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“Attention everyone, flight 2795 from Atlanta to Chicago is overbooked. If you would be kind enough to give up your seat we will give you a $200 voucher and put you on the next available flight.”
Nancy tapped her foot nervously as the familiar announcement had been repeated again. She was one of the unfortunate few that didn’t yet have a spot on the plane. She had to get on this plane, Bess was trying on wedding dresses for the first time and would kill Nancy if she didn’t make it back on time. She had half a mind to tell her sob story to some sorry chap who would understand and play to the human emotion and let her fly in his or her place. Unfortunately, the airline staff would not have been happy about that and it would’ve probably further sealed her fate.
To calm herself she decided to close her eyes and play her favorite pastime game. Memory I Spy. The rules were simple, she closed her eyes, then tried to remember someone she had recently seen or encountered. She then had to name five distinguishing characteristics about the person from memory. The airport setting would really test her skills since there were so many people to take in, five characteristics was a lot to take in briefly. She finally remembered the man in front of her at the Starbucks kiosk. He had dark hair and was a good six inches taller than her, but those weren’t distinguishing characteristics.
- His smell of vanilla that could somehow be smelt over the strong smell of coffee.
- He had a large, dark bruise taking up most of his right fore arm.
- She had noted his right eyebrow was slightly singed when he’d grabbed his coffee and headed toward his gate.
- He didn’t have any luggage with him, either it was checked, he was traveling with someone, his luggage had been lost, or he was only taking a day trip. He didn’t look dumb enough to leave luggage unattended.
- He was clearly wearing a fake moustache, she couldn’t imagine why he’d need that. Unless he’d taken his ID photos with facial hair, she’d heard that you seemed highly suspicious if your facial hair didn’t match your ID. Thankfully that wasn’t a problem she had to deal with.
She smiled to herself, they hadn’t been the greatest details, she definitely couldn’t really identify him with those, but it wasn’t too bad for how crazy things were. Thankfully, the task had done the trick and had made her feel slightly more at ease while she continued to wait for news from the airline. They were supposed to be boarding in 15 minutes. She’d need to know soon so she could try and work on an alternate route home if she could still get there in time to meet Bess.
Ugh that coffee had been a mistake , Nancy thought to herself. She hadn’t known she had reason to be anxious when she bought it, but now she knew she might not get a seat and anxiety and that much caffeine do not do great things together. Nancy was alarmed to notice how rapid her heartbeat had become. She began to anxiously fidget, tapping her toes, mindlessly air-typing on her legs the words she was hearing but not processing. Suddenly she was awoken from her place of doom to hear a different announcement for her flight.
“Would Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy please come to the counter for gate H17? I repeat, would Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy please come to the counter for gate H17?” In a flash Nancy had grabbed the handle of her small rolling suitcase and was frantically making her way towards the counter. From the corner of her eye she saw the crowds parting similarly across the way, must be for Frank Hardy, she imagined. When she finally reached the counter she was shocked to discover Frank Hardy was Mystery I Spy Man.
“Are you Nancy Drew?” The man behind the counter inquired.
“I am she.” Nancy replied.
“Great, now I have some good and bad news for the two of you.” Nancy’s mind began to churn with what her and Frank Hardy could have in common with this news.
“We were successful in getting one gentlemen to give up his seat on the plane.”
“How wonderful!” Nancy beamed. The airline attendant was non-plussed.
“Unfortunately, you both needed seats on this plane.”
“Oh.” Nancy was crestfallen. Of course it was too good to be true. There’s no way I’ll get this seat, this Frank character does not look like one to understand the sop story of wedding dress shopping .
“Now normally how this works is we just go by who bought their ticket first.” The attendant continued. “Unfortunately the systems are down and we don’t have that information and there isn’t really a protocol for these situations. So you two will have to figure out some way of deciding who gets the ticket, otherwise the airline will decide randomly in five minutes.”
Nancy quickly turned on Frank and blurted, “I hate to be selfish but I really need this ticket.”
“You should take it.” Frank had responded at the same instant.
“Wait, what?” Nancy hadn’t properly heard what he had said over her begging.
“You should take the ticket.” Frank responded calmly.
“You’re sure?” Nancy asked incredulously, “I was willing to hear your reason to head to Chicago, or even rock paper scissors it.” Frank chuckled.
“There’s no need, you seem to really want to be in Chicago and I do not.”
“Then why do you have a ticket for Chicago?”
“My brother wanted to set me up on a date before I flew home to New York. This way I can probably swing a direct flight and maybe get home even faster than if I’d done the date and a connecting flight.”
“I guess I can’t say chivalry isn’t dead as that was nowhere near the explanation I was expecting.” Frank laughs a deep hearty laugh, like one Nancy imagined a lumberjack would have, slightly gruff but joyful. “Really, thank you so much for this, it means so much to me and my friend that I get home on time. If you’re ever in Chicago and need a ride to or from the airport or have an obnoxiously long layover, call me.” She says as she quickly scribbled her number on a nearby flyer.
“So, is everything settled?” The attendant asks Nancy when she turns back to the counter.
“Yes.”
“Great, as you’re to board now.”
“Thank you!” Nancy called over her shoulder as she rushed down the hallway toward the plane. She tried to contribute her racing heart to the stress of making the plane on time after all of the dealing that just happened, and her flushed cheeks to the unusually warm temperature in the airport. But, she wasn’t a great detective for nothing, she knew this was all because she’d rashly given out her number to a cute single man that she’d probably never see again. Oh well, at least I went for it, Bess will enjoy this story much more than the story of my case. Nancy mused to herself as she had made her way onto the plane in preparation for takeoff.