I never meet interesting men on planes. Given all the flying I do, you would think the odds would be in my favor. But it seems there’s a cosmic conspiracy to keep me uncoupled and out of trouble, at least while I’m in the air. In hundreds of thousands of miles logged on various airlines I only met one intriguing man. That was a long time ago, and I must confess that I treated him rather carelessly. I lost him, and the universe has been repaying my ingratitude for its gift ever since. Until this past weekend, that is.
The Monday morning flight from Trieste to Munich was filled with predominantly male business travelers. As most of them have little or no manners when it comes to female passengers I didn’t hold out much hope this flight would be any different from the other commuter flights I’ve taken over the years.
I waited until the very end to board. I could see my row and the aisle seat was already occupied by a man who looked like just another Monday morning commuter. I bent down and politely indicated that I had the window seat.
“It’s okay, I’ll move,” he said.
“No really, I can sit there,” I said. He was tall and probably wouldn’t have been comfortable in the window seat.
He slid over any way. Very nice, I thought. I made a note to myself. “Must remember not to generalize.”
On the flight out one hears all manner of languages and accents — Dutch, German, French, Swedish, heavily accented English and, of course, Italian. As luck would have it – my gentleman was Italian. And he was the whole package, tall, dark, and handsome. For once the universe surprised me with pleasant view both inside and outside of the plane. I stole glances at him as we crossed the Alps. He folded up the newspaper he was reading to give me a better view, and our conversation started.
The depth and breadth of his conversation amazed me. He was well read, well-traveled and well educated in the social skills department. We talked for an hour and didn’t realize we’d landed until the flight attendant asked us to leave the plane. We both agreed to stay in our seats until everyone deplaned. This way we could avoid the crush. Besides the transfer bus for the terminal couldn’t leave without us.
As the last people on the bus, we squeezed into the crowded back end. I held my purse and my briefcase in one hand and a pole for support in the other. I had all of the weight on one side of my body and felt off balance. He towered over me as I stood to face him and continue our conversation.
He smelled good, like English soap and fresh air. His breath was sweet. As the bus turned a corner, I lost my balance. He put his free arm around the back of my waist to steady me as he pulled me slightly toward him. He apologized for being so forward, but I assured him that the alternative, me falling, was worse. It was the most gallant of gestures.
I lost my balance, and he steadied me, two more times on the way to the terminal. Please don’t let go, I thought. But the bus stopped and he had to let go. It was the shortest bus ride of my life. As we said goodbye, I reflected that I may not have fallen, but I certainly did lose my balance, at least for a little while.
photo: © istockphoto.com/TerryJ
Cafe Girl Chronicles 
To bad you didn’t meat him on a trip to Australia or something where the flight is atleast 10 hours 🙂
Ah yes, that would have been grand. Who knows what might have happened then. I think I will have to start doing business Australia 🙂
Ah, diggin’ your blog! I have a serious obsession with meeting men in public transportation. Call it the hopeless romantic in me, but when a hottie sits down next to me on the train and pulls out something interesting to read, I get all sorts of wacky romancy notions about instant connection and eloping. EVEN though I am usually on the train to visit my boyfriend. It’s a brain sickness instilled by too many terrible Rom-Coms…
I’ve had similar close encounters myself on trains, in restaurants and lately in a plane. What I’ve learned, sadly, it seems there ain’t no such thing as a Hollywood ending in real life. So I enjoy the fantasy!
What a great story!!! Lovely way to start a day – tall dark and handsome Italian. Sure beats the short, fat and stinky guy I sat with on one of my recent flights! I think next time, I will just daydream your story!
Glad I made your day! It was a real treat – better than an upgrade. And that says a lot.
Wow! You are a romantic. The whole time I read this blog, I heard you telling me in person. No exchange of personal info though? ;-(
Yes as a matter of fact we exchanged business cards. You never know… I guess I’m a hopeful romantic. I’ll keep you posted.
Oh please do. This definitely a chapter for the next book.
…and the next chapter begins. Good for you, Cafe Girl! Carpe diem.
I hope there’s more to come…
Awesome!
Lucky (and at the same time unlucky) you. Shouldn’t there be classes to learn men reading a girl’s mind?
Very true both lucky and unlucky – and unluckier still as when we said goodbye we exchanged business cards. I didn’t want him to have to work too hard to read my mind. 🙂 So in addition to unlucky – I might also add uninterested. And since we can never know the future perhaps that’s a lucky thing too I haven’t heard from him.
And have you contacted him?
Should I? 😉 Maybe I should take a poll?
Thank you for commenting on my blog. (Apparently one comment went to spam because it contained a link. 😦 ) And thank you for the Kindle order.
My order of your book arrived! 😀
Very good post!
That is absolutely beautiful! I have had those moments. They are so perfect just the way they are that it may be best just to let them remain that brief encounter. You may always wonder, “what if” but what a beautiful memory you have to reflect on. I read it three times before I commented because evoked so much emotion. Love to you beautiful lady! Thank you so much for sharing!
And I forgot to click the notify box… again!
I hope I’m replying to the right post. Thank you so much for your lovely comment. It really made my day. Every time I read your blog I find myself. And I think I agree with you – some moments are perfect as they are. One other thing – there are days when I want to chuck this whole blog thing but then I get a comment like yours and I realize why I love writing this blog so much. Thank you.
And then?
And then…you just posted a piece about Twain’s opinion of Deerslayer – very topical. And it perhaps gives me a reason to drop him a note. However I wished I believed more in fate and less in coincidence. I think Teri might be right…maybe somethings should be left perfect as they are. What do you think.
I’ve always had a bias for action.
Aww that’s so romancey:) What happens next??
He texts the girl and they start writing. The beginning of a new book?
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