Up in the Air Pt. 01

"I'm really sorry," I said, while dropping my eyes disgracefully. The more I thought about the spectacle I'd caused, the more embarrassed I felt about the whole thing. Usually, whenever I'd throw a strop, I'd get my way and would swiftly move on from the situation. This time though, I hadn't got my way at all, and now I was stuck amongst the people that I'd annoyed with my drama, for the next several hours. It didn't even enter my head that Kim should be the one apologising for shoving her foot in my face, because I felt so belittled beneath her judgemental stare.

"You said my foot wasn't bothering you?" she asked while looking down her nose. "Especially not in the way you were bothering everyone else earlier, right?"

"Right," I said sheepishly, while feeling mortally embarrassed while considering that the eyes of every passenger had been on me during my meltdown. I blushed, imagining that they'd similarly been looking at me while Kim had been rubbing her foot all over myself. Thankfully, my restrained behaviour during that assault had prevented another public meltdown, and on that occasion, I hadn't invited every living soul to witness my performance.

"So, you don't mind if I continue to stretch out then?" She glanced down at my legs across the seats. "It's not like there's anyone here, is there?" She dipped her head. "Do you really need all this space for one person? It just doesn't seem fair, does it?"

I cleared my throat; my toes gripping the armrest. "Well, I mean, I did originally pay—"

"For a business class seat, yes, I know." She blew a raspberry with her lips. "You realise you announced that like a hundred times to everyone? We're bored of hearing how much better you are than all of us."

"I don't think I'm—"

She lifted her palm and silenced me, then looked me up and down another time, while chewing her lip. "How's cattle class working out for you?" She stretched her arms out. "It's so cramped, right? Like everyone's sat on top of each other. So annoying when someone gets up in your space too."

"Yeah, it's—" Before I could finish what I was saying, Kim steadied herself with an arm on the headrest, before lifting one of her bare feet up in my direction. I flinched as her foot shot out and leered obscenely close to my face, her toes spreading and then clutching at the air. Her sole shook me with how dusty and callused it was, dirt seeming to have settled within her wrinkles. Immediately, I was reminded of how awful it had felt while trapped beneath her foot earlier, and I grimaced while realising just how mucky her skin was. I gulped and felt ridiculously embarrassed, before she outstretched her wrinkled sole to barely a couple of inches from my face. The same intense musk as earlier tickled my nose, and I felt completely invaded and taken advantage of once more. It was difficult to explain, but akin to someone boldly inserting themselves into my personal space and then farting. I awkwardly shifted and uncomfortably squirmed as the smell continued to make me feel uncomfortable. All sorts of thoughts were rolling around my head, as my eyes darted around, mortified at the possibility that someone else was going to notice what was happening.

I thought about grabbing her ankle and forcibly removing her foot from my space, but I just couldn't lift my arms. They remained almost paralysed at my sides, as the humiliation she was inflicting upon me completely immobilised me. It was just so unnerving and not something I had ever experienced so relentlessly before. I was still emotionally dealing with what had happened earlier, and how to move on from it, and now, it was happening again. It was like an endless barrage of humiliation after humiliation, and I was becoming uncomfortable in my own skin. It threw me off guard, because I was used to people bending over backwards whenever in my presence, and now, I was trapped amongst this swarm of delinquents that wouldn't stick to the rules. The overcome was me now functioning completely out of my comfort zone.

Kim seemed to seize upon my lack of action, and I instinctively flinched once more as her grimy big toe flicked against my forehead. She retracted her foot slightly, before peering at me, waiting for some kind of response. However, I was still rooted in place, shocked that she had just touched her foot to my face again and unable to react in any way. She was still steadying herself on the armrests, and she turned to look up both directions of the aisle, as if checking that anyone else was watching. Obviously feeling safe, she glanced back towards me, a mischievous smirk settled on her lips. Before I even realised what she was plotting, she'd pushed her foot forwards and pressed the ball against my mouth, squashing my lips harshly back against my teeth. I spasmed in place, and was about to turn away when she added pressure and trapped my head back against the window all over again. I tried to say something in response, but my words were muffled and garbled beneath her foot.

"What was that?" she asked, while leaning forwards so the pressure only increased on my face. She hunkered down and whispered, while trying not to burst out laughing. "You want to smell them, do you? Okay!" With that, she closed her toes around my nose, trapping it within the sweaty groove.

Without even thinking, because my mouth was blocked, I took a deep, intake of breath. My eyes shot open wide as the full, intense, sharp, uninhibited stink of Kim's toes shot freely straight up my nose. It was way stronger than the earlier teasers of smell that I had encountered, and my entire body sagged in the seat, wilting under the intoxication.

Kim's eyes also widened, and she then burst out laughing, her head jiggling as she attempted to cover her mouth. She put her foot back down and then stood hands on hips, almost leering at me with her head cocked and a mocking, teethy smile on her face. "You just smelled my foot," she whispered, stating the obvious.

I should have said something, told her to go away or leave me alone, but I found the whole affair rather unnerving; the humiliation having demolished my former reality as a proud, confident woman. Her foot stink was still fresh in my nose, and it had almost made me light-headed. It was like a combination of surprise and embarrassment, I mean, someone shoving their foot straight in your face on a plane was not what I'd consider a hospitable trip, and if anything, it confirmed that I was better off in business class. Someone forcefully making you smell her foot; your nose shoved straight between her toes, well, that was something else entirely. Something I was still trying to grasp had actually happened.

As a result, I simply blushed, and shied away, looking back towards my screen and awkwardly fumbling with the buttons, just as I'd done earlier. I didn't say a single word. I nervously fidgeted and put my earphones back in, all the while Kim stood by and watched, seemingly baffled that I had allowed her to so forwardly mock me without any repercussion. As the seconds ticked by, my face reddening with unease and my throat feeling like I'd swallowed an apple, I was eventually relieved to see that out of the corner of my eye she shrugged and raised a palm to the ceiling in a display of perplexing confusion. Seconds later, she'd returned to her seat behind me, her mouth covered by her hand as she struggled to supress a chuckle.

Despite having my earphones in, I kept the sound on the movie muted, worried that I was going to be on the receiving end of even more mockery. Worried, or was it actually curiosity that was fuelling my behaviour? I wasn't sure whether I was more embarrassed about having smelled Kim's foot, or about what Chrissy was going to think of it; maybe she'd even sympathise and urge her sister to leave me alone? Whatever was going to happen, I swallowed nervously while hearing Kim shuffle into the seat behind me, before notable giggling rose up.

"Oh my God," I heard her say to her sister. "That woman there is wild." When there was no response, Kim added with a commotion that bumped my seat forwards, "Chrissy!"

"What?" Chrissy responded in an obvious annoyed manner. "What is it? I'm watching a movie."

"I just shoved my foot in her face again and she didn't even say anything still." There was a clear tone of bemusement evident as she gushed. "Like, right in her face. Like, I stood there and wrapped my toes around her nose and stared straight into her eyes. She just lay there and let me do it."

"What?" Chrissy's voice was carelessly raised, before she recovered and whispered, "You did what?"

Kim's voice was enthused and frantic with its joy, and honestly, way too loud. I was cringing in my seat and terrified that someone else was going to overhear her triumphant announcement. "I put my foot right in her face, and she just sat there and didn't say anything!"

"Like...you touched her face with your foot again?" Chrissy seemed completely baffled. "Why...why would she let you do that?"

There was silence, before Kim gushed, "I dunno. She was like a deer in headlights. Completely shut her up."

"Why did you do it, though?" Kim must have shrugged or something, because Chrissy continued, "Come on, tell me. I said we should leave her alone."

"I dunno. I was just talking to her, and then, I, like, I couldn't control it. I just thought: 'shut up, you stupid bitch,' and I made her smell my foot." There was suddenly a bombardment of sniggering from behind, almost harmonic as the two of them revelled in my weak response to such a goading. They cackled together, like a pair of witches, before Kim spoke again, "I can't believe after the way she was acting earlier. Like, she was so stuck-up, and now, I just grab her nose with my toes and she says nothing. She even took a breath!"

"Yeah, it's kind of weird," Chrissy said. "I don't really get it."

"I know. I've had my foot through the gap for like the last hour; she said nothing. I pretended like it had been an accident, and she apologised to me? Like, what the fuck? It's like she's being the complete opposite of the loudmouth she was earlier. It's so weird. I put it in her face earlier, and she says nothing, even tells the flight attendant it's cool. Now, she smells my toes and just lays there like a moron. Maybe I've found a way to finally make the bitch shut up?" More giggles followed, before she added, "Maybe that's all it takes is a foot in her face and she goes mute?"

"Are you messing with me?"

"What? No, don't be stupid."

"It's just this sounds ridiculous."

"I swear, I'm telling you the truth."

There was a short pause, as Chrissy must have been considering something. "Would you do it again?" she asked hesitantly, before adding, "I wanna see."

I felt a chill run down my spine as there was silence behind me, before Kim mused, "You want me to do it again?" More silence as she was apparently lost in consideration. "I mean, I'm pretty sure she won't say anything."

"Yeah, do it again."

"I thought you said we should leave her alone?"

"Well, we should, but, like you said, maybe she likes it?"

"Hmmm," Kim said, before she must have shrugged and finally stated, "Okay then."

I froze in my seat, my body suddenly rigid with anticipation as I waited for whatever Kim was going to do to me. Still, even though I knew it was coming, I couldn't find the courage to just turn around and tell the pair of them to knock it off. I was usually so vocal and forthright when I felt like I was the victim of some injustice, however, this whole inclusion of feet into the equation had disrupted my usually steady composure. I was already on edge, being forced to sit somewhere that I was completely uncomfortable in, and these two were making the whole thing even worse. They were turning an inconvenience into an ordeal, and I was stumped in how to respond. I mean, what was I supposed to do, complain to a flight attendant? Marketa had already seen them doing it and I'd stupidly told her it was okay because I was embarrassed by her witnessing it. Could I complain to one of her colleagues? Then I would have to admit to someone else that Kim had stuck her foot in my face; what the hell kind of pathetic complaint would that be? What was the flight attendant going to do anyway? Shrug and tell her not to do it again? The exact thing I should have done in the first place. But I hadn't, had I? And now that simple act had built up into something so much worse. The staff would probably be as baffled and unsure how to act as much as Marketa was. I mean, how do you help someone who is having a foot rubbed all over their face, when that very same person is telling you that everything is okay and to go away?

I swallowed nervously, again and again, awaiting my fate, flinching momentarily as a shadow appeared on the table tray to my right. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to build up the courage to get through what I knew was inevitably coming my way. She was going to stick her foot through the gap again, just as she'd done earlier, taking liberties with the seats the flight attendant had said were for me. Marketa's words were still fresh in my mind. I've given you four seats together, she'd said. You can stretch right out and relax. It'll be as close to business class as possible. Had it been like that? No, I couldn't stretch out as I pleased, because Kim's damn feet had been in the way the whole time; she'd relaxed in comfort because I hadn't had the guts to tell her otherwise. Instead, I'd been trapped in my cramped seat while her feet had been taking up two of those that should have been mine to lay out on! Now I was finally able to lay out, and what had happened, she'd made me smell her bloody foot!

While still nervously focusing on the movie I wasn't even paying attention to, I grimaced while noticing something in my peripheral vision snaking into view. I glanced down, then felt overcome by an anxious rush, almost leaving me light-headed as I noted this time Kim's foot had intruded onto the armrest immediately next to me again. Evidently, she'd been emboldened by my inaction last time, and had felt comfortable invading my space further. As she moved her foot forwards, it even brushed up against my elbow, forcing me to instinctively move from the armrest, leaving my hand in my lap. A giggle came in response from behind me. She lifted her foot slightly, tickling up the length of my arm, until she poked at my shoulder. I cringed and squirmed some more, until her foot violently shot forwards and pressed against the side of my face again. While I struggled to escape, she clumsily shifted in her seat, bending her leg so that she grabbed my nose between her toes. I immediately, wrenched my face away, and managed to break free.

"See," I heard Kim announce triumphantly. "She's not even saying anything."

I noted a shadow on my screen, as someone was stood and apparently peering over the seats. "Maybe she hasn't noticed," Chrissy said. "Did you really do it?"

Chrissy's comment put me slightly at ease, as if I may be able to get away with the whole thing through perceived ignorance once again. You know, pretend it never happened? However, Kim's foot suddenly lifted from the armrest again, and instead angled towards me, her toes moving over slightly, before pressing against my forearm. I swallowed nervously, trying to fake my attention on the screen, while slyly looking down, fearful she was going to grab my nose again: this time while her sister was watching. Her grim toes were right there on my pale wrist, her chipped blue polish almost mocking me. I couldn't even move my hand, as it was pinned to my lap, and I knew doing so would make it obvious that I was aware of what was happening. If I moved, then I would have to follow it up with some other action, like telling her to stop, and I just felt too uneasy and cowardly to do such a thing.

"Look," Kim urged. "I've put my foot on her and she's not saying anything."

"Huh?" Chrissy replied, and suddenly the shadow darkened my screen again. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her leaning over my seat to get a good view. Kim's toes then wiggled and drummed my wrist victoriously, before she twisted her foot and held my arm in place. "Make her smell it then," Chrissy added, while she was perched in place to witness every detail.

I gulped, and then, Kim's foot inexplicably grabbed my nose again; her toes easily wrapping around and immediately covering my nostrils. She did it with such comfort, as if it was natural, that I was completely taken by surprise, even though it had already happened mere seconds ago. I tried to turn away again, however, this time, I felt Chrissy's hand on the back of my head, holding me in place.

"Oh my God," she said, while her fingers gripped my hair. "Go on, sniff it."

Kim leant forward so that her face was pressed up against the gap in the seats. "Yeah, sniff it, bitch," she ordered in a far more aggressive tone than her sister. "Sniff my damn foot, right between the toes."

I tried to hold off as long as I could. To keep my breath until Kim finally released me, however, I could feel that I was about to pass out, and just before doing so, I gasped and inhaled a huge intake of breath, right from between Kim's biggest and second toe. Immediately, my eyes almost rolled back in my head as I melted under the humiliation of being forced to smell something so horrid. Even as I was forced to take another stinky breath, my eyes darted around the cabin, mortified that someone else was going to see what was happening.

Chrissy released my hair, and there was a gasp. "Oh my God," she added, having obviously witnessed my nose clutched between her sister's toes and seen me breathe it straight in. Her figure abruptly disappeared. "Oh my God," she said once sat back down behind me. "You're not even lying."

"Told ya," Kim chuckled back.

"But why? Why isn't she stopping you?"

"I don't know," Kim answered with confusion, "but I'm totally going to leave it there until she says something."

My breath quickened at hearing that, because I knew deep inside that I wasn't going to say anything, despite still sitting there and breathing from between her toes. Aside from my behaviour earlier, I actually disliked confrontation, especially when I had no advantage. The minutes ticked by, and all the while, Kim's foot remained perched on my face; her toes gripping my nose, and seemingly intent on remaining in place. I glanced down at her foot a number of times, noting how easy it would be to lift and move it aside, yet, I couldn't do so. The brazen intrusion to my personal space had completely immobilised me, and I didn't know what to do; shock had rendered me useless. I even tried to squirm up against the window, but Kim's toes remained held against my face all the same.

Instead, I stared straight forward, watching the screen while not even processing what was happening upon it. I closed my eyes in shame, and just hovered there in place, not really feeling like I was a person anymore. I just breathed in that sharp, tangy, pungent scent, over and over again, each time feeling my dignity die just a little bit more.

"This is actually pretty comfortable," I heard Kim whisper to her sister. "Why pay for business when I can sit like this?" I then felt her body shift behind, and then in a slightly raised voice, she said. "And since it's apparently not bothering her, I guess I'll settle down for a nap." The two of them giggled, while I felt Kim's toes clutch at my nose a final time, before she yawned and said, "Let me know when food arrives." Her foot then abruptly dropped down onto my lap with a thud.

"Sure," Chrissy said, and with that, there was no further sound from behind.

Therefore, in what had been one of the most awkward and uncomfortable situations I had ever been in, for the next half hour, I sat rigid in my seat, desperately trying to pay attention to the movie while failing with each passing second. Throughout, I could feel Kim's leg across my arm, her toes occasionally shifting in my lap, even scrunching and squeezing my skin at certain points as she enjoyed her spread out position. Eventually, as an almost indication that she was asleep, her foot left my arm, instead stretching out further to the point that it was carelessly strewn across my lap and balanced on my knee. It was such a brash, unadulterated display of inconsiderateness, that I was fearful that anyone that passed by would judge me. I mean, Marketa had already done so, that much was evident.