“To pass the time at the airport, I listen to music on my iPhone. Some men on the Air India staff are staring at me. I feel a little weird, so I just roll my eyes at them. I think that they are either trying to get a young girl's attention or simply wondering why I'm standing at the gate so early. I call my friend V — short for Virali — and tell her my troubles.

As we are talking, I notice a guy, who seems like a fellow passenger this time, looking my way. I am angry at my travel delays and eager to make a judgment about men, so I tell V that some chauvinist is looking my way. I speculate to her that he probably has a girlfriend and is just looking for some company on the plane.V interrupts. "Mev, stop being you.""How am I supposed to do that, V? I can't help it that I see things more clearly than other people." “

“My section is called up for boarding, and I see that the flight is nearly empty. My seat assignment is in the rear of the plane, which seems silly when hardly anyone else is on the flight. I ask the flight attendant if I can move up — I’d rather not sit over the wheels.

“The whole flight has not boarded yet, ma’am. Once everyone is on board, you can move. For now, please take your seat.”

There are three seating sections, and I have an aisle seat in the middle rear.Once settled, I see that guy again.“Hi,” he says as he walks past me.”

“Surely, he doesn’t think I got up for no reason, right?I reach my seat and turn around one last time. There’s a handsome man smiling at me. Obviously, he knows what happened.I pretend that I don’t know he knows.I see he is crooking his index finger at me — “Come here.

”Without a pause, I grab my 20-pound carryon and pocketbooks and walk over. No one is sitting next to him. I don’t have a seat assignment there!

“Hi, I’m John. John Chubet.”

“Hi, I’m Mev... Ausaf.”

“So where are you heading?”

“I’m on my way to India. And you?”

“I’m headed to London, and to Ibiza after that.”

Wow. He is going to have much more fun than I am.”