Chasing Clouds

by Annabelle Knight

  “So what is it you do?” Elodie had asked, more out of politeness than anything else.

  “Private pilot, babe,” Adam replied nonchalantly. “Well, second officer actually. It’s nothing, really. I mean, it’s an amazing job: the places I see, celebs I meet, money I make. It’s next- level shit, just now it’s so normal to me, you know?” Elodie nodded, despite not knowing at all. “Of course I’m not the best yet, that’d be Chase. He’s the level I’m aiming for. I keep asking him to get me a job on his line but he likes his co- pilot a little too much, if you know what I mean.”

  He gave Elodie a wink and continued, listing all the amazing perks to his job and why his life was just so damn exciting. Elodie couldn’t help but roll her eyes. This guy was more than a bit full of himself, he was downright arrogant; but, however boorish he was, Elodie couldn’t help but find his stories fascinating and couldn’t help engaging him in conversation. The fact that he had been to Australia, Thailand and Dubai was amazing; the fact that he’d visited these places this year alone was absolutely mind- blowing.

  “Out of all the places you’ve been, which was your favourite?” Elodie asked eagerly, her thirst for travel drowning any irritation she felt towards his demeanour.

  “Hands down, has to be Dubai: everything’s so new and the shopping centres are amazing.”

  Elodie nodded and took a sip of her drink, trying not to feel bitter that someone who counted a shopping mall as a worthwhile exotic sight had a passport absolutely busting with stamps. She shifted her gaze to the man she now knew as Chase. He kept glancing at her disapprovingly. She’d caught his eye twice now; he looked so serious sat there, nursing a Scotch that, from the sour look on his face, Elodie could only assume was made with lemons instead of barley. He didn’t seem to be having a good time or to be making the most of their lavish surroundings and Elodie just couldn’t fathom why Adam and Edward hung out with him, or why he hung around with them for that matter. They were both gregarious men who had made Elodie and her friends feel immediately at ease, whereas Chase had been anything but welcoming. He’d done nothing but check his phone, sip his drink and occasionally add an uninterested comment to the conversation. Elodie looked away a little embarrassedly and returned to Adam, who was now regaling her with a story of drinking until the early hours of the morning with two supermodels and a film star on a beach in Barbados. Elodie didn’t ask who the models or film star were; she probably wouldn’t have known them.

  “So how do you get to be a pilot?” she asked. It did sound like an amazing job and after all, she was in the market for a new one of those.

  “Why? Think you’d be good at it?” Adam asked.

  Elodie thought she heard a touch of sarcasm in his voice and immediately felt a little down- heartened.

  “I don’t know, I’m just asking,” she said defensively.

  “Well, babe, you need decent A- levels, a degree, then training. You need flying hours under your belt, a lot of them. Then you qualify and progress through the ranks, costs a pretty penny though. My parents funded me, I was lucky that way. I reckon nowadays a PPL, that’s private pilot’s licence to the likes of you, would probably set you back about fifteen grand or so.” Elodie’s mouth dropped open. Fifteen thousand pounds? She couldn’t have heard that right.

  “Sorry, fifteen thousand pounds? You mean they don’t pay for you?” she asked, visibly taken aback.

  “You’re just so cute, of course not,” he guffawed, then seeing her disdainful expression and confusing it for hurt, added, “I wouldn’t worry about it, babe, you’d be wasted in the cockpit anyway. You’re more of a front of house type,” he said proudly and gave her shoulder a little pat.

  ‘How am I supposed to know about that kind of stuff?’ she seethed inwardly. She looked over to Carla and Steph who were sat on the far side of the booth with Edward. Elodie managed to catch Carla’s eye and give her a warning look intended to deliver a message of ‘Save me’. The connection the two women shared meant that messages like this were always received loud and clear and barely a beat skipped before Carla acted.

  “Steph, Elodie, bathroom break?” Carla called across the length of the table.

  Elodie offered Adam an apologetic smile and excused herself. She stood up quickly, turning her back to him as she did so. She didn’t want to give him even the slightest of moments to protest her departure.

  “So, how’re things going with hot Adam, then?” Carla teased as she touched up her lipstick in the mirror, her eyes never leaving her own reflection.

  Elodie shrugged. Adam was attractive, but oh so arrogant. Elodie felt mean even thinking that; she didn’t know him at all. He was probably just trying to show off and impress her but missing the mark entirely.

  “Well, he’s nice enough. But, other than his job he’s just a bit… big- headed,” Elodie said truthfully. “He reminds me a bit of, well, of Tom actually. Babe this and babe that. He just brags a lot.”

  “Must be trying to make up for his shortcomings elsewhere,” Carla replied, winking. She had moved on from reapplying makeup and was now rooting through the nearby glass shelves, which housed an array of beauty products.

  Elodie looked around. Even the toilets in this place were lavish. There was even a dressing area, with plush velvet stools in front of gigantic mirrors, which Carla was certainly making the most of.

  “Well, he’s got to be better than the boring guy. What’s his name?” Steph added, gingerly plucking a small bottle of perfume from the top shelf, the lure of the freebies finally getting the better of her.

  “Ugh, Chaz, Cash, Chase, isn’t it. Whatever it is, it’s a ridiculous name. Although I don’t think he’s boring, I think he’s bored,” Carla quipped and Elodie had to agree: “Adam may be hard work but at least he isn’t rude.”

  “Shall we move on?” Steph asked. “This is really lovely and all, but it’s not exactly what we set out for. Especially since I have a boyfriend, you don’t want one and El isn’t ready for one.”

  Elodie had to agree; their night certainly had been forced into an unexpected direction.

  “Won’t they be annoyed? They did buy us Champagne, after all,” Elodie said in a small voice.

  “Don’t be mental, they bought the Champagne, they didn’t buy us,” Carla said decidedly. “Let’s go girls, we can hit up Club Hush instead, I know the bouncer there.”

  Carla swept out of the bathroom, once again leaving Elodie and Steph to trail in her wake. They got back to the booth and made their excuses, Adam protested at this, more out of a dislike at being rejected than actually wanting them to stay. Edward seemed as though he would genuinely mourn their departure and Chase barely looked up from his phone.

  “Let me give you my number,” Edward practically begged of Carla. She smiled sweetly and opened her mouth to answer but before she had chance Edward was already pulling a silver business card holder from his pocket. He opened it with a flourish and sighed, “Shit. I gave the last one out at the conference.”

  “It’s really OK, if it’s meant to be we’ll meet again,” Carla said as she turned to leave.

  “No, wait. Chase, chuck us one of yours,” Edward pleaded.

  After a moment of hesitation, Chase obliged. For the first time Elodie saw his face in full and felt her breath catch in her throat. Elodie couldn’t help but stare at him and the more she tried to fight the temptation the weaker she became. He had a smooth, tanned complexion, a strong jawline, very dark hair and a few soft lines around his eyes, which suggested that he wasn’t a complete stranger to laughter after all. He had rugged good looks that simply blew Adam’s out of the water. She offered him a smile, which he didn’t return. Instead, he deftly retrieved his wallet and took out a business card. He passed it to Edward with a fluidity that showed just how practised this action was. Elodie couldn’t help but notice his muscular physique, even through his shirt, as he moved to pass the card o
ver. Edward took it and pulled a silver pen out of his pocket, which glinted as he wrote. He scribbled down his phone number on the back of the card and pushed it towards Carla. She eyed it almost suspiciously; the card lay on the tabletop for a beat too long, because Steph, clearly impatient, reached over, snatched the card up and pushed it into Carla’s palm. Steph offered all three men a warm, yet apologetic smile before bidding them good night and turning on her heel to leave, Elodie and Carla followed suit. Elodie noticed, with much surprise, that Carla didn’t discard Edward’s phone number but instead slipped it into the pocket of her bag. Elodie wondered if perhaps Carla had liked Edward’s attentions a little more than she was willing to let on.

  The rest of the night passed in a blur of cocktails, dubious dancing and lots of laughter. For someone who didn’t normally drink to excess, Elodie was certainly putting in a concerted effort. She was having an incredible night and when the time came to go home at two am Elodie felt heartily disappointed that their evening was to come to an end.

  “Come on, you two,” Steph said in a mum- like fashion. Despite having her own fair share of alcohol, Steph didn’t seem anywhere near as drunk as she should have been. “I’ve ordered an Uber and it’ll be outside in a few minutes so come on, let’s get going.”

  “Ahhh, but I want food,” Elodie said, almost managing to get through the sentence without slurring.

  “There’s food back at yours,” Steph said. “Come on. My feet hurt and it’s late.”

  “There isn’t drunk food at ours, though,” Carla moaned, “We need pizza, don’t we, El?” Elodie nodded enthusiastically and, placing her hands together in prayer, shot Steph a pleading stare.

  “You’ll thank me in the morning.”

  Even in her drunken haze, Elodie couldn’t mistake that the determined note in Steph’s voice now sounded less mum- like and more dictatorial. Elodie protested a little but soon found herself sat in the back of a taxi and shortly after that in the comfort of her bed, after polishing off a slice of toast and two glasses of water.

  Elodie closed her eyes. It had been a long night. She felt herself slipping into the world of slumber. It welcomed her with open arms and the promise of an embrace so warm she just could not refuse. She allowed herself to fall towards it and a comforting darkness began to surround her. She was dragged back to the land of the living by a light but persistent knock on her bedroom door.

  “Hello?” She called, her voice husky from the cocktail of sleep and Champagne.

  There was no answer. Grudgingly, she pulled herself from her bed, her body sleepily protesting as she did so. Elodie opened the flat door, tentatively expecting to see Carla on the other side. Perhaps, unbeknownst to Elodie, Carla had felt that the party wasn’t over yet. Maybe she’d be stood there, bottle in hand, desperate for Elodie to continue the night with her.

  Elodie’s breath caught in her throat. The door had slowly swung open to reveal not Carla, but Chase. The handsome man from earlier sauntered in the doorway. His pristine attire from earlier was now dishevelled, his tie askew and the top button undone. He held his jacket in one hand and with the other, reached out for her.

  Before Elodie could protest he had taken her in his arms. She let herself melt into him. For something so alien, this felt completely natural. The musky smell of whisky lingered on his breath and Elodie felt her stomach flip; she usually hated the stuff but for some reason she didn’t mind it so much now. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but he pressed a finger to her lips and shushed her before any words could escape.

  Elodie looked into his deep brown eyes; she was confused. A million questions danced around her head. How had he found her? Why was he here? But the most important question of all elbowed its way to the front of her subconscious: why had he not kissed her yet? As if reading her mind, Chase bent down. He pressed his lips to hers in a soft yet purposeful way that encouraged a soft moan to emerge from her lips.

  Elodie simply could not believe this was happening. She didn’t have time to dwell on the whys and wherefores, though: the gentle kiss had escalated into something far more passionate. Chase pulled her into him and in return Elodie placed a hand on his chest. She could feel the steady, unwavering beat of his heart and knew that hers would in no way echo the rhythm of his. Before she knew what was happening she had led him to her bed, she looked down at herself and was surprised to see she was wearing a satin negligee that, up until now, she had not remembered putting on. Chase pulled at the smooth material and Elodie felt herself succumb to his touch. She allowed him to undress her and the material slipped easily over her head. She watched as Chase let it slip through his fingers and onto the floor. Elodie was completely naked in front of a man that she had barely exchanged two words with and finding herself completely comfortable with it.

  She reached for him hungrily; his shirt, now unbuttoned, revealed a taut, toned stomach that Elodie felt unable to resist. Chase leaned in towards her; Elodie’s heart began to beat faster. Desire left her wanting more. Without regard she reached out for him, desperate to feel his muscular physique, her fingers not quite able to reach. She tried once more and, again, her fingers did nothing but brush his firm form.

  Elodie opened her eyes and squinted in the darkness. Her heart was pounding and a fine layer of sweat had formed on her brow. She fumbled in the dimly- lit room, completely confused as to what had actually happened. She couldn’t believe she had just had a drunken one- night stand with a man she’d never even had a proper conversation with. Was he still here? Her memory was hazy, to say the least. She tentatively reached out and, with trepidation, turned on her bedside lamp. A warm light filled the room and Elodie’s breath caught in her throat as she slowly turned her gaze to the other side of the bed. She exhaled loudly, relieved to see that she was alone. She looked down and saw, to her surprise, that the negligee had been replaced with nightwear that she could actually remember putting on.

  The dream had felt so real. If she closed her eyes and inhaled she could have sworn that she could still smell his aftershave mingled with whisky, and on top of that, a faint note of desire. Elodie sat in her bed for a long while; it took several lengthy moments for her heartbeat to return to its normal pace. At last, she switched off the light and closed her eyes again. Sleep was determined to evade her now. She could do little to tempt it, but eventually it succumbed and allowed her into its docile embrace.

  “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

  Elodie looked up to see Steph hovering over her, far too bright- eyed and bushy- tailed for this time of the morning on a normal day, let alone one after a night out. Elodie opened her mouth and managed a helpless croak before burying her head in the pillow. Steph had, for the second time this month, brought her breakfast in bed. Elodie’s head was pounding: it was as if some tiny, angry man were beating a drum in the deepest recess of her brain. She groaned helplessly and rubbed at her eyes as she very slowly and very gingerly dragged herself up into a sitting position. She blinked heavily against the morning sun and squinted at the plate Steph had placed on the lap.

  “I don’t think I can,” Elodie said dejectedly, pushing the plate away.

  “Yes you can, have one bit of toast and a tiny bit of orange juice, you’ll feel much better once you get something inside you and besides, you’ve got a lot to do today,” Steph said. She pushed the plate back towards Elodie before getting up and leaving the room. Elodie did as she was told, opting for the plainly buttered piece rather than the one heavily laden with marmite. She didn’t think her hungover palate could handle that much excitement just yet.

  “What have I got to do?” Elodie called confusedly through the now open door.

  “Sort your life out!” came the joint response or both Carla and Steph.

  Elodie groaned again, she feared that sorting her life out would be far easier said than done. Elodie wondered why she couldn’t just continue at Betty’s. It might actually be
OK. Who knew, perhaps a lifetime of refilling coffee cups and chatting about the weather would be fulfilling in some way. ‘So what if I’d never be able to afford a trip to the coast let alone the coast of the Maldives,’ she thought, knowing deep down that if that were to be the case she’d spend her life being thoroughly miserable.

  It was with that thought that something Adam had said the previous night floated into her consciousness. “You’d be better off front of house.” She was sure he’d said that to her. As his words came back to her she gave them some thoughts and realised that it wasn’t actually a bad idea. In fact, it was an absolutely brilliant idea. The more Elodie thought about it, the more it made sense. She loved waitressing and that was certainly a part of it; she’d get to travel the world at no cost to herself, and it was bound to pay more than Betty’s did.

  Elodie didn’t dare get too excited too quickly, but she found that she was unable to stop the exhilaration of possibility from bubbling up inside her. She could feel an excited glowing warmth spreading, promising to burst to the surface at any moment. A smile erupted on her face; she just knew that this was the perfect solution to her predicament. Her hangover had been forced to the back of her mind; she got out of bed and headed into the living room. She felt lighter than she had done in days, as if she were floating along the floor rather than walking on it. Perhaps it was the toast or perhaps it was the promise of a better, brighter future that was having such a positive impact. Elodie couldn’t help but grin when she saw her friends on the sofa watching Sunday morning telly. They barely had time to look up from the screen before she was telling them her newly formed plan.

  “I’m going to be an air hostess,” she said excitedly. Her subsequent words fell out in a jumble of excitement and relief. When she had finished both of them looked at her, warm smiles on their faces.