The Couple Sitting Across From Me On A Plane Flight Made Me Rethink My Relationship

An in-flight mystery.

Photo by Aleksei Zaitcev on Unsplash

It wasn’t until halfway through the plane flight that I noticed the couple across the aisle from me. The woman was incredibly well put together with a glossiness about her hair, skin, and makeup, giving her an almost unearthly sheen. Not a single hair was out of place.

The man sitting next to her was presumably her significant other, as I noticed him putting his hand on her knee at one point and attempting to give her a loving nuzzle. He appeared to be older than her and reasonably attractive from my viewpoint. He was undeniably physically fit with muscles bulging out of his t-shirt sleeves.

Unfortunately, the smooth beauty seemed to want absolutely nothing to do with this man, and I was instantly curious about it. Whether he was her boyfriend, husband, or something else, she rebuffed every attempt he made at verbal or physical contact.

She sat there and stared at what looked to be a social media or photo feed on her phone for the entire 3 hours of our flight. With no internet on the plane, that was odd, but it didn’t seem to stop her level of absorption into the screen.

She never once reacted in any real way. The most I saw her do was blink and take a sip of her drink.

She was completely zoned out to any human interaction with her traveling companion or anyone else, for that matter. I strained a little to see if perhaps she was just really engrossed in a downloaded movie or novel on her phone, but she wasn’t even wearing headphones.

Normally, I would try not to be this nosy, but considering there wasn’t much else to do on the flight, I found myself continuing to glance over at the couple to see if there was any change in their relationship dynamic.

There wasn’t. I was fascinated. I immediately wanted to know the story behind this couple, and the female companion's cold-as-ice exterior continued to intrigue me.

Of course, I had theories. She was angry at him for some reason. A transgression? A Betrayal? She has a fear of flying? Maybe she didn’t want to be on the trip at all. Perhaps they were flying to a funeral or some unfortunate event?

Both of their outfits appeared to be vacation attire. She was fully tanned, fully made up, and fully not smiling. Never once. Maybe she was just a self-centered snob, I thought to myself. Then I scolded myself for being so judgmental.

The man next to her seemed like a nice character, at least in his surface demeanor on the plane, and in his interaction with the flight crew. I noticed him try to glance at his female companion several times to initiate some kind of contact, but each time, he failed. I felt sorry for him.

I started pondering my own romantic relationship, and I couldn’t help but wonder… how do my partner and I look to other people in public?

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Although I’m not the biggest fan of public affection, I usually hold my partner’s hand at the very least and I’m pretty sure we’re usually smiling when we’re together unless we’re in the middle of an argument — which even then you can get a feeling for something, whether it’s tension or stern glares.

This woman on the plane was as cool as a cucumber the entire flight, never once moving from her crossed-leg position, changing her facial expression, or moving her eyes away from her phone.

During that flight, I realized I missed my partner. I longed for his silly jokes that made me roll my eyes or smirk in exasperation. I was grateful for his attention to me. I hoped I would never be as cold to him as I was witnessing here, no matter what the circumstances were.

When the plane landed, I looked over at the couple to see if anything had changed as they disembarked. The man was the perfect gentleman, getting up to grab his companion’s suitcase for her from the overhead bin, and once again, attempting to catch her gaze.

Nope. Nothing.

She continued to stare at her phone until the very last minute as people were walking to the exit. Then she got up, with her long tan legs and pretty white shorts. She flipped her hair, adjusted her expensive sunglasses, and proceeded to leave. Her male companion followed behind her.

I will never know the answers to this mysterious behavior on the plane — but I do know it made me appreciate my partner that much more.

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