I stand, grabbing my bag and getting in line to board the plane. "Good morning," the attendant says, and I smile, walking down the jetway. A flight attendant is there when I walk in.
"I'm three A," I say, walking as I look up at the numbers and see my seat. I sit in my seat and tuck my bag under the seat in front of me.
Opening the shade, I put on my seat belt. "Can I get you something to drink?" the flight attendant asks.
"I'll have a mimosa," I say, and she smiles at me as she walks away. A couple of people trickle by as the time passes.
"Here you go." She hands me the crystal champagne glass, and I take a sip as I look out the window, watching the sun rise. I finish the mimosa in three gulps as I count down the time until we take off. My heart speeds up as the nerves start to come on full force.
"I'll take that," the attendant says of my glass, and I hand it to her. "We are preparing for takeoff."
I smile at her and put my head back as I hear the overhead bin doors being shut. The captain comes out and gives us his whole speech. "Excuse me." I hear a voice and open my eyes. "Is this seat taken?" Ace says, smirking at me, and he looks just as good as I do. Seeing him there fills me with a sense of calmness, and I can't help but smile. He wears blue shorts and a blue and white button-down short-sleeve shirt. His Rolex is the only thing on his arm. His hair looks like he just stepped out of the shower and brushed his hands through it. His Ray-Ban glasses are sitting on his head. His eyes look bloodshot, and I'm pretty sure mine match his, but I haven't looked at myself in the mirror, afraid of what will be looking back at me.
"That depends," I say, looking around and sitting with my back against the window. "It's only available if your fiancé cheated on you and you are here for a good time?" He shakes his head. "If this is not you, then you can't sit here."
He throws his head back and laughs. "Excuse me, sir," the attendant says, "if you can take your seat."
He sits down and fastens his seat belt, then looks over at me. "So what changed your mind?" I ask, not really caring since he's here.
"Getting home and seeing Sheila's shit all over the place," he shares, putting his hands in his lap. The plane jerks, and I yip out and jump.
"Are you okay?" he asks, and I look out the window seeing the plane moving down the runway.
"I hate flying," I admit, looking to make sure that nothing is burning on the plane and we have to abort the mission.
He grabs my hand. "I gotcha," he says, his voice calmer than I've ever heard before. "I've always gotcha."
Chapter 13
Ace
I reach over the big armrest in the middle of the two first-class seats and grab her hand in mine. "I gotcha." My voice comes out calm when I see her eyes are filled with fear. "I've always gotcha." All she does is nod at me and then turns to look out the window.
"I can pretty much handle anything that you throw at me," she says, trying to remain calm as the plane makes its way down the runway. "I could pretty much wrestle with a tiger, and I'd feel better than being in a plane." Her leg starts to bounce up and down as she looks out the window.
"Hey." She turns to look at me. "Don't look outside," I tell her. "Just look at me."
The plane stops for a second, and I know that we are lining up to take off. I also know that once it starts moving faster, she'll probably freak out. "So what time did you get home yesterday?" I ask, not sure that I should even bring up yesterday, but at least her mind will be off the takeoff.
"I have no idea," she says, leaning her head back on the seat. She still has some makeup from yesterday on, and her eyes are a bright blue with red on the side, so I'm assuming she slept as great as I did. "I was looking for you." Her hand grips my hand a touch harder when the plane moves.
"I left after you fell asleep on me," I inform her. "Walked out, saw the family dancing, and decided that this was not what I wanted to do."
She laughs. "Right, because getting drunk by yourself was a better solution."
"Um," I say, rolling my eyes. "Obviously. Who doesn't like going home and getting shit-faced and then waking up and thinking about being fucked over in front of three hundred people."