by Gail Haris
The passengers begin to come aboard. I smile and help people stow their luggage. Once our flight is taxiing, I go through the safety instructions. When I’ve finished that, I go through one more time to make sure everyone has everything stowed away and their chairs are in the correct position for takeoff.
I stop short when I spot a gentleman turned to the aisle with his socks and shoes off. I look around to see if anyone else is seeing this. The man is sitting there and clipping his toenails in the aisle.
This is going to be a long flight…
Dear Journal,
Paris is everything. The city is very clean and absolutely lovely. I didn’t spend much time sight-seeing since I spent HOURS in the Louvre museum. I still didn’t see everything, and I have no idea how I’ll manage to work my flight tomorrow because my feet are killing me. The Egyptian section is beyond fascinating, and I think it was my personal favorite. Although, in the Denon wing, the statue Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss was by far my favorite piece of history in the entire museum. There was something so romantic and intimate about the pose. My eyes and heart were captivated by the piece. Of course, I did see the most famous piece of art, the Mona Lisa. It was much smaller than I expected. But I’ve read where other people have said the same thing. At sunset I took a walk along Ile de la Cite. There I saw the Notre Dame, and it is breathtakingly beautiful. There simply wasn’t enough time for me on this layover. I hope to one day return to this stunning city of love.
Jimmy
After Jolene left, I was hurt and angry with myself. But now, sitting here in the night club, I’m angry with her. I’m frustrated that she didn’t give me a chance, us a chance. She just stormed out of the hotel room—and my life—without even letting me explain myself. It’s not like I told her I wasn’t a pilot. It’s not like I said I was a chef or car salesman. I never got a chance to say what I did for a living. Okay, I did get a chance. I’ll give her that. I should’ve been honest up front, but I was scared. I wanted her so bad, and that’s wrong too. I’m man enough to admit I fucked up, but she did too. She couldn’t let me speak for five minutes to apologize and tell her I omitted the fact that I’m a pilot out of fear she’d reject me immediately. I wanted a chance to at least show her what we could have. I guess I only showed her that I’m like every other douche she’s come across. Damn it. It’s been two days, and I’m still thinking about her. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I wish now it’d never stormed, and my flight hadn’t been canceled. At least I can find comfort in that we won’t ever cross paths again. If I’m lucky, anyway.
I might’ve dodged a bullet. I will go on being a carefree bachelor flying around the world and meeting beautiful women to spend my nights with. Beautiful women who don’t have some crazy aversion to pilots. No, I’ll be with women who love the fact I’m a pilot. I can take them to new heights in both the bedroom and outside the bedroom. I silently nod to myself and take a shot. That’s right, motherfuckers, I’m back in action.
I eye the dancing bodies through the bright, multicolored strobe lights. I’m in Los Angeles tonight because my boss had a meeting. That’s one flight I never turn down. Layovers in L.A. are the best. I spot a stunning, curvy blond. I definitely don’t want any brunettes for a while. Not that they remind me of anyone or anything. I watch her until she makes eye contact with me. She smiles and nods. Green light.
I stand up from the bar stool and make my way through the bodies to her. I lean toward her and speak over the music in her ear. “I’m sorry that I was staring. I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off you.”
“Why look when you can touch?” She takes my hands and places them on her swaying hips. No bullshitting around. I like her.
We dance a little, and then I ask her if she’d like a drink. She nods, and I guide her to the bar. She leans toward me and says over the music. “Are you a local?”
“No. Just here for the night.”
“What brings you to L.A.?”
“My work. I’m a pilot.” Let’s get that out there and in her face before we go any further.
A huge smile stretches across her face. “No shit? Which airline? I’m a flight attendant.”
Oh, fuck me, not again. “I’m sorry. I have to go.” I drop some cash on the bar for both our drinks and leave like my ass is on fire.
Jimmy
One month later…
I silently groan as my mother hounds me again about providing her with grandchildren and will she live to be a yia-yia. The woman isn’t even fifty, but acts like her final days are just around the corner. I’m still in my twenties, so I feel like we all have plenty of time before our clocks start ticking, but try to tell that to a Greek mother. She wants grandkids and she wants them now.
“Jimmy Mou…” My mother’s heavy Greek accent calls to me saying My Jimmy. It comes off lovingly, yet scolding me at the same time. A skill only she has mastered.
She called to see how my flight went to Chicago, but somehow it’s come back around to when am I going to start a family. “What about your yia-yia? Huh? Do you not care? She wants to be able to see you at your wedding. But no. All you do is fly around in the sky, free as a bird. But you know what else birds do? They build nests. They build nests for their families. When are you going to build a nest and start a family, Dimitrios?”
Bringing my grandma into this conversation is a low blow from Ma. She knows how much I love that feisty old bird. I know they all want to see me settle down and have children, preferably get married to a nice Greek girl with a huge Greek wedding and procreate Greek babies, at least one boy to carry the family name, but this bird is still spreading his wings.
“You know, my cousin Maria said she knows of a–”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ma, but I have an incoming call from my client. I’ve got to go. He’s probably finished his meeting and needs me to fly him back home.”
“Alright, Jimmy. You come back home and we can discuss over dinner, yeah?”
I don’t want to discuss her playing the Greek matchmaker, but I also hate to miss out on her cooking. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
“I’ll be there by five.”
“Bravo, Jimmy! Be safe. S’agapo para polli androuli mou!”
I tell her that I love her too and end the call. There’s got to be some way to get them to let this go. My Ma and Yia-Yia are stubborn women, though. They’re not going to be satisfied until I’m married and off producing many little Greeklings. My phone rings again and I see it’s my cousin Bianca.
“Don’t tell me Ma has already called you,” I groan into the phone.
She giggles. “No. Why would she?”
“Oh, I just figured she sent you on a mission to scour New York to find me a Greek bride.”
“I mean, she’s asked me to before, but not today. Well, not yet anyway, it’s still early.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“That’s not surprising. You better be glad that your parents were so laid back. They didn’t care whether or not you and Dex got married right away, or whether or not he was Greek.”
“We had other issues to worry about, if you recall. Like whether or not he was my step-brother.”
“Yeah, well, I think Ma’s only requirement is that I marry a Greek. Not too sure if she’s worried about whether or not we’re related.”
“Ew! Jimmy, no. Thea isn’t that bad.” Thea is the Greek word for aunt. We both laugh, even though I’m only halfway joking, and she is too. “I wanted to call you about a trip.”
“Sure. Need me to fly you somewhere or just transport a plane?”
“Actually, I wanted you on the plane with me. I’ve never been to Greece. You’ve gotten to meet our family over there, and now that I have my own family… I don’t know. I just really want to meet them and thought we could take a family vacation. Would you go with us?”
“As long as it’s me introducing you to family, and nobody trying introduce me to available bachelorettes. Absolutely no one is allowed to try and marry me off while
we’re there.”“I can’t make any promises for anybody else, but you’re safe with me and Dex. I don’t think little Georgina will try to marry you off either.”
This won’t be much of a vacation if I have everyone hounding me. If my mother could, she’d have me married while we’re there. But, honestly, I haven’t been to Greece in three years, so it would be nice to visit everyone again. “I don’t have any flights scheduled the beginning of next month. I’ll keep that week cleared. Sound good?”
“Perfect. Might even extend it to, say, nine days? I’ll see if Dex and I can clear our schedule as well.”
“Give Georgina kisses for me.”
“Will do! Bye, Jimmy.”
I end the call and sigh. Taking a commercial flight to Greece makes me automatically think of Jo. I hate it that my mind keeps going back to her. Anything and everything reminds me of her. I haven’t even eaten cheesecake again. I wonder what my pilot-hating stewardess has been up to. I wonder if I’ll ever see her again. Despite knowing it’s ridiculous, I can’t stop thinking about her. It’s been a month, and I’m still hung up over her. There was something about her that has me regretting not getting her full name or phone number before she stormed off, pissed. All because of what? That I’m a pilot? She’s the ridiculous one. She’s so ridiculous that she’s made me ridiculous. She’s an airline stewardess who hates pilots. That’s like an actor who hates cameramen.
The executive that I’m flying walks through the door right then, interrupting me from my thoughts. “Thank you for waiting on me, Jimmy.”
“No problem, sir. Ready to head out?”
“Yes. I hope you weren’t too bored while waiting?”
Pining over a woman I barely know and can’t find, listening to my meddling mother trying to marry me off to the first available Greek woman who comes along, and planning a vacation in Greece with my cousin and her wealthy husband? Nope. Not bored at all. The only silver lining is I’ll get to play with my sweet niece Georgina on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
Jolene
It’s been two months since my epic night of passion, but dammit if I can’t stop thinking about him. Worse, if I hear anything Greek, it reminds me of him, that and Elvis Presley. An Elvis song was playing in the Memphis International Airport, for obvious reasons, so I had to plug in my headphones. The bright side is that I’m completely over all the other heartaches and crushes. In fact, I’m so over any guy who’s not Jim that I don’t even give anyone a second glance. If I close my eyes, I can still feel and hear him. It’s great for a few minutes, my memories tiding me over until I open them and see that I’m still alone.
I sigh and look out the window of the plane. All these adventures I go on, and my most incredible night was a rainy layover in Miami with a stranger. The captain comes over the intercom and tells us to prepare for landing. Lana sits across from me and smiles. She has that look like she’s about to share a naughty secret.
“What did you do?” I drawl out.
“It’s not what I did, but who I’m hoping to do.”
I laugh and shake my head at her. “Okay…who’s the lucky guy?”
Lana grins. “George.”
“The new co-pilot?” I point my finger behind me.
“Yes. Isn’t he dreamy?”
I hadn’t really noticed. I haven’t noticed anyone since… I force a smile. “Well, way to welcome him to the team.”
“I’m nice like that. But there’s a slight problem that you could easily fix, my dearest and bestest friend and coworker.” I roll my eyes and she reaches across, grabbing my hands. “You have a layover in New York tonight and so does George. I have a leg to Athens. But since you don’t want to hook-up with George—him being a bad ol’ pilot and all, I could do this for you and let you have my connecting flight to Greece?”
Jim. Great. Even Greece is ruined for me. I’m so annoyed at myself for immediately thinking of Jim when Lana asks me to cover her shift to Athens, Greece. I’ve never been to Greece, so the thought is exciting and I could stay there a bit longer to take in the sights since I don’t have to work for a few days. I’m not sure if it’s the plane descending, or just my thoughts of Jim, but it causes my chest to sting and tighten. We bounce a little as the wheels hit the runway. Lana bats her long eyelashes at me and I cave. “Fine. But don’t think I noticed how you tried to make this sound as though you’re doing me a favor when it’s you who will be smiling by the end of the night.”
Lana just laughs because she knew what she was doing. That traitor.
We land and wish the passengers a wonderful stay and tell them we hope that they will fly with us again. The normal spiel. Once the plane is empty, I turn to Lana, “I guess I’ll let you handle clean-up since I need to rush and catch my next flight to Greece.” Lana sticks her tongue out at me as George appears in the doorway of the cockpit. She quickly slips it back in her mouth and smiles at him. Good luck, George, you’re gonna need it with this one.
Why can’t I be more Lana and Renee? They don’t have any issue having fun and being spontaneous with these pilots. Why do I keep letting myself get attached? Worse, I realize I just thought I was hung up on the guys before. That was a crush. Jim has gone past crushing me but ruining me. I don’t even want to think about hooking up with not only pilots, but anyone, for that matter.
When I board the plane, none other than Captain Clynes, aka Trip, greets me. I should be happy for him, and in a way, I am. I’m surprised to see that Mrs. Clynes and baby Brucey is on board the plane as well. I shouldn’t be too surprised. Sometimes they do travel with him. It must be so romantic and nice to fly and see the world together. That’s everything that I thought I could have.
“Hello, Kendall.”
“Hey, Jolene.” She smiles.
I look down at the adorable baby boy, “Hello,” I coo. My heart tightens, and I force myself to smile. I quickly go to work so we can take off on time. As the passengers board, my back is turned toward the back of the plane when I swear I hear his voice. No. That can’t be him. Sure enough, I turn around and there’s Jim—with a child! I stare in horror at the beautiful, dark-haired little girl in his arms. He’s speaking to Trip while a stunning dark-haired woman stands next to him, smiling lovingly at the little girl. No doubt she’s the mother. My blood is boiling, and I can hear my heart pounding in my ears. I’m going to be trapped on a ten-hour flight with Jim and his family. This is some horrible twist of fate or punishment. I’m not sure which one yet. I wasn’t even supposed to be on this flight. This is punishment for submitting poor George to Lana, I just know it.
“Jolene!” One of my co-workers calls out. Shoot! Immediately, Jim’s eyes widen as they scan the plane. To my surprise, he smiles widely when our eyes meet. He shakes Trip’s hand and then walks toward me. What is he doing? Is he seriously planning to rub it in my face that he has a family? He has a family—oh my gosh. That’s a new low for me. I slept with a married man. A man who’s married with a child!
Too many travelers are in his way, so it takes a moment for him to get through. He is persistent, I’ll give him that. He waves and gives me a small smile. “Jolene.”
For a moment, I debate over pretending I don’t know him. How would his inflated ego like that? Freaking jerk. Instead, I force a smile since there are passengers and a sweet child now between us. “Hello…Jim.”
“How have you been?” His eyes are asking so much more. Those blue green eyes shine bright as they search mine. He has a little more dark facial stubble. His black hair is a little longer on top and messy. He’s also wearing a black leather jacket, white button up and dark denim jeans. And damn does he wear that outfit well. The little girl in his arm is a nice accessory. She’s absolutely adorable. “Jo?”
Him saying my nickname brings me out of my thoughts. Why, that arrogant... What right does he have using my nickname? I put a smile on my face since we have an audience. He must mistake my smile for happiness, or he just wants to further irritate me, because
he continues talking like everything is hunky dory. “The stars have aligned, and fate has brought us together yet once again.”
“Yes. Only this time with your family.” I swallow the lump in my throat and maintain my smile, even though my heart is shattering. The mention of family has him smiling with…pride. I just don’t understand how he can be grinning right now.
“Right? I’d like for you to meet my princess, Georgina.” He hoists the beautiful little girl up higher and beams at her. She smiles at me and offers a shy little wave.
“Hello, precious.” I give her a genuine smile, because despite her father being a cad, she is absolutely a doll. I decide to tell her as much, just in case any of my bitchy vibes are radiating. “You’re absolutely precious.” I lean toward Jim and grumble, “Despite who her father is.”
Jim laughs and nods his head in agreement. “Ha. I didn’t realize you knew Dex. I guess most people do know him. It is hard to believe such a little sweetheart–”
“Dex? She’s not yours?”
His eyebrows pull together. “She’s mine…” He holds her tighter, that bastard…the smirk that spreads across his face. He better be glad he’s holding that little girl to his face. “My niece.” The little girl begins to fidget. “You ready for mama?”
The stunning brunette who had boarded the plane with him comes toward us. “Come here, sweetheart. Is Theo trying to use you to flirt with the pretty lady? He’s such a tool.” I smile, immediately liking this woman. She smiles back at me as she takes her daughter and carries her away toward the front of the plane to first class.
“Theo?” I ask.
“That’s the word for uncle in Greek.” He looks around and then takes a step closer to me. Placing his face close to mine, he whispers, “You know, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were jealous when you thought–”