Permanent Jet Lag

The second Claudia takes her window seat on the plane she presses her forehead to the cool window. This would be a long trip and she wanted to get sleep in now so she is well rested by the time her plane lands in Australia. It was almost instantly when she fell asleep.

Patrick looks at his plane ticket and at the numbers on the seats. He finds himself assigned to sit down next to a sleeping girl with dark brown hair. To him she looks so peaceful. He tries to sit himself down in the seat silent enough that he will not awake the sleeping beauty next to him.

Behind Claudia sat a little boy who was not at all excited for this flight. He kicks at Claudia's seat screaming at the top of his lungs. His mother tries her hardest to make him stop but he won't have it. His screaming gets louder as the plane takes flight. Claudia groans loudly and squeezes her eyes tightly as if it will block out the sound of the child and take her to another place so she can sleep in peace. She gives up when she realizes it will not stop anytime soon. She rolls her head to the side to see Patrick staring at her. Her lips part and her eyes grow wide. She was speechless. His lips twitch into a half smile and he gives her a little wave.

He holds out his hand to her confused and she takes it. He gives her a good shake then pulls his hand away awkwardly. "I'm P-patrick," his voice cracks. He looks away from Claudia embarrassed and mumbles "idiot" to himself.

"I'm Claudia," she says softly making Patrick look back to her, his cheeks red from blushing. Claudia bites her lips nervously and looks down smiling to herself.

Patrick places a finger under her chin tilting her head up so he could stare into her eyes. "You have really pretty brown eyes," he mumbles barely audible. He removes his hand from under her chin and stares off at the back of the seat in front of him.

Claudia rests her head on the headrest of her seat and her smile will not escape her lips. She wants to scream but keeps it help in. She notices the child behind her has calmed down. From the corner of her eye she can see Patrick was back to staring at her. "Can I ask you something Claudia?" his words make her turn to look at him. He swallows hard looking away for a second. He looks back to her locking eyes. "Do you hang around Woodward Park in Fresno by any chance?" he rubs the back of his neck nervously

Claudia nods her head slowly. "I go there all the time to sit by the water," she smiles.

Patrick smiles a wide toothy smile back at her. "I am pretty sure I see you there all the time. Do you make bracelets and carry a notebook around?" he asks her. Claudia nods again. Patrick moves how he is sitting in the chair so he is kneeling on one knee. "Is it weird if I tell you I watch you? I'm sorry I should stop speaking. Uh...just ignore me," Patrick looks away from her again and smacks his hand against his forehead.

Claudia can't help but laugh nervously. "I write about you," she blurts out then covers her mouth quickly. She slouches down in her seat. She covers her face with her hands trying to hide herself from Patrick. Her cheeks burn brighter red every second. She wishes she could go back and take back what she just told Patrick. She feels so childish and stupid.

Patrick cannot stop himself from laughing softly. He pries Claudia's hands off of her face. He meets her eyes with a smile dancing on his lips. "I would love to read something you wrote one day or maybe even have you teach me how to make a bracelet," his smile doesn't leave his lips. Claudia straightens herself out and pulls down the tray that is connected to the seat in front of her.

Claudia grabs green, yellow and blue string out of the bag she had next to her. Patrick watches her hands work wonders on the string making it into a Spanish bracelet she was once taught how to make. She hands the strings over to Patrick for him to try. He freezes staring at the string not sure as to what to do. He was too busy staring at Claudia's hand rather than what she was actually doing to the string. Claudia smiles shyly and places her hands on Patrick's to help him pick up where she left off on the bracelet. "Like this," she tells him and shows him once more. Patrick bits his bottom lip lightly and tries it himself. He gets it done correctly and smiles.

"Thanks," he says blushing again.

The blush spreads onto Claudia's cheeks. "You can finish it off, I really want to take a nap," she tells Patrick with a warm friendly smile. Patrick nods looking down at the string. Claudia closes her eyes resting her head back onto the window. Patrick keeps quiet and does his best to finish the bracelet Claudia had started.

****

The plane comes to a bumpy landing waking up Claudia from her sleep. She looks to the side of her to see Patrick sleeping. She pushes his arm lightly making him jump up startled yelling, "I FINISHED THE BRACELET!" His eyes grow wide and he looks at Claudia. She can't help but laugh at him. He clears his throat and looks down at his hand that held the bracelet. He holds it out to Claudia to take. She looks at it smiling.

"Its really good. You can keep it" she says holding it back out to him.

"I want you to have it. Maybe, only if you want, you could come to my show tomorrow night?" he asks swallowing hard. Claudia looks down to hide her blush.

"I would really like that," she stands up along with everyone else on the plane.

*After a few minutes after getting off the plane, Claudia is at the hotel she is staying at. Patrick comes in after a few minutes. She turns around to see him. "Looks like we are staying at the same hotel," he smiles happily.

"That's cool," Claudia says feeling like sounded like a dork. She makes a confused face then holds up her wrists to show Patrick she had on his bracelet. He smiles and blushes lightly.

"Want to go grab a drink at the bar after you get all your stuff to your room?" Patrick puts his hands in his back pockets and rocks back and forth on his heals.

Claudia blushes and rubs her arm. A bellhop comes over to her and takes her bags. "We can go now, he's taking my things to my room," she looks down at the ground smiling.

Patrick takes hold of her hand and pulls her toward the bar of the hotel. They both sit down on bar stools and order a drink. Claudia is quiet along with Patrick. Neither one exactly knowing what to say. Patrick felt awkward and Claudia felt out of place. After so long of waiting Patrick started to tell Claudia all about his life. His ups and downs and how he became who he is known as today. She was such a perfectly listener and when Patrick finished she told him her story. She even told him how she gets lost in her stories like she is living through them and they are what the real would is and what she goes through every day is just a dream. They open up to each other like best friends not bothering to hold anything back.

****

Claudia's heart races as she stands in the front of a small stage. She fiddles her thumbs and plays with her dress every so often. She is nervous. Nervous about seeing Patrick perform. He was going to come on stage any second and do a small concert. She was excited and had butterflies fluttering away in her stomach.

The lights go out and music starts up. Patrick starts off his set with a few songs. He stops after three and looks down at the crowd finding Claudia easily. "This next song goes out to a girl that taught me how to make bracelets yesterday. She is really amazing," Patrick smiles into the microphone and starts to play Spotlight.

Claudia smiles up at him not being able to lose the smile from her lips. It was the perfect two days. She felt comfortable around him but there was still something that made her feel weird around Patrick. It was like she wasn't suppose to be around him but she liked that he wanted to be around her.

When he finishes the song he looks down at Claudia again. "You are really beautiful Claudia," he smiles shyly and blushes looking way from her. She does the same staring down at her toes. Part of her wanted to jump on the stage and tackle him to the ground in a tight hug. She flashes back to the hug he gave her last night when he walked her to her hotel suite. He holds her so tightly and she felt so wanted. To her it was the greatest feeling ever. She wanted to be in his arms again.