Flight

Jim reached for Tia's hand when the announcement came over the intercom; "Crew members for flight 522 to St. Louis, please report to the aircraft for pre-flight check. Thank you." The announcement was routine and Tia had heard it repeated many times in several different accents throughout the country. But even after eight years of flying for SkyGlobal Airlines she still gets the jitters before each flight. Tia became a flight attendant at the age of nineteen. She was an honor-role student in high school with a good head on her shoulders. Everyone in her family was so proud of her. She was the sparkle in her father's eye as she was growing up. "If anyone in this family is going to make something of themselves it's going to be Tia", Her father would always say. Now, at twenty-seven, she had a bright future; good job, great husband, big house, and many dreams. Oh those dreams. Those dreams that consumed her every waking moment. Those dreams of becoming a mother, having a little girl of her own; of family pictures; of ballet lessons; of Christmas mornings with toys scattered from wall to wall and wrapping paper balled-up to the celing; of little Easter dresses with adorable matching lace hats; of pink tricycles blocking the garage door;... Oh those dreams! She swore to herself that it would all be reality one day... "one day soon."

Jim and Tia, married three months and still considering themselves honeymooning, had met on one of Tia's flights nine months ago. Jim was on a business trip to Miami, in first class as usual flipping through a Forbes magazine, when he noticed the flight-cart stop beside his seat. He looked up and there she was. Six months later they were married - it was 'love at first flight' as Jim often refers to it while making conversation over lunch with potential high-dollar customers.

Now, as it often is with Jim's busy schedule, they will be separated for a week. Jim is off to a trade show in Atlanta to show off a new software package that his company has developed. As soon as Tia walks onto her plane Jim will be boarding three gates down.

Standing up, they embrace - an embrace of true love. An embrace that told the world that there was no place they would rather be than in each other's arms. Two lovers about to be seperated by hundreds of miles yet entertwined as one heart.
"I love you honey!"
"You too... I'll call you tonight from the hotel."
"OK, good luck!"

It's 10:05AM, and Jim's flight to Atlanta departs on time.

* * *

Tia, and the rest of the flight crew, finish up the pre-flight as the last of the passengers are boarding. Everything is in order on the Boeing 737. It's a full flight - five crew members and 126 passengers. The passengers situate their carry-ons above their heads as the hum of hydraulic equipment on the wings can be heard from the pilot's last minute testing. The head
attendant closes and latches the door as Tia demonstrates to the passengers how to use the seatbelts and emergency equipment.

The plane begins to back away from the gate with a quick jerk.
The pilot taxies to the runway and radios the tower, "Flight 522 to St. Louis... request for departure, over." There is a brief silence as flight control checks the monitors, and then, "Roger flight 522 you are clear for takeoff, over."
The twin engines roared to life and within seconds flight 522 from Denver to St. Louis was airborne. The total flight distance, 850 miles - 1 hour, 45 minutes. They should be touching down at Lambert International at 12:55PM St. Louis time.

* * *

It was a beautiful morning for flying. The sun felt warm on Jim's face as he stared out of the window in first class, glass of scotch in hand. He daydreamed about the number of potential new customers at the trade show. It was the annual NetLink security conference, the largest show of the year. Jim had landed fourteen large contracts at this show last year. He smiled and raised the glass to his lips as he thought about the possibilities for this year's show. An attendant walked past and Jim asked for a refill. The view was spectacular at 29,000 feet. Looking down on the huge puffy clouds was breathtaking,
especially after downing two glasses of scotch. With two hours to go before landing, Jim studied his hand-written notes for the trade show. He was very confident that this year's show was going to be a real success.

* * *

The 737 had reached it's usual cruising altitude of 35,000 feet at 530 miles per hour. Turbulence was low, cabin pressure normal. The pilot turned off the seat belt indicator lights and passengers began moving about the plane. Tia loaded up her
flight-cart and wheeled it to row one of first class. Seat 1A wanted coffee; black, no sugar. Seat 1B was sound asleep and softly snoring into a pillow. The woman in seat 1C was typing on her laptop and looked annoyed by the interruption, or maybe it was the woman beside her playing a video game that had her annoyed. Ordering a diet cola with a sharp glance, her fingers never stopped typing. Tia filled the clear plastic cup and handed it to the woman, who reached for it without taking her eyes from the screen. Just as her fingers made contact with the cup it slipped out of her hand. The cup landed hard against the
keyboard causing the cold fizzy liquid splash into the air and onto her lap! The cup rolled across the keyboard and onto the floor. By the time the commotion was over, the woman in 1C was soaked from midriff to toe, and the laptop was instantly transformed into a drainage pan - now holding about one-third of the eight ounces of diet cola.
"I'll get some towels!" said Tia as she ran toward the front of the plane.
"Oh my God!" shouted the woman, standing to her feet. "Look at my computer! Look at my clothes! What am I going to do? I have a meeting in St. Louis this afternoon and my presentation was on this computer! It's ruined!" Tia came running back with the towels, apologizing as she ran. "I am so sorry! Oh my I'm so sorry!"
"You better be sorry you clumsy ditz! Look at what you did! I'm probably going to lose my job now!"
Handing the towels to the lady Tia kept saying, "I am so sorry, I am so sorry!"
The woman jerked the towels from Tia and gave her a stare that burned with rage. Looking down at Tia's name tag the woman asked, "What is your last name Tia? The airline is gonna hear about this, if I'm losing my job over this then so are you!"
Tia, now collecting her thoughts and realizing that this was the woman's fault for not paying attention, began to get angry herself. Tia wanted to say, You should have looked up from your precious friggin' little laptop when you reached for the cup you little snob! But she didn't. She regained her composure, took a deep breath, exhaled abd said, "Porter... My last name is Porter."

* * *

Jim had drifted off to sleep after the third scotch, the notes still in his hand. His head reclined into the seat cushion and his face was turned toward the window still soaking up the warm sun. The hum of the engines serenaded him into a deep and restful sleep. Jim rarely slept more than four hours each night because of everything that had been on his mind lately. It
wasn’t the trade shows themselves that took so much out of him, it was the months of preparation leading up to the shows. He took a personal interest in every area of his business, from technical research and development to sales and marketing and everything in between. Trying to keep his software products one step ahead of the fast-changing network security industry was not an easy task, but he always stepped up to the challenge.

* * *

** MORE TO COME SOON **