On one flight back to Vegas, my seat was by a wonderfully warm woman named Lucy. She reminded me of my mother – she had the same quiet, sweet, intelligent way about her. I could imagine being scared and alone and having her hug me, and how that would definitely make me feel better. Obviously, I liked Lucy a lot.
“How are you?” Lucy says to me. I watch her closely as her fingers play nervously with a magazine sitting in her lap.
“I’m good. Ready to be going home.”
“You live in Las Vegas?
“Yeah, for over half a year now.”
“How is it living in Vegas?” Lucy asks.
“Weird.”
“I can only imagine. This is my first time ever going to Las Vegas. I’ve never done anything like this before,” Lucy says self-consciously.
“What’s your name?”
“Leah. What’s yours?”
“Lucy. Nice to meet you, Leah. I’ve got to tell you, Leah, I’m really nervous about this! This isn’t like me!”
“What’s your story, Lucy?”
“I’m going to meet a man I met online. Well, I met him a week ago, Leah. I’m newly divorced. I was married for thirty years to a pastor, Leah. And we’ve only been divorced for a couple of months. This isn’t something I’ve ever done before. I’m a long distance runner, and I met another man online who’s also a runner, and we met for the first time last week, Leah.”
When I was a little kid, I wrote a song where “Leah” was all of the lyrics, and I aptly titled it “The Leah Song.” So I was really digging Lucy’s “Leah” usage frequency. Every time she said my name, I purred louder.
“And it went well with Internet runner man?” I ask.
“Leah!” Lucy gushes, she glows, she vibrates faster, “I’ve never experienced anything like this before! We were so comfortable around each other immediately! It was like being with an old friend! And Leah,” Lucy’s energy causes me to levitate in my seat – a contact high.
“Leah, he’s just so handsome! He’s a runner, Leah! And he still has a full head of hair! And Leah, he’s just so nice to me.” That makes me happy. I would never be anything but nice to Lucy as long as she promised to always say my name like that. Leah.
“My ex husband was never very nice to me.” I watch a dark cloud descend, enveloping Lucy’s head. I feel my forehead crinkle. Only assholes are ever mean to wonderful, kind-hearted mothers. What kind of monster is this pastor?
“But now you’re going to Vegas to meet this far superior man!” I remind her. Lucy straightens and I watch her shake the clouds away.
“Oh Leah! I’ve never done anything like this before! I’ve only known him for a week, but he already had plans to come out to Vegas with some friends this weekend and he invited me to come along. Every night this week I’ve spent over at his house though! Every night since I’ve met him. Imagine, Leah…”
“That’s fantastic! I’m so glad to hear you’re on this new adventure! You deserve it after 30 years with some man who didn’t treat you right!” I watch Lucy testing out her new wings.
“You know what the breaking point was, Leah? Why I finally said enough is enough? He was addicted to Internet porn. He told me. That was it – just one more example of him picking himself over me. Thirty years and he never once put me first, Leah. Internet porn. That was really the last straw. Imagine,” Lucy shakes her head.
“I’m so excited for you! It’s not every day you meet someone worth getting on a plane for. Good on you.”
“And how about you, Leah? Any men in your life?”
“No one worth jumping on a plane for, Lucy.”
**
When we reach the luggage, I get to watch the whole slow motion reunion. Lucy rides down the escalator to the luggage section, and waiting at the bottom, coming slowly in to view, with the biggest smile ever stretching across a tan face was a giddy man with a full head of hair. I watch them hug each other as though it’s been years since they’d been together. They turn in to little kids as he takes her luggage and her hand and says,
“How was your flight? I’ve missed you.” I smile. Lucy had found her prince charming in running shoes.
Then I turned my back on the fireworks, and walked out to the taxi line alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment