Nyc - Paris Poem by anais vionet

Peter, Charles and I were jetting our way to Paris. I'd just woken up. I had to pee so badly it woke me up. It was a medical emergency. I stretched and everything hurt, I felt like I was 30.

Peter was sitting next to me, on the aisle, reading. When he saw me stretch, he said, 'Hey sleepyhead.' Ok, I didn't actually hear him say it, we were all wearing noise canceling AirPods. I read his lips. I motioned that I needed to get up and he probably said 'sure, ' marking his place with his index finger and standing up in the aisle. I saw Charles watching us and I gave him a sleepy smile.

I'd made the Paris trip 20 times, at least, and I carry an indispensable little travel facial bag. I removed my AirPods and put them in their case to recharge and used Neutrogena cleansing wipes before I splashed water on my face. Then I spritzed my face with Biologique L' Eauxygénante moisturizing mist. Finally, I applied Clinique lip balm. When I was done, I felt human. My watch said I'd slept for 2 hours.

On my way back to my seat I dropped by Charles, one row back from us and across the aisle.
'How you DOin? ' I said.
For some reason Charles and I always greet each other like we're the Sopranos. 'I'm DOin' ok, ' he replied, giving me a little toast with his coffee cup, 'You slept? '
'2 hours, ' I said. I nodded at his coffee cup, and he handed it to me for a sip.
'Mmm' I said, handing it back. 'It feels odd not sitting with you, ' I told him, because, well, it did.
'Go on, ' he said, giving me a little shoo-away gesture. 'We'll catch up in Paris.'
I gave him a gentle, backhanded tap on the shoulder as I left.

When I got back and Peter and I finished the whole seat-hopping bit, I tilted the book he was reading to see what it was. The title read ‘Thermodynamics and Control of Open Quantum Systems.' I pantomimed a yawn and he smiled condescendingly.

I put my AirPods back in and the annoying, but necessary, jet noise vanished. The little jet on my seat display indicated we had about 5 hours to go, but I had my Kindle (500 books) , my iPad (games, apps, the slow Internet) , my Nintendo Switch (Animal Crossing and Zelda) , my phone and, of course, the movies and series offered on the seat panel in front of me.

Then, I remembered the two Cinnabons and Honeydew melon Boba Teas in my backpack. The flight attendant passed and asked if we needed anything.
'Can I get a large cup of ice, please? ' I enquired. She nodded, making a ‘be right back' finger motion.

It's not like we have to row this jet. Why do people complain about air travel?