We were flying home after spending a week with my parents.
The flight was completely full by the time I’d booked our tickets, so we couldn’t sit together.
Instead, Allison had the aisle seat on one side of the plane while I had the aisle seat directly across from her.
I could see her the entire flight.
If she needed me, I was only one step away.
When we reached our row, Allison smiled politely at the two strangers she’d be sitting beside.
The man by the window smiled back.
The woman in the middle seat barely looked at her.
She sighed loudly before Allison had even finished putting her backpack beneath the seat.
She was probably in her late 60s, dressed neatly, with perfectly styled silver hair and the kind of expression that suggested the entire world existed solely to inconvenience her.
