Perfect Strangers

- 1 -

"All flights from Chicago Midway International Airport delayed until further notice due to adverse weather conditions," came the announcement over the tannoy.

Lauren looked out of the windows at the blizzard swirling outside. No surprise there.

She wasn't in a particular rush to get home for Christmas anyway, so she just sat back in her seat and opened up her book, tuning out the arguing that was now going on up at the desk. No one could stop the snow, so they might as well settle in for the wait. She felt for the people who had family they were desperate to get to; she couldn't say she was thrilled to be going back home, personally. Not when it came with a barrage of questions about whether she'd booked any jobs recently or if she'd found a boyfriend yet. But she didn't see them often since she moved away from home, so she tried to make the effort during the holidays. Still, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to be stuck in Chicago for Christmas, apart from the fact that all her friends had gone home already.

As the hours passed and people realised their flight wouldn't be off the ground any time soon, the crowd at the gate began to disperse. Plenty of people stuck around, still hoping for a fast miracle or, like Lauren, happy enough to wait it out.

She kept glancing up from her page at a family with a young girl a few rows of seats ahead of her, her eyes drawn to the noise. In an effort to keep her entertained, the parents had encouraged her to sing Christmas carols. It had been cute at first, but now she was singing Jingle Bells at the top of her lungs and her parents' reminders to keep her voice down were falling on deaf ears. She did have to commend the kid's patience - and the patience of her parents. But it was growing progressively more difficult to listen to, and her smile got weaker every time she looked over at her.

One of those times she caught the eye of the person sitting opposite her, a young guy with dark brown hair that he looked like he was trying to grow out. He must have seen the expression of mild annoyance on her face, because he grinned at her. Her lips curled into a smile, but she looked back down at her book. Seconds later, though, she was looking up at him again, standing in front of her with his bag in his hand and a shy smile on his face.

"Is it okay if I sit here?" he asked, nodding at the seat beside her.

"Sure," she said, wondering why he'd moved beside her. With most people having given up on catching a flight tonight, or at least going off to do more shopping or get something to eat, there were plenty of empty seats about, even if he did want to get away from the serenade of Silent Night.

Her question was answered moments later. "If you just wanna read your book that's cool, but I noticed you were on your own too, and, well..." He looked out of the window, where the sky had turned black but the snow was still visible falling thick and fast past the floodlights. "It looks like we're stuck here for a while."

She couldn't say why, but there was something about this boy that did make her want to talk to him, and she immediately slid her book back into her bag.

"You trying to go home for the holidays?" she asked.

"Yeah. California," he said, and she smiled.

"Bet you're missing that weather right now."

"Yeah," he laughed. "Not as much as I miss my parents though."

"That's who you're trying to get to?" she asked sympathetically.

He nodded, offering her a smile. "What about you, got family waiting for you?"

"I guess you could say that," she sighed.

"You don't sound too happy about it," he said gently.

"I don't know, it's just... always a nice reminder of how unsuccessful I am."