Up in the Air 2: West Coast

by George Loveland

  “I just woke up. Will sit around for a bit before I try to go back to sleep.”

  “Horny?” He winked.

  I laughed then nodded.

  “I have time.”

  “For what?”

  “To wank. Together.” He didn’t wait for a reply. I couldn’t work out where in his home he was, but he stood up and moved his phone around and propped it up so I could see him.

  He filled the T-shirt he was wearing, but not for long. He lifted the hem of the T-shirt and took it off. I gasped in excitement at the show he was putting on for me, and the memory of his body. His trousers came down in quick succession, leaving him in his boxers, along with an obvious tent where he was hard. I licked my lips at the memory then dropped my phone. My cock sprung to life as soon as I got rid of my underwear.

  “I can’t see you,” he called.

  I picked my phone back up and positioned it so he could see me.

  “Put the light on,” he commanded.

  I jumped off the bed, switched the main light on and then settled myself back onto the bed. I fished out a bottle of lube from my bedside cabinet and made sure I had some tissues to hand. When I knew I was ready, I pointed the phone so he could see me, glad that he had moved to his bed. Even though he still had his boxers on, he was rubbing himself, the tent in his underwear even more prominent.

  “Take your boxers off.” I needed to see him, even though the memory of him, the ache in my arse, was still prominent. I wanted to see all of him.

  He did as I asked, and I loved the way his cock bounced up and down in front of me. We didn’t speak, but both of us started to wank. I stared at his body, the way his arms flexed, the colour of his skin, the way his hand pumped. My body reacted to his, and memories of the way he’d been in me, when I’d tasted him, when I’d had him – when he’d been mine. My balls drew up and I cried out that I was going to shoot. He beat his cock faster and almost in unison, we spilt over our hands.

  I dropped my phone when I was spent, and Antonio called out to me. I picked up the phone and looked into his beautiful, yet spent, face.

  “Thanks for that.” I breathed out. “I think I’ll sleep well now.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, and I won’t need to look at anyone tonight because I’ve had all I needed already.”

  “You’re such a charmer.” I squinted at him.

  “It’s true. I can’t wait to see you again.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes. Of course. I’ve booked a hotel from Sunday to Tuesday, that’s right, isn’t it?”

  I didn’t respond straightaway. I couldn’t believe he would come to Vegas to see me. I realised it was my turn to talk when he raised his eyebrows.

  “Yeah, that’s good. I should land around one o’clock in the afternoon and be checked into the hotel around three. I’m not sure where I’m staying, but maybe New York-New York or around there.”

  “But I have a hotel for us.”

  “I know, but I still have to check into my room at least. Company policy,” I lied. I was cautious, even though I knew I didn’t need to be.

  “Okay. You can come meet me at the Bellagio when you want.” His voice strained.

  “You booked the Bellagio?”

  “Yeah. I like it there.”

  “Wow, okay. I’ve never been. Only to the casino and buffet.”

  “You’ll enjoy it. They have great beds.” He waggled his eyebrows in a comical way.

  “Okay.” I yawned, but not on purpose.

  “Get some sleep, I’ll see you Sunday.”

  We said our goodbyes. I turned off the light and drifted to sleep feeling spent and with a smile. Maybe it was my time after all.

  Chapter Eleven

  “How’s it going with Mr Johannesburg?” I asked James as we took our seats at the back of the bus headed to Gatwick airport. Most of the time we flew from Heathrow, which suited us both; however, now and then we had a flight from Gatwick and had to get the company bus there.

  James was silent. I prodded him. “Come on, tell me about him. Gran’s not here, so I want all the gossip.”

  James feigned a sigh. “Really well. He wants to be exclusive, already.”

  “You’ve not even known him a week.”

  “I know, but it feels right, you know. Not like I had anyone else anyway.”

  “Apart from dog-breath sniffing around.” I pointed towards Graham, the cabin director for our flight. “He keeps looking over here.”

  “It’s you he’s interested in, not me,” James replied. “Just behave, no matter what he says or does. Don’t give him anything to pull you up on.”

  “Yes, Daddy.”

  “I hate it when you call me that.” James shivered.

  “Which is why I say it. Has Mr J called you Daddy too?”

  “No, and his name’s Darren. So get used to it.”

  “Ohh, touchy this morning, aren’t we?”

  James blushed. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

  “I can tell.” I tickled him. “Come on; tell me something juicy about him. Has he got a big cock?”

  “Max!”

  “He does, so exciting. Does he know how to use it, that’s the important thing.”

  James gave me a side eye before he gave in. “I have no complaints.” His face was bright red, but he had the biggest smile.

  “Anyway, I heard you met someone in LA. You’ve kept that quiet. What is he? An oldie with a packed wallet?”

  “Fuck you, James,” I spat back.

  “Sorry. I’m joking. Tell me about him.”

  “Who told you? Danny?”

  “Yeah. I asked him how it went at Flamingos and he told me you met a guy.”

  “Did he tell you he hooked up with the bar owner?” I didn’t like it when people spoke behind my back. Danny didn’t need to say anything, and the thought that he was gossiping about me pissed me off. The only way to deflect the conversation was to say something about him instead.

  “Yeah, he did. He wasn’t being nasty, Max. He said how happy you looked. I wanted to know more.”

  “Well, he’s in LA and that’s that.”

  “That’s that? Come on, don’t be like that. I’m happy for you. It’s about time you got with someone nice. I’ve told you about Darren, you can tell me about your guy. We’ve never kept secrets from each other.”

  It was true. There wasn’t a time when we didn’t tell each other the truth. Whether it be about a guy we liked or the clothes we were wearing. His words hurt though, even though they were true. I did seem to go for those who I had no real interest in. But then at least I knew there was nothing there. Yet things were different with Antonio. He’d said he was coming to visit me in Las Vegas. No one had made an effort for me like that before. I wanted to keep it to myself if I could. In case nothing else happened.

  “Okay, but there’s not much to say. I met a guy in a bar and we had sex in my hotel room.”

  “You’re not telling me anymore than that?”

  “What did Danny tell you?”

  “You met him in Flamingos, didn’t hit it off straight away, but he got jealous when he saw you dancing with a couple of guys, and stopped you being the filling of a muscle sandwich. Gave you a jaw-dropping kiss before he walked away.”

  “That’s pretty much it.”

  “Max,” James sighed my name. The way he did when I’d disappointed him, which happened more than I’d like.

  “Fine.” I huffed like a child and proceeded to tell him all the details of how we’d met, the amazing sex, and lunch at his aunt’s restaurant. “I like him, James. But I’m fucking scared I’m going to look an idiot in all this.”

  “You know you smile when you talk about him. You won’t be an idiot for letting yourself see what happens, even if it’s nothing at the end of it.”

  “He says he’s going to be in Vegas.”

  James bounced in his seat. “I get to meet him?”

  “No,” I cried out, louder than i
ntended. “Let me see what happens in Vegas; if it happens. He may have been kidding me.”

  “When did you last speak to him?”

  “This morning. Before we left the flat.”

  “And what did he say?”

  “See you later.”

  “It’s going to happen then. This is so exciting. You have to tell me everything on the way home.”

  I nodded, and then asked some more questions about Darren, and listened to James talk about their last couple of days together. We then traded gossip from our last flights and before we knew it we were at Gatwick airport.

  Graham brought us to attention in the briefing room and called my name out for extra emphasis. It made me miss Jane, and I made a mental note to make sure I got on more of her flights. Graham read out our assignments and put James in First and me in Premium as expected. I knew he wouldn’t trust me to work in First like Jane had, but it made me more determined to get up there. He had paired me with a girl I didn’t know too well, Amanda, who looked sweet enough and had only recently been promoted to Premium. It would mean I would have to show her the ropes for most of the flight, but if I did a good job, she could put a good word in for me with Graham.

  On board, Amanda and I went to work getting everything ready for the passengers before they arrived. We’d had a chat about what she liked to do and anything she wasn’t sure of. As we were in Premium, we had our own food and drinks to serve, but between the two of us we only had forty passengers to look after. It wasn’t as much work as Economy would sometimes be and gave us a chance to give a more personalised service.

  The passengers were as eager to get on board and get to Vegas as I was. I had a message from Antonio with his flight details, and as he would land a couple of hours before me, he would go to the Bellagio and meet me there. My heart fluttered at the thought of seeing him and getting to know him more.

  With the cross check and safety demonstrations done, I sat back in my chair as the plane took off. The weather had been playing up, and it was a bumpy journey, but as soon as the captain announced that the cabin crew were released, Amanda and I got to work. I switched the ovens on and checked the temperature to make sure it was set for lunch, while Amanda sorted out the drinks trolleys.

  Everything was going like clockwork, and we even appeared to be ahead of schedule as we started our drinks service. I got a couple of rows in when I smelt something odd. I apologised to the passengers waiting and took my trolley back to the galley. Wisps of smoke were coming from the ovens which was very strange. I switched them off, and when the smoke subsided I opened the oven door. Lunch was burnt.

  “What’s going on?” Graham’s shrill voice cut through me. “What have you done, Max?”

  “Something must be off with the ovens. I put them on, but they’ve got too hot or something. The lunch is burnt.”

  “This won’t do. How could you be so reckless?”

  “Reckless? Everything had been set correctly; there must be a problem with the ovens.”

  “Let me see.” Graham pushed me out of the way. “You had it up too high. You can’t put it at that temperature.”

  “That was not the temperature I put it on.”

  “And did you check it before you started the drinks service?”

  “No, Amanda and I were here the whole time. There wasn’t any need to.”

  “There’s always a need to check the ovens before you leave them.” A thin smile spread across his face and then disappeared.

  “Fuck,” I breathed out and hoped he hadn’t heard me.

  “Seems you were trying to rush the service so you could sit down and gossip, as usual. Cutting corners won’t do, Max. I’ll have to report this, you know.”

  “You’ve been wait—”

  “Max,” James said from behind Graham. I stared at him and he shook his head.

  “What were you saying, Max?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I’m sure it was something.” He turned to James. “Can I help you, James, is there an issue in First I need to be aware of?”

  “We could smell something in First. I wanted to check what was going on,” James said.

  “An issue with the ovens. Nothing to worry about. You can go back to First now.”

  James made to say something but didn’t. Instead he headed back to First Class.

  “Luckily Economy has enough food spare for the flight, so we will have to hope the passengers in Premium don’t mind the same lunch. I’d hate to have passenger complaints to add to my report.”

  This time his smile stayed. It didn’t help when another cabin crew member came up from Economy to comment on the smell and how the passengers had asked about it.

  “I’ll make an announcement now to put their minds at rest. Max, continue as you were, and I am sure we can sort your mess out.”

  I bit my lip to stop myself from saying something else. Instead, I took my trolley back down the aisle and continued serving drinks to the passengers in my section.

  Amanda came to give me a hand. We made quick work of the service and then headed back to the galley.

  “What happened?” she asked me, her voice soft.

  “The oven was up too high. Can’t think how, I was sure it was on the right setting when I turned it on.”

  “It was. I saw it. I checked it before we left. Could someone have turned it up?”

  I frowned. “I can’t think how, or why. Passengers wouldn’t try it on, and the rest of the crew would be serving drinks now.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get on, don’t want the weasel coming back here if we can help it.” Amanda giggled and worked on preparing trolleys for lunch.

  I took a box down to the Economy section to see what lunches I could gather. It didn’t make sense that anyone would change the settings on the oven, but it did make me wonder if Graham was so vindictive that he would do it. The Economy crew knew what had happened, but I was grateful they didn’t give me too much of a problem as I collected the food for Premium.

  As I walked through the cabin, Graham made his announcement about the food situation. There were a few groans, but he kept to the company line and told passengers that while there was an issue, we would still get lunch served to everyone.

  Amanda and I made it through lunch, and once everything was put away, it was time for me to have a break. James walked with me to the back of the plane to the private area, but didn’t say anything until we got into the room and the door was closed.

  “What happened?”

  I explained everything and let James mull it over.

  “Graham was looking pleased with himself when he came back from Premium. I hope he hasn’t done anything though.”

  “Does he hate me that much?”

  Our conversation was cut short when another crew member came into the cabin. Instead of talking, I closed my eyes and only opened them when James shook me awake.

  “Time already?” I yawned.

  “No, but you want to make sure you’re back in time. Who knows what he’s got planned.”

  I got up and headed back down into the main cabin to find Graham waiting.

  “I was helping Amanda until you got back, Max.” His pursed lips told me he wasn’t happy I’d returned early.

  “So nice of you, Graham.” It hurt to give him a fake smile. “I’m back now, if you want to go for your break?”

  “Yes, well, fine. Good chatting with you, Amanda.”

  Amanda faked a smile, but Graham had already headed towards the back of the plane.

  “That guy gives me the creeps,” Amanda let out in a whisper.

  “You and me both. What did he say?”

  “To be honest, he was talking about you the whole time.”

  “I didn’t know I mattered that much to him.”

  “Well, he was asking about everything you did, and I told him I’d checked the ovens before we set out, so he knows now either someone else changed them or they really are faulty.”

  “Thank
s, I appreciate that.”

  “No worries, as I said, he gives me the creeps.”

  I changed the subject so I didn’t have to talk about Graham anymore, and could find out what Amanda had planned in Vegas. Like most of the crew, she’d flown there enough times to cover the tourist things and had planned to relax by the pool. When she asked me what I was doing, I lied and said the same. The smile on my face would have told her I had more planned than sitting around the pool, but she didn’t need to know that.

  The rest of the flight was uneventful, and I was happy when we landed. Graham had continued to make sure everything was in order in Premium. Amanda and I worked out it was every half hour for the last five hours of the flight. When Amanda had asked him how many more times he was going to visit us, he sputtered a nonsensical response and went back to First.

  With the plane closed down for the cleaners, I joined James in the queue for immigration. He told me Graham had annoyed other crew members throughout the flight, so it wasn’t just me. The bus from the airport to the hotel was quiet as everyone tried to listen to Graham rattle on to the captain about how much of a report he had to write.

  “I’m going to say something,” James said.

  “What’s the point? He’s going to write his report anyway. I have Amanda to back me up that the oven was fine when she left it. Not much more I can do, is there?”

  James’s eyes narrowed. “You’re awfully calm about this.”

  “I’m not letting the threat of his report spoil the next couple of days here.”

  “Have you heard from him?”

  I shook my head. “Not since I got on the plane. I need to wait until we get to the hotel to get Wi-Fi so I can find out where to go.”

  “He didn’t tell you?”

  “Yeah, he said the Bellagio. But it may have changed.”

  “The Bellagio?” James cried out.

  The crew all turned around to see what had happened.

  “The Bellagio?” he whispered. “How posh.”

  “We’ll see,” I said and looked out of the window as the minibus drove down the Las Vegas strip. We were staying at Treasure Island this trip. I preferred staying there to some of the other hotels they had put us in, and it was only a couple of hotels away from the Bellagio.