A Serendipitous Flight
It’s meet cute season, or at least it is in my world as I learnt this saying from Arthur Abbott (aka. the beloved older gentleman in The Holiday). Many of my personal meet cutes, as you have come to learn, have not ended very well, so I thought it was about time for a cutesy narrative. One that warms your heart like any cheesy Hallmark film!
Let’s set the scene…
It was around this exact time of year and I was at the Barcelona airport on my way home to London. I had just spent the weekend at a work event and looked very ragged from all the late nights drinking wine with the ladies. I boarded my grossly busy flight and reluctantly sat in the very last row on the plane, right beside the toilets. At least I had a window seat!
As we all waited for the rest of the passengers to board, I noticed a very tall man walking down the aisle. He was so tall that he had to duck a little to avoid scraping his head along the top. There was already an older lady in the aisle seat of my row, so I said a little prayer hoping that he would not sit in the middle seat.
And just like that… The Gentleman’s eyes slowly scanned the seat numbers along the overhead baggage area until they landed on my row. *big sigh* I think God was out to coffee when I sent up that prayer.
“The Gentleman put his luggage in the storage area as the older lady moved out of his way. He then slowly sat in his middle seat, wedging his long legs into the very limited space he had available. He was at least 6’3” and before I could even think, I giggled and said out loud, ‘That sucks!’ He looked at me with surprise as I continued, ‘Let me guess, a short person booked your seat?’ He smirked and replied, ‘Actually, yes.’”
That then began a two hour conversation that lasted the whole flight. This is the point in the Hallmark movie where an uplifting, instrumental melody begins to play as the camera rotates around the couple filming them laughing together as the audience watches a meet cute blossom. The Gentleman and I covered everything you could think of—work, family, friends, our favourite music, love of coffee… you name it.
He was in Spain for an interview, which he thought was a shoo-in. The downside to that was if he did get the job, he’d be moving to America. But, I honestly wasn’t bothered by the unknowns (which is very odd for me). He was just so easy to talk to that I was completely present. It felt natural.
“The Gentleman’s handsomeness in his tailored button-up, white shirt and jeans (a combo I find incredibly attractive), and, of course, that Surrey-British accent only added to the attraction! If we were cartoon characters, sparks would have been flying.”
We landed in Heathrow and as everyone pulled out their phones, I glanced over at his screen. He opened up the Contacts app, then exited. Opened Contacts, then exited. And repeated this enough to make me smile, but he never asked for my number. Had I had the confidence I do now, I would have leaned over, picked up his phone, and added my number straight away. But that’s not what I did. Sadly, I did nothing.
I watched as one by one people started getting out of their seats to leave the plane. The older lady in the aisle seat got up to let us out and The Gentleman started walking down the aisle, but paused to wait for me. As I walked by the older lady and the flight attendants, they all gave a smile and a nod. The ones that say, “Well done, girl!” I too was smiling, because how could I not? I literally was living in a rom com.
Now that we were standing near each other, I knew he was over 6’5”. As a 5’10” gal, it was unheard of for me to strain my neck looking at someone! I could definitely wear heels with this man without feeling like a giant.
As we walked down the obscene amount of hallways in an airport that eventually leads to an exit, we continued to talk about life and work and he even hinted about wanting to stop by the coffee shop I was running in East London.
“We reached border control and it was the first time we had to split up since our meet cute. As I went to say goodbye to join the non-European cue, he swiftly pulled out his phone and asked if he could see me again. I smiled and tried to lower the excitement in my voice as I said, “I would love that!” I added my number into his phone, he kissed me on the cheek, and then we went to join our separate lines.”
I spent most of the hour I waited in Heathrow’s border control cue blissfully unaware of my surroundings. Tired after all the travels but energized by this riveting new acquaintance! As I walked towards the underground, I looked at my phone.
“I never thought a middle seat would ever be worth it, but you made it worth it! I look forward to seeing you again.”
I’m pretty sure my smile didn’t leave my face for the rest of the day! And I still think back on that moment fondly. Who couldn’t?
Editor’s Note: We did end up seeing each other again. He showed up at my coffee shop and we spent hours talking. I think the staff were just as smitten as I was with him as they gazed at us from behind the counter. Weirdly, The Rescuer (from A Haunting Memory) happened to arrive at the coffee shop around the same time, but that’s a story for another day.
The Gentleman and I texted back and forth for weeks and he planned to take me on a date to one of London’s steakhouses when he was back in London, but we never made it there. He was right about being a shoo-in for the job, which he ended up getting an offer for and moved within a week. C’est la vie! But man-oh-man was it fun while it lasted and I thanked God for being out to coffee and not answering my prayer.
