My trip to Tampa was a surprise. I was sitting staring out the window of the plane, just spacing out. I was thinking about Florida and mentally sitting on the beach at Siesta Key. I felt the presence of someone sitting in the aisle seat, and then I heard someone say, “Natalie?”

I turned and saw that it was Ben from work sitting there. We haven’t had much one-on-one interaction – aside from the obligatory “hello” or little exchanges in the lunch room – but I’ve always gotten a good vibe from him. We exchanged a few words about why we were going to Florida. He was headed down there for training and decided to leave on Friday so that he could enjoy a warm Florida weekend.

The plane started to leave the gate and we realized no one was going to sit between us. I was pretty happy about this. The boring two and a half hour flight had suddenly become more interesting. The pilot came on the speaker system and informed us that we were in a traffic back-up on the runway but I didn’t mind because Ben and I were talking.

I was so engrossed in my conversation with him that I barely noticed when the plane took off (the scariest part of the flight for me). We were talking about the office and I was so excited to hear what he thought about things. He was giving me the inside scoop on how people operate. It explained a lot!

Then he looked at me like he had a secret. He unbuckled his seat belt and moved into the seat between us. I actually felt a flutter in my chest as he sat down next to me. He started telling me the office gossip. He had me laughing so hard that I was crying.

As we were approaching Tampa, Ben leaned towards me to look out the window and I felt a wave of warmth watch over me. His eyes moved from the window to my eyes and I wondered if he could tell that he was having a affect on me. But he just smiled and thanked me for keeping him company on the flight.

When we landed I was actually sad that the flight was over. We walked down to the baggage claim area where Arie was waiting for me. I introduced him to Ben and we offered Ben a ride over to the car rental place. He looked hesitant but he accepted. We were waiting outside with our luggage while Arie pulled the car up. Ben looked at me and asked if Arie was my boyfriend. I couldn’t help but laugh. I said, “No. He would probably be more interested in you than me!”

We dropped Ben off at the car rental place and I felt a longing as we drove away. I can’t explain it but I am suddenly more motivated to be at work. I guess it helps to have a new office friend.