Lifestyle
How a lady forced to sit apart from friends on flight fell in love with a stranger
Woman, 37, who was forced to sit apart from her friends on a nine-hour flight reveals she ended up falling in LOVE with the man in front of her – and the pair are now happily MARRIED
A woman who was forced to sit alone on a nine-hour flight after being separated from her friends has revealed how she ended up falling in love with the man sitting in front of her – and now, the married couple spends their days traveling the globe together.
Martina, now 37, and Leslie Johnson, now 41, met by chance when they were both flying to Kenya back in 2014.
Martina, from New Jersey , was traveling with five of her pals, but when she found out that she wouldn’t be sitting with them, she was left scrambling.
Desperate to not be alone for the immense journey, she begged those around them to switch seats – but no one obliged.
A disappointed Martina ended up sitting in the row behind New York City-native Leslie – unknowing that he would one day become her husband.
The two ended up hitting it off and talking ‘the entire flight’ – and by the time they landed in Nairobi, Martina said she knew they ‘were going to be together’ one day.
‘We talked the entire flight. We had a really good conversation,’ she told CNN Travel recently.
‘In the back of my head, I’m thinking, “If he’s single, we’re going to date.” But I didn’t know if he was single.’
What makes their meeting even more magical is that Martina almost didn’t go on the trip because she thought it was a ‘scam’ when she first discovered how cheap the flight was – only $279 for a round-trip flight to Africa.
After chatting all the way there, Martina asked for Leslie’s number before the two went their separate ways.
They thought that might be the end of it, but when they coincidentally ran into each other at a restaurant in Kenya a few days later, it seemed like fate.
The couple explained that they both noticed each other almost immediately, but didn’t realize that the other person had seen them.
‘I went to the restroom, but I didn’t think [I] caught [her] attention. So I ended up going back like two or three more times,’ Leslie explained. ‘But I still didn’t make any kind of eye contact with her.’
Martina recalled, ‘I was excited to see him. But I was also playing it very cool.’
The two finally spoke when they were both done eating, but Martina admitted the interaction felt ‘a little awkward.’ Even so, she left with the same feeling she had on the airplane: That they would somehow end up together.
‘It’s weird, because it was just a matter-of-fact feeling. It wasn’t necessarily like, “Oh, I just met this guy – I’m so excited.” It was just a very calm, matter-of-fact,’ she gushed.
‘Like, we just had a great conversation and he seemed like a great person. [I thought], “If he’s single, that’s it. We’re going to date.”‘
‘Everything just kind of seemed like it was meant to be, or just was happening for a reason,’ Leslie agreed.
After they both got back to the States, Martina decided to send Leslie a text message, which read, ‘How’s jet lag treating you?’
They then started talking about what they had been up to on their respective trips and after a few days of chatting nonstop, Leslie asked to take her out to dinner.
They went to a South African restaurant in midtown, and after that, they were inseparable.
‘We were constantly in touch,’ Leslie revealed, with Martina adding, ‘It was very easy. There were no gray areas. We liked each other, and we hung out, we spent time together.’
Three months later, they made their romance official, and around year after that, Leslie got down on one knee and asked Martina to marry him during a romantic trip to London.
They tied the knot in Columbus, Ohio, in October 2018, and the theme of the wedding was ‘Love at first sight.’
Now, nearly a decade after they met by chance on an airplane, the couple have used their mutual love of travel to become viral online stars.
They have racked up nearly 100,000 followers on their joint Instagram account, called The Couple Who Travels, where they document their endeavors and share travel tips.
They’ve visited Antigua and Barbuda, The Maldives, Turkey, and Guatemala all within the last year.
Looking back on how their romance began, Leslie still can’t believe how lucky he got, telling CNN, ‘I met someone who lived not too far away from me, but I met them on a plane – thousands or whatever miles away from home.’
As for Martina, she hopes that their story will encourage others to get out and travel more.
‘Do what you love, and it will lead you to everything else,’ she concluded. ‘I love to travel. I traveled and I met the love of my life.
‘So find that thing that you love and you don’t know what breadcrumbs that will lead you to.
‘It might lead you to the love of your life. It might lead you to your purpose – you just don’t know, but we all have unique desires and things that we are passionate about.
‘Don’t ignore it. Don’t wait for someone else to go with you. Just do what you love and see what happens.’
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Lifestyle
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
In the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Emilio Garcia said that after a night out in 2022 in Ibiza, Spain, he was in an SUV with the hip-hop star when she began having sex with another woman right next to him. He was unable to get out of the moving car, and would have been in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country even if he was able. Garcia was “embarrassed, mortified and offended throughout the whole ordeal,” according to the lawsuit.
Alex Spiro, Megan’s lawyer, said she would fight the lawsuit in court.
“This is an employment claim for money — with no sexual harassment claim filed and with salacious accusations to attempt to embarrass her,” Spiro said.
The next day Megan told Garcia never to discuss what he saw and berated and fat-shamed him, the lawsuit said. The complaint also said Garcia, who had already considered quitting because he was overworked and underpaid in a hostile work environment aggravated by Megan’s possessiveness and abusiveness, was misclassified as an independent contractor but treated as an exclusive employee.
Garcia raised those issues in the conversation with Megan, and was fired the following day after four years of working for her, the suit said. He has since filed a job discrimination complaint with the California Civil Rights Department.
The lawsuit, first reported by NBC News, names as defendants Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pete; her companies Megan Thee Stallion Entertainment and Hot Girl Touring; and her label, Roc Nation. A defense response has yet to be filed. There was no immediate response to an email seeking comment from a representative of Roc Nation.
Garcia is seeking financial damages to be determined at trial, alleging he has suffered severely both emotionally and physically because of his treatment on the job, the firing and having to witness the scene in the SUV.
Megan, 29, was previously involved in major legal drama — and underwent a torrent of online abuse — as the victim of a shooting by rapper Tory Lanez, who a jury found fired at her feet on a street in the Hollywood Hills in 2020. She testified at the trial where jurors convicted Lanez of three felonies and a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Already a major rising artist at the time of the shooting, Megan has since become one of hip-hop’s biggest stars. She won a Grammy for best new artist in 2021, and she had No. 1 singles with “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B’s “WAP.”
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April 15 (UPI) — The body of O.J. Simpson, who died last week at the age of 76, is to be cremated, a lawyer representing the ex-football superstar’s estate said, adding his brain will not be donated for research.
Malcolm LaVergne, Simpson’s longtime attorney and executor, told the New York Post that his client’s body is to be cremated Tuesday in Las Vegas.
He said Simpson’s family also gave a “hard no” to scientists seeking to examine the former running back’s brain for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is better known as CTE.
CTE is a rare and little understood brain disorder that is likely caused by repeated blows to the head. According to the Mayo Clinic, CTE results in the death of nerve cells in the brain and the only way to definitively diagnose it is with an autopsy of the organ after death.
Memory and thinking problems, confusion, personality changes and erratic behavior, including aggression, depression and suicidal ideation, are among CTE’s symptoms, the Alzheimer’s Association said.
The disease has been found in those who play contact sports, including football and hockey.
LaVergne confirmed to NBC News on Sunday that at least one person has called seeking Simpson’s brain.
“His entire body, including his brain, will be cremated,” he said.
Simpson died Wednesday following a battle with cancer.
Known by the nickname “The Juice,” Simpson was a NFL superstar during the 1970s, which made him a household name that propelled him into film and television during the next decade.
But his stardom would come crashing down in the mid-1990s when he was accused of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
His high-profile trial lasted months, but ended with his acquittal.
In 2008, he was found guilty on a dozen charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery, and was paroled in 2017 after serving nine years of his 33-year sentence.
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Urban South Brewery Houston will host its upcoming Anniversary Party from Friday, April 5 through Sunday, April 7, in the HTX Taproom, starting at 11 AM, celebrating four years of crafting exceptional brews and fostering community culture. This milestone event will be an exciting day featuring live music, food, activities, and a vendor market.
Beer enthusiasts are also in for a treat with the release of four exclusive anniversary specialty beers. Highlights include “Press Start,” a crafted Czech Pale Lager brewed in collaboration with Parleaux Beer Lab. Additionally, beer fans can indulge in “Level Up,” an Old-Fashioned Cocktail Sour Ale infused with orange peel, Luxardo cherry syrup, and subtle bourbon barrel notes. The offerings continue with “High Score,” a robust Double IPA bursting with flavors of Mosaic, Citra, and Chinook hops, and “Game Over,” a decadent Neapolitan Ice Cream Stout layered with strawberry fruit, Tahitian vanilla bean, and milk chocolate.
To make the celebration even more memorable, fans can pre-order an Exclusive 8-Bit Beer Box featuring the four-anniversary specialty beers (Press Start, Level Up, High Score, Game Over), a 16oz can-shaped Silipint with discounted refills, and 2 tokens redeemable for draft beer.
The Anniversary Party is open to the public, welcoming families and furry friends. Urban South Brewery invites everyone to join in the festivities and toast to four years of brewing excellence.
For more information on Urban South’s Anniversary Celebration, follow the Houston taproom on Instagram and Facebook.
- Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired - April 25, 2024
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