Sunglasses, Resist & Relax.
It was a vacation that all my girlfriends and I were waiting for, the trip of a lifetime to be exact! Mary and Jane booked our plane tickets and May and I booked the Island get-away! We were always working, had that stereotypical adult friendship where our schedules were opposite from one another but we all found some way to squeeze each other in the day. We all really wanted to spend some time relaxing and letting go of all the heavy stress load we all gossip about in our daily group chat. From the stress of being a lawyer to the stress of driving all day in a 3 tons of metal all the way to being on our feet all day at the fashion store. The four of us were an odd bunch but our mothers introduced us at a young age all being an only child, having all of us really stuck together like sap from the tree roots our mothers instilled.
Anyways this was a trip of a lifetime for all of us;
We all slept at my house the night before so we could make sure to get on the plane early and get seated together. It felt right, everything was gliding along so smoothly. I had the chance to stop and breathe a few times to be grateful for this moment. We all had talked about traveling together as children under the blanket umbrella with flash lights looking at the newest magazine from Mary's mom, when we were all supposed to be sleeping.
The airline employee started to hollar the gate numbers for the plane, calling out after class and ticket. We all got coach seats, knowing we are on a budget as to why we wanted to get there early to be sure we got seated near each other.
We all got escorted to line up and board the plane, and I ended up getting split up from the three others, they found a row completely empty and all jumped in with enthusiasm to sit together. Mary looked at me and mouthed the words “ sorry “ silently as I continued to look for a seat.
I ended up a couple rows down from my party and sat between this older looking gentlemen with dark sunglasses on, the scent of expensive cologne, and his whole aura of the “ silver fox” kind of men my mom always raved about. Next to him was a quiet petite woman, with long black hair and the tension stiffer then a sweet potato. She looked down the entire time and acted like she wasn’t even there. I tried to follow in her footsteps, thinking she was traveling alone and just did not want the conversation, I thought i could do the same since my friends basically discluded me in the travel part of the trip.
From the moment I sat down I could feel the intensity of his curiosity. I felt the direct burn on the side of my face from his stare through the black glasses, I thought to myself, “why did my friends let me be alone, thinking if this guy wants to talk he’ll end up saying something.”
I ended up breaking my awkward and judgmental thoughts by getting up and using the bathroom, stopping by my friends to see how they were. Jane was going on and on about some guy she met while waiting for her airport coffee, this sophisticated man with mystery to him. “ He came from behind me and insisted on buying my coffee and getting my name!He grabbed me by my hand as i reached for my wallet and stopped me in mid action, He had these dark sunglasses that were on top of his head and oh my gosh was his hair sexy, eyes imbued with my sense of what i was doing.” I stopped her and asked if she got his name, she just mentioned he was on this flight. I make my way to the bathroom with a puzzled look on my face not understanding why, if this was the same man sitting next to me piercing a whole of overthinking on the side of my brain with just a simple stare. I wet my face hoping to reset this funky feeling I have sitting on my shoulders. Then suddenly I hear a knock at the door, its just the flight attendant asking me to go back to my seat soon.
As I walk back through the aisle I feel the heat of my friends wondering what's going on with me. It's not like we didn't already split up the what ifs and what wills the night before preparing us for a stress free vacation. I go to sit down with the thought of just my friends in my head to a feeling of something under my bottom. As I sit back up with a gasp I see the sunglass man's hand move quickly with a grin appearing on his face as quickly as his hand moved. What on earth was he thinking. I give him a dirty stare back and sit in my seat shifting my legs towards the aisle, he grabs my thigh. With the tight grasp, I looked up to him with no sunglasses this time. Before I could make out any words he forced a bundle of money into my front pocket. The silent gesture of his hands and the threatening bribe, I had no idea what to say or do next, just hoping the flight attendant would make her rounds.
He's erratically going up my thighs now and unfortunately I wore shorts, thinking my outfit wasn't so “easy accessible.” with every cell in my body i try to stand up, say i have to go to the bathroom, but the ignorance is so overwhelming. Clenching my wrists with each stand of the knees, pulling me back down to my seat. The pressure was unbearable, POP! Fuck, hes done it. I yell in pain and the attendant runs over, “ are you okay?!” With his foot stepping on mine under the seat tray harder and harder I glup and pull the trays up. “ He's hurting me!, Help!” With one stare from him the flight attendant moves on, “ sorry sweetie, it looks like he's just giving you some attention.” Now that hurt worse than my wrist popping and my toes being crushed by size 10s. It's like everyone else on this plane isn't acknowledging the resistance. I'm trapped in the sky with a man who is a silent abuser. My friends are at the back of the plane, they can't see, but will they believe me?
The flight comes to an end, my tight is slowly loosening up thinking I'm going to be away from this stranger.
SIKE.
The attendant lets everyone go in an orderly fashion, we’re over in the front so i’m waiting for my friends. I thought that I could avoid him once we got off the gate, but he followed my every move. Oddly to my notice the small woman was too, like she was his shadow.
I found a little gap between a wall and a pillar, I think I'm good, pulled out my phone and called my friends but it went straight to voicemails. All of a sudden it gets dark, a tall man with a black suit is standing in front of me. With one of those airport cars behind him and a small crate. I’m weak, I cried for help thinking he was to help, but as soon as i was done speaking he grabbed a bag from his back pocket and put it over my head. I’m getting shoveled in the crate, with every muscle resisting this man is bigger than me by a good 200 pounds.
I end up at the biggest real estate I have ever gone to. It's the silver fox sunglass man.
“What the fuck kind of island did i book?” i think to myself as he continues his infernal fun.
BANG,BANG! WOOP WOOP
The police have showed up, right before he was about to “ put me away for the night”
My friends are standing outside and I'm itching to tell everyone what my first day of vacation was like. Finally the name of the mysterious fox, Jeffery Epstien.
The island we were on, was his, the last woman he wanted to mess with, had backup. Mary did not let an eye off me, figuring out that she was the lawyer in the group she had the hunch when something didn't feel right. I asked her why she didn't do anything on the plane, “ I was waiting to get out of the sky, there's no such thing as sky police.” we both laughed, even though that one experience started my trip, i couldn't let another person's injustice actions affect my plans to destress. It shows to be grateful for what you already have, don’t abuse your power and karma will catch up.
#graditude #smallthings #friends #courage #luck #jefferyepstien #challange #quickwrite