"Can you help me with the suitcases?" Nadja asks, making me wake up from a daydream about lying at the beach all day. I grab her suitcase and give it to her before taking my own and following her to the car. We have to be at the airport in an hour. Then, a three-hour flight awaits us. Sounds fun, doesn't it? My only real worry is that I'll get bored in those three hours on the plane. Luckily, neither I nor Nadja has a fear of flying.

At the airport, Nadja checks if we're sitting next to each other. While waiting for our flight, we both get sandwiches and spend some time checking out the people around us. I see a family with two children who seem to be waiting for the same flight as we are. I give my best friend a look that says, "Hopefully they're not sitting too close to us," and both of us giggle like teenage girls. It feels good to just not worry too much about anything. Yes, I don’t have a job right now but that’s an issue for when I come back home, isn’t it? I know Nadja will pay attention to me not thinking too much about my ex but after the initial shock, I’m almost happy that this relationship is over. 

Nadja spots a group of people who seem to be around our age. She wants to go to them and make friends for the trip but just as she's about to stand up, they leave. She frowns and I look at her, pretending to be offended. In a fake angry voice, I say "Am I not enough for you on this holiday?" 

Nadja laughs, "True, I forgot that I only need my best friend."

As we're about to go on our plane, I start looking at my watch. A three-hour flight, who thought that was a good idea? What will I do during that time? Nadja seems to be able to read my mind as she says, "Don't worry, I'll keep you entertained, I promise!"

***

Nadja's promise gets broken twenty minutes after take-off when she falls asleep right next to me. To keep my mind busy, I try to read one of the books I brought with me. However, we're on a cheap flight with many other people. I don’t think I’ll get a peaceful minute here. Additionally, Nadja starts snoring, a sound that I really can't stand. On my right side sits a man in a suit who seems to be typing something important on his laptop. He's just as annoyed by Nadja's snoring as I am which makes him call a flight attendant after just a few minutes. She offers the man to switch places with someone else and he happily accepts. Looks like he’s important or has more than enough money to get an extra-friendly treatment. As the man tries to get out of his seat, Nadja wakes up and I already know she won’t just let him leave without a remark from her, “Oh I’m sorry, did I disturb you with my snoring? Well, you disturbed my dream of good food!” 

About a minute later, the flight attendant comes back with another guy. He seems to be around our age but I can't really tell because he's wearing sunglasses. Nadja looks him up and down before whispering, "Sunglasses? Really? On the plane? I definitely won't talk to a stranger on a plane if he doesn't even bother to take off his sunglasses. Wake me up when we're back on the ground," 

The guy tries to hide a smile, he definitely heard that. I look at him to figure out how long he'll last next to Nadja's snoring. At least he seems like someone who doesn’t complain about noises on a full plane. He tries to get to his seat without making us stand up but it’s impossible so I quickly get up, pulling Nadja with me.

“Sorry, I’ll try to not make you stand up again,” he says with a polite smile. As he walks past me, a weird feeling in my stomach distracts me for a second. It feels like something inside of me started doing somersaults. Was something wrong with the sandwich I had earlier? Or am I scared of flying now? When I decide that it’s probably from standing up while flying, I notice that the guy stares at me and I stare back. “Everything okay?” he asks, sounding more surprised than actually concerned for my well-being.

“Yes, sure,” I brush it off while quickly looking away. He sits down on the right side of my seat and Nadja and I sit down again as well. I try to keep my eyes off of him but my brain doesn’t seem to be working properly at this height. I don’t know why but I start checking him out like a teenager in a rom-com movie. There’s nothing special about him. His dark brown hair looks as if he just got out of bed. His clothes are simple, a grey hoodie, jeans and those sunglasses that prevent me from seeing his eyes.

However, his tattoos catch my eye. I can see a detailed mandala on his hand and there seem to be more of them covered by the sleeve of his hoodie. Before it gets too awkward, I’m finally able to look away. He sits next to me in silence and stares out of the window. The feeling in my stomach slowly fades away.