“Okay,” he pulls back from me. “I’ll see you in a few hours. Hopefully, this team meeting won’t take too long.”
Glancing around me, I make sure nobody is watching and I give him a quick peck. “I’ll see you soon.” He grabs the handle of his suitcase and makes his way down the narrow hall.
“Yeah,” Hazel whispers from right behind me. I jump. Where the hell did she come from? “You’re totally getting laid tonight.”
“Shut up.” I don’t say anything else. I grab my luggage and get off the plan. I don’t care if she is right, she doesn’t have to be all weird about it.
Our reservations are at a top end steakhouse. I told him I didn’t need anything fancy, but he felt bad that we’ve only been eating fast food, or whatever the hotels offer. As far as going out is concerned, I’m a pretty simple girl. I don’t need all the bells and whistles. As long as I’m enjoying my time with him, I'm perfectly happy.
I spot him as I push through the crowd of people. I can’t believe so many people are braving the cold weather, but I get it. This is normal for us. Bentley is standing outside the restaurant door with a heavy jacket on. “Hey, you beat me here.”
“I almost wish I hadn’t. It’s freezing out here,” he says through shaky lips. I can almost hear his teeth chattering.
“It’s not that bad out here.” It will be later, though. We’re supposed to get a wave of snow flurries overnight. Nothing brutal, but I’m not telling him that. I’m not sure he’ll be able to handle it.
“Speak for yourself,” he says as he pulls me close to him. His lips cold against my cheek. “This Texas boy doesn’t handle this weather well at all. Hell, it was still in the sixties when I got to the airport.”
“We can go inside now. Then you won’t be such a crybaby.” My mouth spreads into a wide, teasing grin. “Besides, I’m hungry. I didn’t have time to eat before I came.”
“I’m not a crybaby. But yes, let’s go. That meeting drained me.” He pulls the door open wide and a blast of hot air hits us. He waits for me to go ahead of him, but stands in the doorway for longer than necessary.
“You know there’s heat in here, right?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Taking a step forward, he puts his arm around my shoulder and leads us to the host stand. A woman in a black shirt stands behind the podium and she’s looking down at a seating chart. “Hi, we have a reservation for Bentley.”
She doesn’t even look up to greet us, instead she runs her fingers over the tablet in front of her, searching for our reservation. “Yes, I have you right here. If you’ll follow me, I’ll get you seated.” She still hasn’t bothered to make eye contact. It’s a little annoying and reeks of poor customer service. My job is in this line of work and I always pay attention to the passengers who fly with us. Well, except Bentley. I tried my hardest not to notice him. It’s good business and keeps people happy.
“She seems kind of rude,” Bentley leans down and whispers in my ear. At least I’m not the only one that feels this way.
“I thought so, too. Maybe she’s having a bad night?” I’m not sure why I’m making excuses for her, but a shitty day can definitely affect how you respond to people.
“Here we are,” she finally looks up and smiles. Maybe she heard us. “Your waiter should be with you shortly.” She’s already heading back to the stand before we seated.
“That felt odd,” Bentley says as he pulls my chair out.
“I agree.”
“Oh well, we’re here now. Let’s make the best of the rest of the night.” He takes his jacket off, hanging it over the chair, and sits across from me. “What did you do when you got off work?”
“Not much,” I shrug. “Cleaned the apartment and did some laundry. The usual when I get home from back-to-back flights.”
“I don’t see how you do it.”
“Do what?” I’m looking over the menu while we wait on the server.
“Stay gone all the time.” It’s a question I’ve never been asked before. Few people care to know, or they think I’m living the dream. Jet Setting off to various locations and doing what I please. While most of it is true, it’s also tiring. I’ve never mentioned to anyone else that I’ve been wanting to do something else for a while. Something that doesn’t require me to be gone most of the time. It gets old coming home to an empty apartment, or only being home a day or two a week.
“It’s not always easy. Especially with times like now.” I set the menu down and continue, “Dating is the worst part of it unless you’re also dating someone in the same line of work. But it’s not much different for you, is it? You’re away from home a lot when you play out of town.”
“I’m still home a majority of the time. And there’s off season when we rarely travel for the team.” He pauses, as if he doesn’t want to say what he’s going to, but throws it out there, anyway. “Is that why you dated that pilot? Because he was in the same line of work?”
Honestly, I was wondering when this question would come up. He has to be wondering what happened. Especially after that awkward scene the day I met him. “Sort of. I mean, I was attracted to him, along with all the other flight attendants. Being with him for that brief time almost ruined my friendship with Hazel. Luckily, she was there for me when it all ended. I thought I would be the one that changed him and made him settle down. Turns out…I wasn’t.” I take a deep breath, knowing what I’m about to admit will be a punch to the gut for him. “It’s why I was so resistant to dating you.”
The waiter chooses that moment to approach our table. “Can I interest you in one of our wines?”
He nods to me, and I look over the list, not really paying attention to the selections. I point to one, and I have no clue what it is, but the description says it’s sweet. The waiter nods and disappears again. For such a fancy restaurant, the service is slow.
“What do I have to do with him?”
