To know that Chase had spent so much money for my airplane ticket was insane for me to think about. It was crazy and awesome, and I couldn’t wait to give him a hug. I didn’t even care if he had decided on the first class ticket or if it was his assistant. I wanted to hug him and tell him thank you.
“Now boarding first class,” I heard over the announcement speaker.
I stood up and made my way to the line of only a few people. I suspected that first class wasn’t very big on the flights out of Liechtenstein. Most people flying to and from our country were not very wealthy, especially flying out of St. Gallen, Switzerland. It was just a country airport on the boarder of Liechtenstein and Switzerland. A few business people probably could afford first class or their companies paid for it. But otherwise, I didn’t think many other people would pay the extra money just for a bigger seat.
I handed the woman my ticket when I got to the front of the line, and she raised her eyebrow a little as she looked at me. It was a look of admiration, and I loved it. Suddenly, I walked taller as I made my way down the walkway to the plane. The look of admiration was not something I was used to getting from other women. Typically, I only got looks of pity or sometimes jealousy, but never admiration.
When I found my seat, I couldn’t help but be excited. It was huge, big enough for two people. Since there was no one next to me yet, I took the time to play around with my seat and look through all the gadgets and functions that were around me. I felt like a kid in a candy store.
One of the buttons seemed to recline the seat and I pushed it until my seat was totally lying flat. Of course, I was practically in the lap of the man behind me, and I lay there and looked up at him.
He seemed amused by my enthusiasm. The man was older, maybe in his mid-fifties, and he had on a suit. He definitely looked like a businessman.
“You better put it up before the stewardess yells at you. They’ll tell us when we can go to sleep,” he said kindly.
The chair was on its way back up when an older businesswoman sat down beside me. She also seemed to enjoy my enthusiasm over my reclining seat and smiled at me as I finished getting it back into the upright position.
“Your fist time on a plane?” the woman asked kindly.
“No, but first time in first class. This is amazing.”
“Yes, it will be very difficult fo
r you to ever go back to coach.”
“Hi, I’m Jordan,” I blurted out as I thrust my hand toward the woman.
She obliged me and shook my hand back.
“I’m Bonnie,” she said.
“Hi, Bonnie. Do you travel to Liechtenstein often?”
It was obvious to me that she wasn’t from there. Her stylish clothes said she was either from London or the United States. My bet was the U.S., because she didn’t have a London accent and she was so nice to me. Most of the women I had met from England were snotty, and sometimes downright rude.
“Yes, my company is building a manufacturing plant out here,” she said as she got herself situated in her seat.
“Oh, the man I’m going to visit is in the manufacturing business,” I said confidently.
Bonnie just nodded toward me and then turned to a book she had opened. It was my sign to leave her alone for the rest of the flight. I would try, but she seemed like such a fascinating woman. Hopefully, I would get a chance to talk with her at some point, but I wasn’t going to push it. I hated when people wanted to talk to me when I wasn’t in the mood to talk.
The weird thing was I actually didn’t like talking to people all that much. Most of the time, I enjoyed my quiet time. But since my mother and Ana had left, I found myself searching out people I could talk to. It was as if I constantly needed to fill the void that was there with them gone.
Before I left my apartment building, I had stopped and talked to no less than three of my fellow apartment dwellers. Never had I spoken to them since I had lived there, but suddenly, I found myself drawn to talk to them and get to know them a little. Socialization was one of those things that we all took for granted until we had no one around us to socialize with. Then, we suddenly missed it terribly.
The flight was so much fun that I hardly sleep at all. The stewardess kept bringing me cocktails and any food that I wanted. She showed me how to turn the personal television on and how to watch any movie I wanted.
I spent most of the flight flipping through movies and American television shows. Only as the alcohol started to set in did I finally close my eyes and get some sleep. The reclining seats made into a totally flat bed, and I slept better than I could ever imagine sleeping.
My heart was so excited to meet Chase. It was a feeling I had never had before. Excitement mixed with trepidation, surely a fun mix for any young woman to have. When the cabin lights came on and I looked out my window, I could only see the ocean for a long time. But as we got closer and closer to America, I finally could see the city in the distance.
The excitement continued to grow as we got closer and closer to landing. My heart raced and I made an effort to try and calm myself down. Slowly, I breathed in and then let the breath out. I repeated this several times in an effort to relax. Luckily, the multiple cocktails I had been served worked to help calm my nerves a little. I couldn’t imagine how nervous I would have been without the alcohol on board.
“I’m so excited,” I said out loud, although I didn’t really mean to.
“Why, dear?” Bonnie asked me.
“I’m meeting a boy at the airport. His name is Chase Foster. We met online, and he’s so cute and funny and nice,” I said as I tried to stop myself from talking, but just couldn’t.