Login with:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

Google

Yahoo

Aol.

Mibba

Your info will not be visible on the site. After logging in for the first time you'll be able to choose your display name.

Summertime & Butterflies

One

“Are you alright?”

Olivia Hayes opened her eyes and raised her head, looking blearily at the British man seated beside her. They hadn’t spoken a word for the duration of the flight – save for the odd ‘excuse me’ or ‘sorry’ when one of them encroached into the other’s space – but he looked legitimately concerned as she braced her hand on the seatback in front of her and tried to tuck her head as close to her lap as she could.

“I’m okay,” Olivia lied, squeezing her eyes shut again as the plane jolted, simulating a roller coaster drop. “I’m… I’m just not a good flyer,” she added, her voice low as she silently willed the lunch tossing around in her stomach to stay put. She’d spent the extra money on a first class seat; hoping seat 2A would somehow be in a turbulence-free zone. But so far, the only good thing about the seat was the bowl of warm nuts - warm nuts that she would likely be expelling in her lap somewhere over the California coast.

“You’re doing fine,” he assured her, though Olivia noticed he’d shifted his body closer to the aisle, away from her. Taking the airsick bag from the pocket in front of him, he stuck it in Olivia’s pocket – the spot now vacated as she was clutching her own bag with a death grip.

Olivia didn’t acknowledge the gesture. The plane had taken another dip and had she been brave enough to look out the window, she would have seen the dark, towering clouds forming over the ocean, directly between the jet and Los Angeles International Airport. Judging by the size of the massive swell the plane had no choice but to fly through, the rough descent into California would be getting worse before it got better.

As the plane turned and began to descent towards La La Land, the plane lurched as though it were on a slide, before being replaced by the feeling of climbing. Against her better judgement, she squinted one eye open and peered at the TV screen on the seatback, documenting their descent. She was convinced the elevation would be somewhere around the one hundred feet mark, but when she saw the four digit number across the screen, she felt her stomach jump yet again. An eight thousand feet drop into the Pacific Ocean would hurt, to say the least.

Olivia wasn’t the only one having difficulties with the turbulence – frightened cries could be heard coming from the rows of seats behind her. She ignored them, focussing on steady breathing and not getting sick instead. She placed the top of the airsick bag over her mouth and breathed into it, attempting to bring her body back to a normal pH level. Olivia wasn’t sure if it would help, but it gave her something to focus on.

“Oh, God,” Olivia moaned out, unaware as to how loud her moans were. In her mind, she was nearly inaudible. In reality, the entire first class cabin was privy to her profanity. “Oh, shit!” The plane took another dive through the clouds and Olivia ducked her head, spewing out more four letter words. Her mind was racing, though the thoughts were incomprehensible to her. She felt as though she was having an out of body experience – her actions and words weren’t her, they were just reactions to a situation. As though to prove this, as the plane tumbled through the dark clouds, Olivia found herself clamping onto the strange man beside her. She linked her arms around his, not unaware but not caring either. It was at that moment when she truly believed the plane would crash and they would die.

Surprisingly, he was a good sport and didn’t push her away – perhaps worried that any sudden movement could cause her stomach to erupt. He let Olivia keep a grip on his arm, her airsick bag tucked closely between her knees. She must have been a sight to see – and hear – but all she cared about was getting through the hellish trip.

“Oh, Jesus,” she groaned, releasing his arm with one hand and grabbing her bag. She placed it over her mouth, breathing into it again. She could feel the saliva building against her cheeks and swallowed hard, trying to push the feeling of nausea away.

“It’s okay,” he told her, sitting up straighter and moving away from Olivia – as much as he could with her arm still looped around his. “Just… just open the bag up more. It’s not open. It’s not –“

He cut himself off as Olivia pulled away from him, leaned forward and got sick in the bag. Mostly. It wasn’t until she coughed a final time into the bag and sat up straight that she realised he was wiping his jeans with the tiny airline napkin. Feeling a wet residue on her hands, she was mortified at the realisation that she’d gotten sick on the stranger. To make matters worse, as her mind cleared and she came back to Earth, she remembered she’d just had herself wrapped around the man.

“Oh, my God,” she said, her voice caked with mortification. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! I have wipes…” She leaned forward, reaching for her bag, but as the lane jumped again, so did her stomach. She hardly had time to get her bag to her face, forgetting momentarily about the sanitizing wipes in her purse.

“It’s okay,” he told Olivia, making due with the napkin. His voice wasn’t tight with anger, and if Olivia hadn’t been vomiting, she’d have heard a slight chuckle in his raspy voice. And despite her prior worries, all she was hoping for now was a crash.

The plane broke through the clouds and the raindrops covered the tiny windows. The cabin brightened but it was still nearly impossible to see through the rain. With her eyes still squeezed shut, Olivia wouldn’t have seen the impending land anyway.

Unfortunately, with a final hard bump against the tarmac, the plane landed. Many of the passengers cheered, but Olivia was silent with humiliation. She knew she would laugh about this at some far point in the future, but she didn’t think that moment would be coming any time soon. Getting sick was embarrassing enough, but all over a stranger? She wanted to die.

As the plane taxied towards the gate, Olivia pulled her bag onto her lap and attempted to clean up as best she could. After wiping her hands with the wipes, she silently thrust the package in the man’s direction, though avoiding his eyes like the plague. He took the package from her and let out a snort chuckle.

“It’s really okay,” he told her, pulling a few wipes out and rubbing them against his jeans. “I mean, it’s not like it was on purpose.” He looked at Olivia, so intently that she felt his eyes on her and she looked up at him.

“Was it?” he asked, furrowing his brow at her before breaking out into a grin. Dimples. He had dimples. Olivia had never wanted an asteroid to slam into the planet as badly as she did at that moment.

“No!” Olivia exclaimed, feeling her face flush. “I told you I’m not a good flyer…” she mumbled, her face getting hotter as she watched him continue to clean her vomit off his jeans. The only solace was that she’d turned down a glass of red wine at takeoff. Otherwise, the spot on his jeans would be redder than her Olivia’s face.

“Yeah, I’ve figured that out,” he told Olivia, the dimpled grin still on his face. “I’m very intuitive,” he added, seeming to enjoy teasing her about the unfortunate event.

“Oh my God… stop,” Olivia told him, covering her face with her hands. “I said I was sorry!”

He laughed again, a throaty chuckle. “I think I’m allowed to tease,” he told her, gesturing to his stained jeans. With a final wipe against his pants, he tossed the garbage into the bag the flight attendant was carrying down the aisle and turned towards Olivia, hands out, as though he was going to throw her bag away for her.

She gave him a curious look, holding her bag closer to her chest. “It’s okay, it’s gross,” she told him, standing up and leaning towards the aisle, dropping the bag into the stewardess’ bag. Sitting back down, she crossed her arms across her chest and stared out the window as the terminal came into view.

“Jokes aside, are you feeling okay?” he asked her after a few moments. “I have some jelly beans…” he added, trailing off as he reached under the seat, grabbing his bag. He pulled out a half-empty bag of jelly beans and held it towards Olivia. He looked closer at the bag and a sheepish grin crossed his face.

“Well, I have green and purple jelly beans,” he corrected. “I may have eaten the rest.”

Olivia uttered a chuckle and accepted the bag of jelly beans. “Green’s my favourite,” she informed him, shaking a few candies out of the bag before handing it back to him. “Thank you,” she added sincerely.

“Oh, it’s the least I could do,” he answered as the plane bumped against the terminal. The flight attendant walked past their row and stood with her back to the first class cabin, keeping the coach passengers at bay. Olivia stood up, relieved that she was in the second row and not the thirty-second row. He stood up as well and stepped into the aisle so Olivia could get by. Before she could reach up for her suitcase, he’d opened the overhead bin and pulled her suitcase down.

“It was lovely to meet you,” he told her pleasantly. His words weren’t sarcastic and Olivia appreciated his sincerity. Accepting the suitcase, she allowed herself a smile at the stranger. He was being kinder than he had to be.

“Thank you,” she said. “You as well,” she added before turning and making her way down the aisle. She’d survived. And, more importantly, she’d never have to see the man she puked on again.


Notes

Comments

@Kammy.
Oh I know. It hurt me too. When this idea first came to me, I was like "fuck... Noooooo!" But... I felt it was realistic (and stupid and dumb and dumb and stupid!) too. Sigh.

harambejtrump harambejtrump
4/26/18

this hurts, I'm broken...you have ruined me... (I still love you, but omg does this kill me)
You know I love this story, Olivia is my girl...but my heart hurts now

On that note....the realistic way they ended, wow...I could see this happening in his life easily, poor H...

Kammy. Kammy.
4/26/18

@Prinny1321
Thank you!!

harambejtrump harambejtrump
4/25/18

I'm sad that they didn't get back together but I love how realistic it was <3 I loved this though

Prinny1321 Prinny1321
4/25/18

@morrison_hotel
❤❤❤

harambejtrump harambejtrump
4/25/18