The single time Olive had flown in her life, it had been in coach, and the plane was completely packed. But when she walked onto the plane that would be flying her to Tokyo, the first and longest leg of her trip to Bali, her jaw dropped almost to the floor. It was a two-story plane, and the entire upper floor was reserved for first-class passengers. As soon as she stepped on board and showed a flight attendant her ticket, another woman named Melody came rushing over to her and took her bags.
“Ah, you must be Miss Hunter! The concierge called ahead and said we’d need to store your bags on board. Let me take these for you, and follow me upstairs to the first-class cabin. Would you like to get some sleep right away?” she asked in a singsong voice.
Olive was completely overwhelmed by all of the attention. “I mean… yes. I’m really tired. But you don’t have to worry about me. I can just grab a pillow and crash out.”
Melody giggled, and Olive was stunned by her ability to be so perky that early in the morning. “No, no, dear. If you’d rather get some sleep, I’ll need to set up your suite to accommodate you!”
“I’m sorry, can you please explain what you mean by suite? This is all a little… new to me.”
Melody gestured for Olive to follow her into the cabin, and when they got to the main passenger area, Olive was blown away yet again. Many passengers were already fast asleep on beds that were partitioned off into individual sections, with fluffy comforters, down pillows, and personal televisions that even had remotes. Olive had never seen anything like it.
“You have a window seat in row three. I’ll go ahead and pull out your bed while you get comfortable. And then when you wake up, we can convert it back into a seat and get you set up with some food! Is there anything I can get for you in the meantime? Something to help you sleep?”
Olive almost dropped her backpack. “Help me sleep?” she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial tone. “Why? What do you have?”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that, dear! But I’d be happy to get you a glass of champagne, or some Tylenol PM if you need some help drifting off,” Melody said with a wink as she began setting up the bed. Olive accepted the Tylenol PM gratefully, fearful that she wouldn’t be able to sleep on a plane, despite the luxurious setting. It only took Melody minutes to get the bed ready for Olive, and she happily collapsed in it, glass of champagne in one hand and tiny blue pills in the other.
Olive didn’t even remember the plane taking off, because she was curled up under the warmth of the blankets and asleep before the wheels even left the ground. She also never noticed the man in the seat next to her, the man with classic movie star good looks, a mischievous smile, and chocolate brown eyes that stayed on Olive the whole time she was asleep…