She blinked and looked back at the chaotic and crazy terminal she’d gotten lost in twice that morning. It had taken her over an hour and an absurd amount of money to get into the city.
Private planes are a terrible environmental tragedy,she chanted to herself as they climbed the steps, and Mateo told the pilot to take off as soon as he could.
She stopped short when she reached the main cabin. There were over twenty seats in the plane arranged in pods of four facing each other. All of them were full of suitcases and boxes except for the first four on the left. The book was buckled into the very first seat. She was about to comment on whether that was a good idea when she noticed it wasn’t the only object to get a seatbelt. Every other seat on the plane had a little crystal ball cradled in the belt.
She kneeled next to the first one. “What on earth?”
“You said you needed a hundred crystal balls. I mean, this is only about twenty, but we’ll get there.”
She twisted to him. “You bought me crystal balls.”
He shrugged, looking uncomfortable, and she leaped up to wrap her arms around his neck. “With you, I’m not sure I’ll ever need one again.”
“So I’m the crystal ball in this scenario.”
She pulled away, suddenly worried. “I’m not here because you give me power.”
His hands tightened around her, and paradoxically, she could breathe better. “I know. Still, it’s yours.”
He drew her down into the first pair of seats, and she examined the rest of the luggage shoved everywhere else.
“You really are moving.”
“I told you.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Pretty sure of me, weren’t you?”
He swallowed. “It wouldn’t have mattered.”
“Explain,” she said, biting back hurt.
“Yes. I want you. I want a house, and I want our life, and I want babies.” He stopped talking, and she blushed.
“Go on,” she said, and he crushed her hand in his.
“But also, I didn’t want that.” He threw a hand back toward Manhattan. “All of this has been impossible for a very long time, and I’m so grateful to you that you made me see it. And even if there had been no you, I could not live that life anymore.”
She leaned into him, loving him, grieving for him and the decisions they both made for the wrong reasons, even if it was for the people they loved.
“Never do that again,” she whispered.
“Not a chance.”
“No, I mean it. Not for me either. I love you.”
He kissed her gently. “You would never ask me to.”
She nodded once, fiercely. “That’s all right then. I can’t believe you just packed up your life. How many suitcases?”
He looked baffled. “How would I know?”
She shook her head. Of course, he hadn’t packed his own life, carefully weighing each object and deciding what to keep.
She launched herself at him and landed in his lap as he grunted. She strangled him in her haste to show her gratitude.
She ended up staying there as the plane rumbled to life and they climbed into the sky. She knew this was not the smartest idea if anything happened, but also, his arms around her were stronger than any seatbelt humans had ever made.
Finally, when the plane had leveled and was gliding smoothly through the air, and she could almost convince herself she wasn’t several thousand feet above the ground, he pushed her back a little and rubbed a hand along the side of her head. “Have you ever heard of the Mile High Club?”
