“Okay! Well, it’s still great news, don’t you think? You’re finally gonna get your chance, Scarlett! Go for it!” she advised with vigor and confidence.
“You think?” I asked, still hesitating.
“Yes! Scarlett, it would be ridiculous to let a man who rocks your world that much slip away! No matter where he’s from, what his life or his past consist of. You must follow your heart!” urged Becky, as if she was holding life’s secret to happiness.
“Will he want me?” I wondered again.
“You’ll see it in his eyes. And I think that yes, he will,” she assured me.
I was relieved. I now had her blessing. I could sleep peacefully. At least, until tomorrow. Just as I was about to hang up, I heard a man’s voice in the background. Naughty Becky! She had brought someone back to her room. I immediately checked with her.
“You’re not alone, you naughty girl!” I asked curiously.
“No, I’m with Damien,” she answered, without a hint of embarrassment. “He came to visit for the night.”
“Damien? The French guy with the yacht?”
“Yes,” she answered, a bit more shyly.
“Ah! Why didn’t you tell me!” I exclaimed, feeling silly for having discussed my meaningless pilot stories so openly.
“He didn’t hear a thing, Scarlett. I would have said something if it was an issue. Sleep tight and don’t let yourself worry anymore,” she assured me.
Her voice was so calming that as soon as it made it to my ears, I felt better. My eyelids felt heavy. It was time for bed.
“Thanks, Becky. Say hi to Damien for me! Have a good night!” I kindly ended.
“Good night, Scarlett and good luck in Dublin!” she said before hanging up.
I closed Skype and set my alarm for the next day. I turned the light off and slipped under the covers. Just before falling asleep, one last thought flashed through my mind: The next two days are going to feel like an eternity!
Chapter 19
New York (JFK) – Dublin (DUB)
It felt like a whole century had gone by since I had landed in New York. I had counted the hours, the minutes, the seconds, the milliseconds, and had even gone as far as counting the nanoseconds. My impatience had kept me from getting a proper rest during my pre-flight nap. I couldn’t stay still. As soon I sat on the corner of my hotel bed, my right leg would start acting up, jolting up and down.
That morning, when I went out to get a latte close to the hotel, I was victim of hallucinations. In the line at Starbucks, a man with a very similar shape to John’s almost gave me a heart attack. I quickly realized it couldn’t be him, regained composure, grabbed my coffee, and headed to the mall. I tried on a gorgeous sweater in my favorite store and, coming out of the fitting room, I almost blacked out again thinking I had seen John in a store nearby.
My heart was sick of being stimulated for no reason and it urged me to hurry back to the hotel, for its own sake. I obeyed. Soon, my hallucinations would become reality.
◆◆◆
When the crew transportation dropped us off in front of the airport, my heart started racing again. Poor little heart! It’ll have to get used to it as this is just the beginning, I thought. After passing through security, Barry, our chief purser, announced that he needed to go to the crew room to grab some paperwork. Therefore, he advised us what time we needed to be on the aircraft and then set us free.
The crew split up. Some flight attendants went for a quick stop at the duty-free and others, to Starbucks. Megan and I didn’t feel like anything in particular so we decided to make our way to the aircraft right away.
“Apparently Dublin is a very cool city. I’ve never been. Have you?” she asked excitedly.
“Once,” I simply answered.
“And so? Do you know where to go for dinner? Where to go out? A traditional pub maybe?”
Then, silence. I wasn’t answering. I obviously understood her questions but I couldn’t process the information. I could only hear words spoken one after the other. Pub. Out. Traditional. And then, as a background noise, the sound of her stilettos pounding the floor. Megan called out to me again.
“Hello! Scarlett! Were you listening?”
“Sorry, Megan, my mind was elsewhere. What were you saying?”
“Ah! Forget it! We’ll have plenty of time to talk during the flight. Looks like whatever was troubling you on our flight to Madrid hasn’t been sorted out, huh?” she asked out of curiosity and sympathy.
“No, not completely,” I admitted, without adding any detail, and we continued to walk in silence.
I liked a lot Megan. She was charming, always smiling, and above all, she minded her own business. She respected her colleagues, always waiting for them to confide in her if they felt the need to. She got hired not long after me and was about twenty-four years old. She was very feminine and always applied her makeup with perfection. Her high black leather stilettos suited her very well. Seeing her meander down through the gate, toward the aircraft, I wished I also had such a strong presence.
Damn! The gate! We were already here. Would I have the strength to go on board? I was getting hot flashes. This is no longer the time to be a coward, I decided, and stepped one foot inside the aircraft. I followed Megan toward the front of the cabin. From the first couple rows, we could hear men talking inside the flight deck. John is already here! Megan continued walking to the front galley and I heard her talk to the two pilots.
“Hi, my name is Megan. The crew isn’t here yet but they shouldn’t be long.”
There was a pause. Then a man spoke. I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Megan concluded the conversation in her oh-so-radiant manner.
“Yes, okay! Perfect! See you soon!”
Then she came to sit next to me. Now that she had introduced herself to the pilots, I thought I might as well do the same. Anyway, I couldn’t wait any longer. I got up and approached the cockpit.
I could hear voices. I didn’t recognize John’s. It had been a whole year, so I had probably forgotten what it sounded like. Like a spy, I stayed hidden with my back to the metallic ovens. I am being completely ridiculous! I’m thirty, after all! I decided to act like a grown-up and entered.
“Hello!” I said, smiling in a very laid-back way.
The two pilots turned their heads in my direction. I quickly looked at the first officer, then hurriedly set my gaze on the captain. As soon as I saw him, I stopped breathing. John was in front of me.
“Hi!” they both replied in perfect unison.
The first officer greeted me and flashed a discreet smile but I totally ignored him. As for the captain, he gave me the nicest smile I had ever seen in my life. That smile was, by far, more charming and enchanting than the ones in Paris. Even more electrifying than the last one he gave me, before opening the door to his room in Barcelona. I was hit by cold sweats. I got weak in the knees. I had to make sure I didn’t blow my cover. I quickly added a meaningless sentence so that I could swiftly leave:
“You’ve arrived soon?” I stammered.
What had I just said? I was praying for my question to go unnoticed. John would see right through me and my clumsiness. To my dismay, my handsome captain grasped the opportunity to tease me a little.
“Soon?”
I had to answer his question and take control back over the situation. John’s smile was hypnotizing. And so was his face. And his eyes. His smell was driving me insane. I stammered again.
“Erm! I mean, have you been on the plane soon?”
What had happened to my vocabulary?! Soon? I meant to say LONG! Nothing complicated with that! L-O-N-G! My face turned red; Scarlett red. John must have been happy to see me lose my composure that way, in front of him. Seeing the two pilots kindly laughing at me, I had to laugh as well. I lifted a hand up toward them to indicate that they wouldn’t get any further explanation from me and headed back to one of the passenger seats to wait for the rest of the crew.
I was pretty embarrassed to
have acted in such a confused way but, oh well, I had to live with it. Surely, one day I’ll get used to his presence, I assured myself. I would have to since I’d be spending two days with him. The flight there. And the flight back. Just thinking about it made me feel terrified, yet privileged.
Once the crew was on board, Barry advised the pilots. John stood in front of the first row and started his briefing.
“Hi, everyone! This is Sebastian Collins, the first officer,” he said, lifting a hand toward the pilot. “And I’m John Ross,” he added confidently.
The crew greeted both of them and he went on.
“Today we are operating flight 144 to Dublin, with an estimated flight time of six hours, thirty minutes. No turbulence in the forecast.”
As he finished his sentence, he quickly glanced at me. I was hooked on his every word. After giving us a few more details, he looked at me again and wished us a nice flight, then returned to the cockpit. Barry continued with some additional information.
Per usual, he asked us to choose our positions on the aircraft. When it got to my turn, I had to choose between three positions, one of which consisted of working at the front, in first class. Although I wasn’t crazy about preparing gin and tonics or offering freshly ground pepper to my passengers, I chose that position, for a reason only I knew.
In fact, since it involved spending the whole flight in the front, consequently being close to the cockpit, one of my additional duties was to look after the pilots’ comfort. I would get them their meals, prepare their coffees, and make sure they had everything they needed.
I had rarely chosen that position in the past, obviously never wanting to attend to pretentious pilots. Megan, who knew me, had been surprised by my selection and had pulled a disappointed face. I understood that she would have liked to work with me, so I suggested she come visit during the flight.
Once the briefing was finally over, Barry launched boarding. I was in my galley, preparing a few champagne glasses for my precious guests. I was so eager to see them! Who would I be serving? I wondered. A Lady Coco? I prayed it wouldn’t be the case. I then made my way to the aisle to assist one of the passengers. When I returned, I got an unobstructed view of the flight deck, and of my captain. I discreetly spied on him, hoping not to get caught.
Just as I turned away to look at the boarding door, I heard John call after me. He must have sensed my desire to talk to him. I was walking on air. I floated toward him and placed myself in front of the door. What would he say? Ah! My lovely Scarlett, I’m so happy to see you, or maybe, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a whole year, Scarlett, I hope the feeling is mutual. Yes! Yes! It’s totally mutual! I’m obsessed with you!
“Can you please ask the chief purser to come and see me? I need to speak with him,” he said, expressionless.
How disappointing! I knew it! I had been dreaming all along. Here I was, thinking about him and only him. I had to get a grip and get to work. Of course his priority wouldn’t be to mess around with one of his flight attendants. He had a plane to fly. Maybe he’d be a bit more open once in Dublin? I was hoping he would, and passed the message on to Barry.
Boarding was completed. I had started serving champagne flutes and offering newspapers to my passengers. The door had just been closed. Then, I saw my colleague Diane come toward me with a piece of paper.
“Barry says the singer Helena Hanks is seating in economy at 9K. He’d like you to go over and welcome her on board, assure her we’ll be looking after her during the flight,” she said.
“Erm! Isn’t it his job?”
“Yeah, but he says he doesn’t have time right now,” she explained, before returning to her own duties.
ARRRGGG! I hate when someone does that. When someone delegates! Barry was too busy. Really? Just like me, he probably simply didn’t want to suck up to a “celebrity” so had passed his dirty work on to me. He was the chief purser but somehow now I was the one who had to act as the master of ceremonies? I looked at the piece of paper Diane had given me.
Helena Hanks! I hated that Californian singer. Above all, I hated having to put on a show for an artist just because their name was Mr. This or Mrs. That. I just had to get on with my task and get it over with. I headed for seat 9K.
When I arrived at the given seat number, I found it empty. Nobody there! Yeah! I thought. She isn’t here, there’s been an error! I went looking for Barry to let him know he had received the wrong information.
“Hey! Barry!” I called out. “Your Helena Hanks isn’t here. Seat 9K is empty.”
“Impossible! I saw her earlier. I’m the one who checked her boarding pass.”
“Okay… She must be in the lavatory. I’ll wait for her to get back, then,” I said, convinced that must be the case.
“Okay great! Thanks!” he replied before advising the cabin crew to arm their doors in preparation for takeoff.
I executed the requested task and stood in the aisle while the safety video was being played. I stood up straight and attempted to smile politely. Many were looking at me instead of looking at their screens. In my head, I was having fun dictating the safety procedures at the same time as the narrator.
“In the unlikely event of loss of cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will automatically fall in front of you. To start the flow of oxygen, pull the mask toward you and place it firmly over your nose and mouth. Breathe normally . . . ”
I congratulated myself for every word I got right. Ah, the things I do to entertain myself! I continued my little game while observing each and every one of the passengers in my section.
“Even if the bag does not inflate, oxygen will be flowing. Please put your own mask on before assisting others . . . ”
Another point for me! I thought, still observing my passengers. The woman in 2B looked very familiar. She was wearing a massive beige hat. She was very pretty and was chatting with her neighbor. She must have been around thirty-five years old and I really felt like I knew her from somewhere. Intrigued, I checked her name on the passenger manifest.
I went through the document and quickly spotted the first class section. There was no name under the seat 2B. I counted the number of names on my list. Fifteen. I returned to my position in the aisle to count the exact number of passengers seated in my section. The result: seventeen. Obviously, it wasn’t adding up. As the manifest ruled over all else, I came to the conclusion that two passengers had taken the wrong seats. Surely, one of them was that fake movie star and her hat. No wonder she’s hiding behind a sombrero! Just as I was about to inform Barry of the situation, it dawned on me!
That woman who looked familiar was in fact Helena Hanks! I didn’t know her per se, but I had seen her on TV, which is why she looked so familiar. But how could she have gotten mistaken? 9K was in economy! Far from 2B, which was in first class. Seeing her chatting away with her neighbor, I assumed that he, too, had inadvertently made it into my section. I immediately advised my chief purser.
“Barry! I found where Helena Hanks is sitting.”
“Great! Did you go see her?” he asked, relieved.
“No, no yet. Actually, it looks like she is seated in my section, in 2B,” I admitted, a bit irritated.
“Hm, weird. I definitely saw her boarding pass and she was sitting with her partner in 9J and K.”
Lady Sombrero was traveling with her lover! Were they both complete idiots or were they blinded by love, not realizing that 2B and C were completely different from 9J and K? Apparently, two heads were not better than one! I was eager to find out the reason for the seat change. Determined, Barry got up and headed toward her.
“Hello, Mrs. Hanks. I don’t want to sound rude but I can’t find your name on my list of first class passengers. Can I please see your boarding pass?” he asked, extremely politely.
Hearing how much he was sugarcoating it with that semi-celebrity was infuriating. I was looking forward to knowing what her retort would be as instead of getting her ticket out, she put on a very sorry face. With e
xaggerated kindness, she explained herself.
“Well, actually, the girl at check-in told us there were a few empty seats in first class and suggested we take them. I followed her advice.”
Barry was hesitant. I could tell he didn’t know what to say. Helena-the-Star was using her charm. My chief purser was completely taken aback. Lady Sombrero was surrounded by bright, harp-playing angels singing for her liberation. So, Barry gave in:
“Well, all right for this time, Mrs. Hanks. But I’d like to say that we do not usually allow people to grab such seats,” he clarified, making sure a similar scenario didn’t happen again.
He came back to the galley, where I was waiting resolutely.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I exploded, offended.
“No, it’s fine, I’m letting her sit in first, Scarlett. I don’t want any problem with the media,” he explained.
“Uh! Come on, Barry! It’s not just because she’s popular that we have to let her use her fake celebrity status! It’s not fair! I’m sure whatever she said about the girl at check-in isn’t even true!” I went on, outraged at the unjustified favoritism.
“I understand, Scarlett, but I’ve made the decision so we’re just gonna deal with it, okay? I’ll put all the event’s details in the flight report. At least the company will know what she’s done.”
His statement reassured me a little bit and I left to do my final cabin check before taking place on my jump seat for takeoff. Anyway, it’s going to be Barry serving her, not me! I thought, somehow boycotting her. Suddenly, my thoughts went my back to my obsession: John was talking to me. I could hear his voice in my ears. He was speaking to me. Well, sort of.
“In preparation for takeoff, flight attendants to your jump seats. Have a good flight!”
We took off right away. I lowered my chin toward my chest, rested my hands on my knees, and let my handsome captain fly me away.
◆◆◆
We were three and a half hours into the flight. I had to enter the flight deck to grab the meal trays I had given John and Sebastian a little while ago. At the same time, I would also bring them their coffees. I advised Barry I was about to enter the flight deck and closed the galley’s curtains. Then I dialed the entry code and waited for one of the pilots to electronically unlock the door. I gave the door a strong push to enter and closed it behind me.
Call Me Stewardess Page 18