by Ayn Dillard
“I know for certain, I’m glad to be able to spend more time with you. Only it’s important to me that you feel comfortable. I don’t want to do anything that’ll mess this up. I really enjoy talking with you and want to get to know you. I can’t recall when I’ve had this much fun and felt so happy. You might’ve had to spend the rest of the day even most of the night on that plane eating pretzels. So yeah, I rescued you from the horrible, terrible pretzel den.”
“Yes, you did and I’m hungry for anything but pretzels. I only ate a banana this morning.”
“I ate a banana and cereal—dry—so am hungry also. We’ll get something to eat as soon as we find out where in the world we are.”
“It’s so cold here. What a change from LA.”
“You’ll warm up in a minute. One reason, you’re so chilled is probably because you’ve had a lack of sleep.”
“Yes, I’m certain that’s part of it. Thank you so much for your coat. I wouldn’t make a bad looking flight attendant—would I?”
“You’re very welcome and the coat looks fabulous on you. You’d make a gorgeous flight attendant. Isn’t it a coincidence I found a car that needed to be driven back to Dallas? What are the odds of all of this happening? It’s magic! I am so glad to be able to spend some more time with you—so glad!”
“Yes, it’s wild and as if it was all meant to happen. We’ll have fun on the drive.”
“Yes, we will.”
Smiling at each other, we’re like two kids on an adventure that we’re so happy to be having.
Boyd says, “Okay now, how do I operate this thing? Windshield wipers—heat’s already on. Okay now, we’re ready to head out.”
Leaving the airport grounds to find the highway to Dallas, I’m startled by the contrast between the warmth sunshine and palm trees of LA to the brown flat terrain of Oklahoma on this dreary day. Before turning onto the highway, Boyd humorously inquires. “Okay, which way do we go? I’m great in the air, but lost on the ground. I really don’t like to drive much, hardly ever do. I fly everywhere because the air’s the best place to be, if the earth was, we’d be breathing it.”
I laugh as I think—my thoughts exactly—I like the way this guy thinks.
He suggests, “Let’s get something to eat at that Arby’s?”
“Okay.”
“You know what—I don’t have much money on me.” He pulls out his wallet to find he has about ten bucks, “I didn’t know that I’d be jumping out of the airplane between LA and Dallas.”
I state, “I don’t have much on me either, maybe about twenty.”
“I am going to try that ATM machine over there to get some more just in case we need it and thank goodness, I have my Texaco card for gas.”
“I have a Texaco card, too. At least we’re covered there.”
Between us, we have about thirty dollars, two Texaco credit cards and a rental car belonging to someone else. We’re on the plains of Oklahoma and not sure of how to get where we’re going. The weather’s horrible, but we’re having the best time. As if we’re lost, but really found.
Boyd tries a couple of bank machines but his card doesn’t work. Finding a phone, he calls his bank to check things out, all’s well but apparently none of the bank machines around this area work. We’re really out in the boonies. Watching him from the warmth of the car running around in his shirt sleeves trying to find a money source is endearing. I sit warm in the car with his airline jacket still around my shoulders.
Coming upon the highway information office, he runs in to get a map. Coming out, he laughs hysterically. “They looked at me so funny in there. Here I am in my pilot’s uniform asking, ‘Duh, where’s the highway to Dallas?’ This is too ridiculous. We’ve no money, don’t know which way to go and it’s cold as the North Pole.” We laugh until we ache.
I state, “This is ridiculous but also really fun.” I am having the best time, I’ve had—seems like since forever. Our excitement of being together combined with this strange set of circumstances is filling us up with glee. Nothing else seems to matter, except that we’re together and having one great time.
After he looks over the map, we go back to the Arby’s that we’d passed earlier. The only food source to be found in this freezing brown place where we’ve found ourselves. Walking in rhythm to the entrance with Boyd’s arm around me, I catch a glimpse of us in the refection of the windows. We look so good together. His light hair, my dark hair, our smiles, our energy, the way we move together—me—fitting right under his arm,—like we’re made for each other. “We look cute together!”
“We certainly do. We’d have had great looking kids.”
At the counter, I state, “I want a chicken sandwich.” I turn to Boyd to playfully inquire. “Can we afford a drink, too, dear?”
Boyd cracks up, then plays along, chuckles. “Yes, dear, you may have a drink.”
The young lady behind the counter stares blankly at us, obviously curious about our behavior. We’re middle-aged people, one in a pilot’s uniform. Running around in this weather, dressed inappropriately, laughing hysterically behaving like two kids filled with joy. Responding to her quizzical look, “You won’t believe this—we just jumped out of an airplane and now we’re starving.”
Continuing to stare, she flatly inquires, “Well, what else can I get you?”
Her boredom and obvious disinterest cracks us up even more so we laugh harder exclaiming.
“We must look like fools, but we’re having fun so who cares what anyone else thinks.” The free abandonment and excitement of our laughter is exhilarating. Boyd orders two chicken sandwiches and two drinks. Very aware that our money’s dwindling with miles to go. We eat our sandwiches rapidly as we gaze into each other’s eyes and talk non-stop about what just happened—about what we’re doing in the outskirts of Oklahoma City in a part of town that looks like ‘nowhere’ land without any working money machines.
I ask, “Where in the world, are we? Do you think we’ll ever find our way home?”
Boyd’s laughing so hard, he can barely answer. “Don’t know, but I feel like I’m already home.”
Umm, gosh, he feels the same way as I do. “That was so fun jumping out of the airplane. Do you think any of the other passengers noticed?”
“Well, it was damn obvious a pilot took a pretty girl off the plane.”
We are having so much fun and the sandwiches taste so good, “Boyd, do you think we should order three hundred chicken sandwiches and take them back to the airplane? Except how would we pay for them?”
“Now, that’s an idea. Could charge them to the airline—no, forget it. The passengers will be taken care of just fine. They’ll get some food for them.”
After eating, of course, I need to run into the restroom and while doing so, I have a moment to really slam back to earth. What am I feeling here? What’s going on? Gosh, what a day! What’s going to happen next and is this for real? Well, no matter what else—it’s fun. I don’t want to think too much and spoil it.
Checking out the map, Boyd discovers, “We’re close to the highway. Can you believe it? It’s just right here.”
“I thought it might be—it looks familiar. At one time, I lived in this state.”
“So which direction do you want to go? Doesn’t matter to me. Tell me quick before I make this turn.”
“Onward to Dallas! Please, take me to Dallas—Captain sir!”
On the turnpike, first thing we see is a billboard advertisement for a Duncan’s real-estate company. A few yards down, the name Ashford is spelled out in huge letters on the top of a roof, ‘Ashford’s Restaurant’.
We look at each other in complete amazement, obvious we’re thinking the same thing. As Boyd exclaims, “Now, how bizarre is that?”
“Real spooky—and what a coincidence.”
“Coincidental nothing, it’s for certain, our names Duncan and Ashford go together because we go together. Natalie, now I ask you seriously, just how fluky was that? We’re meant for
each other and all this is destiny. This whole day has been fate!”
I shake my head in disbelief. “It’s all just too weird; this whole day is like a magic dream.” I think to myself, the fates are leading us on an incredible journey even displaying our names together on the side of a highway and we’re able to follow their lead, if we choose to—and we do.
We talk practically non-stop. It’s as if we can’t share fast enough and go from talking about the experiences and feelings of this magical day to sharing about ourselves and our lives.
I inquire, “Are you from Dallas originally?”
“No, I was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Was real poor growing up, but didn’t realize it then—always had what I needed. Some of my relatives even went to school with Elvis Presley. We were, you know, really poor types.”
“Really, how cool—Elvis. So that’s where you get your southern drawl. You don’t have the usual Texas twang. Are your parents living? Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“My dad’s still living. My mom died a few years ago and I have one older sister.”
“Sorry about your Mom.”
He continues, “You know, I want to be cremated when I die. This funeral, burial thing is so stupid, a real rip off, expensive coffins with satin lining and for what? It’s just for the guilt because you’re so overcome with grief that you can’t think straight. The person who’s dead sure doesn’t care.”
“I agree. I want to be cremated, also. Once my soul leaves my body, it’s only a shell and should return to dust as quickly as possible. What reason would I have for wanting to preserve it?”
He continues, “Exactly, what’s the purpose of preserving a body in a casket? What are you going to do, dig up the body to see how it’s holding up? What in the world is all the preserving for? Who really is it for? It’s just to play on people’s grief, so the mortuary can make a lot of money.”
I continue, “I agree—it’s a scam. They get you when you’re in stress, not thinking clearly, so you’ll spend more. The whole premise of the industry—because you aren’t going to dig the body up, then decide maybe Mom needs a new dress or more make-up. I read somewhere the reason we even put a tombstone on a grave, comes from an archaic custom of piling stones on a person, so evil spirits will leave. A tombstone is only a derivative from this outdated practice. Why are we still doing it?”
He states, “That’s interesting and I am sure it’s true. They just created a way to make money on a person after they are dead when relatives are full of pain and grief. He laughs, “Yeah, like Mom your hair needs to be redone now that you’ve been underground for a year. The whole thing’s a big rip off and ridiculous. I want to be cremated and have my ashes thrown off the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s one of my favorite places in the world. Have you ever been there?”
“No.”
“Well then, I’ll take you there.”
I add, “Okay.” Our eyes meet. “Are you sure you want to have your ashes scattered off the Golden Gate Bridge? By the time you die, you might have another place that’s more important to you.”
He smiles, “Like the Oklahoma City Airport—over the tarmac at the Oklahoma City Airport?”
“Perhaps, or someplace else?”
He looks in my face, “Someplace else, we travel to together and love? A place that’s meaningful to the both of us?”
“Maybe, I guess?” My heart’s pounding as I think to myself. What’s going on here? What’s this man saying? How can he be saying such serious things so quickly?
He continues, “Hope, I go first. I don’t want to live without you.”
Just as I’m thinking, I hope I die first, or if luck will have it like today—perhaps, we’ll die in each others’ arms.
“Natalie, I’m falling in love with you, but I’ve met you too soon, darlin’. I still have to get out of my marriage, but I am certain I’m falling in love with you. I know this sounds crazy. I feel like I’m sixteen the way I feel, but I knew when I first saw you in the LA airport this morning. I just kept watching you. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. I’m mesmerized by you.”
I stare at him in disbelief as I think, I’m feeling the same way. But this is way too crazy, too fast and probably insane. How can this happen so quickly?
Then I exclaim loudly, “Boyd, all this is too wild. Remember, we just met today. How can this be happening so fast? People don’t fall in love this swiftly, do they? Can they? Except, since we have our burial decisions figured out, since we both know we want to be cremated. Perhaps, we could work back from there.”
He laughs in joy, “God, you’re so fun. I want to take you everywhere and show you the world. Have you ever been to Europe?”
“No.”
“Really—no?”
I laugh, “I just look like I’ve been to Europe—but haven’t.”
“Yeah, you look exotic, a bit European, cosmopolitan and classy as if you’ve been everywhere.”
“I’ve been told that all my life. So, I guess, I should go sometime, huh? I’d love to travel—just haven’t had the opportunity.”
“Well, I love Europe, France and especially Italy. I want to take you to watch the pigeons fly out of the grand piazza in Venice. It’s so beautiful and romantic.”
“Sounds wonderful, I’ve always wanted to go to Italy. I’ll travel anywhere as long as I can have a hot shower in the morning and a hairdryer. A hot shower is the only thing that really wakes me up. That and a Diet Dr. Pepper.”
“Okay, hot shower, hair dryer, Diet Pepper—I understand and will do my best to accommodate. When in Europe, I usually stay in bed and breakfasts. You may have to share a bathroom, but I’ll stand guard to protect you.”
“Okay.” As I think—not really sure that’s my style, but...
“I want to spoil you, Natalie. My daughter, Natasha asks me for something and I ask in what color and how many? I want to spoil you that way. You know you’re so pretty. My daughter’s cute, like a little girl, but you, Natalie are so beautiful. I love your smile and your eyes. I just love looking into your dark brown eyes.”
“Interesting my name’s Natalie and your daughter’s is Natasha?” as I reflect this man is so romantic.
“I thought about this on the airplane when you first told me your name, “
I ponder—and we think the same things at the same time.
He says, “I’m not rich, Natalie. Pilots make a nice living, but I’m not wealthy and I have all these children to take care of. Except when I go away on a trip, I am able to really play. I don’t have to worry about my business like a lot of men. I know men who can’t take a trip because they can’t get away from their businesses. Constantly thinking about it all the time and I want you to know, I’m not like that. We’ll be able to have fun when we travel—lots of fun.”
“We’ll have fun anywhere we are. Can you believe what we’ve just done today? I jumped out of an airplane...”
“Into my arms.”
I continue, “Yes, into your arms and it was so fun and romantic. We’re so fun and romantic.”
“Yes, we are. You jumped out of the airplane into my arms and when you did—when you jumped, I knew that you’d be with me forever. I said to myself, if this girl jumps, I’m never going to let her go. She’ll be with me for the rest of my life and you did. You jumped right into my arms.”
“Yes, I did. I really did leap out of an airplane into your arms.”
Boyd states, “It’s like a movie, a romance, an adventure movie such as ‘Romancing the Stone’. This is so fun!”
I confess, “I really like being with you.” As I recall and that’s what I said earlier on the plane about ‘Romancing the Stone’.
Boyd smiles at me. “I love being with you. You’re so fun and looking at you is pure pleasure. I just love your smile. After jumping out of the plane while walking to the terminal you were so cute. I saw the look on your face as you were thinking, Now, where’s that door and how do I get into the building fast and out of t
his cold?”
“Yes, and just when I was thinking this, you opened the door and rescued me.”
He exclaims, “Yeah, I rescued you.”
“You rescued me from the cold.” As I think, he sure loves to be a hero. And it certainly feels like he’s my superman today. We’re so in tune with one another that we know, can feel what the other one’s thinking.
Boyd states, “When I first got back on the plane and couldn’t see you. Couldn’t find you, I felt so upset. Just not being able to see you, find you, made me worried. I frantically questioned in my mind—where is she? I must find her. I was looking all over the plane for you—why was I so worried when I couldn’t find you? I’ve never felt like this before—so anxious to find someone.”
I respond, “When I was slumped down in the seat reading?”
“Yes, I couldn’t find you for a minute and then finally then when I glimpsed you looking over the seat. It felt so good in my heart to see you. It made me feel so happy just looking at you, I thought, there she is! There’s my Natalie!”
“You were walking down the aisle of the airplane coming towards me and announced, come on—we’re getting off of this plane. I have a car. Gather up your things.”
He continues with excitement in his voice, “And you didn’t hesitate, but said okay, would you get my luggage? You didn’t hesitate for one minute, not for one minute.” He chuckles as he smiles ear to ear.
I add, “Yes, I recall it all. Pretty weird, huh? I really don’t make a habit of jumping out of airplanes with men—especially married ones.” As I think, what am I doing, what’s really going on? What are this man and I saying to each other? Are we falling in love? Could we really be falling in love this fast—but he’s married.
He responds in a serious tone, “Yes, I know. Of course, I know you don’t. I don’t make this a habit either. I have never have done anything like this before—ever.” He glances at the dash of the car, “Whoops, we need to get gas. Great, there’s a Texaco station right up there. Of course, there is as everything is falling into place like magic.”
