Dating Disasters: ‘I knew right away: there was the love of my life’

In Dating Disasters vertellen anonieme lezers over hun gênantste, meest tenenkrommende en dramatische dates. Deze week: the prince in the white airplane.

‘There is the love of my life!’ I shouted as I booked the seat next to an empty chair for a flight to Bonaire. I had been there before and had always felt very strongly that I would return one day. I was sure that something special was waiting for me there.

On the day of departure, I stumbled towards the bathroom, trying to make the best of it. I wasn't completely satisfied with my reflection that morning. While other girls looked effortlessly cute in leggings and hoodies, I immediately had flashbacks to the traumatic gym classes in high school, which certainly didn't bring out the best in me. I threw my bleached hair into a ponytail and ignored the pimple that was starting to appear on my nose. What did it matter? Soon I would be baking on a tropical island. Together with my parents, I headed to Schiphol. We joked all the way to the gate about my mystery neighbor, whom I had become quite curious about by now.

I was disappointed when the seat next to me remained frighteningly empty for a long time, but it was also quite peaceful. I had to laugh at my eternal belief that my life could take a romantic turn at any moment and slouched in my seat for about ten hours. After those ten hours, I arrived in a bird's nest state in Aruba. We got off for the transfer to Bonaire, and I immediately sprinted to the toilet. What I saw there was not good: my hair was both exploded and deflated, my makeup had been lost somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, and the pimple I had seen appear in my own mirror that morning was undeniable. And how hot it was! I took off my hoodie and found all sorts of dark pink fluff on my top. Fantastic, just what I needed. I looked around and saw that no one was really at their best at that moment. I stuffed my sweater into my bag and decided not to even attempt to fix this situation.

Once back on the plane, I found the empty seat next to mine again. I was too tired to care and chatted a bit with the neighbor in the seat next to me. I clicked my seatbelt in the assumption that we would be departing soon, until I heard a voice next to me.

‘Sorry, but I'm sitting there.’ I looked up and was immediately awake. I blinked. Was my exhausted body just hallucinating a handsome man, or was he really there? ‘Okay…’ I stammered as I stood up. I looked at my mother while silently saying ‘oh my god.’.

I subtly studied my new neighbor. He was handsome, tall, tanned, and his hair was sun-kissed blonde. Luckily, I wasn't the only one feeling hot in that airplane at that moment. He took off his sweater, taking a piece of his T-shirt with it, and I can tell you: that was also fine. I heard my mother suppressing a laugh next to me.

I started frantically rummaging through my bag for gum, a mint, something. Not that a mint would do anything for my repulsive appearance at that moment, but it would give me the confidence to at least turn my head in his direction. I had to hurry too, because this flight to my final destination lasted exactly twenty minutes, after which it would fly back to the Netherlands. I had never been so aware of my hair, the pimple adorning my nose, and those little fluffies on my top. Never had I regretted not spraying on an extra layer of deodorant. I looked like a walking wreck; how was I supposed to turn on my flirt mode?

With difficulty, I fabricated a question that slowly but surely got our conversation going. He talked about his work, I about mine; it was the most innocent conversation I had ever had. We continued talking about life and love until I asked him: ‘Where do you meet people these days?’ ‘On the plane,’ he said immediately. Damn, smooth, that was the answer I was looking for. A small silence fell, and I saw him thinking. ‘We could go on a date sometime if you’d like?’ he asked. I was so surprised that I didn't even let him finish his sentence before I blurted out an ‘okay, sounds good!’ Less smooth.

He gave me his phone, where I entered my name, phone number, and for good measure, my last name. I was now bleary-eyed from fatigue and didn't want this story to end here because I might type my phone number wrong.

Soon we were on the ground and said goodbye. Well, I said goodbye. He threw a smile and a wink my way that still makes me weak. The doors flew open, and a warm breeze greeted me. I felt happy, excited, and surprised all at once. If someone found me attractive enough in this state to ask me out, then it had to be alright.

Once we arrived at our paradise spot, I caught myself sneaking a peek at my phone sometimes. The weeks flew by. We enjoyed the sun, delicious food, and our time together as a family, but the days ended the same way every day: without a message. I checked my phone less and less until I realized that the message probably wasn't going to come anymore. Such a shame, but what can you do about it?

A few weeks later, I was walking down the street unsuspectingly and had almost forgotten about him when I suddenly received a message from him…

Do you want to know how this continues? You can read it in the next Dating Disasters.