receive an email shortly with updated flight information. Please see a
booking agent if you require further assistance. We appreciate your patience
and understanding and look forward to serving you tomorrow.”
A communal groan rolls through the space. What follows is a string of
announcements delivering the same message to neighboring gates: no one is
getting out of here tonight.
My head drops back against the chair’s metal top and I let out an
exhausted sigh. It’s been a crappy week, and this is just the bread that
makes the whole thing a shit sandwich.
I’d empty my entire bank account just to sleep in my own bed tonight.
To be alone with some fucking peace and quiet. To decompress.
Instead, I am fully compressed. Every muscle feels tight, and my jaw
hurts from clenching it. Even my lungs feel constricted.
This was the last thing I needed after having my entire world turned
upside down.
“Yeah, canceled.” That too-happy voice floats through the air toward
me. “It’s okay. It is what it is. I’m going to make the most of it! When life
gives you lemons…”
It squeezes the acid right in your fucking eyes.
I push to my feet.
A peek over my shoulder reveals a shock of wavy, platinum hair draped
over the woman’s face as she rifles through an oversize bag, her phone
pressed to her ear.
My brows scrunch low as she laughs at whatever the person on the other
end of the line has said. I shake my head as I turn away and heave my bag
onto my shoulder, deciding she’s altogether too happy. It’s not normal.
For some reason, her cheerfulness sours my mood even further. So with
my heavy footfalls echoing on the polished concrete floors, I head toward
the booking agent’s desk to see if there’s a way I can get the hell out of
here.
Waiting in line doesn’t ease my annoyance. As it turns out, I’m not the
only one in a foul mood. An angry middle-aged man ahead of me has gone
from agitated to a full-blown meltdown. He points his index finger at the
frazzled customer service representative, demanding she fix this—as if she
personally created the snowstorm.
He’s mad about his bags. He’s mad about the lack of available
accommodations. He’s mad about the new early flight time.
