Page 37 of Fake It For Love (Faux Love)
“I would think you would want to be closer to the ground,” he teased.
“No. I want to die before I hit the ground.”
He laughed again and pulled back to raise the nose of the plane. Up, up, up we went. I could see the water below, but the people disappeared from view. I saw a few ships far from the island. The water transitioned between deep blue to a pretty green.
“What do you think?” he asked.
I gave him a thumbs-up. “Awesome!”
His bright smile caused an increase in the butterflies already in my stomach. He turned the plane, the left wing dipping down as he headed in another direction. I wasn’t afraid. I thought I would be, but besides the initial jitters, I was good. This was fun. Watching him handle the aircraft like he had done it a hundred times relaxed me. I wasn’t nervous at all. I trusted him.
We soared through the sky before I heard him quietly talking into the microphone of his headset. Soon, the plane started to slow, and we were getting closer to land. Tall palm trees stretched up. I was certain I saw the beach he was referring to a moment before we dropped low and I was at eye level with the tops of the palm trees. The plane touched down on a runway with weeds growing through the black pavement. He slowed the plane and brought it to a stop.
“Sorry for the jerky landing,” he said. “That’s a pretty short runway.”
“It was fine,” I said.
He cut the engine and pulled off his headset. I took mine off and took a moment to catch my breath. That had been exhilarating. I had never really experienced anything quite so exciting. My life was mundane. “I think I see why you love flying,” I said.
He laughed and lifted the gullwing door. I did the same and climbed out of the plane before jumping onto the pavement. My legs were shaking a bit. It was an adrenaline rush.
“The beach is through there,” he said, pointing.
We headed out to the sandy beach surrounded by trees and overgrown bushes. Unlike the resort area, there was no one here. It was like this area had been forgotten. I loved it. “It’s so private,” I said as we strolled along the sand.
“It’s nice,” he replied.
“You’re not much of a people person, are you?” I asked.
“Not really,” he said.
We found a spot under the shade of some small trees and sat down on the sand. We both kicked off our shoes and dug our toes into the sand. “The ocean sounds so much louder when there aren’t a hundred other people milling about.”
“It’s the best soundtrack in the world as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
“How long have you been flying?” I asked him. “I know you were always reading about it in high school, but is there a process? College?”
“Aviation school,” he answered. “I was determined to get my pilot’s license. My dad was my biggest cheerleader.”
“Not your mom?” I asked.
“It scared Mom,” he said. “She thought I would do a couple of flights and get it out of my system. After my first flight, I was hooked. I knew it was the right thing for me. Initially, I thought I would get my license and fly as a hobby. Part of the agreement with me getting to go to flight school was I also had to take college classes.”
“Damn,” I exclaimed. “That had to be hard. What classes did you take?”
“I got my bachelor’s in business,” he said. “When I wasn’t taking classes, I was flying. I worked my ass off to get in my flight hours. I got my commercial license and started a business with just a single plane. Things evolved and eventually one plane turned into two dozen. I have hangars all around the world.”
“No kidding!” I exclaimed. “Wow!”
“In a way I feel like I stumbled into it,” he said. “I was only doing what I loved to do and it made me very wealthy.”
I laughed and shook my head. “The proverbial falling upward phenomena.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Are all the planes like the one we flew in?” I asked.
“No. Different sizes. We’re still technically a small business. We do private charters and stuff like that.”
