Summer Down South

by Lily Hayden

  “See you back out there.” He kissed her again, tucking in his shirt and quickly exiting the restroom.

  She took a moment to compose herself and walked back to her seat, half-expecting all eyes to be on her judgingly or for the air-stewards to pull her to one side and arrest her. The passengers around her were all fixedly focussed on their iPads and books, and nobody batted an eyelid as she slid back into her seat.

  “I’d love to take you out if you’d let me.” Armand smiled warmly as she settled into her seat.

  “That was amazing.” She smiled back, summoning her inner-Taylor. “But I’m not dating at the moment.”

  She slid a hand onto his muscular calf and added, to soften the blow. “But if I was, you’d be first in line with those skills.”

  Her compliment worked, and he didn’t seem disheartened by her turning him down. She feigned sleep for the rest of the flight. It had been a perfect little hook-up and she was keen to stick to her guns and keep it that way even if her heart was still racing and her legs still trembling at the memory. Once the plane had safely touched down and rolled to a halt at their gate, she gathered up her bags, trying to look nonchalant as she prepared to leave.

  “If you change your mind.” He said, sliding a card into her hand.

  With that, he had weaved skilfully through the aisle and was out of sight. She glanced down at the business card in her hand, smiling at the memory, but then something caught her eye.

  “Armand Landry. MLB Designs.”

  The funky company logo jumped out at her and she felt her heart stop dead in her chest. What were the odds of hooking up with a new colleague? And a senior one at that! Fuck!

  Inflight Entertainment

  Ella set down the takeaway coffee on the table at the airport coffee shop and slipped into the seat, pushing her bags safely underneath the chair. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a guy checking her out and she pulled her phone out quickly pretending not to notice.

  Caleb had texted her. She knew he would, and she felt a flutter of excitement as she opened up the message followed by a stab of irritation at herself for feeling so keen about him. She read his sweet good luck message, ignoring the warmth that spread through her heart.

  God, Ella. She berated herself silently. He’s one-hundred-percent not right for you.

  But, try as she might, she couldn’t get him out of her head. She attributed her temporary weakness to the heightened emotions of graduating and leaving her college city for a completely fresh start. Plus, she had crushed on him for years, yet he had been unattainable while every other guy she had so much as smiled at had been putty in her hands. If he had gone to bed with her, the rational voice in her head reasoned, the spell would have been broken and he would have been yesterday’s news.

  She put her phone down onto the table without replying but picked it straight back up.

  He was moving down to Austin to stay with his Dad after a summer travellling. He’d only be an hour away from her. She drummed a manicured nail against the screen of her phone thoughtfully. He was a great guy. They had been friendly in college. She should reply.

  This was new territory for Ella. Taylor jokingly called her “The Ghost” for her ability to disappear when guys she’d hooked up with became persistent in their attempts to date her. Caleb was different though, the annoying voice in her head reminded her. He had been her friend and he was a sweet guy. She would reply and just make it clear she didn’t want a relationship.

  Her fingers tapped out a response before she could stop herself and she watched the status of the message change to ‘sent’. She pushed the phone across the table, away from her, as if to distance herself from the uncharacteristic behaviour. Her phone buzzed with a response and she eyed it suspiciously.

  “Is that seat taken?”

  She looked up, almost grateful for the interruption, to see the tall, dark stranger who’d been eyeing her up across the concourse. He was dressed immaculately in a tailored blue suit. His hair was short and dark, but she could make out flecks of grey shot through at the temples. His eyes were a deep grey and crinkled at the corners, but in a sexy way, like he had spent years out in the sun laughing. He held out his hand towards the free chair, causing the sleeve of his expensive suit to fall back, revealing a shiny Rolex on his wrist. Usually, Ella would have jumped at the opportunity to kill some time flirting with a sexy, older businessman, but she couldn’t seem to summon any of her usual enthusiasm.

  “Go ahead.” She said, not bothering to bat her eyelashes or flash him a killer smile.

  God, Ella! What is wrong with you? She thought to herself as she found herself reaching for her phone before she could stop herself. She looked at the screen and felt her heart sink. It was just a message from her mom. She replied quickly and reached for her coffee.

  “Where are you heading?” The man asked.

  She gave him a half-assed smile out of politeness and opened her mouth to respond.

  Her phone buzzed again, and she snatched it up too quickly, jostling her cup and sloshing coffee everywhere.

  “Oh! Goddamnit!” She cursed, jumping up as the hot liquid splashed into her lap.

  “Here.” The man was on his feet, brandishing a handful of napkins from out of nowhere. He stemmed the waterfall of coffee from the edge of the table and, with a fresh handful, he blotted away the liquid from her jeans.

  She took the napkins gratefully from his hand. “Thank you. I’m such an idiot.”

  He wiped down the table and took the sodden tissue from her, swiftly tossing it into a nearby trashcan before taking his seat.

  “Is everything ok?” He asked, glancing at her phone. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but you seem a little on edge?”

  Ella gave up trying to dry the damp patch on her jeans and placed the napkin down next to her half-empty coffee cup before sitting down.

  “No, I’m just clumsy.” She replied, deciding that the handsome, helpful man had earned her full attention. “Thank you for helping me. I’m Ella.”

  “Nice to meet you, Ella.” He extended a hand across the table. “I’m Jason.”

  She accepted his hand, surprised with the rough, manliness of his skin in contrast to his polished exterior. He picked up the conversation, as if she hadn’t just launched a large almond latte with a shot of vanilla over herself. He was a nice guy, she realised as they chatted easily. Sexy, confident, successful. Usually she would be flipping her hair and making all the usual moves that guys seemed to find irresistible, but her heart wasn’t in it today. Unused to simply conversing with no ulterior motive, she found herself opening up to his interested questions.

  “I can’t believe you don’t have a boyfriend!” He protested, cocking his head to one side and eyeing her with teasing suspicion. “You’re practically sitting on your phone. Have you had a falling out?”

  “Noooo!” Ella shook her head laughing. “It’s nothing.”

  “Nothing?” He folded his arms across his broad chest. “How about if I tell you my sob story, you tell me yours?”

  She felt her lips part ready to shoot back a cheeky response about him showing her his, when she caught the flirty comeback before it left her mouth. Flirting was like second nature to her and she had to stop herself, it just came automatically. Her phone buzzed again, and she turned it over, seeing it was a notification telling her the flight had started to board.

  “Ah!” She held up her phone, flashing him an apologetic smile. “Saved by the bell. Sorry, my flight is calling.”

  He got to his feet, chivalrously helping her to free her bags from beneath the table. She slipped her bag onto her shoulder and slid her phone into her jeans pocket.

  “It’s been nice to meet you.”

  “My flight is leaving too.” He said, heaving his own bag from the floor. “Did you say you were headed to San Antonio?”

  She nodded. He held out his boarding card to her and grinned.

  “Snap!”

  She had no choice
but to fall into step with him, but he was predictably sat up front in Business Class and she waved goodbye to him as she made her way to her cramped Economy seat. She couldn’t remember the last time she hadn’t got an upgrade. A little flirting at the check-in desk or a quick message to one of her many contacts usually guaranteed her a seat reserved with the beautiful people, but somehow today, her mind had just been elsewhere. She grimaced as she saw her allocated place, smack bang in the middle of a large, shabbily-dressed man who was currently blowing his nose noisily into a cloth handkerchief and an equally-sized woman with a bad perm who had already removed her shoes and socks. Ew!

  Ella looked around, wondering if it was too late to find another seat. People were still getting on the plane and every seat around her was starting to fill up. She eyed the tiny seat between the two unsavoury passengers and cursed herself for letting herself get distracted by Caleb.

  “Uh, Miss.” The pretty air stewardess tapped her shoulder. “Could you take your seat please?”

  Reluctantly, Ella squeezed into the seat and fastened her seat belt. She pulled her phone back out and scrolled through social media to distract herself. Taylor had posted some photos from Graduation and she browsed through them, feeling a twinge of pleasure at how great she looked in the snaps. She saw Caleb had ‘liked’ one and she clicked into his profile curiously.

  His profile picture had been a nauseating couples selfie of him and Ashley for the past year and she was pleased to see it had been replaced by a solo shot of him looking suave in his formal suit. She felt her fingers creep of their own accord to the ‘like’ button. Screw it. She pressed it. Immediately she was filled with regret. He hadn’t replied to her message yet and now he’d see that she was nosing through his social media. How cringe! What the hell was wrong with her?

  She glared at her phone for several minutes, feeling her irritation rising as the people either side of her fidgeted and rustled. Once safely in the air, the woman headed off to the restroom and Ella took the opportunity to slide out of her seat. She tossed her silky blonde hair over her shoulder and stalked towards the front of the plane. She couldn’t sit there, cooped up between the nose-blower and the smelly-feet woman any longer. She’d find a flight attendant and make a polite complaint.

  “Excuse me.” She started, her face instantly melting into her best apologetic smile. “Are there any seats free?”

  She explained her plight to the handsome, young man, but he shook his head.

  “I’m sorry. This flight is fully booked.”

  “There’s nothing?” She could feel her blood start to boil now. She couldn’t bear to sit there for almost three hours. She’d rather stand outside the restroom, she decided. There were three restrooms on the small plane: one at the front for the fancy passengers, one in the middle and one at the back near her seat. She loitered against the wall of the middle restroom, paying the inflight charge for Wi-Fi and wiling the time away scrolling through her phone. She popped her headphones in to stop anyone trying to strike up conversation with her.

  “Hey. Are you waiting?”

  There was a gentle tap on her shoulder and she looked up in annoyance. Jason was stood in the aisle smiling at her. He had shed his suit jacket and his shirt was unbuttoned at the collar. She pulled one headphone from her ear.

  “Hey.” She smiled back before gesturing at the vacant stall. “Go ahead.”

  “You were first.” He shook his head, holding out his hand.

  “No, I’m just stretching my legs.” She insisted. “There’s a bathroom up front. It’s usually a lot cleaner.”

  “There’s a nauseous pregnant lady in there.” He explained.

  Ella smiled back, unsure what to say. She gestured again for him to go ahead, before reluctantly heading back to her seat. Her neighbours seemed to have been making the most of her absence and they were chatting animatedly, with her arm-rests flung upwards to allow them to slide their ample bodies towards each other. Perm-lady had her disgusting feet tucked under his huge legs even in the tiny, confined space. Ella felt an affinity with the nauseous pregnant woman as her stomach turned at the sight of the woman’s corns. The man was laughing at something she was saying, and he reached across and took her hand.

  Ella stepped back away from the seat. Oh, God, they were really flirting. The man had a blanket over his lap and Ella recoiled as she saw the woman slide her hand underneath it.

  Oh my God! She looked around desperately for a spare seat. She could not sit there while the grotesque pair got each other off under a grubby little throw.

  “Ella?”

  She turned with relief to see Jason stood behind her. He looked over her shoulder to see what she’d been looking at.

  “Oh, are they…?”

  The woman was going for it now. Her hand jerking up and down comically fast over the man’s crotch area.

  “I think so.” Ella turned to Jason and made a disgusted face.

  “And that’s your seat?” His eyes widened in disbelief, but she could see he was stifling a laugh.

  “Uh huh.” She nodded.

  “Come with me!” He grabbed her hand and before she had chance to protest he’d dragged her down to the front of the plane.

  He pushed her firmly into his seat and stayed standing in the aisle.

  “You stay here.” He instructed her firmly. “I’ll be back.”

  She waited anxiously for his return, but he didn’t come back. She started to climb to her feet, growing worried now but at that moment the seat-belt sign came on and the cabin crew announced they were making their descent. She twisted and turned in her seat looking for Jason. Where was he?

  The plane landed and taxied to a stop. Ella was ushered off the plane, but still there was no sign of him. She loitered inside the terminal and let the crowds pass her. The handsy strangers staggered off together, both looking pleased with themselves, and finally Jason appeared, suit jacket back on and bag in his hand.

  “Jason!” She called out to him with relief.

  “Good flight?” He grinned.

  “I thought you were coming back?”

  “I spoke to an Attendant. The flight was full, so I took your seat next to the Porn Stars.”

  “Oh no!” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Jason, you shouldn’t have! I would have been fine.”

  “Honestly,” He placed a hand on her bare arm. “I couldn’t let a nice young lady like you be exposed to that. They could have taken your eye out! I was there for the end- it was pretty energetic!”

  He winked as he said it and she laughed, despite her shock that a stranger had subjected himself to that for her.

  They passed through security and out to the exit.

  “So, Ella.” Jason began, and she felt something spark inside her as she waited for his next words.

  “Hey Ella!”

  A familiar shout came from behind the barriers and they both turned towards the sound. Ella gasped! It was Caleb, waiting in the crowd gathered to meet arrivals.

  Jason forgotten, she hurried over to him. He scooped her into his arms in a bear hug.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Surprise!” He grinned. “I had to go drop some stuff at my Dad’s before I leave for Europe, so I figured I’d come and see my girl!”

  His girl? Ella felt herself frown at the assumption, but he redeemed himself immediately when he reached behind him and presented her with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.

  “Oh! Look!” She could hear people pointing out the romantic airport scene to each other as they walked past, and she felt herself melt a little.

  “Gorgeous couple.” Someone else muttered.

  “Ready?” Caleb beamed down at her, looking like the happiest man on Earth.

  She nodded, but then remembered Jason. She turned back to where he’d been, but he was gone. Her heart dropped a little, but Caleb was tugging at her hand and beaming down at her with such happiness.

  This is what she had wanted. She reminded herself. Sh
e had wanted Caleb and now he was hers.

  Coming Home

  Taylor nodded in greeting to the uniformed doorman but waved away his attempts to take her luggage. She’d managed to carry her bags on the subway from the airport, she could manage the short trip to the elevator just fine.

  She opened the door to the family home and dropped the bags to the floor.

  “Hello?” She called, hearing her voice echo around the huge hallway.

  She didn’t expect anybody to be home. Her father was an executive at an entertainment label and her mother was a socialite who lived for the almost daily parties and dinners she attended. Taylor was the middle child of five. Corey and Maia were both Ivy League graduates, but were now living back in New York, doing nothing remotely connected to the degrees they had earned. Corey was Instagram-famous, and Maia wasn’t far behind her in the race for the highest sponsored content. Taylor thought it was a massive waste. All those brains and expensive education wasted to pull faces into their phone cameras multiple times a day. Her only brother, Will, was a medical student and Taylor prayed that he would follow a regular career path and not chuck it all away to come back to the pretentious fake life like their sisters had. She heard someone call out a response and walked across the marble floor to the lounge. Her youngest sister, Marley, was sprawled across a giant sofa watching a Planet Earth re-run.

  “Hey.” Marley barely looked up. “Didn’t know you were home.”