Standing in line was one of the worst ways to waste time, especially if you had forgotten the current book you were reading at home like I had. Instead, I resorted to eavesdropping on the people around me, which could be interesting but was never guaranteed entertainment.
Unfortunately the discussions I had been listening to were growing stale. At least they were until I heard the annoying immediately behind me call out. “Cade, over here.”
The nasally whine that always seemed to accompany her non-stop chatter didn’t disappear as she frantically waved down whoever Cade was. And I know this about her voice because I had been listening to her on the phone with one friend or another for the past hour straight.
I was about to put more effort into ignoring her when the sight of a broad and trim man making quick strides my way thoroughly distracted me. I nearly gave myself the hiccups because of how chaotic my breathing immediately became, which would have been mortifying.
He wasn’t movie-star-drop-dead gorgeous. He had a subtle, classically handsome type of look. As he neared, I looked down towards my feet.
It was only after I looked away from him that my logical sense of reasoning returned and I fought against the blush as I realized that he wasn’t coming over to see me but was coming in response to the girl behind me. He must be Cade.
Luckily, I hadn’t done anything so foolish as waving, winking or smiling at him in a flirty way. My suspicion was confirmed when I was battered by the woman’s arms as she threw them out for a hug. “Cade! You can not even believe how horrible it has been to be stuck here…” Her voice dropped lower but I could still hear her clearly say “behind this woman.”
The silence that followed was mortifying beyond anything I could have possibly imagined.
Cade finally spoke. “Jazie, that was unkind. What could this woman possibly have done to warrant a comment like that?”
“Where she can hear you.” I added, turning to flash them a snarky smile.
Cade laughed. “Valid point.”
The whiny girl, Jazie, stepped between the two of us, cutting me off. So I turned back around to face forward. “There are so many reasons, Cade. I’m just so mad right now though that I can’t think of them.” Jazie huffed.
And since I wasn’t looking because I had turned back around to shuffle forward in the line but I think it would be safe to assume that she sullenly crossed her arms to pout. That’s how I imagined she looked because it was definitely how she sounded.
For the next several minutes the two of them whispered back and forth to each other and I had to fight to not try and hear what they were saying. I mean, I was standing right in front of them. I really wanted to know what she was saying about me. It took alot to stay out of it but I did. And now that I think of it, I’d rather not know what Jazie really thought about me. What she’d said aloud was enough.
Cade surprised me when he appeared next to me, holding out his hand. After a second or two of staring at it I slowly reached out and shook his hand.
Immediately his polite, friendly smile intensified. “Hi there. Since we are stuck standing in line next to each other and my sister here is being her usual charming self, I thought I’d introduce myself so I could say sorry. My name is Cade and this is Jazie. And we are both sorry.”
“Holly.” I nodded briefly, letting my smile out a little, then pulled away. “It is a pleasure to meet you and you have nothing to be sorry for.” I looked straight over at Jazie with an irritated smile. Pointedly holding eye contact with her, I waited for her apology and was disappointed.
She simply laughed and looked away.
“So, where are you headed?” Cade angled toward me.
“Through the airport security.” I grinned. My cleverness really knows no bounds.
“Aww, you are a thrifty traveler then.”
Looking over at his face, I searched for any clue that would tell me that he was making fun of me. I couldn’t find any, though I admit he did look highly entertained.
I shrugged. “That depends. If I’m the kind of girl that wants to go through airport security then I would need a ticket. And if I wasn’t planning on using the ticket and only bought it so I could go through the achingly dull wait of this security line, I would say that airport security hopping would be a very expensive hobby…and boring.”
“Impressive.” He nodded. “So which are you? Creative and thrifty or expensively boring?”
“Well, I don’t go through security or their lines for fun. So I don’t know. Does that make me cheap or high maintenance?”
He looked me over as if assessing my appearance. “Tastefully frugal.”
Jazie snorted. “If I didn’t have to be here, I would not be. You both are being all sorts of sappy weird and gross. Cade, scare her away so I don’t have to look at her anymore.”
Cade ignored his sister and leaned over to whisper into my ear, “She’s not normally this whiny. What did you do to irritate her so much?”
“Nothing.” I whispered back. “Until you showed up she has been on her phone the whole time, going on about traveling with ugly, normal people. I haven’t said anything or looked her way. Is it possible that she’s just crazy?”
Cade burst out laughing. “Just disgruntled that she isn’t being swarmed by adoring fans.”
“So my ignoring her is why she hates me?”
“Jazie fancies herself an up and coming star on several social media platforms.” He glanced over at his sister. “Though she is not quite the influencer she thinks she is. I am glad she insisted I come on this trip though. It has been a pleasure to meet you.”
