backlogged dreams & day old teas

V - i hope you like cats

2016

"Flight AX1385 is now boarding. Business Class passengers may now board the plane at gate 801B."

Taylor grabbed her small, black carry on and walked up to the boarding gate. She was dressed sensibly in her blouse and leggings and her hair up in a loose ponytail with bangs all over her face. She wore minimal makeup and jewelry.

She was so engrossed in getting ready to board the plane that she didn't realise a blonde haired man was also walking up the jetway with his hair tousled and his eyes shining ocean blue.

She sat down at her seat and got ready for takeoff, setting her baggage down and taking out some chewing gum to prevent her ears from blocking. She looked to her right and saw there was a seat connected to hers so she quickly pulled up the divider for privacy.

Joe found his seat and he saw the divider brought up on the adjacent seat and a glimpse of blond hair. He frowned since it reminded him of Taylor and her curly, wild hair when they were younger. He quickly sat down and busied himself with a random magazine he found in the chair pocket.
It was a six hour flight to London from New York and Taylor was going on a business trip while Joe was returning to his family after a bit of gallivanting.

An hour into the flight, an air hostess walked over to Joe and bent down to speak to him.

"Excuse me sir, did you request a special meal for tonight's dinner because of your food allergy?"

"Yes, I did. I assume it will be prepared for me in time." Joe replied in his smooth British accent.

"Certainly. Could I get a name for reference please?"

"Joseph Matthew Alwyn."

Taylor, who was trying to take a nap suddenly widened her eyes and sat up letting out a gasp louder than she wanted to, nearly spilling her glass of water on her small table. Joe. It was Joe next to her, right on this very flight, 18 years after they last saw each other.

She knew she couldn't just pull down the divider since she was so fearful of rejection, so she sat in her seat restless and eventually chose a movie to watch, "The Favourite".

Taylor was quite careless and forgetful, forgetting to plug in her headphones and Joe heard the start of the movie playing and immediately recognized it. Without thinking twice, he pulled down the divider from his side and leaned over to Taylor. She was taken aback and let out another gasp.

"That's my movie y'know. I'm in it." Joe whispered to Taylor.

Taylor was speechless and didn't know how to respond. After a while of just staring into his ocean blue eyes, she finally spoke up.

"You're Joe, aren't you?"

"Are you a fan of mine?" he smirked, finally recognizing that familiar face of hers.

Taylor sighed and shook her head. "My goodness, you're so damn full of yourself, aren't you Joseph?"

Joe scoffed playfully. "Look who's speaking. I remember the last time I spoke to you you bragged about how you were the class representative at our first grade graduation."

Taylor rolled her eyes but looked back at Joe and grinned. She leaned over to hug him but the chairs proved it difficult to so they were in a quite awkward position. They both laughed at that for a few seconds, with smiles that met the eye and were full of sincerity.

Taylor finally paused the movie and turned to her right to make conversation with Joe.

"So, how are you? Why are you on this flight?"