Please Be Seated

by Jenny Bunting

  “Now, you have mine,” he says.

  “My middle name is Phyllis,” I say, leaning forward. I blush, and he lets out a laugh.

  “Phyllis? Like The Office? I love it!”

  “It is after my great-aunt that my mom was close to. Supposedly, she was a riot.”

  “Erin Phyllis Campbell. That is such a good name.”

  “Thanks,” I say.

  He turns his phone around, and I’m in his phone as Erin Phyllis Campbell.

  I follow suit and enter his name as Landon Bernard Walcott.

  “I’m so glad I found you,” he says. He shakes his head in disbelief. “It had to be fate. It had to be real. It was love at first sight—for me, anyway.”

  “It was. For me, too,” I say. He kisses my hand, and it sends shivers up my arm.

  We are quiet for a moment, and I say, “I quit my job today.”

  “Wow, really?” Landon stands up and attacks me with a bear hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “I could hear your voice in my head the entire time. My boss wasn’t going to give me that promotion. He was just using it as a ploy to get me back to New York.”

  “I wondered about that,” Landon says. “I think we should celebrate.”

  Worry about money must seep into my expression, because he adds, “On me.”

  “Okay,” I say. He stands up and offers his hand. I take it, and I stand up.

  We have a lovely evening and an even better night. We eat at a tiny restaurant that overlooks the water, and I feel at peace, like my life is locking into place. Everything before felt shaggy, out of control. Now, it feels like it has always been this way, and Landon has always been in my life.

  We drink decent margaritas and watch the sun set. After we ride back to his place in a rideshare, I follow him into his apartment and meet Henry, who is sitting on the couch, holding a game controller.

  “Hey, Henry, this is Erin,” Landon says.

  “Oh, so you’re the mysterious lady,” Henry says. “I knew all Landon needed was you.”

  That statement hits me, and I smile.

  We are kissing before his bedroom door closes.

  “I have condoms this time,” he says, his breath hot on my cheek, and I pull his flannel off him.

  “Oh really,” I say.

  “This apartment is much nicer than the motel room anyway.”

  This is the cleanest man’s space I have ever seen. All manly dark blues and gray. Photos of him with an older woman, probably his mom, on his bookshelf. A diploma hangs over his desk.

  My shirt comes off quickly and his is soon after.

  He kisses me with the promise of a tomorrow, making me swell with a desire that calms the chaotic parts of me. It doesn’t matter I am jobless or in between apartments. He was the catalyst, the starting point. Everything is before and after him.

  When I step out of my leggings, standing there with my hips sticking out sharply, he looks at me like I’m the sexiest woman he has ever seen. He takes my face in his hands, and they travel from my ass to palm my breasts and to that in-between that screams for him—has been waiting for a man like him.

  “Are you okay?” he asks as he lays me down on the bed, crouching so he’s level with my sex. I nod with a plea, and he dives into me, licking my folds, flicking his tongue against the most sensitive part of me. I’m back in that dingy motel in Waterloo that is still one of the most erotic moments of my life, receiving and giving pleasure with a stranger that became so much more.

  After he rolls a condom onto his length, he pushes into me, and liquid warmth whips within my core. He brings me to the brink again as he holds one leg up, thrusting into me like he has no deadline, no finish line to cross. It’s about this moment.

  My leg drapes over his shoulder as he leans in to kiss my collarbone, my neck, and I cry out as the orgasm shatters me. He comes shortly after with a grunt so deep and settles into me.

  “Henry heard every bit of that,” I say with a laugh.

  “Probably did. Henry is cool, though. He had to listen to me talk about you endlessly when I got home.”

  Landon slips out of me to dispose of the condom. I prop up on my elbow and watch him as he disappears into his en suite bathroom, an anomaly for most San Francisco apartments.

  “What happens now?” I ask.

  “The rest of our lives.”

  Usually, a statement like this would alarm me. If Patrick would’ve said something like this to me after our official first date and the two, maybe third cumulative day we had together, I may have run, had drinks with the girls, and told them about this stalker guy I went on a date with.

  Still, with Landon…it feels like fate.

  It feels destined.

  It feels meant to be.

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

  “Are you ready?” Landon asks me as he slaps the boarding passes across his hands. He leans in for a quick peck that warms my insides.

  “Ready,” I say as we walk away from the Skyline Airlines counter toward security. I have spent so many minutes alone in the TSA lines, watching other couples and families excited to go on vacation with their loved ones.

  I am now that person who has found my person.

  To say he is my everything is so small, so tiny in comparison. I do not know now where he begins and I end.

  He looks for ways to touch me—a brief brush of fingertips against my side, a graze of his short nails along my arms. He kisses my neck for no reason.

  The anticipation for this trip was delicious; each day was one step closer, and the excitement built.

  Thankfully, my love is doing well for himself. He sold the Kindred app for a pile of money. I came home one day to see him having a Scrooge McDuck moment, rolling around on our bed in a lot of filthy cash.

  “Did you start dealing drugs?” I asked.

  “I sold the app.”

  I ran toward him, and then we had sex on top of the money.

  It sounds ridiculous and unsanitary, but it was fun.

  To celebrate, he is taking me on a dream vacation, beginning in Barcelona and snaking down the Mediterranean. I am finally seeing the Santorini Islands.

  A year has flown by since that fateful plane ride from New York to Waterloo, Iowa.

  We got a tiny apartment together. I started working for a nonprofit that focuses on books and reading with impoverished youth. I make a sliver of my old salary, and while my bank account is meager on most days, my heart is full.

  Landon jokes that he’s my sugar daddy, and I am more than okay with it.

  We haven’t been on a plane ride since that day because Landon always wanted the next plane ride to be special, a milestone. He keeps saying this trip is to celebrate our meet-anniversary and selling the app, but I think he may propose to me on this trip. We picked out a ring two months ago, and I know he has it somewhere.

  We weave in and out of the airport stores, collecting snacks and entertainment. I purchase a new thriller I’ve had my eye on and a Diet Coke while Landon can’t decide on a magazine. When he looks across the brightly colored airport store at me, my heart still skips a beat.

  We hold hands as we wait in chairs for our flight to be called.

  Landon bounces his leg nervously as we wait.

  “Are you nervous?” I ask.

  “Yes. You remember, taking off makes me nervous. Also, what if I have to go to the bathroom and I get stuck?”

  I laugh, remembering screaming to have someone let me out—Jade, the flight attendant, coming to my rescue.

  “Or a dog gets loose?”

  “Or a man takes off his shoes to air out his nasty-ass feet?”

  “And then you get into a fight with him.”

  “Well, that plane ride was perfect—since I met you.” Landon takes my hand and kisses it, and I melt.

  “Do you now believe in fate?”

  “Fate. Love at first sight. All of it.”

  The plane is announced, and we get in line. We boa
rd, and we have a middle and aisle seat again, but Landon lets me sit on the aisle.

  “Oh fuck, I forgot something,” Landon says. “I have to get off this plane.”

  “What did you forget?” I ask, so confused. He disappears, and I look for him. All the passengers are seated, ready for takeoff.

  Where is Landon?

  The plane intercom comes on. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a special surprise for the passenger in 34C.”

  Everyone checks their seat number, even those to the front of the plane.

  I look up as well, and holy shit, I’m 34C.

  It’s happening now.

  Then, my darling boyfriend appears with the radio to his mouth.

  “I didn’t believe in fate or love at first sight. Then I met you. I fought it. I agonized over it. When you left me in Iowa, I felt a deep hole in my heart that I had never felt before—with anyone. You were what was missing. You are more than my everything. I love you, and I’ve loved you since that time you caught my fake tooth in your hand.”

  Landon walks down the aisle as ladies ooh and aaw, and multiple heads turn to watch him walk toward me. My eyes are already misty as Landon takes my hand and drops to one knee.

  “Erin Phyllis Campbell, I love you. Marry me. Go on a million more airplane rides with me. Anywhere I go with you is an adventure.”

  Tears come to my eyes, and I’m overcome.

  All I can do is nod and kiss him. Tears stream down my face.

  I kiss him, my forever rowmate.

  Every misstep, every broken promise led me to Landon.

  I feel happy.

  I feel loved.

  I feel grounded enough that I can soar.

  The entire plane erupts into applause as Landon kisses me deeply.

  “This is your captain speaking. We are about to take off. If you are standing, including the gentleman who just proposed, please be seated.”

  Landon sits down next to me, and it’s perfect.

  * * *

  THE END

  Cassie’s story is next! What happens when she gets stuck in an elevator with an ex-boss she hates but definitely has the hots for? Click here to preorder Cassie and Smith’s romance In Case of Emergency!

  * * *

  Erin, Cassie, and Sarah all first appear in my novel Here. Click here to get your copy for free!

  * * *

  Want to be up-to-date on everything going on with my books and be the first to hear everything? Click here to join my newsletter! Want to chat regarding my books? Consider joining my readers’ group on Facebook! Click here!

  * * *

  Loved this novella? Please leave a review on your favorite ebook retailer and let your best romance-reading buddies know about my work!

  * * *

  Follow me everywhere! I’m on Facebook at Author Jenny Bunting and Instagram at @jennybuntingbooks. I’m also on BookBub!

  Author’s Note

  This originally ran as the Bathroom Erin Serial for four weeks on my website. Readers voted on what happened, week to week, which explains some of the zaniness of the story. I want to thank everyone who read it and understood when I had to finish it on my own. This crazy project turned into a story I really love…and I hope you loved it too.

  A very special thanks to my friend, Stephanie, who gave me some insight on airplane procedures and suggested the plane land in Waterloo.

  Thank you to Kari March Designs for the cover. You knew what I wanted with the vaguest of instructions, so thank you.

  Thank you to Jenn Lockwood for editing this novella. It was a pleasure working with you.

  Thank you to Horus Proofreading for shining this up for me. You’re the best.

  About the Author

  Jenny Bunting started writing stories as a kid, and romance has always been her favorite. She “published” books by designing construction paper covers and still has a horde of them to this day. Jenny has had over thirty jobs, including working at a newspaper, at the mall, as a substitute teacher, and currently in insurance as a claims adjuster. She loves peanut butter, puns, exercise, reading, brunch, and IPAs. Jenny lives with her husband in the suburbs of Sacramento, California.