I arrived at the airport thirty minutes prior to my scheduled start time as I was advised there was a special security arrangement in place.
I thought to myself that the only reason for a special security arrangement would be if the Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, was going to be piloting this morning's flight to Mallorca, a route he was known to fly from time to time.
After having worked as a flight attendant for KLM for 25 years, this flight was, king or no king, my last flight as I had been offered an early retirement package by the Dutch carrier.
When I arrived at the gate, there was no one there. As the door to the boarding bridge was open I headed for the plane in a peculiar and eerie silence, surprised that not a soul was to be seen.
I boarded the plane and noticed the business class curtain was closed and when I pulled it open, the entire flight crew yelled "surprise!"
Holding back tears, I said I was relieved that it was only a retirement party as I confessed to thinking that the King was going to captain the plane.
Just then I heard the sound of a man clearing his throat behind me.
Turning around to see who was there, I was dumbstruck to see it was none other than Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands, standing there in his dark blue captain's uniform.
He came over to me and shook my hand, thanked me for my years of service and wished me good luck in the future, and on today's flight to Spain.
During the flight, I found myself in the forward galley just having put my suit jacket on in preparation for meal service.
One of my colleagues, a stunning Black woman who I had known and worked with for years, came over to me and told me she was happy we would finally no longer be colleagues.
Somewhat taken aback by her solemn tone, I asked what she meant by her comment.
She then removed my powder blue leather gloves from my uniform shoulder strap and handed them to me.
Then, while holding my gloves firmly in both of my hands, my colleague threw her arms around me, pulling me towards her and kissing me passionately on the lips.
After breaking the kiss she said how she'd been waiting ten years to do that and seeing how we would no longer be colleagues, we would be free to date without worrying about going against company rules and the scrutiny of our other colleagues.
I told her in all those years I would have never guessed she had feelings for me and she replied by saying "so now you know."
She then took my gloves and gently returned them to my shoulder strap and walked out of the galley looking back and smiling.
Then I woke up.
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