[ms_mae572]

Synopsis: A five day look into the life of a twenty seven year old flight attendant who has a lot to learn about love life and a crazy woman on an airplane!

Day one or how I managed to spit salad all over a crazy woman:

Today was insane. I was on a flight from JFK (John F. Kennedy airport in New York) to VCE (Venice Airport in Italy), an 8 hour and 50 minute flight, and it was the worst flight I’ve had in years!

It started at the ticket counter when a mother with eight billion kids walks up to the counter and starts yapping about how her kid’s names are all spelled wrong and that we need to fix it right away or she wants a refund. All the while her children are yelling and screaming that they want to go home and how they are really hungry and will just die without food. The woman is completely ignoring them and is practically screaming at me so she can be heard above her obnoxious children. I’m supposed to remain very calm and be reasonable with them because unhappy customers make an unhappy boss, which makes for an unhappy flight attendant. So anyway, there I was in the midst of all the screaming when I get a phone call. I told the woman to hold on a moment and answered my phone. It was my boss asking me if I could be on the 6:55 flight to VCE so I told him I could and hung up quickly. The woman, noticing I was finished with my conversation, shoved her tickets in my face and told me to reprint them. I obliged and carefully typed each letter of her children’s names onto their tickets. I reprinted them and as they were coming out I realized that they too were on the flight to Venice! I silently screamed as I watched them walk away. I unhappily left the counter and walked to the gate. I got onto the plane, and as the plane began to fire up I went over the safety instructions:

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the 'Fasten Seat Belt' sign. If you haven't already done so, please stow your carry-on luggage underneath the seat in front of you or in an overhead bin. Please take your seat and fasten your seat belt. And also make sure your seat back and folding trays are in their full upright position. If you are seated next to an emergency exit…” I droned on, “…If you have any questions about our flight today, please don't hesitate to ask one of our flight attendants. Thank you and have a nice flight.”

I had to yell over the sound of the crazy woman’s children and when I finished I walked, out of breath, to the galley where I promptly seated myself and gulped down a glass of water.

“EXCUUUSE ME?” A familiar voice yelled into my ear. I turned around, it was the crazy woman!

“Yes?” I asked her in the most pleasant voice I could manage. I don’t make $82,260 a year for nothing.

“YOUR BATHROOM’S CLOGGED!” she yelled.

“OK, well there’s another bathroom on the opposite side of the plane, but could you please have a seat because we are almost ready to begin our ascent,” I told her politely. She mumbled something incoherent and stumbled back to her seat. I sighed as the plane began its slow climb into the evening sky. As soon as we were leveled in the sky we offered dinner to the passengers. About halfway through serving meals, I came upon the crazy woman.

“Would you like soup or salad?” I asked her with a small smile. Her children were being obnoxious (one of the multiple reasons I do not have kids) and she was screaming at them to shut up.

“Hold on,” she told me, then to her kids, “DO YOU WANT SOUP OR SALAD?” I managed to stand there and tune out the screaming until she finished.

“OK, Tim wants soup, Sally wants salad…” she went on and on and I handed her each item one by one, “and I want salad.” I gave her the salad and walked away. I turned to the next passengers.

“Would you like soup or salad?” I asked smiling.

“BLAAACH! WHAT IS THIS?” a high pitched annoyingly familiar voice screamed. I silently remembered my high school hospitality class. I learned that you always should put the customer first. I sighed and walked back to the breathless woman.

“Is there a problem?” I asked her gently.

“IS THERE A PROBLEM? OF COURSE THERE’S A PROBLEM!” she took an overly dramatic breath and pointed to her salad, “THIS! This is the problem!”

“What’s wrong with the salad?” I asked her, holding in my annoyance.

“TASTE IT!” she said shoving her fork in my mouth. I instantly spat it out. I hate salad. However, salad must really hate me too, because it was all over the crazy woman’s face, which is how I almost lost my job, why our airline company got a very rude phone call, and why I’m now cleaning salad off the airplane seats in crazy woman’s row.

Day two or possibly the best day my life:

Ok, so yesterday was possibly one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, but today was significantly better. So after the plane landed in Venice I had a twenty-three hour layover and therefore a lot of time on my hands. I sighed and started the short walk to my hotel. I am staying at the Boscolo Dei Dogi Luxury Hotel in Venice. I still don’t know exactly how to say it. In high school I took Spanish, not Italian, and although it’s been useful for my job, it doesn’t help here. I sighed and walked up to my room. I changed into my PJ’s because all though it was almost 9 AM in Venice it was almost 3 AM at home in New York. I instantly wondered how my dog was doing. My roommate was supposedly going to take care of him at our apartment, but she tends to forget things. Poor Rufus! I slept for another couple hours until my cellphone started to ring.

“Hello?” I answered groggily.

“Guess who it is?” a male voice asked.

I honestly was too tired to know it was my boyfriend. Although I have some pretty sweet listening and understanding skills for my job and I’m able to express my ideas clearly, surprisingly, I’m not actually all that skilled. It doesn’t take much to care for people and tell them what to do in emergency situations.

“I don’t know, surprise me,” I told him half-heartedly.

“It’s your loving and handsome and amazing and wonderful and…” Eric went on and on, I wasn’t in the mood for his dramatics this morning.

“Oh just get on with Mr. Morning-Person!” I told him sarcastically.

“Hey, I was just wondering if you wanted to meet me for coffee. Would you like to meet me for coffee?” Eric asked.

“Um, Eric, I’m in Venice…”I told him.

“I know that. Open your door,” he told me. I got out of bed and walked toward my hotel room door. I undid the locks and opened it. My smiling boyfriend stood in front of me with a dozen roses in his arms.

“TA-DA!” he sang as he handed me the roses.

“Oh my gosh, how did you know I was here?” I asked, dumbstruck.

“Seriously Hallie, do you really think your boss would actually make you fly to some remote, and quite romantic, place all of a sudden and expect you to not stay for more than a couple hours without your amazing boyfriend?” Eric asked smiling.

“You told my boss to send me to Venice?” I asked confused.

“Yep, now, would you like to get some coffee, or do you just want to stand here and chit-chat all day? When in Rome, eh?” Eric asked.

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in Venice, not Rome and you haven’t even given me any time to change!” I exclaimed as I hurried back into my room to change.

Eric let himself in and sat in a chair as I went into the bathroom. Thirty minutes and a quick shower later, Eric and I were sitting in Caffe' Florian, a local coffee place in Venice. We sat and talked for an hour and sipped our coffee. We eventually got up and walked around the city. The Venetian buildings are possibly some of the most amazing architectural structures I’ve ever seen. San Marco (a.k.a. St. Marks Basilica) was breathtaking. I can’t even begin marvel at its beauty.

“Come on, we better get back to our hotel. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” Eric said as he took my hand and led me through the maze of streets and bridges that made up Venice.

Over the years that we’ve been dating Eric has been amazing. Each day with him is better than the last and unique in its own way. Oh, and incase you’ve been wondering, Eric and I have been together for seven years now. I know, it’s been a long time, but it doesn’t seem that long. Every time I see Eric it’s like the first time I’ve ever met him. I learn something new about him each time and each day with him is different, I never know what’s going to happen. I’m twenty-seven now; I went to a four year college and majored in psychology. I technically didn’t need to go to college to be a flight attendant, but college is something that I’ve always dreamed of and it felt right to be there. Eric stuck with me all the way through college, even though he was in another state. I’ve known Eric since I was fifteen, which seems like ages ago. We walked over a bridge and I could see my hotel. We made it to my room and, after a kiss and a hug good-night, Eric went to his hotel room. I shut my door with a romantic sigh and crawled into bed.

Day Three or how my boyfriend turned into my fiancé:

I woke up to a soft knock on my door. I sleepily got out of bed and went to the door. I opened it and looked into the face of Eric. He was fully dressed and ready to go.

“Good morning sunshine!” Eric exclaimed sarcastically and bent to give me a kiss.

“Good morning to you to,” I smiled.

He told me to meet him at Caffe' Florian when I was done getting ready. I hurriedly took a shower and got dressed. I walked down to the little coffee shop and found Eric sitting outside at a table. He handed me a coffee in a to-go cup and we started to walk down the street. We looked into all the little shops filled with trinkets and tourist traps. We kept walking in silence and took in the beauty of Venice. Waiters, a job not too unlike that of a flight attendant, served well-dressed customers in fine Italian restaurants. I looked over at Eric. He seemed lost in thought as he stared at the marvelous structures that lined the Venetian canals. Gondolas slowly paddled past us. The gondolier’s sung slow songs in their rich Italian voices and the magic of a foreign city floated around us.

“You know what?” I asked Eric, he gave me a questioning look, “I’ve always wanted to go to Venice. Thanks.”

“You are very welcome. Now, do you want to go get some lunch?” Eric asked. I realized I was starving and nodded my head. We stopped at a little café and ordred some sandwiches.

“Mmm, fine Italian dining!” I said as I bit into my sandwich.

“Tonight we are going to go somewhere nice, I promise,” Eric told me as he bit into his own sandwich.

“Good, because I’m in the mood for some good spaghtti!” I joked as we walked and ate.

We finished our sandwiches and kept walking though the streets of Venice. Stopping every so often when something caught our eye. We talked about everything. We talked about life, our hopes and dreams, and plans for the future. Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. We decided on The Grand Canal restaurant. The interior was dimly lit by beautiful Venitian chandeleirs and gave off a romantic atomosphere. We were seated by a window. We faced the city and gondolas floated past us. We ordered our food and stared into each others eyes under the candlelight. We sat quietly for a while and started to talk about Venice. I admitted that I really wanted to take a gondola ride. Eric agreed and said that we should go on one before we leave. Our food came and, I swear, it was the best Italian food I have ever had! Eric seemed to be enjoying his just as much.

Dinner was amazing that night. After we finished we walked hand in hand through Venice. The sky was dark and lit up with stars. Venice is beautiful at night. Every window glows and reflects off the canals beneath them. We walked and then Eric stopped. I realized he had led me to a gondola dock. He smiled at me and helped me get into the boat. I smiled back and sat down. He followed after me and we sat cuddled next to each other. The gondolier started to paddle away and sang a song with a beautiful melody. The stars shone above us and glittered on the water beneath us. I looked at Eric and found he was looking at me.

“I love you, Hallie,” He whispered softly to me. I felt my stomach do nervous little flip flops. Here we were in Venice, Italy, cuddled in a gondola, under an amazing star-filled night sky. How much more perfect could this night get?

“I love you, too,” I said softly. We leaned in and kissed. I felt as if I was in a dream and I didn’t want it to end, ever. It felt amazing to be here with Eric. The boat swayed beneath us, as if in rhythm to the gondilier’s mystifying song. Eric pulled away slowly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.

“I’d get on my knee if we weren’t in a boat,” he told me smiling, “Hallie Smithson, will you marry me?” I felt tears start to well up in my eyes. It’s amazing how you dream about this day all your life, but it still knocks the wind out of you when it happens.

“Yes! Yes, I will marry you!” I told him. It was then that the tears started to come. A huge rush of emotion poured out of my body. I never knew how much I loved Eric until today. I could easily spend the rest of my life with him. Eric grinned wildly and wiped the tears from my eyes and kissed me softly on the lips.

“Good, I was hoping you’d say that,” he said as he took my hand and slid the ring onto my finger. I don’t remember too much after that because I was so happy and so madly in love. I went to bed that night with a ring on my finger and my husband-to-be in the room next to mine.

Day Four or why I love Eric, Sharla, and Chelsea:

I woke up early this morning and got ready for the long plane ride home. I was tired and not ready to leave Italy just yet. Although Eric and I would be on the same plane, he would get to relax as a passenger and I would have to work. After a long shower, I headed out the door to my new fiancé’s room. I knocked on his door and listened to his footsteps as he walked toward the closed door. The knob started to twist, my heart almost stopped, and, finally, the door opened. Once again, his smiling face caught me off guard and I felt myself start to melt a little in his gorgeous brown eyes. This was my husband-to-be. All of a sudden, he swooped me up into a hug and gently kissed the top of my head.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked softly, not wanting to break the silence of the moment.

“Mm hmm…” I mumbled, not wanting to leave the warmth of his strong embrace.

“Ok, we really need to get going,” he told me as he gently pulled out of our hug. I sighed and we walked hand in hand to the airport. We boarded the plane and Eric took a seat as I greeted passengers and helped them find their seats. Eric waved at me and blew a kiss. I smiled and pretended to catch it. My co-worker and good friend Sharla noticed our silent exchange.

“Ah di’nt know you was gonna bring your boyfriend with ya!” She exclaimed in her heavy southern accent. Sharla was born and raised in Texas and frequently brought up her birthplace.

“Well…actually…” I said as I fingered my ring, unsure how to break the news to Sharla. Sharla tends to over-react sometimes.

“Well Ah’ll be darned! You up and got engaged!” the Texan exclaimed.

People were starting to stare. She gave me a hug and waved at Eric. The plane started up and Sharla and I got ready to do what is commonly known as “the safety speech,” a collection of ideas on what to do incase the plane crashes, not that we have a high chance of surviving it or anything. After explaining what to do in a crash, Sharla disappeared to the front of the aircraft and I to the rear. I sat down and began to read the novel “Stars Don’t Cry” by, world famous author, Anna Voronko. I actually went to high school with her. Anyway, as soon as I picked up the book, Sharla’s voice came over the loud speaker.

“Excuse me everyone. This is Sharla speaking,” when Sharla talked to the passengers you could hardly tell she had an accent, “I would like to congratulate Eric Valentine and Hallie Smithson on their recent engagement! Hallie has been one of my closest co-workers and friend since I started working for Delta. Good luck you two!”

I stood up and waved to the now clapping passengers and made my way to Sharla. I passed Eric on the way and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before confronting the Texan. I stood and talked to her for a while about the engagement and our romantic evening in the gondola. It’s good I’m used too standing as a flight attendant because we talked for at least an hour and a half. We finally had to take the food cart down the aisle and offer a late lunch. Many people offered their congratulations and I smiled and handed them their food. When I was finished I sat in the open seat next to my fiancé and relaxed.

“Do you realize we’ve known each other for twelve years?” I asked, snuggling against his arm.

“I actually had a huge crush on you when I was sixteen. I guess I have a thing for younger women,” he joked.

“I’m only a year younger than you, Eric,” I reminded him.

“Remember seven years ago, on the plane from LAX to JFK?” Eric asked.

“Yeah, you were just starting out as a pilot back then and I was a flight attendant on your plane,” I remembered.

“When I saw you, I recognized you immediately,” Eric said, “I didn’t want to miss out on you again.” Eric had actually asked me out when I was seventeen, but I had a boyfriend.

“Oh really?” I asked him sarcastically.

“Yeah, I just didn’t lead on that I did, to see if you knew who I was,” Eric said laughing at his memories.

“And then after the flight you ran up to me and asked me to dinner,” I continued.

“But it was midnight and their weren’t any restaurants open,” Eric said laughing.

“So we went to my apartment and made Mac n’ Cheese!” I laughed.

We continued reminiscing about our past until I had to go back to being a flight attendant. By the time we got home my required uniform was wrinkled and I was tired, so Eric and I parted and made plans for the next day. I unlocked my yellow Lamborghini’s door and drove home to my apartment. My roommate, Chelsea, wanted to know all about Venice and screamed excitedly when I told her Eric had proposed. We giggled the rest of the night and were so exhausted we fell asleep on top of my king-sized bed. Tomorrow would come all to fast.

Day five or how I told my family I’m getting married:

I woke up this morning next to Chelsea who was snoring loudly. I’ve known Chelsea since I was born. We have been best friends ever since I can remember. I left her sleeping and went to make myself and my lovable German Shepard, Rufus, some breakfast. Rufus waited patiently by his food bowl as I scooped him some dog chow. He licked his lips and hurriedly ate his meal. I made myself a nutritious breakfast of some Lucky Charms and half a powdered doughnut then got ready for the day.

Eric called and told me he’d set up plans for us and our parents. We’d break the news to them at Le Bernardin, a five star French and Seafood restaurant in Times Square. Eric and I can easily afford the high priced food because, together, we make a total of $232,260 a year. Eric came and picked me up around five in his amazing silver Pagani Zonda. However, I prefer my yellow Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder convertible. Nevertheless, I got into his small expensive car and we drove to the restaurant. We sat at a table and waited for our parents to arrive. They did a few minutes later and sat down around the table. We talked a little about our trip to Venice, but skipped the engagement part. Eric and I decided to save that for later in the evening. We ordered our food and talked for a while. When our food came Eric and I stood up in front of our table. I was ready to burst with excitement.

“We have an announcement to make,” Eric to began, “I asked Hallie to marry me...” Our parents gasped and looked at us with tears in their eyes.

“…and I said yes!” I exclaimed, giving Eric a kiss. Our parents got up and hugged us. They were all smiles and tears of joy ran down their cheeks. Their children were getting married! After many tears, hugs, and congratulations we left the restaurant and planned to get together again soon.

Eric and I decided to walk around Times Square. We held hands and watched the city’s hustle and bustle around us. Cars whizzed by and people hurried past us. The city felt so alive, yet so quiet. In a way, its how I felt. All of a sudden I was engaged. I had a wedding to plan, a job to keep, a husband to love, and a life to live. However, when I was with Eric, my life went into slow motion. I think that’s how your supposed to feel when your with someone you love.

Even though a million things are happening in your life, when you see that special someone, you forget about it all and find yourself lost and knee-deep in love. You struggle to keep your head above love’s insidious fire, but soon you’re consumed by its red-hot flames. You give in to the warmth of its all-encompassing inferno and find yourself intensely in love. No longer do you remember the million and two things that need to be done, all you can think about is love and all you can do is let it take control and hold on as it takes you on a beautiful journey. I think that’s where I am right now. I’m on love’s perfect journey and I think I’m going to walk slowly to take it all in.

I looked up at Eric and caught him in the midst of looking at me. I felt him put his arm around me and pull me into his warm embrace. I smiled to myself as I closed my eyes and felt him lift my head up for a kiss. His lips slowly brushed against mine and I succumbed to his love. This is where my journal as an un-married woman ends: in the middle of Times Square, the clock is tolling in the background, and people rushing past us. However, I notice none of this. All I know is that I’m in the arms of the man of my dreams and my life is never going to be the same.

[thelma&louise]

Perfect, apart from a couple of spelling mistakes. =) This is actually the first romance story I've read that's about a flight attendant and a pilot even though I've heard alot of the pairing. Very realistic, I loved the crazy woman part. I doubt anyone would scream so much on a plane, though lol, someone should have told her to shut the hell up! But kudos to you for this piece of fluff! ^_^

[ms_mae572]

oh thanks, yah i realized the spelling a little bit after i posted it but i was too lazy to fix it....(u can tell what it says, it's not too out there) lol i had fun writing it!!! glad u like it!

[Peppy]

A romance story. A well-written one at that.

Did you do some research to do this story, or did you actually go to Venice? It seems the setting is pretty convincing, even though some parts of the story are vague (and probably un-important to know). Your picture of Venice and the names of the places was a nice touch to the story, it gave it a sort of realism to it. Hmmmm...

There were a few grammatical and spelling errors, but not enough to fussy about since pratice will fix it. Hmmmmmm... And the story seemed a little rushed. I think a little more could have been done with the story--a little more emotion than "awe". Hmmmmm...

That's it.

[ms_mae572]

first of all...thank you, i spent a while working on it

Second, i've never been to Venice. I just looked at pictures online and researched restuarants and stuff. Oh, and i've never been to NYC either, all the restaurants are real though.

Yah, i got spelling issues...lol. I could have written tons more, but yah i probably could have put a lot more emotion into it!

Thanks for your comments!

[Jimbalaya]

A nice light-hearted piece. I'm not usually into this kind of genre, but it was a nominated for the Pick of the Month, so I read it. Not bad.

A few things I had to wonder about:
- This girl is 27 years old, has known her fiance for 12 years, been with him for 7 years, flies to Venice to be with her and sleeps in his own room? Either she has some incredibly high morals or she doesn't like sex. In this day and age it is most uncommon to hear about a situation like this and it actually goes way outside the normal to the point of wierd. I kept thinking that the next paragraph I would discover them in the sack together, but it never happened.
- The voice of the MC is used in such a way that she could be anybody and that's what I took her for. Nobody special, a flight attendant doing her job. Though you do mention that she makes a fairly good salary, there is absolutly nothing to indicate that she is living the "high life", until I was slammed in the face with the ungodly expensive cars. Then I though, this girl is driving a car like that, doesn't sleep with her fiance, and lives with a roomate. The whole thing really didn't add up and threw me way off.

The writing was pretty good, I would have liked to see some sections fleshed out a little more, it seemed like, at times, there were some things missing or there was too much of a time lapse between events.

There were few grammatical errors for a piece this long so well done on that. I'm not going to start nit picking, just wanted to give you the overall impression I got when I read this. I liked it. I think you could probably take each day and split it up, flesh it out, and post it as a seperate entry and it would work very well as a series.

[ms_mae572]

ok, i admit it, i wasn't really thinking when i did the cars...i just really liked those cars and wanted to use them...and also the flight attendant didn't know her bf/now fiance was going to be there so they wouldn't have slept together, and besides, i didn't want to add a whole sex-scene in there anyway. And i figured if she lived with a roommate she could afford the car, and their would always be somebody at home to watch her dog and who wouldn't want to be roommates with their best friend??? and i could totally flesh it out A LOT but i kept it shorter to post it, but it definately could be longer, i could write forever if i had the time!