Aren't you someone?

"Aren't you someone?" she asked me. She was an attractive African-American lady sitting beside me on the airplane. Toni works for International Paper, lives in Charlotte and has a home on Hilton Head. We were flying to Savannah in First Class ... I got bumped but Sarah didn't (and I tried to give the seat to my wife but she decided to pick up guys in the back of the plane instead). "Yes I am," I repsonded ordering a glass of wine. "Oh shit," she said. "If he's having wine then I guess I'll have wine too." "Good for you," I told her. The wine came and we toasted cups. "So who are you?" she asked. "Oh, I'm nobody," I answered. "I used to be somebody but now I'm a beach num." "No, No," she quickly shot back, glancing at me suspiciously, "You are somebody. I recognize you." "You go to the beach?" "Hilton Head." "That islands going to sink one day because of the traffic and the outlet malls," I said. 'No on Tybee." "I spend a lot of time on Dufaski and can see Tybee Island from there but have never actually been there." "Then I don't know how you'd recognize me," I explained as we sipped the wine. The plane was taking off so we couldn't talk because of the roar. Eventually it ended and we were in the air. "Weren't you on television?" "I was." "I knew it," she said slapping her leg. Then she asked, "Why?" "OK," I replied, "this is who I used to be. I ran Union Mission for a long time and was in the news a lot." "You were on the TODAY Show," she interruped. "I was." "What do you do now?" "I'm a beach bum. My wife's in the back being picked up by guys. I wish she was in your seat." "Well," she sighed. We were silent for a while. The stewardness came and refilled our glasses. "You did good stuff," she said. "AIDS and stuff right?" "Yep," I stared out of the window remembering what was. "It's good you're a beach bum now," she concluded. "That's a long time for stuff like that." Looking at her large brown eyes between thick glasses, I smiled. "It is." The flight from Atanta to Savannah is only half-an-hour so we landed. Toni rushed to get away after handing me her card. Sarah strolled down the runway with a tall, handsome guy named Rick from New Zealand. Rushing up, I grabbed her hand and drug her away from him. He smiled at her. I smiled at her. God it's good to be home.