(written by Lacy) *3 Days Later*
"Flight 152 from Philadelphia to Orlando departs from gate 12A in ten minutes," came the drone female voice from the National Philadelphia Airport intercom, only to barely be heard by Jade and Jess above the hundreds of people talking around them as they tried to make their way through the luggage check. "We're gonna be late!" Jess screamed to Jade, who was only 15 feet away from her, but just barely hearing what she said. "We're not gonna be late," Jade said calmly and she picked up her one carry-on and walked over to her best friend so she didn't have to scream to be heard. "How can you be so calm? We're gonna miss our flight! Ya know, if you didn't have to pack your entire closet, maybe we would even be on the plane right now!" Jess said, irritated. "Okay, first of all, we're NOT gonna be late. And second of all, we're gonna be in Orlando for a month... maybe more, do you honestly expect me to be seen in the same outfit twice?" Jade asked as she started to walk around Jess. "Well excuse me, but there are thousande of people in Orlando, I don't think you're gonna have to worry about running into the same person more than once. Hey, what are you doing? Where are you going? We're gonna miss our flight!" Jess exclaimed, traipsing after the flamboyant Jade.
"No we're not," Jade said calmly as she kept walking. "What?!" Jess asked, irritated at her friend's placid behavior. "Gate 12A," Jade said, turning to her best friend and pointing up at the sign above their heads. "Oh," was the only reply that could be heard by Jess as the flight attendant took their tickets and ushered them onto the plane. Jess' eyes grew wide as she followed Jade to the front of the plane.
No-way, Jess thought to herself. Jade got us FIRST CLASS?!? "Do you want the window seat?" Jade asked. "Wha-huh? Oh, yeah!" Jess exclaimed, jumping into the seat before Jade could change her mind. "I'll take that as a yes," Jade chuckled, taking her seat beside Jess. "Jade, did I ever tell you that you're the most awesome writer on the planet?" Jess asked, looking at Jade innocently. "You got what you wanted; first class and the window seat. You can stop sucking up now," Jade said as she opened her laptop and began to type. Yeah, Jess thought, for once I did. She fell asleep a few minutes later with a smile on her face.
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ScOtT: Hello...
"What the-," Jade mumled to herself. "Oh," she said, realizing that she had left her AOL connection on and someone had sent her a message.
OcEaN: Hi.
ScOtT: Did I interupt you?
OcEaN: Yes, actually. I was just in the middle of typing up something.
"What?" Jade asked herself, not realizing she had said it outloud. Did she just answer a question straight out? ScOtT: Was it important?
OcEaN: Yes!
ScOtT: Sorry...
OcEaN: Huh? Oh, no, it's okay. I'm sorry for snapping at you. Planes have a habit of doing that to me.
ScOtT: Planes?
OcEaN: Yeah. You probably won't believe me, but I'm actually hundreds of miles above your head right now.
ScOtT: You're in a plane?
OcEaN: Yeah. Hard to believe, I know. It's hard enough to get my laptop to connect to AOL when I'm grounded, I have no idea how I got it to connect up here...
ScOtT: Um, actually, that's pretty ironic. Because I'm in a plane right now, too.
OcEaN: No way! A commercial flight?
ScOtT: Yep, a commercial flight. I'm actually on my way home right now. Me and a couple of my friends were... uh... on a business trip.
OcEaN: Sounds like fun. A business trip, huh? Well, if you're so good at what you do that your boss sent you on a business get-away, you must be pretty experienced at what you do. Which must mean you're... what, 35... 40?
ScOtT: LOL, hell no! I'm 27, what about you?
OcEaN: 27 and already getting an oppoutunity like that? You must be, like, the boss' son or something...
ScOtT: LOL, nope. Just really good at what I do, I guess. I actually owe a lot of gratitude to my friends, each of who I work with everyday. We make a good team. But what about you... how old are you and what do YOU do for a living?
OcEaN: Me? I'm 22. I'm actually on a business trip, too. Except I'm not going home, I'm traveling to my... um... well, I guess you could call them meetings.
ScOtT: 22? You're 22 and you're yelling at ME for traveling on business? Who's the boss' kid here?
OcEaN: Just good at what I do, I guess. But I don't have any friends to thank for getting me here, I did it all on my own. Well, actually, if you wanna be totally honest about it, I DO owe my job to my best friend. She's the one who talked me into moving in with her. If I didn't live where I do, I wouldn't have gotten my dream job.
"Excuse me, miss. Would you like the turkey and gravy or the shrimp for your dinner tonight?" the flight attendant at Jade's side asked, making her jump. Jade looked at her watch, her eyes widening as she realized she had been talking in the chat room for almost 2 hours! "Um, can you come back in a few minutes? I have to wake my friend up first," Jade asked hopefully. The stewartist simply nodded her head with a smile and walked to the couple sitting ahead of her.
ScOtT: Talent sometimes comes in loads.
OcEaN: Yeah. Look, I have to go. I have the choice of either eating turkey and gravy or shrimp for my dinner. This is my first time in first class, and I must say that it won't be my last =)
ScOtT: I have to suggest the shrimp. I just finished a plate-full, myself. It was excellent. But it was either that or a steak. I'm gonna have my fill of home-cooked steak tomorrow night, so I decided on the shrimp.
OcEaN: Thanx, shrimp it will be!
ScOtT: Hey, when am I gonna be able to talk to you again?
Jade stopped and straightened immediantly. No one had ever asked for a second chat session with her. What was she supposed to say in return?
OcEaN: Tomorrow?
Tomorrow? Jade's head screamed. Tomorrow's un-packing day! I can't possibly find the time to get on this thing again!
ScOtT: I can't. Tomorrow's un-packing day. My first day back home. I'm gonna be surrounded by family.
Jade sighed in relief.
OcEaN: Okay... how about e-mail?
ScOtT: Yeah, e-mail! Great!
They exchanged e-mail addresses and Jade disconnected from the internet and shut her laptop. She sighed and leaned back in her chair in disbelief. She had just had her first full conversation with someone on the internet without them asking her for phone sex! It felt good to actually have a real conversation with someone for once! She set her laptop in its carrier and set it above her on the baggage holder. Noticing the stewartist heading her way, she put down her tray table and leaned over to wake up Jessica.
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