Chance Encounters

Instead, she lied. “I have meetings all day that I’d really prefer not to reschedule. I’m sure you can understand that, dear?” She mimicked the woman’s head tilt and half smile.

The woman dropped her smile and her tone turned cold. “Where are you headed?”

“San Francisco,” Caroline responded in kind.

“Last name?”

“Weber, with one ‘b.’”

“Caroline?” the woman inquired, clearly annoyed.

“The one and only,” she smirked.

“I’ll need to see some ID.”

Caroline handed the woman her driver’s license and the woman abruptly handed her a ticket. “Gate A2. Enjoy your flight.”

Caroline raced toward security, dreading the ordeal. She placed her black sandals into a bin and made sure her pockets were empty. After a wave from the TSA agent, she walked through the security scanner without a beep. She smiled, grabbed her things in a rush, and sprinted toward her gate.

When she arrived, she was relieved to see her flight was delayed thirty minutes. She headed over to a small restaurant and grabbed a bite to eat before walking back toward the gate. The airline didn’t assign seats, but her boarding number assured her that she would be one of the first passengers on the plane. When it was time to board, she walked all the way to the back of the plane and took a window seat.

Caroline listened to music on her iPod and glanced up every so often to see people walk past. As the seats filled up, no one sat in either of the two next to her. She actually started to wonder if she smelled bad or had something on her face. She leaned her nose into her arm and gave a quick sniff. Definitely do not smell, she thought to herself.

She almost laughed at her ridiculous behavior, when something internal told her to look up. Her heart raced and she almost choked on her gum when she saw an Adonis walk down the aisle toward her. He was tall, tan, and wore a baseball hat backwards that covered his short, dark brown hair. His deep blue eyes locked onto hers and she was certain her heart stopped beating for a moment.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of hers as he walked toward her row. His full lips turned up slightly in a sexy smirk before he said, “Hi,” and threw his backpack onto the floor of the aisle seat.

“Hi,” was all Caroline could manage in response. He was unbelievably good-looking and she couldn’t help but stare. His shirt fit tightly on his chest and his sleeves strained to contain his upper arms. That’s what perfection looks like, Caroline thought to herself, her lips pursed together.

“Is anyone sitting here?” a teenaged boy asked, interrupting Caroline’s mental assessment.

“You,” said the hot guy. “But hold your horses, kid,” he added as the teenager attempted to squeeze into the middle seat. “I’ll scoot over; you take the aisle.”

“Are you sure?” the boy asked.

The stranger looked over at Caroline and smiled. “I’m more than sure.”

Caroline couldn’t help but smile. As the teenager sat in the aisle seat, she tried to sneak a glance at the hot guy who sat next to her. He turned and caught her looking at him and a wide grin crept across his face. Caroline had a weird thing for good teeth and thankfully, his were perfect and bright white. He set fire to feelings she hadn’t experienced in years; things she had completely forgotten about when it came to anyone other than Clay.

Clay? At this point, she could barely remember Clay at all.

To be honest, Caroline wasn’t sure if she’d ever encountered feelings like this before. She was instantly attracted to Clay because he was so handsome, but this stranger ignited something new inside of her. In a way it was almost primal…she literally felt pulled toward his body. It was as though some invisible cord connected them.

Her body wanted to do things that her mind had to fight off. She stopped herself, more than once, from resting her hand on his thigh, as though that was the most natural place for it to be. She could feel beads of sweat starting to drip down the front of her shirt. He made her nervous and she struggled to stop herself from shaking.

The attraction between them lingered in the air. They looked into each other’s eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time before the teenager interrupted.

“Are you two dating?” he asked politely.

Caroline nodded and before she could say a word, her handsome stranger tossed his arm around her and pulled her close. “We are,” he answered and then quickly kissed the side of her head.

Caroline’s insides were unhinging. What had she gotten herself into? She could pretend she didn’t enjoy the fact that his lips had just touched her skin, but that would be a lie. Before she could think another thought, he leaned near her ear and whispered, “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”

She turned and looked into his eyes. “I didn’t mind.” Her words made him smile and she couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from turning upright in return.

Caroline fumbled underneath her seat for her purse. When she found it, she pulled it onto her lap. Her new “boyfriend” watched her every move with curious eyes. When she reached inside and pulled out her camera, he smiled in approval. She handed her camera across him to the teenager and asked, “Can you take a picture of us, please?”

Hot Guy scooted his body as close to hers as he could and she felt tiny prickles of energy all around her. It reminded her of when one of her body parts woke up after it had fallen asleep. With her cheek pressed firmly into his, her body buzzed with an unfamiliar feeling, a feeling so foreign and strong, it almost made her jump out of her seat. But the hot guy didn’t react at all, so Caroline figured it was all in her head.