Created By

melissabik

Rate this Story

Embed

“I’m afraid of flying,” Aiden stated as we waited in the airport to board our flight to Arizona.  I had all ready put on my Channel sunglasses and was trying my best to ignore Aiden by reading “Us Magazine” to take up the time we had to wait for our flight.  I turned to him in confusion.  “What?” I asked.  As I looked at his face, I realized that Aiden was sweating like a pig—in the middle of December in the O’Hare airport.  “I… I am deathly afraid of flying,” he stated again.  I smiled in amusement.  “But you flew from England…”I replied, trying to understand this new information I had uncovered.  “I took a valium…  I was out cold for hours…” he revealed.  I shook my head.  “So take a valium,” I suggested, turning back to see if Jennifer Lopez looked better in that Oscar De Larenta dress than Nicole Kidman did.  “I don’t have any,” Aiden replied.  I turned back to him, growing annoyed.  “So what does that mean?  We can’t go on the plane?  Because I am not about to lose a client,” I reminded him.  He shook his head.  “I don’t want to lose the client… I’m just letting you know what you’re in for… I’m going to continue to sweat, and I may want to squeeze things… I also need you to help keep my mind off of the fact that we’re hovering in a piece of metal thousands and thousands of feet in the air,” he stated.

I shook my head.  This guy has got to be kidding me…  Before I could answer, our flight number was called.  “The flight to Arizona on flight 157 is now boarding,” came over the intercom.  “That’s us, Nancy,” I stated as I folded my magazine into my big tote and walked towards the line that was now forming.  Aiden stood up and almost fell back down.  He was as white as a sheet.  “Come on, Aiden,” I replied as he inched his way toward me.  We got to the ticket desk and showed our tickets.  The flight attendant smiled.  “Have a nice flight,” she stated warmly.  I let out a mocking laugh as we made our way towards the plane.  Aiden began to squeeze my arm.  “No touching,” I stated.  Aiden looked at me with sweat pouring down his face.  “Shut up and get me to the seat,” he stated under his breath.  I found our seats—in coach as I had expected—and made sure to see if the flight attendant had any valiums.  “Is he all right?” a small, very thin, extremely excited flight attendant asked.  I nodded.  “He’s fine.  He’s just afraid of flying,” I explained.  “Do you by any chance have a valium he could take?” I asked, hoping to hear a positive answer.

I nodded and turned to Aiden.  “Okay; looks like you win,” I stated as Aiden wiped some sweat from his brow.  “What do you mean?” he asked, struggling not to look out the window anymore.  “I’m going to distract you…  What do you like to do for fun?” I asked.  The flight I thought was going to be humorous was now turning into tedious.  “I don’t know,” Aiden stated nervously.  His brain really didn’t feel like working at the moment.  “Yes, you do.  Come on; tell me what you like to do for fun,” I urged him as I closed the blind on the window.  “I… I like skiing…” he finally answered.  I nodded.  Okay, let’s work with what we have…  “When was the last time you went skiing?” I asked.   Aiden began to calm down a little as his mind went to something other than the fact that we were hovering thousands of feet off the ground.  “Two months ago…  I went with my sister and her new husband…” he stated as he closed his eyes.  “What’s your sister’s name?” I asked, still trying to occupy Aiden’s mind.  “Mia,” he answered with a small smile escaping from his lips.

“You must be very protective of her…” I replied.  Aiden nodded as he finally opened his eyes and looked at me.  “And you must be so proud that she found someone to spend the rest of her life with…  I’ll bet you planned their wedding too,” I replied, trying to make a joke.  Aiden laughed as he let out a sigh.  “She’s a wonderful girl…  And I think Will is just right for her… He’ll protect her just as I have done since she was born,” he informed me.  “Are you feeling better?” I asked as I handed him some water that the flight attendant had brought by a moment ago.  He smiled at me and I noticed that the sweat was almost gone.  “Much better,” he replied as he took a sip of his water.  That’s when we began our descent into sunny Arizona.  Thank God… This train wreck is almost over…  “What is that?” Aiden asked as the sweat began to pour out again.  “We’re almost there, Aiden,” I stated happily, ready to just get the hell off of that plane.  “We are?” he asked as he shut his eyes again.  That was when the plane touched down on the tarmac and we came to our destination.  Aiden opened one of his eyes and looked at me.  “It’s over?” he asked as his grip on the arm chair loosened.   “Yes, Aiden.  We’re in Arizona,” I assured him as I took off my seatbelt.  “The temperature in Phoenix right now is a beautiful 79 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s partly cloudy.  We hope you had a wonderful flight.  Thank you for flying with Ameri Airlines,” came over the intercom.  I turned to Aiden and took off his seatbelt as he finally had the nerve to open the blinds and look out the window.  He wanted to reassure himself that we were actually on the ground.

When he saw the airport and the people down below taking the suitcases, he let out a sigh of relief.  I shoved my iPod back into my tote and opened the overhead compartment to reach in and grab Aiden’s carry on.  I swear, there were bricks in that carry on.  I can’t believe he was actually allowed to bring it with him on the plane.  I threw it at him and waited for him to get up.  “Let’s go, Aiden.  Linda and Gary are waiting for us to arrive.  It’s all ready noon; we’re supposed to be at her parent’s house at 3pm,” I informed him as he finally had some strength to get up.  We made our way off of the plane as the pilot and co-pilot waited at the entrance to say good bye.  “We hope you enjoyed your flight,” the pilot replied.  I let out my mock laugh again as I walked off.  We made it to baggage claim and I found my one Louis Vitton suitcase as Aiden found his boring black bag.  “Thank you,” Aiden muttered under his breath as he grabbed his bag.  I turned to him with a puzzled look on my face.  “What did you say?” I asked.  Aiden shrugged his shoulders.  “Thank you for what you did when we were on the plane…” he said a little bit more loudly.

Although it was 79 degrees outside, it felt like it was 100 degrees.  As soon as we got outside, I went back into the airport and pulled out my pink camisole and khaki Capri’s.  “What are you doing?” Aiden asked finally back to normal; now the sweat pouring from his brow was because of the heat.  “I’m not going to be all sticky; it’s so hot out there.  This outfit definitely doesn’t work in this weather,” I exclaimed as I headed for the ladies room.  20 minutes later, I emerged in my new outfit, feeling much better now that I was properly dressed for our venue.  Aiden hailed a taxi and we headed to the hotel.  I had slept in some great hotels since I began this job; the Hilton, the Hilton Plaza, Westin Resorts, Waldorf Hotels…  Every hotel was just as luxurious as the last.  I couldn’t wait to see what hotel Kip had booked for me—us this time.  I just hope there are two separate rooms…  The taxi dropped us off at the Hilton Plaza and we headed for the front desk.  There was a short, balding man waiting.  “Hello, madam and sir,” he greeted as I arrived.  (Aiden carried the bags…  What a gentleman…) “Hi; There should be a reservation for an Anne Tanner and an Aiden…”  I didn’t know his last name.  I realized this and felt myself turn a bit red.  “Aiden Rupert,” he answered for me.

The man at the desk nodded and began typing on his little computer, searching for our names.  “Ah, yes… Here we are; A. Tanner and A. Rupert.  You two are in room 32B,” he informed us.  Aiden nodded, but I wasn’t quite satisfied with that answer.  “I’m sorry, but that sounds like one room, not two,” I informed the man.  He looked at me and replied, “That’s because it is.”  He handed me two keycards and called for the bellboy to take our bags up to the room.  “Enjoy your stay at the Hilton Plaza,” the man stated politely as Aiden headed for the elevator.  I followed after him with our keycards.  The doors slid closed and we were engulfed in quiet elevator music.  “Is there are problem?” Aiden asked smugly, knowing full well that I had a problem.  “Aren’t you afraid the cable to the elevator is going to snap?  We’re awfully high off of the ground…” I snapped as we reached our floor.  Aiden smiled as we got out.  The bellboy was all ready at our room with our bags.  Aiden opened it up for him and walked inside.  As I followed after him, I heard him snicker.  “Kip is going to be in so much trouble…” he stated.  What is he talking about? I wondered.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m fine…” I replied, trying to hold back my rage.  I was really bluffing…  “Really?” Aiden asked as he followed after me.  I opened the door and pointed to my watch.  “We have got to be somewhere…  Besides; you’ll just sleep on that loveseat instead,” I informed him as I headed towards the elevator.