Layover Read Free Page B

deeper than we both knew. I quickly moved back to the “safe” side of the room and got on the phone with the airlines. I was more than ready to get on the first thing smoking out of here. I watched out of my peripheral vision as Allen fell asleep on his bed and I imagined he was mine. I longed to crawl in the bed with him and find out what that was pressed against my stomach moments earlier. These are the defining moments of our life. It’s times like these that help us determine who we are. I often wondered if I would be able to display integrity in the moment of truth. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching. There was nothing preventing us from performing the best sexual acts of our life right here and now. We are two people in less than desirable marriages, alone with each other, hundreds of miles away from anyone who could discover our possible indiscretion, longing to touch each other in the most erotic way imaginable. Who would find out, who would know? We would. We would and God would. For all the hot, hearty sex on the planet, it’s not worth it for that reason.
    He slept while I tried feverishly to book a flight out in time for my meeting. I kept getting the same response. Those flights were filled hours ago, while I was out frolicking with my brother-in-law. It was apparent that I was going to miss my meeting. I knew I was going to have to reschedule. I knew it was going to be practically impossible to get these people to agree to see me another time. This had been set for months and one bad weather day was going to ruin my chances of landing the deal of the century. Maybe this was my punishment for coveting my brother-in-law. If I had been on the phone with the airline instead of gazing into Allen’s light brown eyes at dinner, maybe I would be halfway on my way to California right now or at least by morning. After what seemed like hours of back-and-forth with the airlines, to no avail, I finally gave up. I decided to take a shower and go to bed. Maybe my luck would be better in the morning after some much-needed rest.
    When I woke up the next morning, Allen was sitting in a chair next to my bed, showered and fully-dressed, staring at me.
    “What are looking at?” I asked, disoriented.
    “I was just watching you sleep. You look so beautiful.”
    “Allen. Get a grip. I am your sister-in-law. Don’t you think this is getting too deep? Let’s not complicate things. We just spent the night together in a hotel and neither of our spouses knows where we are. I would say we are pushing our luck.”
    “You’re right. So what time is your flight?”
    “I don’t have one.”
    I went on to explain my problem and Allen began to immediately blame himself.
    “It’s not your fault,” I told him. No matter what I said to him, he still felt responsible.
    “How could it not be my fault? If I had made sure you had a flight out of here instead trying to wine and dine you, you would be on your way to your big presentation right now.”
    “It’s not that, it’s just that so many people got stranded yesterday and they are all trying to get out of here today. They probably stayed at the airport all night and the airlines ensured that they would be on the first flights out of here. You actually saved me from having to sleep in a chair on C concourse.”
    “Yeh, but now look at where you are. You’re here, and your meeting is hundreds of miles away.”
    “Allen, I have to be honest. When things like this happen to me, I somehow think that God has his hand in it. Maybe he wanted me to be stuck in Denver. Maybe God did not want me to make that meeting. I don’t know what His will is. I just know that he gives us more than enough chances to do the right thing and when we do, he will reward us. I feel that God is pleased with me and missing my meeting is part of his bigger plan.”
    “So what are you going to do now?”
    “Well, I’m going to get on a plane back to Birmingham. From there, I