by Liz Peters
Nothing was going her way, and she really just wanted to scream with frustration. It wasn’t going to fix anything, but it might be just what she needed to blow off some steam. She was waiting for Sabrina to start fussing at her for acting like a spoiled kid. Instead, she was shocked out of her growing rage when the throw pillow that had been sitting between them was suddenly thrown right at her head, landing in her lap.
“What was that for?” Ali glared at Sabrina, eyebrows knit together in a frown that furrowed her brow.
“You’re forgetting a lot of shit, Ali. You’ve got a good job. Your dream job, as a matter of fact, and from what Ben said while he was here, you’re at the top of your class. By the way, that man clearly has just as much of a thing for you as you have for him, and your class is over in four freaking weeks. That’s it. You just have to make it through a month, and you can have that dreamboat of a gorgeous man as much as you want. You’ve got a lot more going your way than going against you.”
Sabrina was fussing, but it was a list of things that Ali definitely needed to hear. It appeared that she wasn’t done yet, as well, because she just took in a deep breath and continued.
“Never mind that Ben is putting his job on the line to save yours, to be honest. I don’t even think I want to know what strings he pulled to find out who filed a complaint on you guys, but he was super clear about neither one of you being able to say anything about knowing who it was. And you’re pouting because you can’t have him right now when I think he’s definitely someone worth waiting for. So suck it up, Buttercup. If you can’t make it four more weeks, then I don’t think you deserve him.”
Sabrina was finally done, and Ali just kind of nodded while she took it all in. Sabrina was right, but Ali couldn’t help feeling like a kid who had just been grounded for a month.
“Why do you have to be so right all the time?” Ali frowned over at her friend, hugging the pillow that had been thrown at her against her chest.
“Because it’s got to be someone, so it might as well be me.” Sabrina shook her head. “Come on, you must be hungry, and I’ve got an entire half-gallon of chocolate mint ice cream in the freezer to drown your sorrows in.”
Ali knew she needed to talk to Ben as soon as possible, but not tonight. She sent him a quick text asking if they could talk about it tomorrow, and he agreed they definitely should after they both slept on it. Tonight she was exhausted and very thankful that she had her best friend and a tub of their favorite ice cream.
Chapter Twelve
Ben
BEN WAS STILL REELING from learning the truth about Kristina and Chase. Not only was it painful to discover that he’d been betrayed by two of his students, but the thought of how much it must be hurting Ali brought out his protective side. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there really wasn’t much he could do to protect either of them. They would just have to push on and behave as if there really was nothing going on between them. The hardest task of all would be to treat Kris and Chase the same as if he had no idea what had they had done.
Now that he’d slept on it, some things about the situation were starting to take shape. The biggest question of all, of course, was “why?” Once he put his jealous feelings aside about Chase it was easier for Ben to use his logic. Clearly, Chase had wanted Ali for himself. As soon as the report was made to HR, Chase made his move and asked Ali out.
About the same time, Kristina started subtly flirting with him. He ignored it of course because he was used to getting that kind of treatment from his female students, but also because of his preoccupation with Ali. Obviously, Kristina would not take being ignored, and the slight amount of attention he gave to Ali in class must have been what really set her off.
He had just figured all of this out by the time Ali showed up at his apartment. She seemed hesitant when he opened the door, but he held his arms out to her and the two of them fell into a big hug. It was just the reassurance they both needed.
“Are you ok, Ali?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I just had a really restless night. I’ve been over and over this situation in my head and I can’t seem to make sense out of it.”
“I have too. I can’t tell you how startled I was to find out those two had actually conspired against us. Now that I’ve had time to process it, I think I can make sense out of it all.”
Ben was trying to figure out if it was more anger or hurt that was registering on Ali’s face, but he realized it didn’t matter. She was probably in the same boat he was. Their feelings just rolled back and forth between the two emotions. It was time to push past all of this toxic drama and form a plan.
He explained to Ali his theory about why her classmates stabbed them in the back like that and she agreed that it made the most sense. As he pointed it out, Ali started thinking back that as Chase was amping up the flirting in class, Kristina had been growing colder by the day. Ali didn’t pay much attention to it because of her distraction and infatuation with Ben.
The afternoon wore on as they chatted and compared notes. Ben ordered a pizza to be delivered, so their conversation was never interrupted. They both agreed that their distraction with each other was the key as to how this whole thing was able to happen.
However, there was a major benefit of their situation that was starting to develop. If the diabolical plan was designed to tear them apart, it was having the totally opposite effect; the strategizing and planning they were doing was only making the bond between them grow stronger. They were determined now more than ever to get through this class without anyone detecting their relationship. Teamwork was going to be key, and they were willing to do whatever it would take to get through this together. A secondary benefit was their newfound security. Neither of them had to guess what this was about. They both agreed they had something worth fighting for.
They devised a plan: Ben would go back to his usual “all business” approach to every student in the class with no exceptions. Ali would be her usual fun, teasing self with her classmates. Chase and Kristina could continue trying their tricks but would get no more additional attention from either of them. If they noticed the changes, the duo would have to blame it all on their decision to report them to HR.
It was something the two of them should have been doing all along, but they let their attraction to each other get the best of them. Now the stakes were high. Their relationship and their careers were at risk and they were both focused on protecting their priorities and each other.
THIS SESSION WAS ALMOST over. At least, that’s what Ben had been telling himself now that they were down to the last week. He and Ali had done an excellent job of avoiding each other in class. He didn’t correct her when something was going wrong or offer praise when it was going right.
He was also treating both Chase and Kristina the same as he did everyone else in the class. There was no way he could let on that he knew what they had done. It was working so far. He noticed some subtle glances between them when they tried their old tricks but no one took the bait. The most difficult part of the plan was trying not to smirk when that happened.
It seemed that Ali was also keeping with their plan. She was very busily acting like none of them existed on the other side of the room as she worked on the preflight checks that all flight attendants were expected to get through prior to each flight. The students were getting close to the point that they were able to work independently now. One more week of classes, and they’d be spending the final week going through all of the exams and final checks to ensure that they’d learned everything they needed for the job. Ben knew it wasn’t going to come even close to being everything they needed to know. They would learn that when they got on an actual airplane and had to deal with angry passengers, turbulence, crying babies, asshole pilots and any of the other litany of things that no one could prepare them for until it happened.
That was why this course was so tough. If they couldn’t make it through this, then there was no way they were going to be able to keep their cool
once the rubber finally met the road and they were on the job. He knew that was his ultimate goal, to get them out of here with at least the basics and let their on-the-job training take care of the rest. The end of this session was going to be a relief in more ways than one, even if he was dreading it.
The ending of classes was always bittersweet, but usually for the others in the class. Generally, Ben was able to let them go without too much concern. What happened after graduation was totally up to them. It was his job to prepare for the next group of students that would be beginning after a short break between classes.
The end of the course meant that the students who passed would be getting their assignments. New students were generally assigned as close to where they originated from as possible, but if there weren’t any openings it could mean that they were going to be moved to any random location in the entire country.
Ben really didn’t want to think about that right now. His feelings for Ali were solid, but her assignment certainly was not. This was the reason he had given up hoping for a long term relationship years ago.
With Ali, it felt different though. He knew if it was possible for a relationship to make it through the challenges their careers held, this would be the one.
They had decided tonight would be a good time to get together in person to talk about their future. Ben knew it was going to be a hard conversation, but it needed to happen. In most relationships, people had all the time they needed before they had to talk seriously about their future and how they felt about each other. Eventhough they both felt confident in their feelings for each other, discussing their long term plans was something neither of them was looking forward to.
Ali was nervous as she sneaked up to Ben’s apartment and knocked on his door. He was waiting for her and opened the door quickly so she could slip inside. They were still both a little paranoid after all they’d been through, and neither of them wanted to blow it now.
“Ben, don’t worry. No one is around and only my roommate knows I’m here. I totally trust her. She’s not saying anything to anyone, but I know we need to talk.”
Ben nodded in agreement. They both needed to relax and catch up on things. “I’m sorry. I was brisk at the door. I don’t know what I was thinking. We’ve come so far without being caught that I guess I’m a little nervous. I feel like we both have a lot to lose. Yeah, we definitely need to talk. Come on in.” Ben gestured towards the couch. It looked cozy in his place and Ali immediately relaxed. She sat down, thinking hard about what she was about to say.
“I guess we both know things are pretty much up in the air about our future after graduation. I’ve been looking forward to that day for as long as I can remember, and now I feel like I’m sort of dreading it. All I could think about before was being free to date you when you were no longer my teacher, but damn. I never meant for things to happen so fast and be this intense between us. We’ve only known each other for a couple of months but I need to know how you really feel about me.”
Ali was looking down at her hands folded in her lap. This was obviously a hard conversation for her to have with him.
“I’ve been thinking about this a lot too, Ali. Soon you’re going to have to put in your request for assignments and that’s when things are going to get real.” Ben didn’t want to hold her back from traveling the world and following her dreams. The least he could do was tell her his feelings so she could make an informed choice. He dreaded what her answer might be.
“I know this has been your dream most of your adult life. I’ve seen how hard you worked to create an independent life for yourself. Even with the obstacles of sneaking around with me, you still kept your focus. The last thing in the world I want to do is hold you back like your first boyfriend did. I just want you to know that I love you and I want to be with you. In fact, I love you enough to let you go and follow your dream of seeing the world.”
Ben wasn’t sure what she was about to say, so he leaned over, cupping her chin in his hand to press a long kiss to her lips.
In response, Ali leaned forward locking her arms around his neck to pull him in closer. Their kiss washed away any doubts they had been feeling in the past. Ali was nearly in his lap, and they broke the kiss as they each took in a deep breath.
“I love you too, Ben. I can be happy traveling with my job as long as I have you for my home base.” These were the only words Ben needed to hear.
They sat there in each other’s arms for a few more minutes, just relishing the moment; neither of them saying a word.
Finally, Ben said “Class is nearly over. We just have to make it through one more week, and then my assistants are going to be doing your exams. I took myself out of the equation this time for everyone for a whole mess of reasons. I told them I wanted to give them all a little more experience at doing the exams, but the truth is, I don’t want anyone in the class to be able to accuse me of being biased one way or the other. I just kind of assumed I was going to be able to hold out until graduation to tell you how I felt, but that was stupid of me to think you were just going to wait for me until things worked out when I haven’t really given you any reason to...”
Now it was Ben’s turn to babble. they were nervous, and for good reason, but when Ali moved in closer to brush a gentle kiss across his lips he felt all of that melt away. It was good to have their emotions out on the table.
He knew she shouldn’t be here, crawling into his lap as she wrapped herself around him. He shouldn’t be kissing her like that while his arms wrapped around her waist and tugged her in closer. None of that was stopping him, though.
It felt a bit freeing, admitting their feelings to each other. She was worth the risks of having a relationship with, even given their extreme circumstances. They’d been through a lot these last few weeks and they were so close to the end of it now. He just couldn’t hold himself back anymore.
They sat there like that for a while, taking things slowly, letting it all sink in. The encounters Ben and Ali had had before now were fevered and rushed, but this was slow and paced.
“I don’t know how we’re going to pull this off, but I’m not leaving here tonight, even if that means I have to get up before dawn and head back to my place to get ready for class. I hope you know that.”
Ben laughed, pulling her in closer to steal another kiss.
“Then don’t leave. Just stay here with me. I don’t give a damn about the rest of it.” Cursing was so unlike him, but when Ali heard the fervor in his voice about not giving a damn, a broad grin spread across her face.
Ben took that opportunity to pick her up as he stood up from the couch, lifting her effortlessly in one smooth motion before he carried her off to his bedroom. Tonight was going to be all about them.
Chapter Thirteen
Ali
Graduation day was the one thing Ali had been waiting for, for eight weeks. Things had become easier for her once she’d shown up at Ben’s front door and pushed him to confess to her that he loved her. Maybe it was a bit fast. She couldn’t deny that, but coming from him, it was somehow different than if it had been from anyone else.
Ali had to admit she’d been in love with him too, ever since the day he walked to the front of that classroom for the first time, even if she hadn’t known it yet. Ben was probably the opposite of everything that Ali was. He was careful and quiet where she was wild and loud, but they seemed to complement each other nicely. He brought her down out of the clouds, and she tugged him out of his shell. She knew it was a rare combination, and it was absolutely amazing.
As it was, she’d spent every night of the last week in his apartment, sneaking off in the cover of darkness to let herself into his apartment. He’d even started leaving the front door unlocked until she crept in after dinner each night, while he laughed at her attempt to be covert. They were quickly starting to learn that no one even knew where they lived outside of class. Ben wasn’t the kind of guy who made friends at work that he brought back to his place, and Ali hadn’t
gotten close enough to anyone besides Ben to tell them where she lived. It meant that the apartment building was the one place they could be together without the watchful eyes of everyone in the training program on their every move.
Class had been pretty uncomfortable, especially once the exams began. Everyone was especially tense so the discomfort she felt around Kristina and Chase was easily explained and didn’t seem suspicious. Ali had changed the groups she worked with and still remained her usual friendly self to everyone in the class. It was getting easier now that she and Ben had settled their feelings for each other and the entire charade was coming to an end.
Every day brought her closer to her final goal. Her dream job and a man who made her feel the way Ben did was worth it all.
It just made it that much more important that Ali and Ben acted as if they were basically strangers at work. They’d been successful for the last week of class, and then Ben had disappeared behind a piece of two-way glass during their exams. He wasn’t grading them, and he’d made that abundantly clear to the entire class. They were going to have to impress the two assistant instructors who had taken over that process to make sure they got through the rest of the program successfully.
Exams had been harder than any of them had really been prepared for. Ali had watched at least one person leave each day and not come back the next. She had to admit it was satisfying when Chase Stevens was the first one out the door. He hadn’t even made it through the first exam. Kristina made it until day four — nearly the end of the process— before she failed on the final checklist. Finally, there were ten of the class remaining standing on the last day. Those ten were the ones who would be moving on to on the job training as soon as this was all over.