“Okay. I’ll call when I get there. Bye.”
“Bye.” He paused for a second before disconnecting.
“Can you direct me, please?”
The driver got out of the car and retrieved her luggage before giving her concise directions of the pedestrian route to a nearby subway station that would get her to the airport.
She looked down at herself and thought her choice of outfit was probably not the best. She’d opted for a short, dark grey, almost black shift dress that barely covered her thighs and black, five inch heels that were not conducive to walking beyond the fifty feet she’d already travelled. She opened her case on the pavement, the sidewalk, and retrieved her trainers, her sneakers, and decided that although she wasn’t at the gym she sure as hell wasn’t fucking and wouldn’t be if she didn’t get to the airport on time. She zipped her case back up, threw her shoes in her hand luggage and was able to walk quickly and comfortably. Several comments, most of them crude, were made from cars as she wiggled past them dragging her case behind her, but she ignored them and thanked all things holy that James wasn’t there.
Arriving at the entrance to departures, Tasha changed her shoes back before checking in with only,three minutes to spareas the bitchy woman on the desk who wore a little too much make-up told her before she realised she was in first class and suddenly they were rushing her through.
She quickly text James.
He replied immediately.
She laughed as she was escorted to board the plane.
She was on the plane when his reply vibrated in her hand.
She turned it off as a male attendant escorted her to her seat next to a very handsome late twenty something man who looked up and grinned at her as she stretched up and struggled to stow her hand luggage revealing all of her legs and nothing else she hoped.
The flight attendant stretched up to help her as the ruggedly handsome flight companion stood too. “Please, let me.” Effortlessly he stowed her luggage for her.
She looked around and about four rows back, in the aisle seat, on the opposite side of the plane next toa very hairy building companyCEOwas Jim. When she smiled in his direction she decided the stony glare that was returned was indeed from James. The hairy CEO was smiling broadly at her, as were most of the male passengers, which embarrassed her slightly. She took her seat as Justin, the flight attendant offered her some help to settle. She smiled, but declined the offer.
The plane had just taken off when the flight attendants appeared and the handsome man next to her accepted a beer.
“I’ll have the same please,” Tasha said, pointing to the beer.
Her fellow traveller introduced himself as Parker, a doctor who had been home to New York to visit his family and was on his way back to L.A.
“A doctor, you don’t look old enough.”
He laughed and stared at her with the bluest of blue eyes. “You need to work on your lines.”
Blushing a little she tried to clarify her position and meaning. “No, I wasn’t, sorry.”
He shook his head with a soft laugh that teased. “Please, I’m joking.”
Tasha laughed again, relief more than amusement the cause but casually glanced back to look at James who appeared to be furious. She was in no doubt that she was the cause of his fury and one way or another she would pay for it.
“Which field of medicine are you in?” She hoped she could simply chat and neutralise any misunderstanding between them or on Jim’s part.
“I’m a paediatrician.”
“And you, Tasha? What do you do?”
“I’m an actress.” With the words aloud she realised how lame they sounded on a flight to L.A.
He smiled and confirmed their lameness. “Off to Hollywood to find fame and fortune, eh?”
