The Delay

Susan Kane surveyed herself in the mirror of the airport bathroom. It was funny how one crazy week could completely change a person inside and out. The last couple of days were still a little hazy for her, but she figured that was what came from finally having an adventure.

She ran her fingers through her shorts blonde curls, still unused to the feeling of not having her hair in a ponytail. Her contacts were bothering her as well, another pain of her new look and new life. Her best friend Chandler had insisted that if they were going to go on this crazy trip that he was going to give her a makeover. After all, the whole reason for this trip in the first place was to get a better perspective on the world so she wouldn't be so green.

College was the most she'd seen of the world outside of her small town in Arkansas. Her first week there she'd met Chandler, also once from a small town, who convinced her she had to change quick or go home.

So, with his rich parents' money, he flew them both to Germany on a whim where they'd spent a week giving her a makeover and partying with the locals. By the end of the second day Chandler had already changed her hair, her bra, gotten rid of her glasses, and paid for a belly button piercing.

Her conservative country father would be so freaked out if he saw her right now, but she felt a lot more powerful now as a woman. She'd been hit on constantly in the clubs in Germany, but she had limited her encounters to kissing, grinding, and sometimes mild drunk groping that she wasn't too proud of.

Being a proper, geeky, southern belle, she still kept most of her body locked up tight, and she even still insisted on wearing only pants or long skirts after the makeover was complete. Though, her jeans were much more form fitting these days rather than being mom jeans from Good Will.

Knowing her friends would bust into the bathroom in a minute to check on her regardless of gender rules, she quickly splashed her face with cold water and hoped it would pull her the rest of the way out of her mild hangover. Then, she clunked out the door in her new Nine West heels that she still felt a little out of place wearing to meet Chandler and the other guy they'd met in Germany.

Chandler elbowed her with a goofy grin on his face and started walking toward where Thomas was sitting. Thomas was a guy they'd met while giving Susan a makeover. He had a part time job at one of the clothing stores in Berlin but was originally from the United States. He'd dropped out of college to backpack across Europe for a year which turned into more than a year. When they came along and Chandler, clearly smitten, offered him a ticket back to Arkansas with them, he obliged.

As they approached his seat, Susan tried her best not to look Thomas in the eyes. He made her feel nervous in the most exciting way, but she couldn't let herself feel that way about him just in case Chandler really did fall for him. At first, she'd thought Thomas was off limits anyway, but after they took him to the club the night before they left Berlin, it had been pretty clear that he liked all people without discrimination.

"Alright, let's get going people. I think I'm about ready for some heavy frisking," Chandler joked.

"Actually, it looks like there won't be a need for that, guys," Thomas chimed in. Confused about what he meant, Susan made the mistake of looking up at Thomas. She realized he was standing closer to her than she had thought and swooned. His brown hair was falling down into his sparkling blue eyes, and even without smiling he had perfect dimples. She felt herself stumble a little, and he caught her. "You okay, Suse? I think that hangover may be worse than we thought." He smiled down at her and she couldn't decide whether he might be right or if his presence had anything to do with it.

As usual Chandler broke out into laughter, not at all worried about making a scene or offending her. Susan shook her head and glared at him, wondering if instead of being hung over he had already found a way to get tipsy again. As fun and great as Chandler was he did spend a lot of his time influenced by one substance or another.

"So, Thomas, what did you mean?" Susan tried to quickly get the subject off of her.

"Oh, it looks like we're probably going to be stuck here for a bit. Apparently most of the southern United States is being pelted by a thunderstorm, and the pilots are worried about lightning and some serious turbulence since the storms are supposed to last the next 24 hours at least. They delayed the flight until tomorrow evening." Susan must've really looked bad because Thomas added; "I think we ought to get this girl some lunch for now before she wigs out on us." Susan looked up at Thomas apologetically and took the arm he offered to steady herself.

Clearly determine to continue being the comic relief, Chandler grabbed onto Thomas' other arm and began to sing "We're off to see the wizard; the wonderful wizard of Oz," as they headed for the McDonalds inside Berlin's airport.

Susan, trying to seem daintier than she was and not upset her stomach ordered a side salad with chicken and an orange juice hoping it would clear her head. They sat her down at a table as far away from the majority of the noise as possible and Chandler motioned for Thomas to follow him. Susan assumed he either wanted to go shopping or go for a make out session, but she was surprised by Thomas' response. "I 'm not too sure we should leave her alone. I'm going to sit with her and make sure she eats this and keeps it down okay. I'll catch up with you in a bit."

"Alright, but it's your loss. You're gonna miss me finding a new hat," he said in a singsong voice and walked away. Susan chuckled but quickly stopped realizing it hurt. She was almost 100 percent sure that the hangover theory had been right. She was so embarrassed that she was such a lightweight, but she'd never really had more than a wine cooler before coming to Germany with Chandler. She didn't know whether to work on her tolerance or just give it up.

Fighting the urge to just put her head down and sleep, Susan busied herself with putting her salad dressing on her salad. She tried not to make a face at the texture of the dressing slowly trickling out of the packet. She wrinkled her nose at the smell, almost gagging at it. She wondered for a moment if this is what pregnant women had to deal with, this sensitivity to smell. She'd only have it for a couple of hours; she couldn't imagine dealing with the problem for months. No wonder they threw up all the time.

She jerked back to reality as she felt a hand touch hers; Thomas' to be exact. He was a very affectionate person, so he'd touched her a lot over the last few days, just for hugs and things, but it never got old. It always sent a jolt through her body. It was so silly since she knew he probably had no interest in her, but she had a long history of barking up the wrong tree. In fact, the only person she'd ever had sex with was her best friend in high school who came out a few weeks later. He'd wanted to be sure he wasn't straight, and she didn't think she'd lose her virginity any other way. She'd also thought that it would be great if he wasn't gay and maybe fell for her. How naïve was she?

"I know it probably doesn't look to great, but I am not going to leave you alone until you eat at least half of it and finish your juice." Susan looked up at his warm smile and even more prominent dimples and thought for a second that maybe not eating and continuing to feel bad would be a good idea, if it meant him babying her like this. But of course she knew that notion was ridiculous since it would be a really long day stuck at the airport without adding this kind of discomfort to it.

She decided to humor him and take a huge bit of chicken and lettuce, smiling with food still in her mouth. "That's more like the Susan I know." He winked at her, and she tried not to faint, shoving more food down her throat at about 90 miles an hour. The less she tasted the better. Plus, it was distracting her from embarrassing herself swooning over a guy who liked another guy. That sounded so dumb in her head.

After finishing the food and her orange juice, she sat and let it settle for a few minutes. She found that she felt a little better. She turned her chair to the side a bit to people watch, something her mother had shown her when she was just a little girl. She could remember they would go to the mall just to observe people and see what they could tell by just looking at them.

"What do you think about that one?" Susan looked over at where Thomas was pointing and saw an old lady. Her gray hair was put up in a loose twist and haphazardly tucked under a huge red hat. She was wearing a matching woman's skirt suit that looked like it was from the early eighties, and she even carried a matching red bag with huge handles. In the other hand she had two grocery bags full of items.

"Well, she seems pretty scatter brained and probably is widowed or long divorced. My guess is she's a hoarder and a cat lady. My guess is that she's going to see one of her children or perhaps going to live with them. She probably has some kind of OCD or something too."

Thomas laughed. "And to think; you got all that by just seeing her in an airport. Though, she was probably a pretty obvious one. In fact, she kind of reminds me of my own mother. She doesn't have a bunch of cats, but she's definitely OCD and divorced." They both laughed.

"Okay, how about you try one, Thomas. How about that boy over there?" Susan pointed to a blonde teenage boy with his parents and little sister. He was very cleaned pressed, hair slicked back and khakis, and he seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face.

"I think that his family probably is one of those that owns two homes, a summer home in Europe and a winter home in Florida. They probably just came from or are going to see his grandmother that still lives over here which they always make him dress up for. I'd say in about two or three years he'll either get a girl pregnant or end up in jail with a drug charge." Susan giggled and shook her head.

"Well, aren't you the optimistic one?"

"Well, look who's feeling better!" Chandler trotted up to them with a bag in hand, probably containing the hat he was looking for. "Can I have a drum roll, please?" Thomas started patting the table rapidly with his hands. Chandler pulled out a straw colored cowboy hat and placed it on his head, and then, to Susan's horror, he pulled out two pink ones and handed them to her and Thomas. "Ta da! I thought we might celebrate going back to Arkansas! What do you think?"

"I think you'd make a very cute farmer," chimed Thomas, giving Chandler a small thank you peck on the cheek. He then looked at Susan for a response, who had yet to put her hat on.

"Don't you think it's a little stereotypical? I mean weren't we trying to get away from this whole thing." Chandler put his hand on his hip, huffing at her and then placed the hat on her head for her. Then, he strutted away, leaving her embarrassed and Thomas cackling.

"Don't mess with the queen, honey," Thomas said between laughs and grabbed Susan's hand to help her up so they could follow Chandler wherever he was headed.

They spent the rest of the day blowing what was left of the cash Chandler's parents had given him and even had to buy a new piece of luggage to put all their souvenirs in. Susan couldn't help but notice that Chandler was your stereotypical gay man, but Thomas he was different and that gave her a false sense of hope that either they could share him or that if it didn't work out with Chandler she might have a shot.

Around midnight a lot of the lights started turning down in various spots in the airport, and Susan saw that they weren't going to be the only ones spending the night because of delays. A lot of groups were settling down and finding seats and spots on the floor to sleep for the night.

Susan scouted out a spot near the windows that no one had taken over yet. There were a few seats that were off by themselves. She grabbed Chandler's hand and dragged him over to them before they were snagged.

They sat down and covered up in blankets they'd bought that day on their shopping spree. She could tell that Thomas and Chandler were both tired, and while she was too, she could tell it was going to be a long, restless night. She wasn't great at sleeping in public, and she had a lot of things on her mind.

The two men winded down quickly, sharing a blanket and leaning on one another. They had given her the extra chair since she was the girl, so she was able to lie back a little and put her feet up. All around her people were falling asleep or relaxing to their mp3 players and phone games. All she could think about was Thomas.

He had been hugging and kissing all over her all day, but she didn't know if that meant anything since he was such a touchy feely person. She could recall the way he was all over the girls and guys in the club. There had been one girl that he kept grabbing at her ass and licking her ear. She even caught him groping her under her skirt a few times. Out of all the men she'd met and seen on this trip, it was Thomas she really wanted to be with, even if it was just once.

She didn't know how to hit on guys or be seductive. She had been a reclusive country girl with awkward glasses and simple clothes, but even looking at him now; his flawless skin and manly jaw, even the small piece of his chest that protruded above his button down shirt made her want to jump his bones.

She imagined she was one of the girls he picked up at the club. Would he nibble and lick her ear and neck? Would he reach down and nonchalantly stroke her pussy through her panties throughout the night? Would he take her to the private rooms and take all her clothes off and kiss her everywhere?

The thought had her instantly wet and she quietly put both hands under her blanket and unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans as quietly as possible. She didn't care that there were people still awake around her; they were all at least temporarily preoccupied doing their own thing. She couldn't hold off any longer.

As she reached her fingers down into her panties, she could feel that she was soaked all over. She closed her eyes and pictured what she thought Thomas would look like with his clothes off, and she imagined he would resemble a male model, probably from Calvin Klein but with a tan and a smile on his face.

She hiked up one leg so she could reach herself better and plunged her pointer and middle finger into her wet center. She felt the flesh easily give way. She imagined how Thomas' hard cock might penetrate her and began to thrust her fingers violently in and out. She maneuvered her hand around to reach her clit with her thumb so she could rub it at the same time her fingers moved in and out in place of what she wished was Thomas' shaft.

How jealous she was right now of all those German girls and guys and especially of her friend Chandler. Had they had each other that way yet?

She squirmed a little in her seat and arched her back, enjoying the feel of her fingers inside of her, and as she realized she was stretching and able to reach even deeper inside herself, she added a finger, stretching her pussy to the limit. She would need to practice this in case Thomas did ever want her. She didn't want him to end up thinking she was a sissy and couldn't handle a hard cock in her.

She bit her lip to keep from moaning as her fingers easily slid in and out of her wet center, now dripping all over the place. She could smell herself, her want for Thomas. As she could feel herself began to clench and pulse against her fingers she called out in her head to Thomas and pictured him calling her name back, his perfect, tan body spread on top of her pleasuring himself inside of her. She felt the last bits of cum squirt into her panties, probably making her new jeans a little wet as well and let out a quiet sigh of relief. If only it really was Thomas releasing her like that.

Pulling her fingers out of her pants slowly and drying them on the inside of the blanket, she dared to sneak a peek at Thomas. Even in sleep he was perfect, not even snoring obnoxiously like Chandler currently was. Hopefully he wasn't faking being asleep because as much as she wanted him, she'd be quite embarrassed if he found out in that way.

She whispered goodnight to the boys, not expecting to hear one back and quickly relaxed into a deep sleep.

When she woke up the next morning she was surprised to see the airport bustling again, and looking at her phone she saw that it was seven in the morning. She was about to move when she realized there was a hand lying on her thigh. Thomas must've snuck his hand there in the middle of the night.

She had no idea whether it was something he did purposefully or in sleep, but she didn't want to ruin it. She decided to stay put until she didn't have a choice to move and pretend just for a few minutes that Thomas really could like her.