Page 30 of Road Trip
Only a handful of passengers were left in the gate area when she spotted Therese casually strolling down the concourse, chatting with a slender male Asian flight attendant, apparently untroubled by the prospect of missing the flight.
“Therese!” Maeve waved her arms to catch her sister’s attention.
“Hey,” Therese said, joining her sister in line.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“Chilling in the Sky Club with Tranh.”
Therese winked at the male flight attendant. “Tranh, this is my overcaffeinated sister Maeve, who I was just telling you about.”
Tranh bowed slightly. “So nice to finally meet you. But please don’t worry. I texted your gate agent, and you two are all set.”
“So glad I ran into you, shug,” Therese said, kissing her friend on the cheek. She held up her phone screen and showed it to her sister. “Look! Tranh not only badged me into the Sky Club, he also worked some kind of magic and got us upgraded to first class. We’ve even got the lay-flat seats.”
Maeve frowned. “Is that… legal?”
“Of course,” Tranh said, chuckling. “Lucky for you, two seats in first just opened up in the last hour. I’m not working this flight, but my roomie is. She’s the one who actually made it happen. And don’t worry, Glenna is gonna take good care of you ladies.Now you better get moving, or they’ll close the doors without you.”
He gave Therese a hug and hurried away.
“Hi, ladies,” thewillowy flight attendant said, handing each of the sisters a small zippered case and a flute of champagne as soon as they were seated. “I’m Glenna. Welcome aboard! I’ll let you get comfy and then later I’ll come back for your dinner order.”
Therese sighed. “This is nice, right?” She tilted the champagne flute to her lips and emptied it in one fluid motion.
Maeve took a sip of the wine. “How do you know that guy?”
“Tranh? Honestly, it’s been so long, I can’t even remember. Maybe we met at a bar down in Cabo when his boyfriend was living down there? Yeah, that’s it. He’s super sweet. I mean Tranh, not the boyfriend. He was a shitheel. Anyhow, after you abandoned me at security, I was looking for this week’s issue ofPeoplein a gift shop, and there he was! We went and hung out in the Sky Club while you were freaking out.”
“I wasn’t freaking out. I just didn’t want us to miss our flight and screw up the whole trip,” Maeve said.
“Whatever.”
Maeve listened intentlyand watched the seat-back screen during the pre-takeoff instructions. She glanced sideways at Therese, who’d inserted earbuds and donned a satin sleep mask.
“Would you please relax?” Therese muttered. “Your anxiety is giving me anxiety.”
“Can’t help it,” Maeve said, gritting her teeth and watching out the window as the jet taxied down the runway. “I was on a flight that had to make an emergency landing in Florida years ago. Ever since then…”
“Give me your hand.” Therese reached into her bag, pulled out a plastic pill bottle, and shook two red blobs into her sister’s palm. “Here. Chew these.”
“No way,” Maeve said. “Not after those brownies you gave me when I was in tenth grade. You know how I feel about illegal drugs.”
“Don’t be such a weenie. Uncle Keith sells these in the drugstore. Perfectly legal. They just take the edge off, when you’re nervous.”
Maeve’s heart was racing. “I don’t know. What exactly are these?”
“Harmless little gummies. They’ll help you sleep. I always take them when I fly.”
They’d been inflight for two hours. Therese was asleep, snoring softly in her lay-flat seat. Maeve tried to read, but couldn’t concentrate on the plot. She watched part of a movie on the seat-back screen, but ten minutes in remembered she’d already seen it, and hadn’t liked it any better the first time.
She tracked the plane’s route on the seat-back screen, but as soon as the computerized model showed they were over the Atlantic, her mouth went dry. She hurriedly clicked back to the movie.
Soon, Glenna was back with the drink cart and dinner menus. “Is your sister going to want dinner?”
“If she wakes up, I guess. But I’m not sure,” Maeve said, looking over the elegant script on the menu. “Why don’t you just bring us both the poached chicken breast, potatoes au gratin, and asparagus? And I’ll have a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Seems like a safe bet.”
Therese slept through dinner, which Maeve found surprisingly good. She could definitely get used to traveling first class, she decided.
