Aunty Stylo

Today was the first time in my official traveling that I had to (the word is HAD TO) ride on Air Asia. One of the reasons why I am not a fan of school holidays (despite the clear roads on weekday mornings) is that MAS flights would fully booked (to Miri! Can't imagine..). And I hate going to LCCT. And the fact that I was sitting on a Hot Seat position didn't really help either. I dunno, but it felt quite crampy. Well maybe it was just Sharifah being mengada.. I should have booked my tickets two weeks earlier. Sigh.

So today, a lady whom I perceived to be of age 60 (well she did look aged to me) sat beside me in the Hot Seat row. I was busy reading my novel to complete by July. Upon sitting, she started to complain. How small the space was and started to compare with other Air Asia overseas flights she had been on, how hot the cabin was and she couldn't stand sweating. Oh well, I usually do have complaints too; it's just that I seldom voice them out.

I tried to be give the best assistance I could (though I was not the FA!),  so I adjusted her air-conditioning nozzle and directed it to her. She blushed out of ignorance about the nozzle being closed

Because she moved a lot, I couldn't help but to give her a few corner eye gazes. Hm, two handbags: one was Coach in yellow and one was a black Versace. "Boleh tahan brand conscious," I thought. Original or not, that would be another story. Siti Nurhaliza-type scarf (tak tahu, sila google!). She adjusted her wristwatch, clear enough for me to see it was Cerruti 1881. In short, ada gaya mak datin la. Occasionally she asked me a few questions, and I responded courteously. She saw I was wearing rings.

"Married?"
"Yeah.."
"Oh congratulations.. when was it?"
"Just exactly three months ago"
"Aww that's nice.."

I smiled. And I continued my reading.

The seats were filled, and eventually a couple with their two kids sat in front of us. The eldest boy was about 3 years old I think, and it was as if he just began saying a few words. And when he saw the lady beside me, he quickly utter,

"Nenek! Nenek!"

The lady was restless when the little boy called him 'nenek'.

"Nenek pulak. Aunty lah!"

The dad overheard the lady's murmuring. He convinced his son to say "Aunty.. bukan nenek.." He was somewhat guilty-conscious. Ok, nenek perasan muda rupanya.. hehe.

I never had the slightest idea that an elder women didn't like that word. I just knew if I were a pensioner (or almost that age), I would love to be a granny. Well, maybe she was a bit disapproving because he wasn't her grandson afterall. The boy was really cute, and everyone (I suppose) should have a penchant for cute kids. But the case definitely didn't apply for this lady. I was trying to be friendly to the boy when she said,

"Don't bother to play with him. He'll bug you through the rest of the flight. You won't be able to read.."

I understood that she required some privacy for our row. But a kid being a kid, the boy continued to look back at her and said, "Nenek! Nenek!" She remained uneasy with the greet, and tried to divert her attention to her things inside her bags.

I tried to sweet talk her, "Maybe he thinks all scarfed women are nenek.." and I laughed.

But then, as if the boy understood what I said and wanted to prove me wrong, he turned to me and said, "Kakak!"

Oh s**t. This boy did know how to differentiate faces. I was really impressed. I just smiled at the boy and continued my reading. The lady gave a few gazes at me and started talking.

"I didn't have enough sleep last night. I'm feeling drowsy.."
"Oh yeah, why didn't you?"
"My friends stayed over my place until like 2 am in the morning.. you know, the grown up gathering type.."

Basically I have no idea on how she was trying to make me picture. But I just nodded.

"Well, if you love your sleeping hours, maybe you should tell your friends that you have a curfew time to adhere too.." I chuckled.
"Nah, it's okay. They are my good friends. I hope I could get some sleep for a while.."

I nodded and smiled. Speechless.

I really wanted to read, so I tried not to pay attention to her movement beside me. As soon as I realized, she dozed off. Eventually, my eyes were closed and suddenly Kristen Stewart was somewhere in front of me.

The plane safely landed and we quickly got off the plane. We were all waiting for the luggage for quite a while. She saw me and stood beside me. She saw her luggage coming our way when she said,

"Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein! Please look if it's CK. Yes yes.. it's my bag!"

"Aunty ni.. pening kepala aku," my heart murmured.

"Here you are.." I helped her to place her bag on her trolley. She thanked me and bid farewell. I smiled. "Bye Aunty, take care."

I saw her taking a taxi just right before me. That was the last of her that I saw.



Oh well, who knows I might bump into her in this average-sized town. It's not impossible anyway.