The Flight on Christmas Morning (I).

Elliot scratches his temple with the back of his pen as he scans over the list of clues for the crossword puzzle that is sitting on the tray table in front of him. He actually doesn't care for word puzzles, but if there is anything he dislikes more, it most certainly is flying. Just the thought of a long flight has his stomach in knots, and right now, the only thing he has that can take his mind away from travelling is the magazine.

Elliot looks up for a moment to see that they are still boarding the plane and quickly glances over to the two seats beside him. Flying on Christmas day does have its perks, as they are both still unoccupied. He turns his attention back down to the magazine hoping that by some miracle, he gets to have the whole row to himself.

No such luck however, because a few minutes later, Elliot watches from the corner of his eyes as a woman reaches to put her luggage in the overhead compartment before taking the aisle seat in his row. From the little that Elliot can see of the woman, he notices that she is in very high pair of heels as well as a very form-fitting pencilskirt.

Elliot once again concentrates his attention to what he has already started filling in on the page in front of him. When he feels his phone vibrating, he pulls it out to check the message. It is an e-mail from Nadine telling him that she was very happy that they were able to spend the last couple of days together and she wanted to wish him a Merry Christmas, again. Elliot sighs. Him and Nadine ended their relationship a few months ago on good terms. Elliot decided that he wanted to preserve the years of friendship they had built so when Nadine moved away, Elliot offered to help her get settled in.

Elliot is brought out of his thoughts when he hears the flight attendant speaking to him.

"Sir, the cabin door is now closed and locked. We are going to begin our take off shortly. Could you please put your tray table up?" the woman asks.

"Oh, yes, of course." Elliot says nervously, the word "takeoff" making his stomach do somersaults.

When Elliot looks over, he sees the woman that is sitting next to him turn towards him as she takes a quick glance out the window. They catch each other's eyes for a quick moment and Elliot sees her face for the first time. To say that he thinks that the woman is breathtaking would be quite the understatement. She has short, dark hair framing her perfect face, very light make-up with the exception to a dark red lipstick, and to top it all off, a pair of thick-rimmed glasses which is a definite weakness of his. The woman smiles at Elliot and he is suddenly very grateful he is already sitting down. Otherwise, he would probably feel his knees buckle. Elliot returns the smile and turns his head away just in time to let out a nervous breath.

To Be Continued...