Taking Flight

I didn't know how to respond. I simply stared at her.

"Say something," she said after a few awkward moments.

"I don't know what to say to that," I said, and she giggled and pushed me onto my back.

Just then, there was a knock.

"Pizza!" Meredith said, and ran to the door.

*****

We sat on her bed and ate and watched TV. We didn't talk anymore about the earlier conversation. We were both tired. I didn't know what to make of what she had said before the food arrived, and she didn't say any more about it so I decided to let it go. I wasn't even sure I'd remember it in the morning.

What I was aware of was that she was sitting close to me, closer than I would feel comfortable with if I hadn't felt such a bond with her that night. When the food was gone and we were both leaning against the headboard, continuing to watch TV, I felt her hand brush against mine. I looked at her but her eyes were locked on the TV. I shrugged it off. After a while I felt myself drift off, and I was powerless to stop it.

"Sam," Meredith said, shaking me gently. "I think we both fell asleep."

"Oh, wow, really?"

She giggled. "I opened my eyes and I was leaning on you. I don't know how it happened. Sorry about that."

"No, it's okay."

"Well, I think it's clear we've had enough for tonight. I should get to bed. We both need sleep. I don't know what's facing us tomorrow... well, later today."

"You're right," I said, and struggled to my feet. I was exhausted, but I didn't want to leave Meredith's room. It seemed quite clear, however, that nothing was going to happen between us, so I said goodnight and shuffled back to my room in a half-catatonic state.

Upon my return, my room seemed even more cold and lonely than it had earlier.

"Well, fuck," I said, defeated.

*****

A knock at the door woke me up, and I sat up for a few moments and looked around me without any recollection of where I was. Eventually it began to come to me, and I got up to answer the door. I opened the door and Meredith was standing on the other side, and her smile turned to a gasp when she looked me over.

"Sam!" she said, turning away. In my groggy state I had been lacking any self-awareness, but I looked down and realized that I was only wearing a white t-shirt and my boxer shorts.

"Oh, Meredith, I'm sorry," I said, getting behind my door. "I didn't realize..." I trailed off and put my hand over my face.

"It's okay," she said, the smile returning to her face. "I probably shouldn't have come over this early and woken you up."

"What time is it, anyway?"

"Eight-thirty."

"What? You shouldn't even be awake this early! I don't think I got to sleep until three."

"I'm an early bird, what can I say?" Meredith said. She sure seemed chipper in the morning. I wasn't sure I liked that.

"Um, so what's going on?" I said.

"It's still snowing. Everything's buried. Listen, I called the airport and they don't think they're going to get any flights out today, either. You should probably consider reserving your room for tonight."

"Great," I said. "So we could be stuck in this motel all day and night?"

"It's not so bad. I took a walk around. There's a nice restaurant and bar here, a gym, anindoor swimming pool..."

"I suppose you wouldn't have listed the swimming pool as a positive feature if it weren't indoor," I said, and she reached around the door and slapped me playfully.

"Hey, I'm trying to help you here," she said, giggling. "I don't want you to be out there on the street tonight."

"Well, thank you for looking out for me," I said, and put a hand on her cheek in mock poignancy. "Yer a good kid."

She laughed again and tried to slap me a second time, but her hand missed my arm and hit my stomach. She pulled her hand away quickly and her face turned red.

"At least you weren't aiming lower," I said, and her eyes got wide.

"Um," she said, shaking off my comment, "I'm gonna let you get ready, but why don't we meet up for breakfast? How does nine-thirty sound? You can stop at the front desk and reserve your room, and I'll meet you at the restaurant."

"Okay. If I can find it. If I don't show up, I might have fallen in the pool."

Meredith laughed again and gave me a big smile. After we each said "See you later" and I closed the door, it occurred to me that Meredith seemed a lot happier now than she had when we met. Maybe it was the circumstances of boarding a plane during a snowstorm, but somehow I felt that it was more than that. I began to think about what she had said to me before the food arrived the night before. She said I made her feel alive, something like that. I smiled and shook my head. Couldn't be, I thought.

*****

I took my shower and got myself as presentable as I could, and then went down to the front desk. The guy from the night before was still there, and he had heavy purple bags under his eyes.

"Have you been here all night?" I asked, and he nodded his head in a tired manner.

"The girl who's usually here in the morning couldn't make it in, and my car is somewhere out there buried under a few feet of snow. So, I guess you're still stuck with me," he said. His voice was croaking. I felt bad for him.

"Well, it turns out I'm probably not going to get out of here today, at least by checkout time, so I'd like to reserve my room again for tonight," I said.

"Yes sir, I took the liberty of holding your room after I found out that the flights might be grounded until sometime tomorrow."

"Thank you," I said.

"We try to go the extra mile for our guests," he said, smiling wearily.

"That you did. I appreciate it," I said, returning the smile.

I met Meredith at the restaurant a few minutes later. The restaurant was actually right off the lobby, but I hadn't noticed it the night before. She was sitting at a round table in the bar area and was watching the news on a TV screen that hung behind the bar.

"Hey," I said, taking a seat across from her.

"Hey," she said, looking at me briefly before returning her attention to the TV screen.

"Anything new developing?" I asked.

"They say the snow is slowing down now, but the big problem is the ice. They still expect that none of the planes will be able to take off until tomorrow morning at the earliest," she said.

"And the Winter Fest? Is that in danger of being cancelled?" I asked, smiling.

"Thank God, no. The Winter Fest is still a go. So, hey, a little bit of good news, right?" She returned my smile and reached across the table to pat my arm.

The waitress stopped at our table and took our breakfast order, and then we were alone again.

"It's funny," Meredith said, looking into my eyes, "This little vacation has turned out to be nothing like I expected, and I've ended up in a place I never thought I would, but I'm still enjoying myself more than any vacation I've taken with Charles in the past, maybe, eight years."

"Really?"

"And that includes the cruise we took on our tenth anniversary. I really had to twist his arm to make that happen," she said, and some of the light dimmed from her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right," she said, and sighed. "It's just what it is, I guess. Spending time with my sister, and talking about old times, it just kind of put me into a funk, you know? I guess it took getting away from him and from my life in California to realize how bad things have gotten for me."

I reached across the table and put a hand over hers.

"Sam," she said after some moments of silence, "I need to ask you something, and I'm a little embarrassed."

"Sure, anything," I said. My hand remained on hers.

"I can't afford to pay for my room another night. My sister gave me some cash before I left because she knows Charles is so controlling when it comes to money. I used up most of it last night," she said, and her eyes became glassy.

"I can pay for your room tonight," I said.

"Or, maybe, I could stay with you instead? It would be cheaper, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Meredith bit her lip.

"That would be fine, too," I said, suddenly feeling out of breath. I thought for a moment, then said, "They let you rent a room without a credit card?"

"I have one, but I'm afraid to actually put a balance on it. So the man at the desk let me pay in cash but kept the credit card information just in case."

"Wow, that guy, he goes the extra mile," I said, and Meredith laughed.

"This might sound bad, but he knows I'm staying with you tonight," she said.

"Wow, that was presumptuous of you," I said jokingly.

"Well, I figured you wouldn't let a girl freeze to death out in the cold," Meredith said, and gripped my hand.

"I suppose you have a point," I said, and we both smiled.

*****

After breakfast, we moved Meredith's things into my room. When I shut the door behind me and we were both standing in room 215, there were a few moments of awkward silence.

"Hey, wait a minute," I said, "Why did you mention the indoor pool, anyway? Why would either of us have brought a swimsuit?"

"You're bringing that up now? That conversation was from like two hours ago."

"I know, but I was half asleep. It didn't occur to me until now," I said. We both laughed.

Meredith looked at the beds and asked, "Which one is yours?"

"That one," I said, pointing to the one closest to the door.

"Okay," she said, and she sat down on the other bed. She was wearing a Christmas sweater and black leggings. I desired her, not only in a sexual way but I desired her company. I couldn't imagine us parting ways after arriving in California, before I took my connecting flight to Oregon, not after all we'd been through so far. I wondered if there was any way we could keep in contact after this was over, or if Charles' controlling nature poured over into her friendships as well. I suddenly got the impression that she might not have many friends, if any, at least close ones. In that way, we might be very similar, I thought, though my lack of friendships was due to other issues.

"Thank you for taking care of me," Meredith said, looking at me sweetly.

"You're welcome," I said.

Meredith stood up and walked over to me, and stood very close in front of me.

"You're a gentleman, and, I hope, a friend," she said, and she took both of my hands in hers.

"Yes, I am your friend."

"I'm glad," she said, and smiled. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I could smell her hair. It smelled like strawberries. She hugged me. My cock hardened. I wasn't sure if she could feel it, but it was against her stomach so I figured it was possible. However, it was too late to do anything about it. She gripped me tighter. It seemed that she was pulling herself into my erection, which made me even harder.

After a few minutes, she loosened her grip on me and stepped away. Her face was red.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to hold someone," she said, looking away from me.

"Hold someone?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, "Someone who's nice to me. It's been a long time since I've done that, unless you count my sister."

"I don't think I've held anyone in a while, either. My family doesn't even hug," I said. Meredith giggled.

"Well," she said, "You can hug me back, if you'd like."

I did hug her, but it felt awkward now. Holding her made me want her more, and I felt that was an impossibility. I figured that she felt vulnerable or maybe that she owed me something, and I didn't want her to feel that way. Still, for the time it lasted, it felt good to be close to her.

*****

For the next two hours, I lay on my bed and watched TV while Meredith sat on hers with her guitar, tuning the strings and strumming lightly.

"These strings are so old," she said, wincing, "They sound terrible."

"Do you carry extras?" I asked.

"I thought I had some in here, but I guess not. It wouldn't make a difference. I'm not sure I can remember how to play my old songs."

She played a few chords, first some basic ones I knew, like G, C, and A Minor, and then some that were beyond my very limited knowledge of guitar chords. She strummed at first, but after a while began doing some basic fingerpicking. I heard her hum a tune while she played, a sweet and catchy melody. When the song was done, she smiled and looked away shyly.

"That's beautiful," I said.

"Thank you. It was our most well-known song, so it was the one I played the most often."

"I can see why it was popular."

"Heh, you're sweet," she said, and then frowned at the stack of papers she had taken out of her guitar case and laid on her bed. "I can't believe how far removed I feel from the person who wrote these songs. But, then again, it feels like it's coming back to me."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just thinking out loud," she said, and then turned to me and added, "I just feel younger right now, in this moment. Hopeful, maybe. I don't expect it will last long, but I'm welcoming it. It's been a long time."

"I hope it lasts," I said, as much responding to similar thoughts I had been having myself as to her statement.

"Me too. It's nice," she said, and smiled widely. The light was back in her eyes. She looked more beautiful in that instant than ever before.

*****

We were eating lunch at the inn's restaurant when a man and a woman asked if they could join us at our table. They introduced themselves as Ron and Shirley, and we gave them our first names as well.

"What a blizzard out there," Ron said loudly. He had one of those obnoxious voices that some of my co-workers had, the kind of voice that always annoyed me, like they don't know how to tone it down. "Outdoor Voice" is what my mom would call it. Shirley was quieter, and was young and pretty. She seemed to be a lot younger than Ron.

"I think it's slowing down," I said. "The weather guy on TV said it should stop early this afternoon."

"Well, I think you're right, Sam," Ron said. "It doesn't seem as bad as it did when we got in here last night. It took us about eight hours to get here yesterday, and it should have taken three."

"We're here for the Winter Fest. You too?" Shirley said.

"No," Meredith and I said at the same time, and I paused so that she could continue. "We were on a flight to Los Angeles that was grounded here."

"Wow, this is a far cry from Los Angeles, I bet," Ron said, smiling.

"So you two are stuck here?" Shirley asked.

"Well, we were hoping to get out tonight, but they're saying there's too much ice, so we're looking at tomorrow, probably," I said.

"Well, it could be worse. You got a warm place to sleep, good food to eat, and you've got each other," Ron said, looking at Meredith, then at me, then at her again.

Meredith and I smiled at each other.

"And you've got good people to talk to. See, you've got everything you need right here," Ron said, and we smiled and nodded.

We had a good meal with Ron and Shirley, and though I suspected from the beginning that they assumed Meredith and I were a married couple, I didn't know how I should correct the misunderstanding. I also kind of enjoyed the illusion that she and I were together. Glancing at Meredith a few times and seeing her smiling warmly at me, I started to get the feeling that she was enjoying the charade as well.

Even after we finished lunch, we sat with our new friends for a long time and talked. Ron did most of the talking, and I learned way more about him than I really wanted to, but it was fine. I felt good.

The illusion of Meredith and I being a couple held up until about three o'clock in the afternoon, when Ron stopped talking about himself long enough to ask me what I did "out there in California."

"I actually don't live in California. I live in Oregon," I said.

"Oh, so you two are getting a connecting flight from Los Angeles?" Shirley asked.

"Well, he is," Meredith said, sounding reluctant.

"I don't get it," Ron said. He and Shirley stared at us with puzzled expressions.

"We're... not a couple," I said. "She lives in California and I live in Oregon. We just met yesterday on the plane."

"Oh!" Ron and Shirley both said.

"It's just, the wedding rings..." Shirley said. She was turning red.

"We're married, just not to each other," I said. I think I was turning red, too.

"Oh," Ron said, then, a few second later, "Oh!" His eyes got wide.

"No, not like that," I said. "We're just friends. New friends." I looked at Meredith and she was also red.

"Well, that's a shame," Shirley said. "I think you make a very nice couple."

"Really?" Meredith said, and I stared at her, trying to read her face.

"Yes. From the look of you two, I'd assume you've been close for quite some time."

I didn't know what to say in response to that, and nobody else seemed to be able to follow it up with anything, so we sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, looking around in different directions and not making eye contact.

"Well," Ron eventually said, looking at his watch, "I think I need to take a little nap before dinner. What do you say, girl?" He turned to Shirley, who nodded.

"It was lovely to meet you, Meredith and Sam," Shirley said, standing up.

"Lovely to meet you too," Meredith said, and I nodded.

Ron shook our hands. "Good luck with the flight home tomorrow. Hopefully you'll want to come back to Nebraska sometime when you can actually see it. You know, with your own... spouses." He looked away and we sat awkwardly. He and Shirley made their exit, and Meredith and I stared at each other for a few seconds and then laughed.

"Wow, I don't even know what to say about that," Meredith said when we had returned to room 215.

"I knew they thought we were a couple, I just knew it," I said, "but I didn't know how to break it to them."

Meredith laughed, then said, "Me too! After a while it just felt like it was too late to say anything. I mean, eventually they would have found out, but I wonder how long we could have kept them going."

"God, and how awkward did it get when they found out? They must have felt scandalized," I said.

"They must think we've been..." Meredith started to say, and stopped. We paused for a second and then laughed again. Our faces were both red.

*****

Meredith got out her guitar again and was strumming away quietly, while I sat watching TV, not really watching but mostly thinking. I kept looking at her, thinking about what had happened that afternoon. I thought about the way it felt when we were assumed to be a couple. It had felt warm and comforting. It felt like something I hadn't felt in a long time.

Meredith turned and caught me looking at her. "What?" she said, not sounding annoyed but merely curious.

"Nothing, just thinking about something," I said.

"What are you thinking about?" Meredith swiveled her body around and faced me.

"Can I say something that might come off as weird?"

"Sure," she said hesitantly.

"I liked feeling like we were a couple. I mean, having them think we were. I know that probably sounds bad."

Meredith looked down at her guitar for a few seconds, and when she looked up I could see she was blushing. "Maybe, but I felt the same way."

"You did?"

"Yeah," she said, "I feel good around you. Safe, warm inside... happy. I kind of liked imagining that we were together."

Now it was my turn to blush again.

"I'm feeling a little cold," Meredith said. "Do you mind if I take a hot shower?"

"No, I don't mind," I said, and felt my cock stirring again.

Meredith began gathering her things, including her clothing, which she held close to her so that I wouldn't see. She also had a big bag of toiletries.

"You never know how much stuff you use in the shower until you have to take it all with you," she said, seeming slightly embarrassed.

"Well, you're a woman. I think all I have is a bar of soap and some shampoo," I said, and she laughed.

"Do you think they have those hotel bathrobes?" she asked, then opened my closet.