Laid-Over in Cincinnati

Days turn out nothing like you expect them to. Usually they turn out worse, sometimes they turn out better. There are rare days that turn for worse, but then turn to the better. This was a rare day for Lisa Woburn.

Lisa was born October 12, 1956 into an average life with some misfortune. She grew up near New Haven Connecticut in a modest life. Her dad worked, her mom stayed at home. They did not have much money, but enough to get by. Life was stressed by the fact that Lisa was born with a serious eye condition. All throughout her childhood she needed to visit eye specialists and her sight was dependent on expensive glasses. Her parents cared for her very much and did everything they could to make that happen.

It took Lisa most of her growing up years to become her own person. As a child she faced teasing from other kids about her eyes. As an early teen, she was very self-conscious about them. By the time she graduated from high school she had settled into herself. She was kind and gentle with an appreciation of beauty, harmony and peace.

She did have troubles with relationships. She always found it difficult to say 'no' to people. She tried to keep everyone happy. As a result, people would take advantage of her or the relationship ended with high drama. This was always stressful on her. As a response, she ended up not having many friends.

After High School Lisa started her adult life. She could not afford to go to college full time. She found a job working in an office, and was taking night classes for book keeping. Her parents were ok with her staying at home.

Lisa's best friend, Donna, left town after graduation. She enrolled in a four year program at a university outside St. Louis. They had stayed good friends despite the distance. It is this friendship that would put Lisa in a set of circumstances that would change her life.

Donna had pestered Lisa about coming to visit her. Lisa wanted to, but her financial situation made it difficult. She had to save for over a year to afford the trip. Donna was more than half way through her junior year and Lisa was going out for a week

It was a Friday morning in early February of 1977. Lisa was at the airport in Hartford Connecticut. She was in line to board an 11:15am flight. She saw that there were flights getting canceled or delayed, due to a big storm in the Midwest. She was thankful that her flight had not been changed. Lisa had never been out of state before. Never been on an airplane before. The thought that it could be canceled was nerve wracking. But that was not the case, so she was excited.

She boarded, took her window seat and the plane took off without incident. The flight was fun, she did not read a book or a magazine, and she spent the entire time soaking up every detail.

About halfway through the flight the captain came on over the airplanes speakers. The storm was bad and they were headed right towards it. For safety reasons they were going to have to land in Cincinnati. She understood but that did not stop her from being disappointed.

After the plane landed, Lisa talked to a booking agent, then called Donna.

"I have some bad news."

"What?" answered Donna.

"A storm forced the plane to land in Cincinnati."

"Oh No!"

"Yeah, they booked me on another flight leaving tomorrow at 5pm. So until then I am stuck here."

"Are you going get to a hotel?"

"I cannot afford a hotel. I only have a little bit of cash with me. I am going to have to pull an all-nighter in the airport."

An idea came to Donna; "Wait a second, my cousin Doug lives in Cincinnati now. What if you could stay with him?"

Lisa asked; "Is he the one that that graduated two years before us? The one that worked at the movie theater and always let us in for free?"

"Yeah that's him. I saw him over Christmas. He has a job out there now. He gave me his business card. Yeah it's right here. What do you think?"

"Well it would be better than hanging out at the airport."

"Ok its only one, he will be in his office. I'll call him. Give me a call back in half an hour."

Donna calls Doug and explains the situation. Doug understands and asks; "Lisa was the one with the eye problem right?"

"Yeah that's her."

"Ok sure, I liked her, she was always cool. She would be ok with crashing at the bachelor pad of an almost stranger?"

"You are not an almost stranger. If she had to stay in the airport she would be around people a lot stranger than you."

"That is true, I would not want to spend a whole day in an airport."

"And she remembered you right away, she always liked you." Added Donna

"I can be there in an hour."

"Okay that's terrific."

Lisa called Donna back after half an hour. Donna said; "Doug has no problem with it. He is on his way to the airport now. He will probably be there soon."

"Are you sure about this? Won't I be crashing into his Friday night life?"

"Please I don't think he has much of a Friday night life. And he said it would be no problem. He says that he always liked you because you were cool. This might just be a fun addition to your vacation."

"Oh, oh, Ok."

"So you guys are all set. I am sad you will not be here tonight. But you are in good hands and hopefully I will see you tomorrow."

"Yes me too."

While waiting for Doug, Lisa wrung her memory of what she knew about him. His last name was Sellwood and he was born May 30, 1954. She knew this because Donna had brought Lisa to his graduation/belated 18th birthday party when they were 16. She remembered him being a good guy. He was expressive and quick-witted, he was sociable and communicative. She was surprised at how he would always be ready for fun, but could be serious and thoughtful.

Doug got to the airport and noticed Lisa as he walked towards the gate. She was sitting down, looking off in another direction. She looked much different than he remembered. His mind had an image of her as this teen with pixie short hair, braces, pimply skin and glasses that covered three quarters of her face. Now her hair was all one length, parted in the center, flowing down and resting on her shoulders. Her skin was smooth and healthy. She still wore thick glasses and it was clear that her eyes were not normal. Now though, the glasses were smaller, with slimmer and more stylish frames.

Just as he got to her she noticed him. Lisa stood up and with a wide smile and said; "Doug? Oh my gosh, hello."

As she went in for a 'good to see you hug' he noticed that the braces have left a perfect set of teeth. She was wearing a white turtle neck with bellbottom blue jeans, brown boots and a tan jacket with a false fur collar. Doug was taken away with how grown up and womanly she looked.

"You look great." He said.

"So do you. You are all professional with your brown dress pants, white shirt and blue tie."

He sheepishly smiled and shook his head, his mop of dirty blonde hair waving around. He was shorter than she remembered, only like 5'9". The rest of him was close to her recollection, a good jaw line with a cleft chin, blue eyes in a boyish face. She thought he was a great looking man.

Lisa said: "Thanks so much for doing this."

"No problem, I am glad I could help. Are you still waiting for your luggage?"

"Nope, no luggage."

"What?"

"They put my luggage on an earlier plane, that one made it to St. Louis. So my luggage is there but I am not."

"You are stuck in those clothes?"

"Yep. No toiletries either."

"Oh no."

"Yep stuck in a city I have never been to, with no money, no belongings and a guy I have not seen in four years."

"Ok well let's see if I can make it a fun adventure."

They made their way to his car, a two seat, two toned tan AMC Gremlin. Doug asked; "You said you had no money, is that why you did not grab a hotel room?"

"No, it is not that I have no money, it is that I have no money with me. I thought I was being all smart. I did not want to travel with a lot of cash, in case I lost it or if it was stolen. I figured no place in St. Louis would take an out of town check. So I sent a check to Donna two weeks ago. It was all I had saved for this trip. Donna deposited it in her bank. By the time I get there, the check would have cleared and then we would get the cash out."

Doug said; "That's is a very smart plan."

"Yep, smart until you have to make an unplanned layover."

"Don't worry, this stop will be free of charge."

They pulled out of the parking lot about 2:30pm and the snow started falling. Doug said; "I have to go back to work. I have to make a presentation to my bosses at four. I do not have time to drop you off at my place and get back to work in time. Would you mind if we go straight to work? You could hang out and as soon as I am done we can head to my apartment."

"Sure, no problem, I have no other place to go".

Lisa asked; "Where do you work."

Doug said with a grin that made him look more like a boy than a man; "At a toy company."

"Really. What do you do?"

"I am a designer, I build prototypes for toys."

"Really that is cool. How did you get that job?"

"I went to college out here for Industrial Design. I did an unpaid internship there. They liked me so they hired me after graduation."

"That's pretty amazing."

They got to Doug's work. The company took up the seventeenth and eighteenth floor of a twenty story downtown building. He gave Lisa a tour. He showed her the drafting department, model and pattern shop, packaging design and administrative offices. When they are done he showed her his work area. It is a ten by ten space with all sorts of clays, plastics, hand tools and paints.

Doug introduces Lisa to Connie, a fellow designer whose work space is next to his. Connie, said; "Better hurry Doug or you will be late."

He looked at the time, grabbed two small statues and some papers. "If you don't mind, you can just hang out here until I am done."

Lisa responded; "No problem."

Connie chimed in; "I will look after her. Good luck to you."

Doug went to his meeting.

At about 5:30pm Doug was finished and walked back to his work space. As he got there he saw that Connie was sitting and chatting with Lisa. Connie should have left at 5pm, but there she was. He thought Connie was either being nice and keeping Lisa company or just being a gossip. He smirked realizing that it was probably both.

Doug realized they were talking about Lisa's eyes.

Connie said: "So you were born this way?"

"Yep. They did not fully develop before I came out. They have gotten a lot better, but this is probably as good as it is going to get. Maybe they will develop a new surgery or something, it is hard to say."

"But you can you see?"

"Oh yeah thanks to my glasses. They are trifocals so they correct my near, far and intermediate sight. I see fine with them, but without them everything is a blur."

The two woman then acknowledged Doug's presence.

Connie said; "Hey there you are. How did thing go?"

"Good, both were approved."

"Excellent that is four down, two to go."

"Yes."

"Well I need to head home before I get snowed in. You better do the same. I am sure you two want to be doing something other than hang out here. Lisa it was great to meet you. I hope the rest of your vacation goes well."

"Thanks, and thanks for shirt and for keeping me company."

Doug said; "Shirt?"

"Yeah she gave me one of your promo shirts. This way I have a shirt to change into."

"Ok cool."

As Connie was walking out the door she said; "Stop talking and get to someplace cozy you two!"

"I am sorry about Connie. She is very good at her job but she has a nosy streak. I hope she did not make you uncomfortable."

"No its ok, Doug. When I was a kid and a teen I was self-conscious. I thought people were only asking because they wanted to make fun of me. Now I realize some people are just curious."

"Yeah and sometimes people are just nosy."

She giggled "Yes that too, her first question was if I was your girlfriend. That part was nosy but other than that she was harmless".

Lisa then asked Doug; "What did Connie mean when she told you four down two to go?"

"It is the new line of toys we are working on. The company has the license to make toys based on a series of science fiction books. There are going to be 24 action figures based on characters in the books. Connie and I are in charge of developing 6 each. I drew two robots, two aliens and two female figures. My aliens were approved and few weeks ago. My robots were approved today. I just need to do the girl characters now."

With that last statement Lisa sensed a problem. "Something wrong with making women characters?"

"No not at all, I just do not seem to be able to do it. Every time I try, I get the proportions or the shape all wrong. They end up looking like guys wearing ladies space outfits."

Lisa laughed at that. She always appreciated a guy who could make fun of himself. "Well I am sure you will get it."

"Thanks."

Doug gathered a few things and put them in his briefcase. They both put on their jackets, went downstairs and walked outside. Things had changed since they arrived. It was about 6pm and already dark. The snow was coming down in a steady stream and it was about 10 degrees colder. Lisa asked if he lived far. Doug replied no only about 10 minutes. They swept the accumulated snow off of the car, got in and headed out.

The storm conditions made travel slow, but about 20 minutes later they arrived at his apartment building. It was a corner building facing both sides of the intersection. It was three stories with some cool molding at the top. The most unique feature of the building was the rounded front corner. Rather than a standard 90 degree corner this building had what looked like a cylinder running from the ground to the roof.

At the base of the building was a small general store. Doug led them in. Behind the counter was an attractive Italian woman who immediately said; "Hello Doug, how are you on this stormy Friday?"

"I am doing well Ann-Marie, how are you?"

"Not bad, the storm is good for business, everyone thinks it is the start of an ice age."

"That is good to hear."

Ann-Marie asked; "What kind of gentleman are you, bringing your girlfriend into my shop and not introducing me?"

Doug grinned while Lisa blushed and then said "No girlfriend, just a friend from back in Connecticut."

"Too bad," said Ann-Marie; "this guy needs a good girlfriend he works too much."

Doug said; "Thanks Ann-Marie."

"What, it is the truth. This is the first girl I have seen you with. It's good to have girlfriends. It's the best practice for marriage."

Lisa asked Doug; "What are we doing here?"

"I thought we could grab you some things."

"But I don't have my checkbook and I don't have much cash."

"Don't worry I will pick them up for you."

"I don't want you buying me things." He could tell she was a little offended and did not want to be thought of as a charity case. So he added; "I get it, think of it as a loan. You can send me a check when you are back from vacation. It is not going to be that much."

Lisa was okay with that, as long as it was only a loan. She picked up a tooth brush, a three pack of socks and a two pack of plain white underwear. The last item she grabbed was a pair of cheap, navy blue, track suit pants with a white stripe down the side.

They checked out and Ann-Marie said; "You two be careful and take care of each other in this storm."

"We will."

They walked out of the general store and immediately into a pizza parlor next door. "Now what are we doing?" Lisa asked.

"I don't have much food, and even if I did, I'm a lousy cook. I'm really hungry and this is the best pizza shop in the city."

"Ok that sounds good."

The place was just what you would expect out of an urban pizza joint. It had dark wood paneled walls, black and white checkered floors. The counter and kitchen were up front by the window and seating in the back. There were about a dozen silver tables with red chairs and six booths with the same color scheme. There was a jukebox and a few pinball machines in the back near the restroom. The place smelled great, the fragrance of ground cheese, fresh dough and sauce from whole plum tomatoes. There was also a hint of cut vegetables, spices and oils that immediately activated the salivary glands.

The man at the oven sees them walk in and says; "Hey Doug I was worried about you, you are usually here by now."

It is Doug's turn to blush: "It has not been the usual Friday Wilfredo."

"Tell me about it, look at this snow."

Wilfredo is also what you would expect to find in a place like this. He is big man with dark, thick, curly hair and a handlebar mustache. The smile on his gave him away as a friendly and funny guy.

Doug said; "I just saw Ann-Marie, she says business is good, how have you been?"

"Eh always some problem. My book keeper did not show up again. So that is just more work for me. Why should I hire people if they are not going to work? Who is your friend here?"

"I am Lisa, a friend from home."

"Oh you visiting him?"

"No I was traveling when I got stranded here because of the storm."

Wilfredo said: "Ah funny thing about storms, they bring people together."

Both Lisa and Doug smirked. That was three people in a row trying to set them up.

They ordered a pepperoni pizza, a pitcher of beer and sat down at a booth. Doug started the conversation by saying that his apartment was on the third floor. He explained that Ann-Marie and Wilfredo are married. He said; "Those are some hard working Americans there. They own a building that, they not only live in, but also have rental properties. On top of that they run two business out of it. They never have a day off, and never are in a bad mood. I have a lot of respect for them."

"Yes they seem like great people. I feel bad about his book keeper. That is what I going to school for, I almost offered my services."

Both Lisa and Doug had the feeling that this was more than when it started. It looked like a date, everyone else thought it was a date, it had started feeling like a date. Each wondered if the other thought it was a date. Both felt that, if it was a date, it was a pretty good date so far, and hopefully would keep going.

By the time Wilfredo brought the pizza and beer to the table, they had started the best 'get to know each other' conversations of their lives. They figured out when the last time they saw each other and then filled in the gap between then and their current situation.

Doug thought looking through Lisa's glasses at her eyes was strange. The image was not clear. It was a blurry image of dark ovals surrounded by her flesh color. Some people would find this distracting. But Doug did not. He saw it as a mark of uniqueness. It did not distract her so why should it him. It was almost like she wore it proudly as a symbol of being able to overcome an obstacle. When he made that connection he realized her eyes were not ugly, they were sexy.

From there they got talking about world events and national issues. They both had strong feelings about the Watergate scandal and what it did to the people of the country. Both had very similar views and opinions on a wide range of topics.

Both could see the bright spark of a strong connection being made for the first time. They could sense a strong intellectual compatibility between each other. Doug and Lisa were each into the mental stimulation provided by the other. Each felt the other was extremely intelligent and comfortable with their own individuality. Both had always thought the mind was a very interesting and sexy thing to them, and here was an incredible sex symbol sitting across from them.

Eventually they got talking about television. They both liked comedies and were big fans of Johnny Carson and Saturday Night Live. They talked about some of their favorite moments and got themselves laughing over and over again.