“You’re looking at him,” Falcon retorted.
“You know how to fly this thing?” Carla asked in surprise.
“I took a one-day simulation class before I bought her,” Falcon deadpanned.
“Jesus!” Carla uttered preparing to flee.
“Just kidding,” Falcon guffawed. “I’ve been flying for years now.”
Carla approached the helicopter still undecided whether she should go through this suicide mission.
He opened the passenger door and proclaimed, “You can sit inside where you’ll feel safer or with me in the cockpit. Your choice.’’
Carla scrambled towards the cockpit doors. “I’m not sitting there all by myself. I’ll sit upfront with you.”
Falcon helped her in as Carla fumbled with the seatbelts. Her anxiety made her all thumbs and she couldn’t strap herself in.
“Here, let me help you,” Falcon volunteered.
The belt clicked and Carla was strapped in. He was near enough that Carla couldn’t help but stare at is face. He looked up and Carla blushed.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Falcon reassured her.
I-I’m not,” Carla lied.
“I can always tell when you’re lying. Your nostrils flare,” Falcon countered.
“No, they don’t,” Carla denied.
Falcon chuckled as he pulled the door shut and made his way to the other side. Unknown to him, Carla followed him with her eyes.
There’s so much I don’t know about him. What else is there I wonder. I should try to get to know him better. Give him a chance. Give myself a chance. Its such a dangerous game because each time I find out something new, I fall even deeper in love with him.
Falcon handed her a headset which she gingerly put on, then he fitted another onto his head. He started his flight checks once seated beside her. Carla was surprised she could hear him through her earpiece. Some of her doubts receded as he confidently radioed the tower. Soon he was given the all-clear to take off. He flicked on several switches with a quiet confidence, and as the propeller began to turn, he looked at her sideways and winked. Carla beamed.
They rose slowly up into the air as Carla giggled. Paris resembled a 3D animation the higher they lifted until the landscape was just a sprawling miniature of houses, buildings, and greenery down below.
She was probably grinning like crazy. She couldn’t help it. This was her first helicopter ride and it felt fabulous. The silhouette of the Eiffel tower appeared in the distance. She tugged at his elbow and gestured in that direction.
“You can speak normally, you know,” Falcon teased.
She slapped his arm, embarrassed. “He must think I’m such a nerd,” she thought.
“I should take you on an air tour of the city. But its not in the flight plan and I don’t want to get to near other birds in the sky.”
“Let’s not do that then,” Carla replied as Falcon headed northward.
The landscape soon changed to rolling hills as they left Paris behind. Roads resembling ribbons twisted and turned and went up and down across verdant hills. The mounds of earth looked like dumplings haphazardly spread out on a tray that was the ground. They stretched out in all directions as far as the eye could see
“That’s the Rhine,” Falcon pointed to a shimmering thread that snaked slowly in the distance.
As they neared the Rhine, a small town appeared. “That’s Strasbourg, the capital city of Alsace.” Falcon informed her.
“Are we nearing Riquewihr,” Carla asked.
Falcon nodded. “See those mountain peaks. They are the Vosges. Riquewihr is situated between those peaks.
Carla eagerly followed the direction with her eyes. As they flew closer, a small town appeared. Clusters of charming houses competed with the steeples of a church, even as more structures dotted the fields of fertile green evoking images from a fairytale locale. It almost looked medieval despite the presence of tourists strolling the alleys. And next to the fields, Carla saw rows upon rows of vineyards that stretched neatly all the way to the horizon.
