Librium

by PJ Bayliss

  ‘Humph!’

  ‘What other examples do you have?’

  ‘This trip. You’ve run it like a tight schedule all the way! Where we stay, what we do, where we eat, who we…’ Julie caught herself before saying something she’d later regret.

  Chaise laughed, ‘I didn’t want to get lost. Besides, someone had to plan this trip,’ he sat there with a big cheesy grin.

  ‘You’re impossible!’

  ‘Thanks, I try to be.’

  Julie tried to scowl but couldn’t do so with any sincerity. She loved it when Chaise was being playful like this. It was a rare treat.

  ◆◆◆

  Once they arrived at Gatwick Airport they made their way to the freight gateway near the South Terminal. Peyton gave a specific address which turned out to be a large hanger at the far end of the airfield.

  Chaise sent a quick text to a number she had provided and within seconds a door opened on the other side of the security fence. A tall and burly security guard walked toward them. He carried a clipboard in one hand and his other hand rested on his belt. He was poised to reach for his sidearm at a moment's notice.

  ‘Name?’

  ‘Carlos and Chaise Vallati,’ replied Carlos.

  The guard looked at the two boys and compared them to a picture on the clipboard.

  ‘Who is she?’ he nodded to Julie sitting in the back.

  ‘My girlfriend,’ replied Chaise, ‘she’s not travelling though.’

  The guard calmly reached up and muttered into a walkie-talkie handpiece. He waited a moment before instructing the boys to grab their luggage and stand before a gateway in the fence. It led to a security cage which only allowed one door to be opened at a time.

  A knot unravelled in Chaise's stomach as the door opened. All of a sudden, this was the departure lounge, and he realised this was where Julie and himself would be parting ways. He turned to Julie. ‘Looks like this is it,’ he smiled. ‘Miss me?’

  ‘Always. But it’s only a couple of days, right?’

  ‘Yeah. Then back up to the Saint I guess? We’ve got to tidy up the unit.’

  Julie sighed. ‘Yes.’

  ‘And then you and I can spend some decent time together and work out what we’re doing about New York. Or maybe, that’s an if we are doing New York?’

  Julie smiled. She still couldn’t commit to him with an answer.

  ‘And if that happens, then I want to see your ol’ man with you.’

  Julie was puzzled and frowned at him. Her heart skipped to a conclusion, but her brain was still telling her that is was way too soon.

  ‘I need to talk to him about you and the States, okay?’

  She smiled, ‘He’d appreciate that, I know.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way,’ he kissed her on the lips.

  The security guard interrupted them, ‘C’mon lover boy, time to get a move on. This is a no parking zone.’

  The twins entered through the cage and handed the guard their passports on the other side of the fence. He flicked through the pages and escorted them to the air hanger door.

  Julie watched them disappear with the door closing behind them. She sat in the car contemplating her situation with Chaise and reminded herself that he was only going away for a few days. She repeated it to herself a couple of times when a loud BARP! startled her from a car queued up behind her. Flustered, she turned the ignition key and drove away.

  ◆◆◆

  ‘Seems like pretty steep security here…’ said Carlos.

  ‘New protocol and procedures ever since the Beijing bombing,’ replied the guard as he opened the door. ‘Go to that counter there, give him your passport.’

  ‘Then where do we go?’

  The guard shrugged his shoulders, ‘Beats me. I don’t even know what airline you’re flying with,’ he shut the door behind them.

  20

  He looked at Chaise over the rim of his glasses and turned his attention to the document in his hand. Then he emitted a strange murmur from his throat and thumbed through the pages of Chaise’s passport.

  ‘Where are we going today, sir?’

  ‘Naples. Italy.’

  He looked back at Chaise. ‘Airline?’

  ‘Pegasus Pharmaceuticals, I guess.'

  ‘I see…’ He tapped away at his keyboard and peered into the screen. ‘Yes. Here we go… Pegasus Air.’

  ‘Sounds about right.’

  He grunted with disapproval, clenched his fist around a red handled rubber stamp and pressed it firmly into the pad. Then he plopped it firmly down on an empty page in the book before handing it back to Chaise.

  ‘Your passport, sir …’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘…and your boarding pass, sir.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Please take a seat. Your chaperone will be here soon.'

  Chaise remained standing at the counter and waited for him to notice.

  ‘Anything else today, sir?’

  ‘A smile?’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Can you give me a smile?’ replied Chaise.

  He removed his glasses and took a long look at Chaise. ‘Just take your seat please sir. This isn’t a first-class service.’

  Chaise shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to his brother. ‘Fuck me, what a goddamn prude!’

  Carlos chuckled. ‘What on earth were you trying to prove with that guy?’

  ‘Just trying to get a smile and some service,’ replied Chaise.

  ‘But, why…?’

  ‘You know how these bloody freight operations work. Every time we fly like this. It’s always the same.’

  ‘You mean hostile?’ Carlos asked.

  ‘No. Functional,’ replied Chaise.

  A door at the side of the building opened and a woman in a flight attendant's uniform entered. She had a gorgeous figure with her blonde hair tied up high in a bun and white buttoned shirt that with a low opening that framed a red camisole beneath. Her red short skirt rode her waist and hugged her hips snugly down to her long shapely legs.

  She had a cover girl face, with red lipstick and a subtle hue brushed across her cheeks. Her eyelashes fluttered like butterflies around a mid-summer blue moon.

  ‘Now that’s functional…’ muttered Carlos. Chaise sniggered.

  She spoke softly to the twins, ‘Vallati for Pegasus Air?’

  ‘Yes! That's us,’ beamed Carlos

  ‘My name is Adrienne. I shall be your hostess today. Please accompany me to your flight.’ she opened the door to the air hanger.

  ◆◆◆

  It was like stepping into a completely different world. The hanger was enormous, the size of several football fields and as high as a church steeple. In the middle stood an immaculate Boeing twin-engine jet. A dark blue stripe ran up from its underside and along the fuselage toward the tail.

  It was a beautiful looking machine. Both boys stared at it with their mouths opened wide as they followed Adrienne down the walkway.

  ‘My God! Peyton said it was a beautiful plane, but this is something else!’

  ‘Unbelievable,’ replied Carlos with an enormous sense of pride, ‘The ol’ man has really outdone himself this time.’

  Adrienne led them up the stairs into the aircraft. There was a leather lounge suite with polished mahogany sideboards and woodwork surrounding the seats. Opposite was a matching drinks bar and another seating area further up the aircraft.

  ‘This is something else!’ he remarked, 'Way better than anything I've been in before.'

  ‘Thank you,’ replied Adrienne. ‘It is a Boeing BBJ, a cousin to the Boeing 737.’

  ‘Well there’s no inbreeding issues here’ joked Carlos. Adrienne smiled and continued to introduce them to the aircraft’s features and seating arrangements.

  ‘Your father will be with you shortly after take-off. He’s currently resting in the master suite. Is there anything else I can do for you?’

  The boys looked and smiled at each ot
her. ‘Champagne?’

  They sat down and enjoyed their luxurious surroundings. It was foreign to them and completely unexpected as Gianni had kept it as a surprise.

  ‘Why didn’t Peyton tell you about this?’

  ‘I have no idea Carl. She certainly kept it under her hat from me, as did the ol’ man.’

  ‘She accidentally let it slip out to me this morning when we talked, but played it down as a standard plane. I’d have her up about that.’

  ‘You’re right. I’ll get onto that,’ Chaise started to frantically text a message on his phone when Adrienne appeared with refreshments.

  ‘You’ll have to turn your phone off Master Vallati. We will be taxiing out any minute now.’

  ‘Okay. And please, call me Chaise.’

  Adrienne smiled. There was no way she was going to call him that. ‘Refreshment, sir?’

  Chaise took one of the snacks from the silver tray. ‘Thank you. Are you from Europe by any chance?’

  ‘You are correct.’

  ‘I thought so, from your accent. Netherlands?’

  ‘Belgium, actually.’

  ‘Have you been doing this for long?’

  ‘I’ve been an air hostess for two years. Mr Vallati employed me three months ago,’ she offered the tray to Carlos as she spoke.

  ‘Cool! And before that?’

  ‘I was in the Belgium Armed Forces.’

  Chaise almost choked on his food. He took a swig of champagne to settle an itch at the back of his throat.

  ‘Interesting. I didn’t expect that…’

  Carlos sat back and relaxed to watch his brother dig himself a hole in front of this woman.

  ‘Not many people do, and we prefer it that way.’

  ‘We?’

  ‘Your father and I.'

  Chaise was intrigued. Why would his father have the need for an ex-military girl like this? He asked the obvious question and Adrienne invited the two boys to a locked door the back of the plane. She punched the combination into the lock and they heard the electronic latches unlock.

  ‘I am here to help protect the cargo.’

  The rear of the plane had been retrofitted with a cargo hold for product. There were four aluminium containers stacked up two-high on the deck, each stack strapped down with several cargo straps. The containers were marked with a discrete identifier; “PP” was stamped on each side with a unique number beneath and they were locked with heavy duty locks.

  Carlos whistled and Chaise remarked ‘Impressive stuff. This is a huge improvement to the old plane.’

  ‘Exactly,’ replied Adrienne.

  ‘What did you do for the Belgium Forces?’ Carlos asked.

  ‘That is classified information.’

  Carlos raised his eyebrows, ‘I’m guessing you saw some action then?’

  ‘More than enough.’

  ‘So, you can protect this?’

  ‘Try me.’ she smirked.

  ‘Pardon me?’

  ‘Try to attack me, as if you have a knife.’ Adrienne stepped back into a defensive stance with her hands poised in front of her.

  Carlos raised his eyes and glanced toward Chaise who nodded with a grin. ‘Whatcha waiting for?’

  Carlos paused, then lunged at her with his arm swinging toward her chest. In a heartbeat, she side-stepped his fist and in a flurry of movement returned fire with a punch to his chest. Carlos immediately lost his balance, but she continued her volley with a strike to the temple and a leg swing to put the hapless boy down. Finally, she pounced on his torso and straddled his chest, pinning his elbows down with her knees and a quick strike to the throat, stopping within an inch of his Adams apple.

  Carlos was flat on his back, his face contorted and eyes closed in anticipation of her blow. He opened one eye slowly and looked his assailant, then he opened his other eye. Adrienne’s face remained calm and collected, focussed upon her prey, and she carried a fiery look of determined rage in her eyes.

  Chaise gave her a quick round of applause and offered a helping hand for Adrienne to get up off his stranded brother. She accepted and casually stood up with Carlos still lying there between her legs.

  ‘Satisfied?’ she asked.

  ‘Err, yeah. Kinda.’

  The experience had left Carlos completely flawed and unresponsive, except for one single part of his body. That was responding well to the attention beneath his trousers.

  21

  Gianni woke from his slumber and rolled off the bed. He rubbed the sleep from his face and staggered into the bathroom to splash water upon his face and wake himself up. It had been a long week for him with several client meetings around Europe and the United Kingdom. With a glance of his watch, he sighed and went to greet his two sons’.

  ‘Il mio ragazzo!’ he called out when he saw two boys, his arms opened wide and welcoming.

  ‘Papa!’ they replied, and stood up to greet Gianni as he walked toward him. It had been months since Gianni had last seen them and he marvelled at how they grown.

  ‘Look at you two! You’re all grown up now!’ He pushed them back and admired them with pride. They chatted casually for a moment and asked about their mother.

  ‘Mama is fine, better than fine. She is waiting in Capri for us with Federico, God rest his soul.’

  ‘We’re sorry, Papa. Did he go peacefully?’

  ‘Oh yes, he was in good hands my boy. Your mother was there by his bedside at his passing. I wanted to be there with him at the time, but sadly could not.’

  ‘I thought you were there…’ said Chaise, ‘Didn’t you arrive last week?’

  ‘Yes, yes we did. But I was called away to an important meeting in Paris for a client. Federico passed when I was on the way there.’

  Chaise looked at his father - he was weary and looked exhausted. Gianni was still wearing his business suit. His tie was missing and shirttail untucked. ‘Did you just come from Paris, Papa?’

  ‘I arrived yesterday evening, but then went out with a client here in London.’

  Adrienne turned up with a glass of Scotch Whiskey on ice for Gianni and two more fresh glasses of Champaign for the boys.

  ‘Papa, you’re working yourself to the bone. Sit. Relax…’ said Carlos.

  Gianni smiled and squeezed his cheek affectionately, much to the displeasure of Carlos, and joined them in the lounge.

  ‘You’re right. It is hard work, but look at what it has provided!’, he held his arms up in the air. ‘Isn’t it a beauty?’

  They agreed with their father and complimented him over his purchase. Chaise suggested things were going better than expected for Pegasus Pharmaceuticals to afford it.

  ‘Better than I expected, and business is booming right now. We are growing faster than ever Chaise.’

  ‘That’s fabulous to hear, Papa! I can’t imagine there being so much demand for testing new drugs.’

  ‘Oh, we are doing so much more that testing drugs these days Chaise. So much more…’

  ‘Really? That’s news to me.’

  ‘Hmm, yes. You know me, always keeping things under my hat until they develop into something spectacular. I guess this is almost at the point right now. Becoming spectacular.’

  He raised his glass and the toasted success, and it certainly felt like that as Chaise looked around once again, admiring the immaculately appointed aircraft.

  ‘Must be a pretty large client, Papa, to afford all this.’

  ‘Yes, Chaise. One of the biggest you can imagine; I guess you can safely say that.’

  ‘Military?’ guessed Chaise.

  Gianni smiled graciously at him. ‘You see? This is why I invested in your education at Saint Andrews. I see my dollars were very wisely spent.’

  ‘I thought you just enjoyed all of the experiments?’ jested Chaise.

  ‘Ha-ha. But I’m sure you two boys found them more enjoyable than I did? Isn’t that right, Carlos?’

  He smirked with Gianni’s accusation, ‘Yeah, there were some moments of pure satisfa
ction there alright, Papa.’

  ‘I bet! That’s my boy!’ Gianni pinged his glass off the Champaign Carlos was holding and took a swig to finish his drink. ‘Pure satisfaction! I like the sounds of that. Tell me, how on earth did you manage to test them?’ he asked.

  ‘I have an assistant. She’s quite obliging.’

  ‘I bet! A mutual arrangement I presume?’ enquired Gianni as Adrienne replaced his drink with a fresh glass of Scotch.

  ‘Definitely mutual,’ he smirked, admiring Adrienne’s firm arse as she collected the empty snack tray beside Chaise.

  Gianni laughed and encouraged Carlos to share some stories from the laboratory later. ‘We’ll soon have plenty of time to discuss that in detail, Carlos. I can see you have your eye on something else?’

  ‘Sorry, Papa. I was just thinking of something.’

  ‘I can tell!’

  Carlos smiled, ‘Is she seeing anybody?’

  ‘Would that stop you?’ Gianni laughed.

  Carlos shook his head, ‘No. I don’t think it would, to be honest.’

  ‘Well, go ahead. Introduce yourself my boy. It’s a short flight so make the most of it. Perhaps a tour of the craft will keep pique your interest?’ Then Gianni leant forward to confide with Carlos. ‘Besides, you’ll be seeing plenty of her once we get back to New York.’

  Carlos thanked his father and excused himself from their company. His departure gave Gianni the opportunity to talk to catch up with Chaise’s life.

  ‘So, Chaise, how are things with you?’

  ‘I’m fine thanks. Everything is peachy.’

  ‘Peachy? Sounds very English of you…’

  Chaise grinned, ‘Yes, it does, doesn’t it? I guess I’ve picked up some local customs at Saint Andrews.’

  ‘Good friendships, I take it?’

  ‘The best.’

  ‘It sounds it. This Julie girl that Peyton told me about sounds like a bit of a keeper? Is that right?’

  Chaise nodded. ‘She’s different all right, and I have to thank you for offering her a job and all. It’s very much appreciated.’