“I'm sure they're great people,” Marco said. “They'd have to be, to raise someone like yourself.”
“That's nice of you to say,” she said with a slight blush.
Marco beamed, pleasantly surprised to see that Sabrina accepted his compliment.
“What do your parents do for work?” Marco asked.
“My dad used to work at a factory, where he assembled air conditioning units for cars,” she said. “He got laid off last month, though, so he's looking for a new job right now. My mom is a substitute schoolteacher and works retail for extra money whenever she can. She works all the time now, just to try to make ends meet. There are weeks when she'll put in eighty hours. Dad was in an accident a few years ago, so medical bills tend to eat up most of our money. Finances became even more stressful since my dad lost his job.”
Marco frowned as he listened. There was so much history and so much pain behind Sabrina's eyes as she told the story of her parents. He knew that there was no possibility that he could ever relate to such a struggle, so he just listened.
“They sound like they're trying to make your life better,” he said. “I can respect that.”
“They really would do anything,” Sabrina said. “But they're getting older and now it's my turn to try to repay them for everything they've ever done for me. That's why I want to go to college and give myself, and my parents, a life that we've never had.”
“And a few minutes ago you said that you didn't have anything interesting to tell me about your life,” Marco said. “I think you just told me a fantastically interesting thing.”
The sound of the jet engines powering up temporarily filled the plane, interrupting their conversation. Sabrina paled slightly, but put on a brave face for her first flight.
“Good afternoon, everyone. This is your captain speaking. We're all set for takeoff. Please remain seated and buckled until our wonderful stewardess, Alyssa, tells you that it's okay to move around.”
Moments later, the plane took off down the runway and lifted into the air. Neither Sabrina nor Marco spoke during takeoff, but it was mostly because Sabrina's gaze was fixated out of the window.
“What are you looking at?” Marco asked.
“Just wanted to catch one last glimpse of my home town before this adventure begins,” she said. “I wonder if my dad is looking up right now and seeing us fly off. Wouldn't that be cool?”
“You never know. Maybe he is,” Marco said.
A plane that small gained elevation quickly and before they knew it, Alyssa was pushing the steel drink cart down the aisle toward them. “What can I get you two to drink?”
Marco looked to Sabrina. “What would you like?”
“I'll just have a tomato juice,” she said.
As Alyssa opened up a can of tomato juice for Sabrina, she brought her gaze to Marco. “And for you, sir?”
“A dirty martini, with extra olive juice and three olives,” he replied. It was his usual drink.
She expertly made his drink before taking her cart back into the galley to give them their privacy. Valetta was already snoring softly in her seat.
“Cheers,” Marco said, holding up his martini.
The olives swirled in his glass, spiraling clockwise in the center of the drink.
“What are we drinking to?” Sabrina asked.
“To my beautiful new employee, and to the amazing experiences that both of us will have over the next couple of months,” Marco said.
“I like that,” she said. “Cheers.”
Marco clinked his glass against Sabrina's tomato juice can and they both took a sip.
“Go slow with that tomato juice,” Marco said. “I don't want you getting too crazy on your first day of work.”
Sabrina chuckled and took another sip. “I know, this stuff goes straight to my head. It's more powerful than gin or vodka. One of these and you'd be dancing all over this plane in no time.”
They both shared a laugh.