EPTI was on a flight to Hong Kong from Canada, with one connecting stop in San Francisco. It was my first time travelling by myself. I was just going to Hong Kong to take care of some minor unfinished business, where I think I stayed no more than two weeks. With the online seating system, I switched my original seat to another in a row that only had two (versus three, because it was nearer the narrower back of the plane) for the second, much longer leg of the trip.
On the initial connecting flight to San Francisco, I noticed a cute girl sitting in the row immediately in front of me. After I got off that leg, there was a rather lengthy wait time until the next flight to Hong Kong, I think over four hours. I went to scope out the departure gate before going out to loiter around the rest of the airport. As I was leaving the area, I saw the girl walking to the seats and settling down. It looked like she was on the same flight route as me.
I returned to the gates much later, near departure time. I boarded the plane and found my seat near the back, the one I had switched out for. A little bit later, the cute girl showed up and began peeking around the seat number labels looking for her seat. I silently wished her seat was the one beside mine. Eventually she slowed down in the aisle, stepped into the row, and settled down beside me. Sometimes, fate would play funny games, and it looked like today was my lucky day.
I would normally not try to strike up conversation with someone in this situation. In fact, when I was sitting behind her in the previous flight, some old guy beside her was trading some pseudo-annoying chit-chat, and I wondered if she was bothered at all. But this was too strong a coincidence to pass up. After a short time into the flight, I initiated conversation with our common origin and destination. It seems she did not notice me on the first flight, but that was unimportant. We engaged in some amiable, enjoyable talk about our backgrounds, our futures, and ourselves. The atmosphere was comfortable and friendly. There was no awkwardness in the moments of silence or the stretches of naps we might take. She happened to be a Chinese/white mix, travelling by herself and going to HKU for an exchange program.
Finally we arrived in Hong Kong. We left the plane and proceeded to the baggage collection. After picking up our luggage, we sat down and she asked me to look after her stuff while she went to use the washroom. When she returned we bid goodbye. She would be staying in the airport waiting for a friend to arrive from France. I was off to catch the train to the city. She flashed a radiant smile at me, we parted ways, and that was the last I ever saw of her.
Though the girl was perfect in many ways, I didn’t really have any romantic interest in the short time we were together. She was very attractive, pleasant, with a good personality. I felt she was someone definitely worth knowing better, and someone I could become very good friends with. Brought together by fate, we break apart by duty. I wonder if the girl considered the memory to be one worth keeping, as I do.
Im jealous and shes Asian mixed, thats instant win!
