We met for the second time on a London (Heathrow) bound flight on a beautiful sunny Spring afternoon. Your eyes locked onto me the moment you saw me walking down the aisle. Coincidentally, my allocated seat was next to yours but as I approached our row I noticed that all the nearest overhead bins were full and, as I was also annoyed with you for staring at me all the way down the aisle, I continued past you to find an empty space for my jacket and bag further down our section of the plane.
When I returned to you, you had a far-away look in your eyes. It took a few moments to get your attention and then you stood up to let me get to my seat but I hesitated as your green jacket was hanging on the knob of the folded up meal tray in front of your seat and I didn't want to knock or brush against it. You realized this and said, "Never mind the jacket."
I then sat down in my seat and attempted to fasten my seat belt but could only find one part of it. I was puzzled and glanced at you. You were unsuccessfully attempting to fasten two identical seat belt parts i.e. the missing part of my seat belt and your matching equivalent. You then said, "Oh, do I have it?" I nodded and you said, "I'm sorry." I replied, "It's O.K." You then indicated that you wanted to start a conversation but I made it glaringly obvious that I did not want to - as I was still annoyed with you and considered you a nuisance!
However, after I'd eaten my inflight meal - you declined yours - I changed my mind and asked you, "Why do you seem so tired, if I may ask?" You looked at me sweetly and replied and so we began to talk.
After touchdown - and before the cabin doors were opened - I fiddled with my bangles and pondered matters and decided it was up to you to decide whether we would meet again. You siddenly began to speak and I turned to you smiling happily but I immediately realized that I couldn't understand a single word of what you were saying. Your voice was clearly audible and I listened intently but you might as well have been speaking a foreign language! Finally, I heard and understood the words, "Good-bye."
I nodded and turned to face the back of the seat in front of me. My body felt like everything had been violently ripped out of it. I also wanted to die from embarrassment. (I had been very aware that our in-flight conversation - although in content perfectly normal and acceptable - had not been exactly private as we had a captive audience of those sat nearest to our seats!) I wished that the cabin floor could open up for me to drop down into the hold and remain there forever! But instead I had to concentrate on the patterned material on the seat back in front of me, accept your decision to part company, and hold back my tears. I especially did not want you to see me cry in public.
Then, astonishlingly, I heard you say, "Are you coming?" (A total disregard of your earlier words of farewell.) I turned to look up at you standing in the aisle with your jacket on and a small black travel bag on your right shoulder. I was too shocked to reply. You then repeated these words in the same pleasant tone of voice with pleasant facial expression. I wondered what you were playing at - even so I very nearly got out of my seat. At the same time I also noticed the different facial reactions on three non-British passengers nearest to us in the aisle as they watched this ghastly spectacle. Then I suddenly remembered that my belongings were in some forgotten place further down the aisle and not easily accessible at that precise moment. So I replied, "I can't. If you remember I couldn't get in above. I can't remember where I put my things."
You simply nodded and said, "Good-bye," and that it had been very nice talking to me (to which I emphatically agreed) and wished me good luck at work, etc. I was extremely perplexed by your latest change of mind and "good-bye" words. It did not seem right for me to tell you to sit down and wait. But surely you did not expect me to abandon my belongings? It then occurred to me that you didn't know what you were doing and needed time to think things over. I didn't want a final goodbye and so tried to convey this to you without words. But to my horror you looked totally aghast and just then the passengers in front of you began moving up the aisle and you turned and rushed away without a backward glance.
I calmly watched you go and told myself I'd be hearing from you again - it didn't occur to me that this might be impossible. I then told myself to "switch off" so that I could get home without breaking down. For 9 days -with only a few fleeting memories - I was able to blank/repress everything as if none of this had happened but on the tenth night just as I was falling asleep I was jolted awake and said to myself, "Wait a minute, what was all that which happened on the plane?" And everything and more came flooding back into my mind - never to be forgotten.
For a long time I didn't mention any of this to my friends out of loyalty to you as I didn't want you to be embarrassed if you later met them. When I finally did tell them, most of them didn't seem to know what I was on about - only a few eventually understood - and all thought it best forgotten as there was no solution to be found.
You were tall, clean-shaven with red hair and blue eyes. You were wearing blue jeans, a long-sleeved blue/green checked shirt, white trainers and had a watch on your left wrist.