Year of High School

Life was going well for Michelle during high school. It was her senior year, and she’d begun to map out her plans after receiving her diploma. Throughout high school, Michelle had grand plans to head to Los Angeles after graduation to learn the ins and outs of the music industry. Since a young age, Michelle had been interested in music - singing, playing instruments, DJing, anything. She aimed to become a music producer and help artists realize their dreams.

Then calamity struck when her father announced that he expected Michelle to go to college as soon as she graduated, which went against the brunette’s plans to head for L.A. immediately to start making a name for herself. Her father was adamant that a degree would be more beneficial than entry-level experience and DJing at underground clubs. Additionally, since he was a professor at Tech University, she could attend free of charge.

Despite Michelle’s parents’ divorce several years ago, her father convinced Michelle’s mother that college would be the wisest choice for their daughter. Michelle would have fought him tooth and nail against anything he suggested, but she could never say no to her mother. Since she wanted Michelle to go to college, she applied and was immediately accepted into Tech’s music production program. 

Michelle scanned the courtyard until she saw Tina sitting at a table under a tree. She quickly closed the distance, dropped her lunch tray beside hers, and climbed onto the bench. “Close your eyes.”

Tina excitedly clapped because this meant Michelle had a surprise for her. Michelle pushed back her tray to place a thick envelope in front of her. “Okay, you can open them.”

“What’s this?” Michelle motioned for Tina to open the envelope. “You got into Tech! Yay!” Tina jumped up and did a little dance before wrapping her arms around her friend. “Congrats. That’s great! I mean, I know you didn’t want to go to college, but I’m glad you are, especially since it’s Tech. We’ll have another four years together!” 

“Aubrey got in, too. This calls for a celebration. How about we all go out to that new tapas place on Friday? My treat.” She began enthusiastically clapping. “I’m so proud of you! The dynamic duo will take Tech by storm.” Tina raised her arms in victory.

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“Yeah, I suppose sometimes listening to our parents is wise,” Michelle admitted.

“You think?” After a few moments of silence, Tina spoke again. “Hey, I’ve missed having you in my life. I’m glad I ran into you, well, got seated next to you.”

Michelle shifted uncomfortably in her seat but didn’t respond. She knew Tina probably didn’t know why she’d ghosted her friend as the end of high school approached. But she’d had good reason. 

“Maybe…,” Tina tentatively started, “we can get together in Berlin. Coffee maybe. Or,” her voice gained confidence. “You said Berlin had a great music scene. Maybe we can go clubbing one night. I know you are here for work, but what could it hurt?”

Michelle glanced over and saw that Tina was looking at her hopefully, with the fear of rejection sitting right beneath the surface of her facade. She thought briefly, then dug out her phone to pass over the divider. “Put in your number. My schedule isn’t set, so I can’t promise anything. But at least, we can have coffee.”

Tina’s eyes brightened as she took Michelle’s phone and keyed in her number. “I can’t text myself your number since we are in the air, so I trust you’ll use this,” she said, giving Michelle a side-eye. Michelle chuckled and assured her she would.

Michelle’s yawn was wide, and then she glanced at her watch. “It’s eleven pm in Berlin. You might want to try to get some sleep. Get your body on European time. It helps, trust me.”

The music producer reclined her seat once more and pulled the airline blanket over her. High school memories raced through her mind as she tried to fall asleep. Maybe, just maybe, they both had changed enough to become friends again. Once she finally decided it was worth a try, Michelle quickly fell asleep, excited about the coming week. 

#ReedsyConnection