MidReal Story
Unforeseen Love at 30,000 Feet
Scenario: Evelyn is dreading the wedding of her brother, as she will have to face an old boyfriend that she made a pact with years ago; she meets Benjamin on the plane and they decide to pretend to be engaged, but as they spend more time together, they may just be falling for each other.
Create my version of this story
I hate flying.
I hate everything about it.
The recycled air, the cramped seats, the way my stomach drops when the plane takes off.
But most of all, I hate the fact that I’m on my way to my brother’s wedding.
I love my brother, but I’m not a fan of weddings in general.
And this one is going to be especially awkward because of a pact I made with my ex-boyfriend when I was eighteen years old.
A pact that has haunted me ever since.
I glance out the window and watch as the plane taxis down the runway.
The sky is overcast and gray, which seems fitting given my mood.
I take a deep breath and try to calm my racing heart as the plane picks up speed and lifts off the ground.
My hands are clenched so tightly around the armrests that my knuckles are white, but I force myself to relax as we level off in the air.
I close my eyes and try to block out the sound of the engines as they roar to life, but it’s no use.
I know it’s irrational, but every time the plane hits a bump, I can’t help but picture my body being ripped to shreds in a fiery explosion.
I know it’s not likely, but it could happen.
And that’s the problem.
There’s nothing I can do to prevent it, no matter how hard I try.
I hate the idea of being helpless, of not having control over my own fate.
That’s why I avoid relationships.
That’s why I’ve never fallen in love.
Because the truth is, you never really know what’s going to happen until it’s too late.
And by then, it’s already over.
I open my eyes and take a deep breath.
The worst part is always the first few minutes after takeoff.
Once we get up in the air, I’m usually okay, but the ride is still bumpy and I can tell it’s going to be a long one.
I lean back in my seat and close my eyes as the flight attendant comes by with the drink cart.
I’m not really in the mood for alcohol, but it might help take the edge off.
And at this point, I’ll try anything to make this flight go by faster.
I pull out my headphones and plug them into my phone as I wait for her to get to me.
I queue up a playlist and close my eyes as I listen to the music.
It’s not really working, but at least it’s something to distract me from the fact that I’m stuck on this plane with no way out.
The flight attendant finally makes her way over to me and I order a gin and tonic before putting my headphones back in and closing my eyes again.
I try to relax as I listen to the music and concentrate on breathing evenly, but it’s no use.
My heart is still racing, and I know it’s going to be a long time before I’m able to enjoy myself on this flight.
I sigh and decide to give up on trying to sleep.
I’ve been fidgeting for the last twenty minutes and there’s no point trying to force myself to relax when I know it’s not going to happen.
Instead, I pull out my crossword puzzle book and flip through the pages in search of one that looks interesting.
I find one that seems challenging enough without being impossible and take out my pen as I get settled in for a long night.
It takes me a few minutes to get into the rhythm of things, but once I do, I start making good progress on the puzzle.
The music helps me focus, and before long, I’ve filled in half of the squares.
But then my mind starts drifting again and I find myself thinking about my brother’s wedding tomorrow.
I can’t believe this is actually happening.
It feels like just yesterday when he first introduced me to Sarah, but now they’re getting married and starting a family of their own.
I’m happy for them.
Really, I am.
I swallow hard and take a deep breath as I try to keep my anxiety in check, but the more I try to distract myself, the worse it gets until suddenly, my entire body seizes up and my hands are shaking uncontrollably as a surge of panic courses through me, making me feel like I’m going to pass out at any moment.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I will myself to relax, but nothing seems to be working as my chest tightens and my stomach churns with nerves, which is only making me feel worse as my fear of flying threatens to take over and ruin everything before we even land.
The turbulence doesn’t help, either.
Turbulence has always terrified me, and this is no exception, especially with how bad it is right now.
The plane is shaking so violently that I feel like we’re going to drop out of the sky at any moment, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it from happening.
I reach into my bag and pull out a bottle of water as I start to hyperventilate, hoping that taking a drink will help calm my nerves.
I take a few sips and try to breathe evenly as I focus on the task at hand, but nothing seems to be working as the situation only gets worse until suddenly, the seatbelt sign lights up, along with an announcement for everyone to buckle up because we’re going into our final descent, which only makes me feel even more anxious because that means there’s no turning back now.
And that any moment, the plane could crash and there’s nothing anyone can do about it except watch as everything goes up in flames and pray that we all make it out alive.
And then, just like that, he appears as if out of thin air when I’m so preoccupied with my own thoughts that I don’t notice he’s there until his tall frame is hovering over me, and when I look up and meet his gaze, he’s smiling as if he doesn’t have a care in the world, as if he doesn’t have a fear in the world, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world, as if he’s never been afraid of anything in his life, and I wish that I could be as brave as he is, as fearless as he appears to be right now, as charming as he looks at this moment with his perfectly styled hair and perfectly trimmed beard and perfectly tailored suit, like he just walked off of a set of one of those spy movies.
“Is this seat taken?”
He asks, motioning toward the empty seat beside me, and when I shake my head, he smiles even wider as he sits down and extends his hand toward me, saying, “Well, then I’d be more than happy to keep you company for the rest of this flight if you’ll have me.” His voice has a slight accent to it, like he’s from some exotic foreign place, either that, or he’s spent quite a bit of time traveling abroad, and the sound of it is somehow soothing, like he could use his voice alone to lull me into a state of calmness, as he waits for me to take his hand, and when I don’t right away, he cocks an eyebrow in question, as if he’s wondering why I’m being so standoffish, why I’m not jumping at the chance to get to know him better.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
He asks with a chuckle that only makes things worse when I look up at him and see the way his eyes are twinkling in the fluorescent lighting above us, as if he knows something I don’t know yet but am about to find out soon enough, as if he knows that we’re about to be more than mere strangers sitting next to each other on a plane before we land, like we were always meant to be more than just two people who met by chance one night on a flight from New York City to Dallas.
And when he laughs at that, I can’t help but smile along with him as if I’m in on the joke, as if there’s something funny about the fact that my face naturally looks like I’m scowling, and then he keeps talking, and for some reason, I keep listening, even though I rarely talk to the people who sit next to me on planes and usually make a point to bring something to read or do to keep myself entertained so that others won’t try to engage me in conversation and hardly ever reply to the ones who do.
I guess it’s just one of those nights, he says with a chuckle before motioning toward the crossword puzzle.
And then he laughs even harder when it takes me a moment to realize what he’s referring to, as if he’s somehow amused by the fact that I’m not paying attention to my surroundings, that I’m not in the mood to talk.
“I’m sorry,” I say with a frown.
“I was miles away.”
“It’s okay,” he says with another laugh that makes my frown deepen.
“I don’t mean to intrude.”
“No, it’s not that,” I say with a shake of my head.
“It’s just been a long day, and I’m not really in the mood to talk.”
“But you were in the mood to talk to yourself?”
he asks with another laugh as if he knows something about me that makes him even more interested in getting to know me, as if he’s now even more intrigued by the fact that I was mumbling to myself, like it’s only made me seem that much more mysterious and alluring.
“I wasn’t talking to myself,” I say with another frown.
“I was doing my crossword puzzle.”
“And you don’t usually do that?”
“Not usually,” I admit.
“But tonight I just can’t seem to focus.”
“Maybe you need something to help calm your nerves, then?”
he suggests with a smile that has something funny stirring inside of me, as if what he’s really saying is that maybe all I need is a good, stiff drink, and when I nod and shrug, he reaches for the button over our heads and presses it once before leaning back in his seat and looking at me expectantly as if we’re old friends who are about to share one of the most intimate secrets we’ve ever shared with one another before he finally says, “Benjamin Kelly.” and extends his hand toward me, and when I finally take it and introduce myself, he cocks an eyebrow as if my name isn’t nearly as distinguished as his is before adding, “But everyone calls me Ben.”
“Nice to meet you, Ben,” I say with a smile, and then we sit there for a moment and stare at each other as if we’re trying to figure out what to say next until finally he chuckles and says, “So where are you coming from?”
“New York,” he says with a smile.
“I was there on business this week.”
“And now you’re heading home?”
“No, I’m going to Chicago,” I explain.
“I live there.”
“I live in New York,” he says with another smile.
Although I guess you could say I live on planes with the amount of time I spend traveling for work.”
“What kind of work do you do?”
I ask with a frown when he doesn’t elaborate any further and just sits there and stares at me like he’s waiting for me to figure it out on my own and then shrugs.
“Real estate,” he says with a smile that has something funny stirring inside of me as if the two of us have something in common and I don’t know it yet before he finally adds, “But tonight I guess you could say I just needed to get away from the city for a few days and enjoy a change of scenery.”
“My brother’s getting married this weekend,” I explain.
And my best friend is getting married this weekend,” he says with a chuckle.
“Small world, huh?”
“I guess so,” I admit with a sigh before adding, “I just hope he doesn’t get cold feet.”
We sit there for a moment and stare at each other before he looks away and says, “Me either.”
I don’t know what it is about the two of us, but the longer we sit there and talk, the more the two of us can’t seem to stop staring at each other, and even though I know it’s wrong, I can’t help but notice the way his eyes light up when he talks to me and the way his cheeks turn up into a charming smile that makes it hard to resist his allure, and the more he talks, the more his handsome looks take over my entire world and the more his voice sends a tingle down my spine that makes it hard to resist the way the two of us are clearly feeling about each other.
“So what about you?”
he asks when it finally becomes clear that it’s my turn to say something and I don’t, and then we sit there and stare at each other while I try to figure out exactly what he’s asking me before he finally adds, “Do you have a lot of brothers or sisters?”
“No,” I say with a frown.
“No brothers?”
he repeats with a frown before adding, “No sisters?”
“I have one brother,” I explain.
“He’s getting married this weekend.”
“How fun,” he says with a smile.
“Is this your first time meeting your sister-in-law?”
“No,” I say with a shake of my head before adding, “I’m actually really good friends with her.”
“So you’re telling me you’re going to meet your best friend at your brother’s wedding?”
he asks with a chuckle before adding, “That sounds like fun.”
“Yeah,” I say, even though it doesn’t, and then we sit there and stare at each other for a moment before I finally add, “But what about you?”
“What do you do for work?”
“I work in real estate,” he explains.
“In New York,” I add with a frown before repeating, “Don’t you remember?”
“What do you mean?”
he asks with a laugh.
“What did I just tell you?”
he says with a frown before repeating.
“Is that what you said?”
“Oh, good,” he says with a smile that makes me wonder if he’s joking or not before he finally says, “I’m glad you were listening.”
“So how long are you planning on staying in Chicago?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“I guess it all depends on whether or not my brother gets cold feet.”
“And you will be meeting her at the wedding?”
he asks with a frown.
“So how long have the two of them been together?”
“A year or so,” I explain.
“But they’ve known each other for a while.”
“And what about you?”
he asks with a smile.
“How long have you been single?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“It’s hard to say.”
“Hard to say?”
he repeats with a frown.
“Well not exactly,” I admit.
“Then why did you say that?
It’s not like you can’t remember how many days it’s been since your last relationship ended.” He laughs before adding, “Or maybe it’s that there hasn’t been a day since then that you haven’t been in one relationship or another.”
“But that’s not what you meant either,” he points out before asking, “So what did you mean?”
“I don’t know,” I repeat before explaining.
“It’s been a while since my last relationship is all.
And it’s hard to say when the next one will begin.”
“Because you’re waiting for Mr.Right?He laughs before asking, “Is there such a thing?”
“I don’t know,”I admit before adding, “But it’s better than settling for Mr.Wrong.” I laugh before asking, “Don’t you think?
Settling for Mr.RightNow is better than Mr.RightForever?
Or some might think so anyway.”I frown as I wait for him to respond and wonder if it means anything that he hasn’t had a serious relationship despite his age before he finally asks, “So is there some reason you’re not in a relationship right now?
“I told you,”I say with a frown.
“It’s hard to say.” What it is about me that keeps me from having a successful relationship is something even I’m not sure of.
And it’s part of the reason why I hate weddings.
Because it’s hard to say how anyone will react when they find out the truth about me.
“So what about you?”
I ask before adding with a knowing smile.
“That you are in fact single and have never been in a serious relationship before is just the luck of the draw?”
“Not exactly,” he admits with a smile that makes me wonder what exactly that means before adding.
“I just haven’t found the right person yet.”
“And do you think you ever will?”
“I’m an optimist,” he explains with a smile.
“I’m not sure you are,” I say with a laugh before leaning back in my chair and waiting for him to tell me why.
“Because you’re not a good liar.”
“I’m not lying,” he insists.
“But you’re not telling the truth either.” He smiles as if he knows something I don’t before asking, “Am I right?”
“Tell you what,” he says as he leans in closer before adding with a smile, “Let’s make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
I ask as my heart races in anticipation of what kind of deal this might be.
“You said your brother’s wedding is this weekend, right?”
he asks before adding, “So how about this?
You said one of the reasons why you hate weddings is because people always ask if you’re in a relationship and then look at you like there’s something wrong with you when you say no, right?
“So how about we pretend we’re in one?
Just while we’re at your brother’s wedding so people will leave you alone?”
he adds as if it’s nothing before asking, “What do you think?
“That’s too bad,” he says with a smile.
“I’m not sure I believe that.”
“It’s true,” he insists before adding, “But I guess I can keep pretending I am until I meet the right person.”
I think about that before asking, “So does that mean I’m the one who’s going to have to tell people we broke up?”
“I suppose it does,” he admits before adding, “If they ever ask that is.”
“I suppose I can live with that,” I tell him with a smile.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I suppose I can live with pretending to be in a relationship with him, even if it’s only for two days.
Just as long as he knows it’s just pretend.
“So do we have a deal?”
he asks as he holds out his hand to shake on it.
But before I can answer, the flight attendant comes by to ask what we want to drink and we both order the same thing: vodka and orange juice.
When she leaves us alone again, I take his hand in mine to shake on it before answering.
“So tell me more about yourself,” I say after taking a sip of my drink and setting it on the tray table in front of me in case the plane takes off at any moment and spills everything in my lap.
“What do you want to know?”
he asks before taking a sip of his drink and setting his down beside mine before turning his attention back to me.
Is there anything else he likes to do besides ride planes, stay in hotels, and pretend to sell property in order to make himself seem more interesting than he really is?
Well, there’s fishing,” he says as he shrugs his shoulders as if it’s nothing before adding, “but I don’t get to do it nearly as much as I’d like.”
“I bet not,” I say with a smile because it seems like an odd hobby for someone who lives in New York City to have, and besides, does anyone ever get to do all the things they want in life?
“What kind of fish do people catch up there?”
“On Long Island Sound?”
“On the East River,” he answers with a smile.
“I guess I just assumed that wasn’t the best place to fish.”
“Well, you assumed wrong,”he says with a laugh before adding, “I suppose I could always move to Alaska or someplace like that if I wanted to fish more often, but I’m not sure I’m ready to give up my life in the city just yet.”
“What are you still doing in New York City if you could live anywhere you want?”
I ask because I’ve always wondered that myself.
I mean I’ve never been there myself, but from the way he talks about it and from what I’ve heard from others, there’s no other place like it.
And he’s right.
It’s hard to believe he would give up a place like that for one where there’s not much more than snow on the ground and a few places to fish.
“Because that’s where the money is,” he explains with a smile.
“And real estate is a pretty competitive business.
But I’m not sure you’d understand that.”
“Well, I am kind of competitive by nature,” I admit because my brother and I have always been like that.