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Author Topic: Mile High Regret  (Read 3046 times)

Offline mr_90proof

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Mile High Regret
« on: 10. October 2022, 22:17:35 PM »
Chapter 1.

It was about 10 years ago when I boarded my flight out of Las Vegas. I prefer an aisle seat by the way. When I got to my row, I noticed a cute brunette in the window seat. As I stowed my briefcase and backpack I noticed she had a bobby pin in her hand and she was digging in her mouth with it. After I got seated and my stuff stowed in the seat pocket in front of me, I looked over and said "Hi!" or something like that. I then turned my attention to the aisle. And as normal I said a silent prayer as every passenger walked by, praying they didn't stop beside me and ask to get in the middle seat. Back then, unlike today, every flight was not always overbooked and completely full. So there was hope.

After the last passenger had seated themselves, our middle seat was still empty. I looked over at my window seatmate and made the dumb corny comment "It may have taken a week, but it looks like I finally won something!" She laughed and smiled at me. Her metal braces and the purple elastics in her mouth were very visible. Oh heck, game on

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #1 on: 10. October 2022, 22:18:53 PM »
Chapter 2.

She was a cute brunette with brown eyes, straight hair that fell just below her shoulders, and a decent body. She looked to be in her mid 20's, while I at the time was in my early to mid 30s, and I had not gotten fat like I have now. After we got in the air I struck up a conversation. I don't remember the whole conversation, but we chatted for the next 3 hours. She had been in Vegas with her mom, they had been there for some occasion or another, I don't remember what now and it really isn't important. She lived up in the Virginia tidewater area, Norfolk I think I remember. Her name was Tara, and she had adorable braces. And those purple rubberbands.
As we talked about things, like her mom losing her credit card in Vegas, and her being a teacher for special ed back home, she would occasionally use her bobby pin to dig in her mouth, back towards her right molars. After a few times of this, I asked her if everything was ok. She, somewhat embarrassingly it seemed, said she had some food stuck in her braces. Up to this point, I had not mentioned anything about them, and was doing my best to keep my eyes looking into hers. She had really pretty eyes by the way. I still didn't say anything about them, but I asked her if I could help. She said no, when the seatbelt sign went off she would go back to the bathroom so she had a mirror to see what she was doing. I still didn't say anything about them, but I asked her if she had a mirror. She said she had a little compact in her bag, but it was in the overhead.

I asked her what her bag looked like, and she told me. Despite the seat belt sign being on still, I went ahead and stood up and grabbed it out of the overhead. I handed it back to her and she sat it in the middle seat. She dug out her compact and held it up to her mouth. She intently stared into it as she dug around. It seemed to be way back there, and it seemed her lips were getting in the way. She was not having success. But it was erotic as hell. I asked her if I could hold the mirror for her. She accepted my offer, and she used her now free hand to pull her upper lip back while she poked around. Finally she got it dislodged. Then she realized she had an issue, what was she going to do with it? She didn't say anything, but I was at least perceptive enough to realize she had an issue, and it seemed like she didn't want to be "gross". I told her "hold on" and stood back up. I grabbed a couple of tissues out of one of my bags, sat back down, and handed them to her.

I turned my head back towards the front of the plane, giving her a little privacy. I did my best to ignore her, I didn't want her to think there was some weird creepy guy on her aisle. But luckily, I do have peripheral vision. . She put the food in the tissue, sort of wrapped up in a little ball and put it in the seatback pocket in front of her. When she was done, she apologized, and then thanked me. I asked her if she needed her bag, or if she wanted me to put it back. I was hoping she wanted to put it back for two reasons. One, it was another opportunity for chivalry. And two, I didn't want her bag between us. I didn't make any assumptions, and but still, I didn't want it there.

She told me she didn't need it, so I popped up again and put it back in the overhead. While I said I don't remember the conversation, I do remember asking her if she had seen the Hoover Dam while in Vegas. She said she had not, they had spent all their time on the strip. I told her if she ever got back, and was into nerdy engineering marvels like me, she should see it. I told her it was only about an hour from vegas. I also told her about a park in boulder city that, during the cooler months, a whole heard of desert bighorn sheep frequented. I told her that were impressive. And with that I pulled out my phone to show her some pictures.

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #2 on: 10. October 2022, 22:19:41 PM »
Chapter 3.

So, after I pulled out my phone, I scrolled up to some pics of Hoover Dam. I leaned over to my right, over the armrest, and held my phone so she could see them. I flipped through them, explaining how impressive it was, and even more so that it was built when it was built, and the machinary, or lack there of, that made. I told her that on an earlier trip (I have been to the Vegas area quite a bit) I had actually stayed at the hotel in Boulder City that was built to house the "big bosses" while it was built, while the workers lived in tents. And how in todays standards the rooms where like shoeboxes, but back then they were the height of luxury. I don't know how interested she was, but she humored me.

I didn't tell her about the bodies that are entombed in the concrete; unlucky workers who plummeted into the wet cement, and in some form, are still there today.

So, she didn't seem to be overly enthusiastic about a big, old concrete dam in the middle of the damn desert. But, then I got to the desert bighorn sheep.

While Tara did not care about dams, she loved animals I would find out. As I flipped through them, telling her how they are just right there in a park on the edge of town, and how they let you just walk up within a few feet of them, and how the locals just seem to ignore them while they use the park, pointing to the people in the background of some of the pics. she lifted up her armrest and scooted over into the middle seat beside me to... get a better look at the pictures?

So, I have typed a lot of words about dam sheep. But don't think I wasn't subtlety admiring her braces. After I got through the pictures, but before I showed her the videos, which I already sensed she would eat up, I made a stupid joke. I told her I thought it was all just a ploy by Boulder City to avoid the cost of landscapers; and questioned whether the city should be paying the sheep. She laughed. I liked the sound of her laugh. And it gave me an opportunity to look at her mouth closer without seeming too weird. While I liked the sound, I loved the way her lips moved even more. She had some of those adorable "I haven't had braces too long, how do my lips work?" moments. I then asked her "But, how would you even pay a sheep?". Corny? Yes. Did she like it? Also yes. She laughed again, louder this time, afterwards looking at me in the eyes and smiling. Then she lightly layed her hand on my right forearm. Oh, Daddy likes.

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #3 on: 10. October 2022, 22:20:47 PM »
Chapter 4.

So, up to this point, I feel like we had both been sizing each other up. Well, I know I had been sizing her up. Even if I had decided she would be a good playmate the moment I noticed her braces. So, I definitely noticed the hand on my arm, but I ignored it, or did my best to. I then got to the videos I had. They were even better than the pics. The pics and video I had were from the previous September, right before sheep rut or breed. And in a LOT of the videos, some of the younger sheep with the bigger horns, young males, were "chasing" around the girl sheep with the smaller horns. Some of the other tourists there had no clue. They thought they were just playing. But, I knew they weren't just playing. No, those young males wanted dirty, sweaty, middle of the park animal love. As did I. Not with one of those sheep back in Nevada, but with the sweet smelling little vixen leaning against me.

So, I started on the first video. She thought it was SOOO cool. In the first couple of videos, all you can really hear is the wind blowing while sheep randomly walk and eat grass. And those pics earlier didn’t really do it justice, there were a LOT of sheep in the park. But in the third video, in the background, you could see one of the rams chasing after a ewe. And you could see me swing my iphone camera and focus on them as I said "no, no he is chasing a doe." I said this in response to another tourist talking about them playing. Obviously, they had no idea how deer/sheep/elk etc. breed. I didn't know if Tara did either. But considering she had moved out of her seat and was now resting her hand on me, I thought it was time to find out, discreetly mind you, if she knew.

After the third video, I explained my comment. I told her that they weren't just playing; that those males were very interested in the way those females smelled. They were close to breeding, and when they were ready the males would be able to smell it. I explained how the younger males were very eager and were harassing the females before they were ready. Then I pointed out how the older, fully mature males were just chilling out eating grass. And probably laughing at all the young rams. I told her they were acting like I used to back in the day on spring break. She laughed again. And ran the fingertips of her hand down and back up the top of my forearm.

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #4 on: 10. October 2022, 22:21:18 PM »
Chapter 5.

So, I might not be the most perceptive person, and I sure miss the target sometimes on reading people, but I knew two things about Tara without her having to say it. One, she was not turned off by me, and she like animals. When I finished with the videos, I looked at her and asked her if she like animals. She said she loved them. Then she started telling me about her dog. She removed her hand from my arm and rummaged in her pocket for her phone. She pulled it out and started showing me pictures. She started with pics of said dog. I told her he was gorgeous. And then I told her "but, pets always take after their owners". Oh, it was solid contact. She blushed. And I had a raging boner down the side of my left leg. I think I asked her if he was a good boy. She said he was most of the time, but he did like to chew sometimes. I told her about the chocolate lab I used to have, and how for the first two years I couldn't leave anything in his reach if I didn't want it chewed up. Even couches. She laughed again. Did I just feel a tingle course through my whole body? Why yes, I think I did.

After her doggo pics, she moved onto more. She was showing me pics and narrating her life. Now, keep in mind, up to this point I have mentioned nothing about her braces. As she went through pictures, many of them had her smiling big in them. But she did not have braces. But we got to one really good one of her smiling wide, showing her metal braces. I remarked to her on this one "you have a really pretty smile". She smiled back at me and said “thank you, I can’t wait to get my braces off.”

That was my opening. I asked her how long she had had them. She told me she had gotten them about 3 months earlier. She said she had just gotten the rubberbands at her previous adjustment, and she hated them. I told her they must be pretty annoying. She agreed they were, but she said she tried to wear them all the time. I told her again, "you really do have a beautiful smile. And annoying or not, the purple is cute." I asked her if they hurt. She said they did at first, but not so much now. She smiled again, and told me it was the lingual cleats in her mouth that really killed her. I asked her what that meant; and what those were. She said she had to wear the rubberbands she was wearing now all the time, but she had another pair she had to wear in addition at night. And I shit you not, she opened up her mouth, the purple rubberbands stretching from around her top canines back towards her lower back molars, and pointed to the inside back of her mouth towards her molar bands. She had two sets of bands back there, molar and premolar and sure enough the front set had cleats. She closed her mouth, then her demeanor changed. She said "oh god, I am sorry".

I asked her why she was sorry. She said I probably thought she was a weirdo showing me her mouth like that. I told her nonsense, and that after all I am the one that asked the question. I told her I appreciated her explaining it to me. She said "really, you're sure?". I promised her it was fine, and then I put my hand on her arm to reassure her. And I noticed the hair on her arm stood up. She went back, "well, in that case... I have to wear another set of elastics from those cleats inside to these hooks here" she said pointing to a bracket with a hook behind her canines "at night". If the plane had suddenly crashed into the ground at that moment, I would have at least died happy. And with a massive boner. And that is all any of us can hope for I guess.

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #5 on: 10. October 2022, 22:21:59 PM »
Chapter 6.

She then told me it was not the elastics that bothered her, it was the cleats. She said they really did a number on her tongue. I told her I hated that for her and squeezed her arm just a little. She thanked me and snuggled up against me a little bit. She said it was ok, she was glad she got them just that it sucked sometimes. I loved everything about this plane ride, and her, but I didn't want it to get weird, so I steered the story in a different direction I thought she would like. I asked her about being a teacher (disclaimer, I have a little thing for teachers), whether she liked it and enjoyed teaching. This was the correct question.

I asked her if she enjoyed being a teacher. She said she loved it. She loved her kids as she called them. She started showing me pictures. I think I mentioned earlier she taught special ed. She said she loved them all, and she thought they loved her back. She said something along the lines that they were just so much more honest than what she called regular kids. She did have a story or two about kids that would have outbursts, and things like that, but she loved it. It really was sweet. She loved animals, she loved her kids. And she seemed to like me.

When the drink cart came by, we both got drinks. For snacks they had pretzels and those little Biscoff cookie crackers. Tara didn't get a snack, I snagged a pack of Biscoffs. I didn't really want them, but hell they were free, so I slipped them in the seat back pocket. Now keep in mind, I am still in my aisle seat, and Tara is in the middle seat beside me. And I sure didn't want a damn table getting in my way. As I was figuring out what do with this damn plastic glass of ice water, she flipped down the table for the window seat and sat her drink on it. She asked if I wanted to put mine on it. Very thoughtful of her.

So I leaned over to put my drink on the flimsy plastic table. If nothing else, it was a legitimate reason to invade her personal space and to see what would happen. I was in the D seat, so she was to my right. I took my plastic cup in my left hand, twisted in my seat and reached across her. The last thing I wanted to do was spill my drink on her, so my focus was on that little grey table. But once the drink was safely on the table, I turned to look her in the face. We were face to face, not more than a foot apart. She looked me in the eyes and smiled. I hesitated for just a second and turned back into my seat. Something just happened there I thought to myself.

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #6 on: 10. October 2022, 22:22:36 PM »
Chapter 7.

We continued to chat and flirt, telling stories, talking about travel, showing each other fun pictures on our phones. We were getting close to landing at DFW. The flight attendants were coming up the aisle for their last pickup of trash. Remember the Biscoffs that I didn't want? I was going to just hand them back to the flight attendant when she got there. But first I asked Tara if she wanted them. Again, chivalry and all. She pouted and said she couldn't eat them. I asked her if it was because of her braces. She got a little animated. "Yes, I can't eat them, and everything else I can eat gets stuck in them!". I patted her arm and said "you poor thing" while smiling at her. She said "you are sweet" and leaned her head on my shoulder. I forgot all about the cookies, the flight attendants, the fact I was on an airplane. I asked Tara, speaking of food, if I could buy her lunch if she had a long enough layover. She pulled her head up off my shoulder and said she would like that, she thought she probably had enough time.

We landed without incident. Yes, she was still in the middle seat beside me. We both turned our phones off of airplane mode. Normally, my first reaction on landing is to start checking my texts, emails and missed calls when I land. But this was no normal flight. I ignored all the shit that popped up on my phone. I really didn't care if the world was on fire, I would deal with it later. We taxied awhile towards the gate, and then came to a stop. No big deal, it is not unusual to have to sit a few minutes. A few minutes turned to 10 minutes. We both checked our connecting flights, of course both of ours were in different terminals. We continued to chat and complain about airlines. At 20 minutes I was gettinig upset. Did American Airlines even realize what they were doing to me? At 30 minutes, there was a burning rage in me towards American that still burns today. Finally, we got a gate. They announced over the intercom what gate we were coming into. Of course it was a different one than either one of our connections.

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #7 on: 10. October 2022, 22:24:09 PM »
Chapter 8.

As we taxied up, I looked at her and asked "you are going to have to run straight to your gate aren't you?" She said she was. I was heartbroken. She said she hated I couldn't buy her that lunch I had promised. The truth is, I needed to run straight to my gate too. But I would have gladly missed my flight and worried about it later if it meant buying her lunch. But, and maybe it was a mistake, I was not going to ask or suggest she do the same. If I could go back in time, I surely would. I did at least ask for her phone number. She said only on one condition. I would have to give her mine in return. “Ok, deal” I responded and smiled to her, despite my heartbreak. We exchanged numbers, putting them in each others’ phones. Finally at the gate, the seatbelt sign went off. We unbuckled our seatbelts, and I stood up. I got her bag out of the overhead first and handed it to her, with her placing it in her lap and thanking me. Normally I would have grabbed mine and put them in my seat and stood until it was time to go. But, I wanted to sit with her as long as I could so I sat back down. Once it got to our aisle to deplane, I stepped out into the aisle and back to make room for Tara to get off first. I bumped into the guy behind me in the aisle a little. Screw him. She got up and started down the aisle. I snagged my shoulder bag and backpack from the overhead in one fell swoop (I am a bit of a pro at it if I do say so myself) and was right behind her. Once she got in the terminal and out of the traffic she stopped. She told me how much she enjoyed the flight and hugged me. And then she was gone

Epilogue.

I never called her. Because I am a dumb sonofabitch. And I was busy with life, work, et al. And sadly, she never called or text me. Today, if the situation presented itself again I might walk to Virginia. But youth is wasted on the young. And good judgement is the result of past bad judgement.  And sadly, her phone number has not made it through the multiple phone changes since then.  I hope she is doing well. I hope she is enjoying her smile. I am sure it turned out beautifully.

Offline radian

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #8 on: 11. October 2022, 14:09:42 PM »
Great (real?) story ! I really enjoyed the way you made it progress, even with this sad end  ;)

Offline bracessd

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #9 on: 11. October 2022, 17:47:23 PM »
Good story! Maybe there will be a part 2 where they run in to each other again?

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #10 on: 11. October 2022, 17:51:52 PM »
That is actually an interesting idea.

Offline mr_90proof

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #11 on: 15. October 2022, 05:08:17 AM »
As a B2B sales rep, my cell phone is the bane of my existence.  It is expected to be on 24 hours a day.  To handle problems, to answer questions, to deal with issues.  So, for the same reasons it is the bane of my existence it is also my lifeblood.  If I wasn’t available to handle all of those issues, I would not receive the money I do. 

I had just finished up a Teams meeting, an unfortunate consequence of Covid, when the text came in. When the covid lockdowns happened; many people learned all about Teams and Zoom meetings.  We weren’t traveling, but we needed to keep working.  And even now, as life has gone back to normal for most of us… what was Covid exactly…, many sales managers keep scheduling virtual meetings despite the plow horses being back in the field.  I think they have the idea, “Let’s have a meeting, even it is is unproductive”. So many sales managers now feel compelled to continue to have virtual meetings that add no incremental value to anything.  But they need to justify their existence so they can tell their boss “look what I did”.  I was sitting there when I saw a text message pop up on my cell phone sitting on my desk.

I picked it up obviously.  The first thing I noticed was it was from a number I didn’t have saved in my phone.  I did notice it was a 757 area code, which had no meaning to me.  I have no factories or customers from there, I didn’t even realize where it was from. Nontheless I unlocked my phone snd opened the text.  It said:

“Hi!  I doubt you remember me but I am Tara.  I sat beside you on a flight out of Las Vegas a lifetime ago.  But you showed me some incredible pictures of some sheep in a park near Las Vegas.  My parents are celebrating their 30th anniversary in Vegas in a few weeks, and I was hoping you could tell me where those sheep where.

Tara Jones”


Offline bracessd

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Re: Mile High Regret
« Reply #12 on: 17. October 2022, 19:44:55 PM »
Ah, very nice!