The following day, 5:00 L.A.
time

Alice woke up from her
ridiculously short nap. Two ancient, annoyingly chatty ladies sat beside her.
And had gone back to discussing whatever it was that had made them stay awake
until 1:00.

‘No, I’m telling you, sugar
is awful for the body!’ one exclaimed with renewed conviction.

‘This is not true!’ the other
shot back, truly miffed. ‘Without it, our brains wouldn’t develop. No wonder
you’re so slow-witted, my dear…’

‘Slow-witted, my ass. My
teachers all called me the most intelligent student in their class. You, on the
other hand, look quite overweight, don’t you, sweetheart?’

‘OVERWEIGHT?’ Lady no. 2
shouted, woke half of the airplane. ‘Wow, thank you, doctor. Where did
you get your medical license, anyway? My real physician tells me I’m very
healthy, thank you.’

‘Yes, you are healthy. For a
pig’s standart, you’re even an anorexic!’ Lady no. 1 shot bag, giggled.

‘OK, STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!’
Alice yelled before another fall out could begin. ‘You are right that
too much sugar is bad for the body; you are right that too little is also
bad.’ she said, addressing each debater. ‘Moderation is the key, you know. For
everything.’

After saying that, Alice
sweetened her black coffee with five full spoons of sugar, to the disbelief of
her companions.

‘But didn’t you just say
that…’ one woman began.

‘To hell with moderation. You
made me angry, kept me awake until one a.m. Los Angeles time and still want me
to not eat too much sugar?’

‘Well, you are the one who
will suffer the consequences, my dear.’ lady 1 said, glumly. ‘Your body will
swallow like an air balloon…’

‘But instead of air it’ll be
fat!!!’ lady 2 completed, and started laughing as if it were the joke of the
year.

Completely tired, jet-lagged
beyond compare, anger burning inside her chest, Alice shot them a dirty look,
got up and stomped her way through the ample hallways of first class
settlements.

Most people, luckier than
her, were still asleep, comfortably so in their seats. Jenny still dreamt
peacefully, her head in Robin’s lap. The older woman was awake, humming to
herself and caressing her sleeping girlfriend.

Shane was also knocked off,
arms around the very hot brunette who sat by her side. Alice smiled, happy for
her friend. At least somebody had found an interesting companion…

Bette worked in her laptop,
breakfast already forgotten. She was so entirely focused at the task at hands
that didn’t notice furious glares shot by the man who was sitting beside her.
The computer light hurt his eyes and he did want to sleep… But ms. Porter was
too busy saving the art world to even glance sideways.