I was knocked off this reverie with the sign that we could unbuckle our safety belts. We were served refreshments on the plane and as fate would have it, I couldn’t help falling for the breath-taking allure of the flight attendant.
No, it was actually mutual liking or so to speak. Though it came with drama too. Actually her trolley hit the arm of the chair opposite mine and the tea and the coffee splattered on me.
“I am sorry, sir,” she said sounding really sorry.
homecoming
No doubt, her gushes of apologies as she wiped the tea off my shirt sweetened me. Not that I was angry in the first place, a little upset maybe. I actually, looked forward to being back in the city and the inconvenience of disembarking from the plane with bedraggled garments was not going to dampen the spirits in my homecoming.
“My utmost apologies sir for the mess,” she said looking embarrassed.
“I am absolutely with no ill-feeling … call me Eric,” I said.
“I am Eileen,” she said.
“Nice to meet you, though in the most of unfriendly circumstances,” I said smiling as wide as I could.
Eileen got back to her work. Before long, she had served everyone and passed by. She winked at me. I winked back at her. I dismissed this as the usual flirtations that pass around about airhostess. After all, how many nice-looking, well-off men does she meet everyday? I engaged her as we disembarked from the plane. It being her last flight for the day, we boarded a taxi and dropped her off at her house. I went home promising to call her. I did not. Neither did she. Naturally, she slipped out of my mind.
In the office, work went well and Sam, workmate, besieged me to tell him what happened in the Khartoum to which I brushed him off with the excuse that it was a long tale which needed a week to clear.
A few days later Eileen surprised me. To my consternation, she showed up in the office. “Wow, wow, what brings you here?” I asked.
“I told you I would come see you in the office today, you forgot?” Eileen said.
“Actually, I remember that,” I feigned knowledge of her passing by. In truth, I had forgotten about that. I excused myself and went off with her to the office canteen for lunch. Eileen was good-natured, mild-mannered woman. She was the opposite of all the women I had met. What would happen next?