Jul 01, 2009 21:06
"Please continue," she says, scratching notes and looking at me over the top of a brown clipboard. "Let's go back to what you were saying about the airport." She's writing with a green and black fountain pen that scrapes the paper as she writes. I can almost feel the scratch of each word on the page like fingers on a blackboard.
"I was in the airport when I started getting dizzy. All the frenetic movement of people all over the place, so many changing directions and haphazard movements." I rub a closed fist on my knee.
Scratch.
For a moment I'm distracted by the clean lines of her white suit and I wonder what's underneath, cotton underwear probably, maybe a fading flower tattoo on her hip. "There's so little order."
Scratch.
I was only in the airport for a few minutes before I started drinking. "Best way to kill time during a layover," my friend had told me. I ordered a shot of cheap bourbon and a beer and watched people from the bar. A few families and couples had monopolized the general sitting area. Half the people sleeping spread out over two or three chairs while single travelers hovered trying to find an empty seat. A man was arguing with his girlfriend and a woman walked by with fake tits the size of small planets and a poorly shaved and shaking dog in her handbag. Probably make a good flotation device, I thought. I finished another two rounds payed my tab and walked out into the center mass of people herded around the departure board looking for changes or updates to their flight's status. There were still five more hours to kill.
A security alert droned on in the background. "The current threat level has been upgraded to orange. Please take care to not leave your bags unattended. Any bags left unattended will be removed and destroyed." That's when I realized that I had left my carry on at the bar. Panicked I made my way back through the crowed. Pushing and pulling people out of my way, resulting in a plethora of half heard insults and indignant cries. I didn't see it at first and the perpetual travelers dread of losing my passport and boarding documents crashed down on my psyche. It was there, hidden behind a new patrons luggage. Idiots, I thought, obviously someone isn't paying attention to the security protocol. Since I was there anyway I grabbed another beer and ...
I'm getting bored of this. Sorry for the tease.