Diary of a Single Woman

11-26

Dear Diary,

My past two entries (Entry 3 and Entry 2) have been focused on trying to get into a romantic relationship, today I think I need to shift gears and focus on something else (especially to get my mind off of depressing relationships). One of the perks of being single is the ability to pack up and fly away for the weekend whenever I want (pending financial funds). I don’t have to ask anyone where to go, or collaborate with a significant other on an itinerary. I am bold enough to fly to a different city on my own and create an adventure, or I can invite a few girlfriends for a girl’s trip to relax and unwind from the craziness of everyday life. During the Thanksgiving weekend I decided to just get away, alone.

After booking my flight to New York (one of my favorite cities to visit), I packed up and headed to the airport. Once there, I made it through the usual airport hustle and bustle: checking in baggage, passing through TSA, and heading to the gate to board my plane. With over an hour of wait time, I sat and read my book. Actually, I was wondering who my seat companion will be? One thing I don’t like about flying alone is not knowing who will sit next to you on the plane. If you’re lucky, you will get someone who is quiet and keeps to themselves throughout the whole flight. The less fortunate flyers will be pinned side by side to someone who will continue to hold a conversation throughout the entirety of the trip. To make it worse, your seat mate could be a dreadful alcoholic. If that’s the case, not only are you forced to listen to stories you don’t care to hear, but also you have to endure obnoxious behavior from your unwanted companion. This is a flyer’s nightmare. It rarely happens, and up until now, I have had this awful experience only once and didn’t care to have it again. Presently, I am praying to the ‘Flight Gods’ that I don’t have an obnoxious passenger sitting next to me for the next six hours of sky time. What I really need to do, is find a way to upgrade to first class and reserve one of those isolated in-flight cabins (yeah, but with my salary, not going to happen).

My anxiety ridden thoughts were interrupted by the announcement to board the plane. As I boarded the plane and began walking to my seat, I was looking to see who could be in the seat adjacent to mine. I was the first to arrive to the couplet of seats. I place my carry-on in the overhead bins and settled into my seat by the window. I began people watching, nervously searching for my anonymous shoulder buddy. Will it be a single person? If that’s the case, then I really don’t have much to worry about and I can just sit and read throughout the flight in peace. Will it be a couple? What is good about a couple, is usually they just talk to each other across the aisle, unless they are a couple who ride with spite towards each other. Then I am stuck listening to bickering instead. Will it be a family? Depending on the family it could either be a silent ride, or one with kids fighting, arguing, and making constant noises. Or worse: a baby! I pull out my book and attempt to focus on it instead of my nerves.

Five minutes pass and still no one has claimed the seat next to me. I am trying to fall deep into the plot of my book, but truth be told, my mind is racing over who is coming to claim the seat. Suddenly, the athletically fit tanned skinned woman appears and stops by the row where my seat is. I can’t see her face yet, but she is wearing an adorably colorful sun dress with flowers. As she bends down to sit in the seat next to me, I can see she has a welcoming smile, curly hair, and beautiful brown eyes. She the type of woman who makes “simple fashion” look expensive. I am almost convinced her beauty must be a calling to many male suitors. If I were lesbian, I would consider asking her out. She smiles at me as she settles in her seat and places her Kate Spade pink carry-on beneath the seat in front of her. I smile back and return to my book. Yes, quiet flight! I think to myself selfishly.

“Oh my God, is that a Book of the Month book?”

The question breaks my concentration and I turn to the woman. She must have noticed the BOTM logo on the book in my hand. I had joined a subscription book club to motivate me to read more. Every month I am sent a new book. Each cover of a BOTM book, has the BOTM logo. She must have seen the logo.

“Yes, it is. I assume you must be a subscriber?” I deducted politely. She smiles and dimples appear on her soft rosy checks.

“Yea, I am. I have never met a subscriber before. I’m currently reading Outlaw. I know it’s an older book, but I didn’t have a chance to read it yet.” She says, while holding her book up. Admittedly, I am already impressed by her. I didn’t read the book completely because it was too much for me to handle on a certain issue I have no interested in. Before I know it, we are engaging in a full blown discussion about books. I learned her name was Lauren.

Switching gears, because I never met anyone on a plane that was so interesting, I decided to inquire what business she had in New York.

“My family is still residing in New York. I thought this would be a perfect little weekend get-away for the holiday to spend some time with them,” Lauren shared. “What about you? You have family, too?”

“Oh, no,” I started. “Actually, I love musicals. My family and I usually don’t bother with Thanksgiving. I usually go to visit them for Christmas instead. So for this weekend, the musical bug bit me and I totally needed a lot of ‘me’ time.”

“Musicals? Wow, I have been to a few myself. Which ones are your favorite, so far?”

“Obviously, Hamilton. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy Hamilton? I have also seen Cats, Sweeney Todd, Phantom of the Opera. However, I know it seems really weird, but I love Mean Girls,” I blinding confessed. To be honest, I am not even sure she has heard of it. It’s still relatively new. Not many people even know it was converted into a musical.

“What? Someone actually thought, ‘hey, this movie would make a great musical’ and converted into a musical?” Yep, thought so, she hasn’t heard about it.

“I know, right?” I laughed. “Needless to say, it’s still just as funny as the film and it has all the best parts, even Regina getting hit by the bus.”

“Shut up!”

“No really. To tell the truth, I was wondering if they were going to add it or not. To my surprise, they did!”

We continued conversing like we were old friends who fatefully met on a plane to New York. I felt comfortable with her and I could tell she felt the same for me. Before we were both even aware of it, the plane was descending into New York and our time together was approaching it’s end. I knew I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to make a new friend (because we all know just how easy it is to make a new friend as an adult, right?).

“Hey, I don’t want to seem weird or anything, but would you mind trading contact information?” I boldly asked.

“Oh, yeah, that would be great! In fact, would you be interested meeting up for a musical together while you’re here in New York? I hear Wicked is back on stage. Have you seen it?” Lauren suggested.

“I have heard about Wicked, it’s on my watch list. Do you think we’ll be able to get tickets on such a short notice?”

“Of course!” Lauren seemed confident. “I have some connections and guarantee we will be able to get tickets for this Saturday night.”

“Wow, that would be brilliant. I don’t mean to impose on your family trip. I know how family is important to some people.”

“Please. After Thanksgiving is over, it’s everyone for themselves in my family,” she laughed. We traded cell phone numbers and just like that, I had a new friend in New York. As we exited the plane and walked to baggage claim together, we continued to converse over book plots and musicals.

Once we both had our luggage, we parted ways. I was looking forward to catching a musical with Lauren before the weekend ended. Admittedly, it was just what I needed to forget about the rough relationships of my past. We were planning to meet up again in two days, Saturday evening. And just how did our first meet up go? Well, that is a story for another entry.

Excited for New York, New Friends, and New Musicals,

Kathy