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Would it be uncouth to say hello under these conditions?

“Oh…” Arianna looked up from her phone. Before her was a large salad and orange juice, both relatively untouched as she remained absorbed in her phone screen. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Nor I you.” Elle took a stool around the slight curve of the bar. She fully expected Arianna to engage in body language that asked her to kindly take a hike, but nothing happened. Not even a slight grimace or a stiffening of the jaw. I would notice immediately. Arianna had a jaw worth admiring. “Who knew that they must board the crew in this hotel?” She knew. Elle was in the business of knowing these things, but Arianna didn’t know that.

“It’s where we’re usually stationed for our layover. It’s convenient to the airport.”

“A shuttle ride away, I imagine.”

“Is that why you stay here too? I know you fly back and forth a lot.”

Elle couldn’t help but grin. “Oh, you noticed?”

Arianna laughed. “Yes. I have noticed. I see you every other week it seems.”

“I definitely feel like I travel that often.”

A question burned on the other woman’s lips, and Elle wondered if she might hear it. At least some time in the next ten minutes… Arianna was exactly the type to be the consummate professional outside of work as well. Just the risk of her being seen with a frequent flyer… well, Elle appreciated it. She rarely got to chat with anyone in the hotel. Such was the price of her often flying alone.

“What do you do? May I ask?”

Ah, there it was. Certainly, Elle had anticipated that question and had an answer locked and loaded should she need to hide her identity.

“I work in finance,” she politely lied, although there had been a time when she was adjacent to Delta’s finance department and knew way too much about their numbers – and all the drama going on between the employees. “It’s why I fly between here and Singapore a lot. My company is based out of both cities.”

“You must live in Los Angeles then.”

“Actually, I live in Seattle.”

“Really!”

“You might say I know the Bowen people quite well,” Elle said.

“So, you fly between LA, Singapore… and Seattle? I don’t know if I could do that.”

“Says the flight attendant.” Elle chuckled. “It’s definitely rough, but it’s only for a few months. The company I work for is new, so eventually I’ll only have to fly every three months. I like Seattle, so that suits me fine. I’d rather fly around than live in LA. I’m here enough as it is.”

“Your company must take excellent care of you if you’re flying First Class.”

“Except for that one time I was in Economy, right?”

“I’m guessing it was a last-minute booking and the other classes were full.”

Elle let Arianna think that since the truth was obnoxious. I was judging everyone who worked in Economy. Typing up reports about meal services and wincing as she was forced to critique a male flight attendant because his tie was too crooked. If I noticed…. It was that bad, and his superiors had not informed him. Elle had been involved with Asian airlines long enough to know that didn’t fly as easily as it did in North America.

Heh. Fly.

“Is something funny?” Arianna curiously asked.

Elle shook her head. “May I ask you something?”

“Oh. Of course. Although I feel like I’ve already taken up too much of your time.”

“No such thing, Arianna.”

A shy smile made her look more endearing than she ever had in her flattering flight attendant’s uniform. “You may call me Aria. That’s what most people call me.”

“That’s a lovely name. I’ve always thought so.”