Put me in coach

Put me in coach - Rebecca Alvarez

Mallory had volunteered to take the shitty seat in coach when the flight attendant announced that someone from business class needed to give up their seat, but that their flight would be refunded. It was an easy decision - now she wouldn’t have to do gig work when she got home to make rent on time. She’d agreed to take this trip before everything had changed - her job, her relationship, and her relatively easy life. She’d already paid for the tickets, so she wasn’t going to back out of the girl’s trip to Nashville, but she certainly wasn’t going to let someone else get those extra $300 back either. Anna, the planner and spreadsheet queen of the group, had corralled them into a group video call so they could simultaneously book their tickets and ensure they got to sit together on the plane. When someone had tossed out the idea that one person would book all the tickets and the rest could pay them back Anna had pointed out that it would make any changes complicated for everyone, and Mallory was now very glad for Anna’s tendency to think ahead.  

“This is ruining everything!” Liz flopped into the plastic airport chair across from Mallory, “We were supposed to drink Mimosas and talk about boys for the whole flight! Now I have to sit next to some weirdo.” Mallory rolled her eyes and shook her head at Liz’s quick ability to turn this into her own sob story. 

“Don’t let me stop you from sending me pity mimosas in coach” Mallory said, as  Erin returned with their coffee orders. Erin usually took the lead on snacks and beverages, since the other three tended to get a little…distracted when trying to get from one place to the next and make decisions. Erin usually got hangry first and so was also the first to bring up the need for an impending snack break. “Starbucks was out of pity mimosas today, but I can look into getting you an empowerment Bloody Mary, Mal”. Mal fake gagged and put on a fake voice “Get away from me you feminist” as they dissolved in laughter. Erin continued to pass out the drinks, as they tried to settle down - large iced coffee with oat milk for Mal, small black hot for Anna, iced vanilla latte for Liz, and a hot black tea with honey and lemon for herself. Anna had forced them all to pin a note in their memos app with the current coffee choices for the group because she hated the texting back and forth and it should always be assumed that, yes, everyone always wanted caffeine. Last year Erin got a tattoo down the back of her right arm with simple outline sketches of their four respective coffee cups, “an homage to twenty years of being over caffeinated together” she explained when asked about it. 

“Besides,” Mal continued, “I probably will be the one sitting next to a weirdo…or between two weirdos!” Mal wasn’t sure why she was trying to hide how glad she was to be getting the money back, even though her friends were acting like it was a big deal. Her mom had once told her she didn’t have to always reach for the short end of the stick, that she should try expecting good things to come to her. The way things were going for Mallory over the last few months, she knew whether it was the short end or not, she needed to be reaching for any help she could get. “Fine” Liz huffed, “but you better be drinking your pity mimosas or power beers or whatever back there”. Mal chuckled “aye, aye captain”. 

                                                     *******

Luckily, it looked like Mal would only be smushed next to one possible weirdo on the 3 hour flight to Nashville. After she shoved her suitcase in the overhead compartment, she pulled out her headphones and crossword puzzle book, pencil and neck pillow. She hesitated, and then pulled out the fuzzy blanket that she had stuffed in her backpack. Planes were either freezing or stifling and she liked to be prepared either way. After pulling on her fleece sweatshirt and tucking the blanket around herself, and stuffed the pink polka dotted pillow around her neck. 

“Well don’t you look… cozy” Mallory heard a deep voice above her and glanced up to see what certainly didn’t look like a weirdo to her. A tall, slightly gangly guy who looked about her age, maybe a few years older looked down at her, a slightly amused look on his face. He wore a faded graphic t, and cargo shorts, and flip flops despite the 50 degree weather Boston was having. With his green eyes and dark hair, Mal could already hear Liz pouting about how it wasn’t fair that Mal got to sit next to him for the flight and chuckled to herself. But who exactly told a strange woman she looked cozy? That seemed like kind of a weirdo-thing to say. Mal never really knew how to interact with cute guys, and usually relied on the tactic of being slightly cold and closed off to deter any ideas about flirting. She couldn’t help it though, and felt herself blushing immediately. It probably also had something to do with the glass of champagne Anna insisted they took for her social media accounts (“don’t forget to use #nashvillegirlies for everything you post!”), and Mal was already feeling a little giddy. 

Mal glanced at his outfit and then down at her blanket and quickly tried to process what was happening. Cute guy, tipsy Mal, 3 hours of not being awkward, rude, or embarrassing. Fuck she thought to herself. “Well, you look cold” she hadn’t meant it to come out as rude, but she heard the edge in her voice and quickly glanced up to see a smirk on his face. He shoved his backpack up above, and swung into the seat next to her. “I am” he turned to look at her “any chance you want to share that blankey with me?” Blankey? He wiggled his eyebrows and she was sure he was making fun of her, because what else could this be about?  She stared for a second and forgot to make a retort. She quickly looked back to her crossword puzzle and put her headphone back in her ear, knowing that her face was blushing an even deeper color of crimson. 

As he leaned over to buckle his seatbelt, he tapped her shoulder. Mal had been focused on finding a 9 letter word for ‘ an example’, and whipped her head around to see what Anna would have described as “a fine specimen of the male face” only inches from her own. Mal stared for a second, but when he went to open his mouth, she held up a finger and quickly scribbled down her answer.

“Sorry, you helped me solve a clue. What do you want?” Shit she thought, again with the rude tone. She glanced at him as he looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. “How exactly did me tapping your shoulder help solve a clue? What was the answer?  I have to know”. She appreciated his enthusiasm and apparent nerdiness. “Specimen” she chuckled, “you helped me remember the word specimen”.  He opened his mouth to respond, and then quickly closed it, apparently thinking better of it. “You know what, I’m not gonna ask. I’m guessing that’s a no on the blankey, huh? It’s cold on this plane!” 

“Again with the blankey!” She shook her head. “It’s just a blanket! I get cold! How are you teasing me and asking me to share at the same time?” He held his hands up in mock surrender “Okay okay you’re right” a smile was spreading across his lips “I’m just jealous. And cold.” Mal shrugged, “I guess that’s what you get when you treat April in Boston like a sunny beach day” she tossed sarcastically, confident he could handle a little back and forth.  He feigned shock, “This coming from the Eskimo in seat 25D”. She laughed but before she could respond a flight attendant stopped by their seats. 

“Excuse me” Mal glanced up and saw a tray of drinks. “I’ve been asked to send you these…a pity mimosa and a…power beer?” Mallory laughed and thanked the flight attendant. Liz must have been serious about wanting them all to be drunk by the time they landed. 

“Okay” the gangly guy said “I have to know. What are pity mimosas and power beers, and why are they being delivered to you in Coach?” Mallory took a swig of the mimosa, clearly made by someone who believed that the orange juice was simply there for the color. “My friends are in first class, but I volunteer as tribute to sit next to you, so they are sending me reinforcements in the form of alcohol”. Her seatmate feigned offense “Are you sure the pity mimosa wasn’t meant for me?”. Mal rolled her eyes and handed him the beer “you might as well drink up”. This was going to be an interesting flight. 

******

An hour later they still hadn’t left the tarmac. Mal finally found out that her neighbor’s name was Alex, and they had taken turns reading clues to her crossword puzzle to each other. She was sure he had something more interesting he could have been doing, but she figured he probably felt like he had to entertain her after she’d given him a beer. Even if it wasn’t his first choice of activity, he was at least being nice and laughing at her puns, and volunteering even more absurd answers to the clues each time. 

When the flight crew came through the cabin, Alex insisted on buying them a round of drinks, and by the time the plane was finally taking off 30 minutes, they had made it most of the way through their matching whiskey and cokes, and were giggling over the clue “a four letter word for swears” like a couple of seventh graders. “You’re being very disruptive ma’am” Alex leaned over the say in a serious voice after Mal had let out a particularly loud barking laugh, and they both dissolved in silent laughter again. When they finally caught their breath, Alex sat up and turned to look at Mal very seriously. Oh shit she thought he’s going to tell me about his wife he’s going to go see. Or to leave him alone. Or… “Mallory. I have a very serious question.” Shit. “Okay…shoot. No I don’t think the answer to clue number 8 ..” he cut her off with a serious shake of his head. “No, it’s not about the crossword. It’s more serious than that” what the fuck is this guy talking about? I’ve known him for like an hour. Oh fuck he’s going to try to get me to join a cult or something…

“If I let you share my headphones to watch The Empire Strikes Back - don’t look at me like that you already told me it was in your top 5!- if I share with you AND I buy you a pity mimosa” he smirked. “Will you please, PLEASE share your blanket with me? I am so cold.” Mal could feel herself rolling her eyes, but caught a look at his legs and saw they were in fact covered in goosebumps. She knew the blush creeping up her neck gave her away. Of course she wanted to share a blanket with the cute guy on the plane. What was that her mom was always saying about not reaching for the short end of the stick, letting good things happen? She couldn’t share the blanket with him, that would be way too weird, but she pulled it from under legs and handed it to him. “I want a pity mimosa and a kitkat AND I want to watch Blue Crush,  not Empire.”  Alex quickly threw the blanket over his legs and torso, but made sure to pile some of the blanket over Mal’s lap as well. He patted her leg, almost like he was tucking her in, and she couldn’t help but appreciate the warm weight of his hand on her leg. 

********

Despite her insistence on watching Blue Crush, four drinks was apparently the limit for Mal, who had fallen asleep on Alex’s shoulder long before Anne Marie started dating the hot football player.  The earbud had long fallen out of her ear when she woke up she was shocked to find her face pressed up Alex’s arm, the blanket spread over both of their laps, and stormtroopers filling up his computer screen. Shit. Mal jumped up and ran a hand across her face. She was mortified to feel drool on the corner of her mouth, and immediately felt heat rising in her neck. “Oh my god I’m so sorry” she blurted out as he pulled out an earbud and looked at her, a smirk on his face. “Well good morning sleeping beauty. I’m surprised your snores didn’t wake you up sooner -“ her mouth dropped open and he laughed “-I’m kidding! You had very cute quiet snores. For the most part.” He winked and she couldn't help but think this was possibly her most embarrassing moment yet.

But then, Alex reached a hand out and pushed some hair out of her face and smiled at her. “You wanna get up and wash your face before we land?” Her heart melted a little at how sweet he was being. Get a grip Mal, you are never going to see him again. You guys got airplane drunk and you drooled on him while you were passed out snoring on his shoulder. “Yes. That sounds good.” She quickly disentangled herself from her seatbelt and then blanket and was in such a rush to get up and away, she tried to gracefully shove past him to get to the aisle. Just when she thought was going to make it smoothly, her foot caught on the strap of her backpack and she almost tripped, his hand flying up to catch her before she fell across his lap. “Careful, there” he muttered and she looked him in the eye, trying again to ignore the warm weight of his hand. He winked and let her stand back up before heading to the bathroom at the back of the plane. 

After she had freshened up, given herself a stern talking to about getting too excited about meaningless flirting, and grabbed a water bottle from the flight attendant, Mal made her way back to her seat. She would sit like nothing had happened, like she hadn’t snuggled with a stranger for the past two hours. She told herself she would never see him again and that was a good thing. It had been some good flirting, really good flirting, but it didn’t have to be a thing. 

******

An hour later, Mal had reconnected with Liz, Anna, and Erin. It appeared they too had been enjoying some refreshments on the plane, with Liz red-faced and overly emotional holding Mal’s hands and very dramatically how “noble and amazing and brave” she had been for agreeing to sit alone for that “whole long terrible flight”. Mal smiled to herself knowing that Liz would be insatiably jealous if she knew that Mal had spent the last several hours talking, flirting, and sleep snuggling with a cute guy. 

“Mal.” She heard her name from behind her, and her three best friends whipped around simultaneously to see where the voice was coming from. Mal didn’t have to turn around, because she already knew. She stood a little straighter and turned around, and saw Alex, backpack slung on his back, cargo shorts and t-shirt looking much more at home here in Tennessee than they had back in Boston. In one motion Alex stepped towards her, his hands came behind her head and he pulled her towards him. “Can I kiss you?” He whispered and she heard the gasps of her tipsy friends, but she didn’t look at them. She nodded slowly and he gave her a long, lovely kiss. After just a few moments, he slipped a piece of paper into her hand, saluted her friends, and ducked into a cab. Mal looked up in a slight daze, and met his eyes as he looked out the cab window. 

She glanced at the paper in her hands. Call me - Alex  with his number scribbled underneath. She glanced up one more time, and rolled her eyes as he waved goodbye with his cellphone, her friends whooping and cheering in the background. Yeah. She was very glad she hadn’t canceled this trip.