The Woman in the Airport

"No!" A high, screechy voice was heard above the bustle of the airport, "No, no no, NO!"

Beatrice looked around, confused. The man she had been talking to, Brian Green, joked, "Sounds like someone just realized they forgot their passport." Beatrice didn't laugh. The person shouting sounded genuinely upset, and she was a little concerned. "Oh, shit," Brian said.

"What?" she asked.

"You were going to Los Angeles, right? It looks like your flight is delayed."

"Damn it. For how long?"

"It says it won't take off until 10:30."

"Please tell me you're joking. That's more than six hours!"

"I'm not joking, look." Beatrice looked. He was right- the departures board had been updated, and her flight would not leave until 10:30 PM. She sighed in exasperation, and said, "I'm going to go and ask about an earlier flight. Hopefully they can get me on,"

"Ok," Brian said, "Good luck. See you around,"

Beatrice walked towards her gate, fuming internally. She had several important meetings tomorrow, and she found it impossible to sleep on planes. If she got in late, she would be too tired to concentrate the next day. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped, startled. The person who had grabbed her pulled her around to face them, saying, "I don't care what you think! I can't go through with this!" Her voice was the same one Beatrice had heard earlier shouting "No!" She was so surprised at first that she couldn't speak. Finally, she was able to stammer, "W- who are you?"

"Who do you think I am?" the strange woman replied in a mocking tone.

"I've never seen you before in my life!" Beatrice exclaimed, "You must have mistaken me for someone else."

The other woman's face twisted into a strange combination of anger and hilarity, lending her the look of a Bengal tiger who has just been fed something unpleasantly sour. "Now don't you lie to me, Janice Helmont," she spat, "I know exactly who you are, and I'm going to tell the authorities about your plans! I just can't do it anymore!"

"And what plans would those be?" Brian, seeing the disturbance, had gotten up to see if he could help. He had heard most of the conversation and had called security; but it would be a few minutes before they arrived, so he tried to calm down the hysterical woman.

"Why should I tell you?" she asked suspiciously, "You could be working for Janice!"

"Ma'am, I am an officer of the law," he lied, "I'm not on duty right now, but I promise you, I am not working for anyone named Janice."

"She wants to take over our minds with the UFOs!" the woman said, "The secret order of Ghanotos is behind it all. She's their tool on Earth!"

Just then, airport security finally arrived. "Ma'am, we were notified that you have been causing a disturbance. We'll have to ask you to come with us," One of the officers said.

"Oh, good," the woman replied, "Take her away and lock her up! She's in league with the secret order of Ghanatos!"

The officer looked confused for a moment, and then said, "I'm sorry ma'am, I meant you. Are you going to come quietly?"

Her face froze for a split second, and then she bolted. The security officers chased after her, leaving Beatrice and Brian by themselves.

"Thanks for that," Beatrice said, "She was starting to freak me out."

"Not a problem," Brian replied, "Glad I could help. Hey, uh, boarding's started for my flight."

"You'd better go then," she said, "It was nice meeting you."

"It was nice meeting you too," he said, "Maybe I'll see you again sometime." Brian waved goodbye and ran towards his gate, leaving Beatrice to wait for her plane.