Chapter Text
Fuck. Betty is going to be late for her flight.
It’s scheduled to leave in 40 minutes, check-in closes in 10 minutes, and she’s stuck in traffic 15 minutes away from JFK.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
She taps her phone screen, lighting it up. As if the time’s dramatically changed since 30 seconds ago. Nope. She’s definitely going to miss her flight. Welp, that’s $200 she won’t be getting back.
With a frustrated sigh, she shoves her phone back into her bag and stares out the window from the backseat of the yellow cab she’s in. Her leg bounces up and down - an outward expression of her nerves - but even her own actions start to piss her off. Ugh, she just wants to be at the airport. Stupid New York traffic. She forgot how bad it could be, but that’s part of the reason she left. That, plus her overbearing mother was still too close, so the other side of the country it was.
And that’s where she really wishes she was right now. Home. Home that is no longer the small, upstate New York town of Riverdale that she grew up in. Nor is home the city of New York, where she attended college and met her best friend for life. Instead, home is Seattle. Now, an 8-hour flight from her mother, compared to the 2-to-3-hour drive when she lived in NYC. It's better this way, even if she does miss her best friend who still resides in New York state. It’s better now she gets to be her own person without her mother’s input.
And Seattle is nice. It’s smaller than NYC, and a lot less busy. She enjoys being on the coast - and the west coast showcases some of the best sunsets she’s ever seen, so that’s a plus. Being near to the Canadian border makes for some lovely weekends away, which reminds her of her hometown, but in a way she can enjoy. So all in all, it’s one of the best decisions she’s made.
One of the worst decisions she’s made was to agree to meet up with Veronica on the day her short trip to NYC ends, just a few hours before she’s due at the airport.
Yeah, it was lovely to see Veronica - she hasn’t seen her for months - but on the day she’s leaving, what was she thinking? Definitely not about the traffic of this city, and definitely not about making her flight on time. Sigh. Not much she can do about it now.
Approximately 2 blocks from where they were 10 minutes ago, Betty reluctantly digs her phone out, deciding she should probably message her friend who’s catsitting for her.
Hi, Toni, she types. Stuck in traffic and gonna miss flight. Would you mind feeding Caramel tonight please? Hoping to get a flight tomorrow morning.
She hovers over the send button, wondering if she should check for later flights before sending the text. Exiting the messaging app, she opens Safari. At that exact moment, her phone buzzes with a notification.
Delta Airlines: Flight DL 183 to SEA delayed until further notice.
Oh. Oh. Well, that’s usually bad, but it might actually work in Betty’s favor today. Clicking on the notification, she’s taken to her flight information page on the app. It doesn’t display any other details other than delayed, so she closes it and abandons the text, deciding to wait until she has more of an idea of what’s going on.
Almost a whole agonizing hour later, her yellow taxi makes its way into JFK’s taxi rank. She pays the driver and jumps out, rushing towards the entrance to Terminal 4. Her overnight bag is heavy on her back, but she does not slow down, practically running over to the check-in desk.
“Hi. Have I missed my flight?” she pants. “It’s DL 183 - here.” She hands over her pre-printed boarding pass to the calm-looking assistant. He takes her papers, studying them for a moment, while Betty sends a quiet thanks to whoever designed computerized check-in allowing the desk to be empty.
“Sorry, Miss Cooper, your flight is delayed. Currently, it is scheduled to leave at 18:45 - around 90 minutes from now - so you have not missed it.”
She sighs in relief. “That’s brilliant-- well, it’s not, obviously, but, uh, yeah,” she babbles. “Thank you.”
The assistant simply smiles at her and continues helping her check-in, talking her through where to go. She doesn’t have the heart to tell him that she knows because she’s done it a hundred times before, but she figures she has some time to kill now her almost missed flight is delayed. Once he’s finished, she thanks him with an appreciative smile, deciding she no longer needs to rush around and can actually enjoy the airport experience.
Now leisurely making her way around the familiar airport, she wanders through security with no problems at all, then makes her way to her favorite coffee shop at the airport situated near the supposed gate for her departure.
It’s relatively busy in the terminal, but it’s nothing she’s not used to. She weaves her way through the lingering travelers, joining the end of the queue at the coffee shop. When she reaches the front, she orders an iced latte - overpriced but worth it. After paying, she spots an empty seat overlooking the runway, so she takes her drink and heads towards it. She plonks her bag down in front of the seat, sitting down herself with an almost audible grateful sigh from her legs.
Surprisingly, the airport environment - usually a source of stress for most people - is a fun experience for her. She finds the worst part of it to be getting to and from the airport, especially in NYC, rather than the airport itself. Even with today’s delays, she enjoys her own company, her coffee, and the background noise the surroundings bring. It’s one of those timeless places, where it’s neither yesterday nor tomorrow, the past nor the future. It’s an experience that Betty’s grown to love over the years.
She’s not one to get annoyed with delays either. The biggest thing she has to worry about is her cat back home, but her friend is always available to help out with just a simple text, so that doesn’t bother her. Plus, the delays today definitely worked in her favor when she experienced a small lapse in her sensible traveler judgment and decided to meet up with Veronica just a few hours before her flight. With the traffic of New York City to negotiate. She should’ve known it was a stupid idea, but hey, at least she got to see her best friend again. Swings and roundabouts, she supposes.
But now, after getting through the traffic and making it on time thanks to the delays, Betty starts to relax. For the next 30 minutes, she mindlessly scrolls on her phone, sipping her coffee, and enjoying herself. She knows her flight is due to board soon, so she keeps an ear out for the announcement.
There is one that grabs her attention, but not for what she’s expecting.
“Flight DL 183 to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is delayed until 20:55. We are sorry--“
Betty blocks out the rest of the message, while everyone around her groans in frustration. She understands their pain, she really does, and she used to be one of those people, longing to get to wherever they’re going. But she’s not one of them anymore. In fact, she’s kind of glad for the delay. It means she can explore the terminal again - something she used to love doing a lot when she first started traveling. She doesn’t get the chance as much these days, always running out of time with busy queues, so today makes a pleasant change.
She stands up, picking her bag up, and begins wandering. She knows Terminal 4 quite well, but she challenges herself to find something new this time. It’s a stupid game, really, but she’s got time to waste and no one to waste it with, so she makes her own fun.
Walking up the long terminal, she takes note of all the coffee shops and tourist shops she’s seen before. Crowds begin building up around them - many, she assumes, from her delayed flight. She dodges people, children, and small suitcases, making her way towards the gates she hasn’t been from before. It’s quieter that way, with empty seating overlooking a variety of planes.
Betty snaps a few photos, smiling to herself as she does so, already enjoying this little adventure. She decides to take a moment to sit down while it’s empty and uploads a photo of a Delta plane to her Instagram, knowing Veronica will be quick to text her about her whereabouts because of it.
As if on cue, her phone rings. Not the text she was expecting, but close enough.
“Hey, V,” she says when she picks up the phone.
“B? Betty? Where are you? I thought you’d be on the flight by now!” Veronica exclaims on the other end of the phone.
Betty giggles to herself, predicting this exact response. “Calm down! It’s okay.” She explains the whole situation to her, with every detail as she knows Veronica will want it. “So I’m just wandering around the terminal until the flight,” she finishes.
She can almost hear Veronica’s eye roll. “We can’t have that now. I will pay for you to stay in a first class lounge instead.”
“No, V, I’m fine, honestly.”
“Betty! Let me find you a different flight then?” Veronica sure is persistent.
“Veronica,” Betty pushes. “I really appreciate it, but it’s fine, honestly.”
Veronica huffs. “Okay. Text me when you board. And again when you land.”
“Of course. Thank you, V.”
They exchange goodbye’s and Betty hangs up with a smile on her face - her best friend’s over-reactions never fail to make her laugh. She always means well, but Betty is rarely willing to accept her offers, deciding it’s best to let things happen by themselves. And in this situation, she really doesn’t want to escape this, although she can see why Veronica might’ve thought she did.
After her phone call, Betty goes back to wandering. She walks around the corner from where she had just been sat, noting the quietness at this end. Recognizing a few of the services to her left, she skips straight past them until she reaches the part of the terminal she’s pretty sure she hasn’t been to before.
In the far corner, there is a small coffee shop named Coffee Project. Inside, it’s painted a calming light blue, with the chairs and counter being dark wood. Only a few of the chairs sit inside of the shop, most of them spilling outside into the area of the terminal. It looks nice, so Betty decides to order something, even though she’s only just finished her first coffee. She figures she might as well make the most of finding a new shop and the time she has at the airport.
There’s no one in line and only two people in the shop’s seating, which makes for an ideal experience for Betty, so she heads in towards the counter. She eyes the baked goods on show, before deciding that fuck it, she deserves it, and tagging one onto her order.
“Hi. A small flat white and a slice of chocolate cake please,” she orders politely.
The barista is quick to get to work on her order, taking payment and handing over the takeaway coffee cup along with a brown paper bag for the cake in only a few moments. Betty thanks her, before taking a seat just outside of the boundaries of the shop so she can see the screen with updates on her flight.
She takes the slice of cake out of the bag, using a wooden fork she got given to take a bite. It’s amazing, and she takes a moment to thank her stupid game for bringing her here. The coffee is equally as good - not entirely needed but definitely good. It’s one of the reasons she likes airports so much. They make her try new places, and it leads her to places like this.
Her eyes rise to the screen, scanning for her own flight. She finds it with little trouble, noting that there haven’t been any further delays yet.
Sitting there for a while, she enjoys her coffee and cake as well as the atmosphere at the airport. As time passes, more people come and go around her, but still staying mostly quiet. No one bothers her, until out of the blue, someone from behind says her name.