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“Well, it worked.” He glanced back only to find the French lady scowling in their direction, all while seated in her middle seat. With a short chuckle, He turned back to his seatmate and held out his hand. “I’m Barry.”
“Xolani.” She took his hand and shook. “But everyone calls me Xo.”
“Oh, wow! Xolani.” Barry didn’t mean to flirt, but it still happened. “That’s a pretty and unique name, just like its owner.”
Thankfully, Xolani didn’t mind. She gave him a bright smile. “Thank you. I’m sure Barry is also a unique name somewhere.”
“Ouch!” Barry winced in mock pain and put a palm to his chest. “Did you just throw a barb?”
“Sorry. Habit.” She laughed. After a beat, she asked, “Were you really going to give that lady your seat? You’re that nice?”
“Not nice. I just hate drama,” he explained, “ and she looked like someone who’s not afraid to cause a scene.”
“Mm… ain’t that the truth.” Xolani scoffed. “She was about to eat you alive.”
“I doubt that. I’m not that easy to eat.” He winked. “I’m a pretty big guy.”
It’s only when her eyes lowered to his crotch that he realized how the sentence and wink could be misinterpreted.
Her eyebrows flew up. “Ooh! You’re a confident one.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” Heat flushed up to his face as mortification overwhelmed him. “I meant that_”
“I know. I know.” She interrupted with a laugh. “I’m just teasing you.”
Her words drew a relieved chuckle from him. Changing the topic, he asked, “Are you American?”
“I am.”
He complimented, “Your French is great.”
“Thank you.” She teased, “Your English is great too.”
“It better be. It’s the only language I speak.” He added, “Unless I’m allowed to count the banging Irish accent I do when I’m drunk.”
“Irish accent? For real?” She chuckled. “Isn’t that racist or something?”
“It can’t be. I’m part Irish.”
“Oh, that explains the Barry.” She continued, “For the record, I have Irish in me too. Like 3% or something.”
“Why am I not surprised?” With a smile, he added, “Our ancestors were running around every corner of the world spreading around their seed willy-nilly like they were being paid.”
As they spoke, Barry kept an eye on the aisle, checking to see if other people were boarding. The middle seat between him and Xolani was still empty, and he hoped to God that it stayed that way. She was fun to talk to, and having someone in the middle of them would make talking hard.
When the plane closed its doors with the seat still empty, he had to restrain himself from grinning like a maniac.
There was a break in their conversation while the flight attendants did their demos. Soon, the plane took off. But once they were in the air, Barry lifted the armrest closest to him. Xolani lifted her armrest too. She probably did it to get more comfortable, but he just wanted to lessen the distance between them.
He asked, “Were you in Paris on holiday or for business?”
“Business.” Xolani offered, “I’ve actually been working there for six months now.”
“So you’re going back?” He waited with bated breath for her answer, knowing that if she said ‘yes’, he’d be disappointed.
“No, my business there is done,” she said, drawing an involuntary smile from him. Turning his question on him, she asked, “You? Business or holiday?”
“Holiday.” He explained, “I wanted to check out Paris and see what the fuss was all about.”
