It’s Tuesday, it’s Teaser Tuesday!
This week’s Taking Flight teaser is full of fun banter, random information about NYC, coffee, and curiosity.
Enjoy!
“Why do parents think it’s okay to bring an irritable infant on a flight? Or, really, anywhere? All babies do is scream and poop and throw up. I really don’t understand why people think they’re cute.” Willa takes a breath and another bite of her bagel before continuing on her soapbox, talking around the food in her mouth. “They’re creepy and gross and shouldn’t be allowed in public. That’s something I love about New York. There are entire neighborhoods where it’s as if almost everyone has signed an agreement that babies aren’t allowed there. Although, there are also areas where there’s a disconcertingly high concentration of strollers. I avoid those places.”
I love listening to Willa talk about New York. Even though my mom is in Philly, which isn’t that far from Manhattan, we’ve never made the trip. So the only ideas I have about New York City are from movies and TV shows and Spider-Man comics. Except for the things Willa has taught me, like how the Empire State Building is lit up in different colors every night to commemorate really random events, that Central Park isn’t the only place you can find trees in Manhattan, and that if you see a street sign that says “Houston,” it’s actually pronounced “House-ton.” Saying it like the city in Texas is, apparently, a rookie mistake.
“Well, maybe we can open a no-babies-allowed airline. Our asses will probably get sued by some over-zealous mom for discrimination, but maybe we’ll have made so much money it won’t matter,” I say before taking a long draw from my coffee.
“Maybe,” she says thoughtfully before polishing off her last bite of bagel and checking her phone.
“Bollocks. I have to get to my next gate,” Willa announces, easing out of her chair.
“Already?” We couldn’t have been talking more than ten minutes.
“Yeah, I have a tight layover time on this one. Watch my stuff?” Before I can answer, she turns on her heel and heads to the nearest trash can. As if she even needed to ask.
I take the opportunity to gather up my stuff and check the time. I still have twenty minutes before my flight starts boarding. After putting Dharma Bums safely back into my bag, I grab Willa’s Cruisair and her purse and head over toward where she’s standing. I realize she’s staring at me as I walk over. And not in the baffled, bemused way she was staring at the Waldo look-alike—this is the same kind of stare the girls back home employed when they saw my sans glasses-and-braces look for the first time: full of curiosity and, I hope, a little lust.
“What?” I ask when I’m within earshot of her.
“You just look different. Grown up,” Willa says before taking a sip of her iced coffee, her lips quickly enveloping the straw. I can see just a hint of her tongue.
I’m suddenly very aware of my pants and completely jealous of her straw.
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