Here Comes Your Man

”Shaun, please. He was just doing his job” Pyper spoke as though she was annoyed, glad that Shaun was walking behind her so that he couldn’t see the full-out smile on her face.

She loved it when he got like this, just a little bit jealous. It wasn’t a scary, possessive type of jealous that Pyper surely wouldn’t have tolerated but rather the just right kind of jealous where it pleased her to know that it would not go unnoticed by Shaun when other guys checked her out.

And this time had definitely not gone unnoticed.

“Psh, just doing his job my ass.” Shaun scoffed. “He waved that metal detector over your chest like twenty times, as if you were hiding two loaded guns in your bra!”

Pyper couldn’t hold back a chuckle as this last comment brought them a few strange looks from the passengers who had already been seated as they walked past the first few rows of the plane. Once they found their seats, 6A & 6B, they tucked their carry-on’s under their seats and settled down into the worn leather of the seats.

She brushed his hair back from his face as she whispered into his ear.

“Don’t worry babe, you’re the only one who gets to see what I’m really hiding in my bra” She said as she gave her boobs a quick squeeze and flashed Shaun a cheeky smile.

Shaun quieted quickly as he tried to keep his thoughts from wandering to things that were not appropriate for a plane full of people.

Pyper just smiled as she pulled her ipod from her bag, putting in her head phones, and leaned on Shaun’s shoulder as she settled in for the long flight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About three hours later Shaun glanced over at Pyper who had switched positions in her sleep and was now leaning against the window. Noticing that her eyes were now open and that she seemed to be humming a soft tune, he glanced down at her ipod.

“Are you seriously listening to *NSYNC right now?” He asked looking at her incredulously and grabbed the ipod off of her lap.

“Yeah, maybe I am. What’s it to you?” Pyper asked defensively playful as she tried to lunge for her iPod before Shaun quickly held it out of her reach, holding her back with his other
arm.

“Hold on, hold on, let’s discuss this” He said in a teasing tone as he noticed the blush that he loved slowly ascend up Pyper’s cheeks. “You were really listening to it? Like, it didn’t just shuffle and randomly land on one of their songs?”

Pyper rolled her eyes. “Yes, I was listening to them willingly; they didn’t force themselves on me. Are you going to judge me now?’

Shaun shook his head “No, not at all.” He shrugged dismissively “It’s just that I know you to be a classic and/or alternative rock kinda girl. Not a boy band fan, that’s all. But to each his own, I guess. I was never a fan of them myself”

Pyper gave her eyes another roll & slid her hand into his, a teasing smile gracing her face.

“Of course you weren’t a fan of them! They were solely created to make teenage and perhaps even adult women swoon over their good looks and lyrics. Which, if I do say so myself, were quite beautiful and heart wrenching”

Shaun laughed and took a sip of his Coke as Pyper continued.

“I was president of a Justin Timberlake fan club” She said looking rather smug. “His favorite color is red and he’s allergic to cherries”

“Babe, that’s kind of creepy. I’ve met that guy and now every time I see him I’m gonna picture him eating a cherry and then puffing up like one. Thanks a lot.” He said faux sarcastically.

“You’ve met him?!” Pyper exclaimed “What was he like? Did he smell good?! I’ve always imagined him smelling good...” She gasped as her eyes got wide as a thought dawned on her. “Do you think you could introduce us?!”

Shaun laughed as he looked down at Pyper who seemed genuinely thrilled at the idea.

“No way!” He said with a shake of his head “You think I’d honestly introduce you to a guy who can sing, dance, smells good, and who you’ve apparently been harboring a crush for 10 years? I may have hit my head a bunch of times but I still got a little sense left in me”

Pyper gave a ‘hmph’ and crossed her arms over her chest in a gesture of fake anger towards him.

“What about the Shaun White fan club? Are you president of that?” He asked cheekily.

“That weird red-headed snowboard guy? No thanks” She teased and tried to keep her laughter quite as he started to tickle her mercilessly.

“Oh you’ve got jokes do you?” He asked as squirmed beneath his relentless fingers.

“Stop! Stop!” She gasped through her laughter and managed to grab his wrists. She took a few deep breaths, trying to settle her racing heart. “Ok, ok, I’ll admit it, I do have a little crush on that Shaun White guy but I don’t want to meet him”

“Oh yeah, why is that?” He played along.

“I’ve heard he’s kind of a bone head”

Pyper couldn’t help letting out a small yelp as Shaun’s fingers were on her again. Their playing was interrupted however by the intercom overhead.

”Ladies & Gentlemen the captain has now turned on the fasten seat belt sign for the remainder of our flight. We are approaching the airstrip and should be at the terminal in 20 minutes…”

Pyper glanced at Shaun.

”Wow, that was fast” She said.

' Too fast' She thought.

Shaun nodded, not being able to hide his apparent happiness.

“I’m so glad you decided to come with me, Pype. I can’t wait to show you my city. My house, my dog, my parents…I want to introduce you to everyone and show you everything. I can’t wait for you to meet my brother, you’re gonna love him. One time…”

Though Pyper tried desperately to pay attention to Shaun, she focused mainly on fighting at the feeling of dread and anxiety that started to rise in the pit of her stomach.

Of course she loved Shaun and wanted to be with him but this was all so new to her. She had been set in her ways in Hawaii for so long that she wasn’t sure if she could change them.

As she thought this, she glanced over at Shaun who was now somehow talking about cheese fries and decided that maybe it was time to change her ways…maybe it was time to change for Shaun.