Still, they stayed glued to me until I was seated in a plush leather recliner that rotated about 180 degrees. The interior of the plane was like a night club hybrid, gold trim and warm creams. The flight attendant moved between Darryl and Mitch, who still loomed over me, and she pulled the belt around my lap before clicking it into place.
“I’ll come back in just a second to see if you need anything,” the attendant smiled at me warmly before standing up and flicking both men an annoyed glance.
As soon as my view wasn’t blocked, my eyes searched quickly to find Josie. It wasn’t hard to spy the pink windowed carrier. The attendant had buckled it into the seat across the aisle. Not quite touching distance in the bougie, private plane, but I could see her peaceful, slumbering form through the clear viewing port.
The men were still hovering. “Is there something else?” My tone dripped acid, though my insides were a mess. I didn’t like the men. Didn’t like the way they looked at me.
“Nope, our job is done.” Darryl held the red envelope out to me. I took it, dropping it against my thighs and refusing to give it closer inspection yet.
“Thanks,” I said after the men didn’t immediately leave.
Darryl ran a hand over his mullet, eyeing me curiously. “Other products haven’t been quite so cantankerous.”
“Products are things you find on a grocery store shelf,” I bit out, finally unable to contain my anger at being called that word.
“Sure, used to be.” He nodded slightly.
They still didn’t leave. Darryl exchanged a glance with Mitch, who just shrugged.What the hell did these two want? My gut was beginning to feel funny, tingling with the growing awareness that these two Betas weren’t content to simply wish and want for things their identities prohibited.
Darryl took a step forward.
Where was the flight attendant? I shrunk back into the chair, but I was buckled in with nowhere to run. A voice came to life, flowing through the speakers, stopping whatever might have happened.
“If you are not a passenger, please exit the plane. We need to begin pre-flight checks.” One of the Alpha’s voices flowed back to us from the cockpit.
Seconds later, the attendant did come back, reinforcing the announcement. “This way, gentleman. We’re on a tight schedule.” After a second of being ignored, she moved forward and plastered on a smile before waving her arm towards the exit.
“You be a good little Omega,” Darryl finally drawled. “Make sure the client gets their money’s worth.” His words were crude, and somewhat crushing. Even if I wanted to forget what I’d become, it didn’t seem like employees of The Institute would let me.
“Must be hard,” I spoke through clenched teeth, “delivering something you can’t afford.”
A flash of anger shot through his eyes, but then he gave me a toothy grin. “I’ve always liked a girl with a little fight in her. Makes it interesting. Reminds me of the wild broncos at the rodeo. Give them a little kick, and they damn near buck you to heaven. Bet you’d do that too.”
Behind him, Mitch smirked before pulling the cigarette from his ear and shoving it between his lips. The flight attendant’s mouth fell open in surprise. She didn’t say anything, as if shock had frozen her.
“Bet you’ll never find out,” I snarled. It wasn’t the strongest comeback, but it was enough. Darryl kicked the chair in front of me and then stomped off the plane. Mitch loped behind him, lighting up the cigarette. Before he de-boarded, he gave me a final, appreciative glance.
The flight attendant rushed forward, gesturing to someone outside the plane before pulling the door securely into place. When she came back, she apologized profusely for the men’s behavior. I told her it wasn’t her fault, but she made sure I knew that she’d report it to The Eros Institute. She was an employee too. The plane belonged to The Institute. The pilots were on the payroll. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Eros eyes everywhere.
I went to push the hood off. Though I could breathe through it, I was feeling claustrophobic. The woman stopped me. Apparently, it needed to stay in place until I was in the client’s possession.
Eros employee or not, the woman was incredibly sweet and accommodating.
By the time the pilot started the customary, pre-flight announcements, I had a fluted glass of champagne in my hand. The pale liquidbubbled gently inside the faceted crystal. I only half paid attention to the voice streaming over the speakers, or the way the flight attendant demonstrated required safety features. I disassociated, sipping slowly and hoping I’d get a buzz quickly to dull the pain that had been building for hours.No, building for days. No, building for weeks. No… building for fucking ever.
Every single second since the moment I’d found out my entire life was destroyed had been a second when agony was multiplying inside of me. I’d kept it at bay. I’d pushed it down into the soles of my feet, hoping it would stay there. But…not anymore.
I hated take-off. I’d always been terrified of it. But once the plane was in the air, floating lazily, I felt better. Though it may have been the second and third glasses of champagne the flight attendant provided, not even waiting for me to ask. She just seemed to appear the instant one glass was empty, replacing it wordlessly with another. I wondered how much she was allowed to give me; I doubted a client would appreciate it if their ‘product’ arrived shit faced.
When the seatbelt light pinged off, I unbuckled and stood, pacing the wide aisle trying to work off nervous energy. The red envelope fell to the floor when I stood, whispering against the carpet before settling on the other side of the aisle near Josie’s chair.
The plane interior was lush. Every surface seemed to be a combination of cream leather and gold trim. I moved around, peering through windows and exploring every inch of accessible space. It wasn’t a big plane, so it didn’t take long, and the flight attendant kindly redirected me when I pushed through thick velvet curtains, intruding into her prep space. I retraced my steps. Checked over everything again. Used the small, but well-appointed bathroom. I even stood over the cat carrier watching Josie for eons, like she was better entertainment than the romance movie that had started auto-playing after take-off (I’d immediately asked the attendant to mute the television. The last thing I needed was some cutesy, ‘happily ever after’ reminding me that my own story was no fairytale).
Eventually though, I ran out of things to do.
And my eyes caught sight of the red envelope.
With shaking hands, I picked it up and sat back down. I had to work up the nerve to break the envelope's seal. I hated the crimson hue; it felt ominous.
