Most mornings Jean would eat her breakfast in the comfort of her own home. Today was not like most mornings. She had to catch an early flight, so after checking in her bags and passing through the metal detectors (it went off because of her belt buckle), she sat in the airport's small coffee shop, drinking tea and eating a muffin. Here is where she saw her look-alike.

The other lady had short blond hair, like Jean, and was nibbling on a muffin. On closer inspection, the lady also wore the same clothes, and had the same shape of face with just the same touch of wrinkles under her eyes. Those eyes then met Jean's, so she quickly looked down at her table and took a sip of her tea, as if nothing had happened. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the other lady had done the same.

In an effort to leave the shop as quickly as possible, Jean tried to gulp down her remaining tea, burning her tongue in the process. She then wolfed down the rest of the muffin, which she could no longer properly taste, and speed walked toward the waiting area. All of the seats had been taken up by people and their carry-on bags, so Jean just walked around aimlessly, pretending to be interested in the duty-free souvenirs.

Jean and her look-alike did not meet again until they sat on the plane, an hour later. Walking down the aisle, Jean found her seat, sat down, and silently lamented the fact that she did not get the window seat. Then she turned around. There were lots of people on the plane, but the person she sat beside was none other than her look-alike. The two stared at each other for a few moments, until the flight attendant started to inform everyone that the plane would take off shortly, and that all cellular devices must be turned off, and that they would be playing a safety video in a couple of minutes. They buckled up and sat through the take off in silence, occasionally stealing glances at each other and looking away quickly, lest they were to catch each other staring again.

Eventually, the seatbelt signals were no longer lit up, and the attendant announced that the passengers were now free to walk around. Jean looked at her watch. Only seven more hours to go. She sighed. The other lady must have noticed the resemblance between them, too, and it was becoming very awkward. She decided that she had had enough. She turned to the other.

"Um," they both said at the same time. They stopped to wait for the other to continue. When neither did, they continued. "I'm - " Again, they stopped. Finally, the other lady held her hand to Jean, to invite her to start first.

"Uh, hi. My name is, uh - " Jean hesitated. "Morgana. Pleased to meet you."

"Hi, Morgana. My name is Jean. It's, uh, a pleasure to meet you. So, uh, are you visiting family?"

"I, uh, I'm actually on a business trip, but I do have some family over there."

"Really? It's the same for me, too. I work for a retail company. We're actually setting up shop right now."

Finally, thought the first Jean, At least we're different here.

"I'm actually here to interview some people at the embassy for a special investigation that will air on TV."

"Wow, that's really cool. Doesn't really sound that businessy, though."

"Well, the news station is run by a corporation, so I guess it kind of is."

"Fair enough. So what is the investigation about, anyway?"

The two continued to talk about everything, from the investigation to the weather to their mutual dislike for airplane food. Eventually the flight attendant announced that the plane was landing and that everyone should buckle their seat belts. Soon after, the plane descended on the runway, and the passengers filed out. The two Jeans picked up their luggage, wished each other good luck in their endeavours, and said goodbye. Then they got into separate cabs and never saw each other again.