it's just that one fleeting moment

i don't usually take a flight alone. generally it's mostly with family or friends or colleagues. but if you can get past the loneliness of it all, sometimes it's a rather nice thought to be alone on a flight. for the most part, my solo flights have lead to some pretty good conversations.

recently i went on day business trip which required me to take a 1-hour flight to my destination. on the flight back i was alone as my boss was staying a night. maybe 'coz it was a short flight or maybe 'coz people around the area aren't naturally too friendly to strangers, it completely didn't occur to me that i might actually have a friendly flight neighbor.

he was already seated at his window seat when i arrived to place my laptop in the overhead compartment. i plonked next to him in the middle seat that i chose. my boss was supposed to have occupied the isle seat next to me before she changed her plans and i didn't know if that seat had now been taken up by another passenger. but in the end it wasn't. and i never shifted seats either.

before the plane even started up on the runway, the guy turned to me and started up a conversation by asking if i would like him to turn off the aircon darts. i didn't. but that broke the ice. we had the usual conversation bout our reasons for being on the flight. and since mine was due to work, that pretty much led to talk bout my work.

now, my work is rather interesting. it's something that fascinates most people and guys in particular. and he declared me his best friend 2 seconds after he found out bout my job. we went on to talk easily bout various topics including the world cup. we joked around and he even slapped me on the arm of which i reciprocated by elbowing him back lightly. i suppose it was kinda strange for 2 strangers who just got to know each other.

the flight went by very pleasantly and faster than expected. we were just having such good conversation.

okay this is the part where i admit that i half thought that he would have asked for my email (perhaps not phone number as we did live an hour's flight apart) but he didn't. he offered to carry my laptop before we got lost somewhere between customs and the taxi stand.

i'm not entirely bothered bout it all. i mean i'm perfectly okay with this purely just being a good entertaining flight conversation. afterall, it's clear that he's done this many times before. and maybe only the guys who are interested in something more would have asked for my contact. i guess i just kinda wished that we got the chance to say a proper goodbye before we went on our separate lives never to see or hear from one another again.