Here we go again! Flash Fiction Friday inspiration comes from this blog on Tumblr.
Prompt: There’s a very chatty person next to me on the plane.
Disclaimer: Below the line is a work of fiction.
Dear Followers,
This morning I had to catch a flight back to my hometown. I received a call yesterday that my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Terminal cancer. Nobody ever wants to hear this news but this is the third time she’s had it and everyone in my family has been expecting it. Of course, the child inside of me doesn’t want to believe that the time has finally come for my mother to move from this world to another. It is my hope that you will mourn with me as I go through this turmoil.
As such, I must announce that I won’t be blogging over the next two weeks according to schedule. I will be hopping on once a week to post updates on changes and plans for moving forward. Until then – I’m on a four hour flight.
And there’s a very chatty person next to me on the plane.
I am calling her Mrs. Big Business. Right now she is taking a video call from her husband. There are only six or seven other people in flight. The only ticket home I could afford was a 2:00 A.M. flight – and it still cost me a fortune, by the way. Anyway, Mrs. Big Business is reminding her husband how important this trip is to her and what it can do for her career. He doesn’t see it that way, and based on the tone of his voice I am guessing that they are having some marital problems.
If it weren’t for the fact that she were being so public, I’d keep it to myself and keep my opinions self-contained. Mrs. Big Business is advertising all of her personal matters, though, and I’m pretty sure she could care less who hears about her problems. This is probably one of the biggest worries the husband harbors about their failing relationship. That, and the fact that she is telling him that they need to hold off on children – just one more year, she’s telling him. Based on the gruff sigh he let out – this is something that they’ve been putting off for a very long time.
I feel bad because I bet she doesn’t want kids. I don’t blame her. She shouldn’t blame herself either. Not wanting children is an acceptable part of life, but she doesn’t seem to think so. So she gets caught up in the nets of financial stability. Just one more promotion, just one more business trip, just one more this, just one more that – but never just one more minute so I can explain that I don’t want a family. He’ll probably divorce her – whether or not she tells him the truth.
I want to talk about something else but the conversation is getting very private now. The husband is protesting about having a child. He is telling her that they barely get to have sex, that they are on different sleep schedules, and that most days they aren’t even sleeping in the same location anymore. He asks about her apartment in New York…
I might have been wrong! She is stumbling over her words now. Telling him that the apartment in New York was a two year lease, because she had a fixed number of trips she’d have to make to the NYC office. That she was taking only what she needed to survive. Now he’s saying that some of the storage boxes are missing, that he can’t find some of the kitchen appliances she bought.
Oh god, he’s asking her if she’s going to just divorce him or keep lying. Why did I choose this flight? Did I know that someone else’s life is about to fall apart in a way that is probably worse than mine? Divorce is so hard because death doesn’t take something away from you. Losing my mom to cancer – even though it is a preventable disease to some degree. But falling in love, falling out of love, it’s a mess isn’t it? It doesn’t go away because it can’t be helped. It goes away because nobody wants to, doesn’t it?
In my attempts to block out their argument in my head, it seems that she’s admitted to him that she took those things to New York. She tells him that the real reason she’s on this flight isn’t for a business trip. In fact, it’s because she has a job interview for a permanent job in New York. She wasn’t telling him because she wanted to “surprise” him when she confirmed the position. Financial Director of some sort for some clothing store – said that she has been pulling these strings for several months.
He isn’t taking any of this too well. In fact, he’s telling her that he knew she was lying about the trips. None of the business trips she’s been making have been for “work.” They’ve been a second job, an internship of some sort, that she’s been desperately clinging to for a new life. The husband is not tolerating it. No way! He’s telling her to stay in New York! He is telling her to stay there because he doesn’t want to live another day with her – that everything about their marriage has been a joke for years and that he’s done waiting for her to “come around.”
Apparently she’s already got a divorce attorney, she already has a list of what she wants from him, and has already had appraisals done on their home… wow! This woman was way more committed than I thought she was to this break up. I thought maybe she was just scared to tell him she didn’t want children, but no! This woman was scared to tell him that she wanted a divorce!
Wow.
I wonder if the stewardess would let me sit in business class. I don’t want to listen to this woman anymore. She’s hung up with her soon-to-be ex-husband and is now video calling someone else. It is a woman talking, griping really, about the hour at which Ms. Big Business is calling her. Of course, there are comments made about this woman still be awake at this hour and blah blah blah. They are talking about the official divorce announcements. This lady is going to make it official on her social media tomorrow that she’s divorcing. Wow.
Just wow. Hopefully that’s the worst of it? The stewardess is coming now – I’m going to ask. I’m going to tell her what’s happening.
–
She moved Ms. Big Business to first class. It gets her away from the rest of the passengers, who began applauding her when she returned. I am glad that that is over. More than likely, I’m going to hell for advertising this couple’s strife. I could have kept my fingers still and listened to music. I should have made a better effort to keep this to myself. But as a blogger, I did feel that in some way this could be a learning experience.
You can figure out what the message is because it will be different to everyone who reads. Let me know what you think about in the comment section below. As always, first time visitors can subscribe for future updates (not similar to this post). Returning readers, thank you again for the your time and devotion to my blog. Tune in sometime next week for an update on how my life is changing!
But until then – keep your eye on the prize!
Yours Truly,
Nosey Nelly – Aka Nelly Knows Nothing!
Yorumlar