Girl on a Plane

by Cassandra O'Leary

  Late morning in Melbourne, but it was close to two in the morning in London, a day behind. Somehow, going to Australia meant travelling to the future. So confusing to a travel-lagged mind. Not to mention spooky.

  She’d tried calling Gabriel when she’d had lunch in Dubai but there was no answer. He might have been in a meeting. Now he’d be in his hotel room. It was probably too late to call, but she couldn’t resist. She dialled his mobile number, biting her thumbnail.

  She couldn’t wait to talk to him and hear the low rumble of his voice which reminded her of decadent chocolate syrup. Delicious and rich, probably bad for her, but so indulgent and downright yummy.

  The phone clicked in her ear. “Gabriel? Hi.” She waited, but there was empty space on the other end.

  “Hello, Gabriel’s phone.” A smoky, sensual and definitely feminine voice hit her ears.

  What the …?

  She rallied her brain and voice to reply. “Er, can I speak to him please?” It must have been his PA, secretary, whatever. She hoped.

  “Sorry, he’s sleeping at the moment. Can I take a message?” The woman yawned. She sounded tired, half-asleep herself.

  No! Don’t be in his room. Don’t be in his bed …

  Sinead tried not to jump to conclusions, but what else could she think? It was after midnight, London time. He had to be in his hotel room, in bed with another woman.

  Gabriel couldn’t wait for a few fecking days, he had to go ahead and bang some random slapper.

  What if it wasn’t so random?

  It could’ve been the sleazy woman from the club. Kitty. She’d been all over him like a cat in heat. Gabriel had shrugged her off then, but maybe not forever. Probably only while Sinead was around.

  She cleared her throat and held the phone in a death grip. “No message.” She couldn’t muster a response when Phone Woman said goodbye.

  Sinead squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the images overwhelming her. Of course they were there anyway, inside her head. Gabriel leaning into Kitty’s kiss, wrapping his arms around her. The two of them naked, thrashing around in his bed, in the throes of a mind-blowing orgasm. They’d probably be perfect together, the pair of them. Rich and beautiful, and so far out of her league. They were probably laughing at her right now. Or maybe not. Too busy basking in afterglow, robbed of speech, too tired to move. She knew what it was like.

  Gabriel was amazing in bed – he’d obviously had plenty of practice. He’d said he didn’t want anyone else, but would he really push another woman away? Why reject someone who was there with him, when Sinead was on the other side of the world? Especially when she’d been denying him the slightest touch, like a fool. He’d been the one to stray, but she’d pushed him away, even when he’d started opening up to her. Sinead had denied what they both wanted. She may have missed her chance with him.

  She couldn’t think about it anymore. Exhausted to the centre of her being, body and soul, she fell onto the bed fully dressed. Her spine ached, her legs were puffy, and her skin was dry as the desert in Dubai. Other secret places heated and throbbed and practically chanted Gabriel’s name.

  Stupid body.

  Then there was the way her chest ached and her eyes itched. It could have been allergies, sure. Except it wasn’t spring in either hemisphere.

  Stupid feelings.

  She didn’t have it in her to do anything or go anywhere in Melbourne. Not in his city.

  Stupid Melbourne.

  All she wanted to do was sleep for about a thousand years. Then her phone beeped. She glanced at the screen and froze.

  It wasn’t Gabriel. No, it was much worse.

  I’m coming for you. WHORE.

  She threw her phone across the bed like it had scorched her. The tears came then, great wracking, flooding rivers carving a cavern through her heart.

  London, UK

  Three days later, back in her poky flat, Sinead camped out on her saggy sofa in her sitting room watching old DVDs. Anything with Brad Pitt from the nineties was the sure-fire cure for her man woes. Only it wasn’t working.

  It was a cold morning. She’d meant to sleep longer, but the time zones had her muddled. The miserable rain belting against her windows suited her mood. Grey, cold, relentless wetness. Floods of tears, they wouldn’t stop falling. Only fictional heroes were going to make her feel better. And her favourite owl-print pyjamas.

  She hadn’t heard from Gabriel since she’d been home. Not one phone call or text message. It was lonely, flying back to London to find no one would have missed her if she hadn’t come home at all. After that kiss on her doorstep, she’d expected so much more. A one-man welcoming party.

  Yuki had been otherwise occupied going to a twenty-first birthday party for a family friend. Deanna and her other work friends were off at some nightclub last night. She couldn’t face it, dancing, pretending to be happy.

  Dropping into her black mood, she snuggled under her fluffy mohair throw rug and prepared to ogle Brad. The shrill ring of her front doorbell shocked her out of her stupor. Then the excitement gurgled up, beyond her control. She sat up straight as a street lamp.

  It had to be Gabriel. She wasn’t expecting anyone and he was the only one she was pining to see, like a lovesick puppy missing her owner. She shook her head. Horrible analogy. She missed him, nothing more. Of course she was still angry at him too. But that wasn’t why she was trembling.

  She glanced down and shrieked. Clearly, she couldn’t answer the door in such a state. Like she’d been mouldering unwashed and unwanted under her blankie – which she had. Pausing the Legends of the Fall DVD, she took stock of herself in the reflection on the screen.

  Dashing into her bedroom, she brushed out her knotty hair and slipped on her jeans, tossing aside the owl PJs. The long grey T-shirt was passable. A quick spritz of Evian water across her face might tone down her red and puffy eyes. She hoped. Then she was down the stairs in her pink stripy bed socks, before you could say big-hunk-of-real-life-handsome-blonde-hero. Except when she looked through the spy hole in her front door, he failed to appear.

  In his place was a small, red-haired and slightly bedraggled woman who bounced impatiently on the front step, dancing to some music known only to herself. Bridie. Her little sister was the only one of her family she was still close to, after her own falling out with their Ma five years ago. But Sinead still hadn’t expected to find Bridie outside her front door.

  Bridie had a way about her which endeared her to everyone. Always optimistic, funny and bright. Sinead could do with a dose of her sister’s contagious perkiness, so she opened the door wide.

  Bridie’s green eyes twinkled. “Sinead! How are you my lovely? I’ve missed you.”

  Sinead pulled her sister into a quick hug. “Oh, Bridie, me too.”

  Reaching to smooth Bridie’s dripping wet pigtails behind her shoulders, Sinead pulled her into the hall. “What are you doing here?”

  “I had a fight with Ma and I had to get away. I got in the car and drove. Sure enough I ended up at the ferry terminal, so I came across to see you. Eight hours’ drive later, here I am.”

  So like Bridie to drive from Dublin to London without a plan. Sinead nodded and hustled her sister up the stairs. They stopped inside Sinead’s doorway and Bridie peeled off her sopping coat, hanging it on a hook on the back of the flat’s front door. Shutting the door behind them, she pushed Bridie towards the sofa.

  “Sit down, you must be shagged. Driving all night. You’ll be half crazed. Do you need a coffee?”

  Bridie settled herself on the far end of the sofa, near the sitting room windows. “Aye, that would be gold. I’m so tired now, my eye’s twitching.”

  Sinead glanced across at Bridie, who squinted one eye and glared so her eyelid twitched. She looked remarkably like a fierce red-headed pirate.

  Giggling, Sinead made her way into her micro-sized kitchen and flipped the kettle on. “What was the fight with Ma about this time?”

  Sinead busied herself with a
rranging her blue Moroccan coffee mugs and sugar bowl on the countertop, waiting for Bridie’s answer, and for the kettle to boil. Bridie and Ma had been getting into it lately, but Sinead didn’t know the details. She suspected things were worse than usual with Ma.

  Bridie shrugged and ran her fingers through her matted hair. “You know she didn’t like my man Liam at all. Ma banned him from the house and then she tried to ‘ground’ me. I’m twenty-three years old, for feck’s sake. Then she invited some sad baldy widower from church to ‘woo’ me. I politely declined, then I took off.”

  Sinead shook her head and laughed. Having been on the receiving end of her Ma’s matchmaking attempts, she knew how badly they could end. “I’m sorry, that’s awful. You should have told me you were coming and I could have got you a stand-by ticket to fly over.”

  “I needed time to think. It’s not working out with Liam, even without Ma sticking her beak in. Can I stay here for a bit?”

  Sinead poured hot water over some instant coffee bags and inhaled the revitalising aroma. Not as good as real espresso, but it was all she had. She glanced up at Bridie, with her hair braided. She looked about fifteen.

  “Sure, you can stay. You’ll be on the sofa, you know I only have the one bedroom. When I fly out again in a couple of days you can take my bed. You really need to move out of home. Get your own place.”

  “I know, but it’s taking a while to dig myself out from under, and I can’t get a decent job in Dublin to save myself.”

  Sinead sighed and something knotted in her belly. Her sister’s situation was bad. But Bridie had to sort herself out and nobody else could do it for her. Indulged and coddled by their Ma as the baby of the family, Bridie had been allowed to hang around home after dropping out of design college. After spending all her money on clothes and going out clubbing, she’d racked up a huge debt on her credit cards. Then there was a student loan she still had to repay.

  Coffee aroma wafted through the room as Sinead brought the steaming cups across to the sofa. Placing the drinks on the second-hand teak coffee table, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, feeling the cold.

  Bridie looked at Sinead closely, narrowing her sparkly eyes. “You don’t look so good yourself. Is it the jet-lag?”

  “No, you’re not the only one with man trouble. I met someone. Gabriel. He’s beautiful and there’s something special about him. I like him. But I’m not sure he feels the same way.” She chewed her thumbnail until she realised she was eating red varnish. “He might’ve cheated on me.”

  “Slow down there. I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend.” Bridie sipped her coffee, emerald eyes peering at Sinead over the rim of the mug.

  “It’s all new. I only met him a week ago, but it’s been intense.”

  Bridie tilted her head to one side, tapping her fingertip on her coffee cup. “So you don’t know him very well. Why do you think he cheated?”

  Sinead told Bridie about Gabriel, the gloriously handsome businessman, how they’d been thrown together in Singapore, their hot weekend there. The perfect evening Gabriel had planned for her in London. Words stuck thickly in her throat as she explained about calling Gabriel and the conversation with another woman in the middle of the night. When she told her sister how Gabriel hadn’t contacted her, even since she’d been home, she had to stop and drain her coffee. It had her doubting he cared at all.

  Bridie stared, homing in on the cracks in Sinead’s story. “But you don’t know what really happened. Could he be working long hours? Could it be a woman who works for him? An old friend?”

  “I don’t think he has any old friends in London, but he could’ve been working late. He did say he’s setting up a new office and working around the clock.” She’d considered those reasons, but hearing Bridie mention them made them sound more reasonable. “Do you think I’ve been an idiot?”

  “Not an idiot, but you could have judged too soon. Why don’t you call him, or better still, go see him?”

  Sinead nodded, pushing up from the sofa and putting down her cup with a clunk. “You’re right. I’ll have a shower and head out. You should get some sleep while I’m gone. We can catch up later.”

  Sinead ruffled Bridie’s still-damp hair and paced towards her bathroom. She wanted to believe Bridie. Perhaps she’d judged Gabriel too soon. It was something she’d been known to do, given her horrible track record with men.

  She ought to give him the benefit of the doubt, to try to make something of the attraction and the ‘something more’ between them. This kind of pull towards a man was entirely new to her. It had to be a good sign. She crossed her fingers by her sides.

  Gabriel groaned as he walked into the gym, the echoes inside the tiled space of the hotel’s swimming pool bouncing off his brain. It was Thursday morning, two days since the migraine hit. He had to get going and get into the office. And later on, he wanted to see Sinead.

  Still not completely functioning, he’d forced himself to go downstairs and get some exercise. He’d missed it over the past few weeks, along with enough sleep and balanced meals. All the extra hours at work and the travelling had obviously been too much for him. Not something he wanted to admit to himself.

  This migraine was the worst he’d had in a year, knocking him out for almost two full days. Luckily he’d had Ryan and Charlotte, a young project officer from the new London team, on hand to look after him.

  They’d both stayed with Gabriel, camped out in the hotel suite’s living area. He’d hardly even met Charlotte before. It was a nice gesture for her to stay, although unnecessary. Ryan had been there until the early hours.

  His phone buzzed in his pocket. He palmed it and swiped the screen.

  Speak of the devil.

  He answered Ryan’s call as he strolled into the locker room. His voice came out croaky as an old man’s. “Morning.”

  “Geez, mate. You sound rough. Charlotte said you were doing okay.”

  “Charlotte said? Since when is she your go-to girl?”

  “She is in the office. She’s analysing the European market, looking for new opportunities. She’s brilliant.”

  Gabriel dumped his gym bag on a low wooden bench. “You don’t have to sell me on her virtues. Tell her thanks for staying with me.”

  “Tell her yourself. You’ll see her in the office later.”

  “Okay. And I’ll quiz her about you while I’m at it. I reckon she’s into you.”

  “No, really? Huh. She’s too young for me. Now she’s working for me.” Ryan breathed out, a huff of air echoing down the line.

  Gabriel recognised the pique of interest in Ryan’s voice. And he’d overheard Charlotte talking to Ryan as he was leaving for the office that morning. There was banter going on between them. It was clear Charlotte liked Ryan and was keen to hang out with him.

  Ryan might have been making excuses, but Gabriel could see Charlotte was exactly his type. Slim, brunette, sharp as a tack, but with a kind of innocence. She could be what Ry needed in London, living away from his close-knit circle of family and friends. The circle Gabriel had always envied. Ryan hadn’t had a serious girlfriend in years, but he needed someone, in a way Gabriel himself never had. Until now.

  Sitting on the edge of the changing room bench, he offered his two cents. “If you’re interested, talk to her. See how she feels.”

  Ryan laughed in his ear. “Since when are you giving dating advice? Oh, and Gabe? Do me a favour and book a doctor’s appointment as soon as you get home to Melbourne. Get your head checked out before you blow a gasket.”

  Gabriel rubbed his forehead in small circles. “Yeah, sure.”

  He ended the call, not sure whether to be worried at the fact Ryan was worried. Did that even make sense? His head still ached, a dull buzz like an electric drill had taken up residence in the background.

  Ry’s dig about dating advice stuck in his mind. Until Sinead had fallen into his lap, Gabriel hadn’t cared if there was a woman in his life. But in the last week, things had shift
ed in his mind – his priorities, what he should spend his time on. Resolving to change his lifestyle and slow down was one thing, but so far he’d never managed to stick to it. And making connections with people – that was a whole different kettle of fish.

  Gabriel’s phone vibrated again, dancing in a circle on the bench beside him. He glanced at the screen, his face stretching out in a smile so wide he probably looked like a goofball.

  A text message from Sinead. She wanted to see him, straight away. Warmth spread though his body, thawing something cold inside him.

  He’d been itching to call her since he woke, but he could barely form words. He didn’t want to mess up when he spoke to Sinead. He needed to be properly awake, in top form. He’d intended to wait and call her after his swim but she’d beaten him to it.

  Keying a quick reply, he forced himself not to babble about how much he’d missed her. Instead, he suggested she meet him in the café next to the pool, gave her directions to his hotel and asked her to text again when she arrived. He’d have time for a quick swim first.

  Stripping off his T-shirt and loose sweat-pants, down to his brief trunks, he bundled his gear into a locker. It had been years since he focused on swimming, but he used to love it. He used to be great at it. Time to give it another go. Grabbing a towel and striding into the pool area, he stopped near the top of the pool and selected a lane.

  Gabriel stepped up onto a starting block and crouched in position, like it was second-nature, ready to dive. When he bent and sprang into the air then dived into the water in one smooth movement, his tension receded.

  The blast of cool water against his skin instantly cleared his mind of anything but the need to keep afloat. To keep moving. He pushed himself through the water with strong overarm strokes, breathing in and out in steady rhythm.

  Letting the power of physical sensation take control, like with Sinead.