Page 10 of Fake It For Love (Faux Love)
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RYAN
Ifelt like a kid on Christmas morning. This was the first long trip I was making in the new plane. My bags were packed, and I was ready to go.
I drove to the private hangar where my plane and a few of the other larger planes my company used for charter flights were stored. The crew had moved my plane onto the tarmac in preparation for my departure. I loaded my bags into the nose of the plane. My phone, water, and a Red Bull were in the cockpit.
The interior of the small plane was very much like an SUV. My particular plane was a four-seater. I opted not to have the bench seat to make it a seven-seater. The seats were leather and some of the most comfortable I’d ever enjoyed.
I walked around the plane and made sure everything was in order. It was new with very few hours on it, but that didn’t mean I could skip the normal preflight checks. I had a great crew, but I liked to make sure myself. It was my life up in the sky. If I was going to crash a plane, I was going to make damn sure it was my fault and no one else’s.
“I thought you’d be gone already,” Barb said.
I turned to look at her with my hand shielding the sun from my eyes. “Just doing the last checks. What are you doing here?”
“We’ve got a client coming in,” she said. “I came in to get them squared away.”
“Have I told you how much I appreciate you?” I asked with a smile.
“You have,” she replied. “You have many times, but I never get tired of hearing it.”
“You’ll keep everyone on their toes while I’m away?”
“Don’t I always?” she said.
“You do.”
“Will you be checking in?” she asked.
“I will,” I said. “Always.”
“You know, it wouldn’t hurt you to take some actual time off,” she said. “Is it a wedding you’re going to?”
“A wedding and my high school reunion,” I told her. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to either.”
“I could understand the reunion, but why not the wedding?” she asked.
I smiled and leaned against the plane. “Because I haven’t seen this person in forever,” I said.
“Male or female?” she asked.
“Female.”
“Oh,” she said and frowned. “Don’t tell me it’s an ex?”
I had to laugh at her wisdom. “Yes. We were best friends in grade school. We started dating in the eighth grade. I was certain Norah Quill was my destiny. She was my one true love. Then she dumped me our junior year and started dating some jock. Anthony Pike. The guy was an asshole. He was everything I wasn’t. He was cool and athletic, and all the girls thought he was hot.”
“Are you trying to tell me you weren’t cool, athletic, and hot?” she asked seriously.
“I was none of those things,” I confessed. “I was a nerd. I was taller than everyone in my class and lanky as hell. They used to call me Gumby. I felt like Gumby. I was all arms and legs.”
“I think you’ve certainly grown into those arms and legs,” she said.
“Yeah, well, it didn’t happen before we graduated,” I muttered.
“She invited you to her wedding,” she said. “And you’re going to go?”
“I have to,” I said. “If I don’t, it’s going to look like I’m bitter and holding a grudge. She’ll think I’m still carrying a torch for her.”
