Guilt welled up in Mika, but he forced it down. He needed to get out of this airport. It was giving him way too much time to think.
To distract himself, he pulled out his phone and found his best friend’s name in his contacts. Mika had known George since their freshman year of college, and together, they’d almost flunked out.
George was an expert procrastinator, and Mika had thought going to class was more of a polite suggestion than a requirement. When the university had put them in a dorm room together, they’d quickly discovered they could go whole days without setting foot outside. So long as the video games and junk food held out, they’d been golden.
Nowadays, George had a wife and a baby—a fact that never ceased to make Mika scratch his head. George was still incapable of showing up on time, so naturally Mika had asked him for a ride home from the airport. What could possibly go wrong?
Mika selected George’s name and then tapped on the icon to send a text. Hey, my flight got delayed by a couple of hours. I’ll keep you posted. If I get in too late, I’ll take a cab back home. I know you have a bedtime these days.
He hit Send and put his phone away. He didn’t expect a response. George was the ultimate perpetrator of “Oh sorry, I forgot to text back.” Hopefully he saw the message, though. Otherwise, he was going to end up waiting outside the airport for a long, long time.
Mika sometimes thought they were each other’s punishment for all the times they’d made other people wait for them. Like their friendship was some kind of cosmic retribution. If Mika was fifteen minutes late, George was thirty the next time. One of these days, one of them was going to be so late, they’d actually arrive on time, the following day.
Chuckling at the thought, he pulled his MP3 player out of his pocket, switched to one of his favorite albums, and blared it. He positioned his bag so it was between his feet, where he could feel it, and leaned back in his chair, resting his head. It was about as comfortable as he could get in one of the airport’s benches of death. Within minutes, his eyes closed.
He was so immersed, he almost missed the tap on his shoulder.
Jerking upright, he opened his eyes and lifted his head. Blood swirled around in his skull, and he had to blink black spots out of his vision. Most of the people around him had vanished from their seats and were now standing up at the gate desk. Judging by the displeased looks on their faces, it wasn’t because they were about to board.
One person, however, had hung back and was standing by Mika. James’s arm was still extended, as if he were about to tap Mika’s shoulder again. Mika stared at him, too surprised to do much else. What does he want?
James’s lips moved, but nothing came out.
Mika scrambled to yank off his headphones. “What was that?”
“Sorry. Mika?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re on the flight to Charleston, right? The one leaving from this gate?”
“Unfortunately.” Mika glanced back toward the desk. “Lemme guess. We got delayed again.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw James nod. “Yeah, they just announced it. It seems the plane we’re supposed to be on is still in the air. We’re going to be here for a while. Everyone’s pissed.”
“No shit.” Mika looked back at James and gave him a once-over. “Thanks for letting me know.”
James’s face turned a charming shade of red. “I didn’t want to bother you, but I thought since you had headphones on, you might not have heard.”
“You were right. I didn’t hear a thing.”
There was a loaded pause. Mika waited for James to leave now that he’d completed his mission, but instead he hovered in place. Did he have something else to say? Was he waiting for Mika to speak?
Now would be an excellent time for you to apologize for being rude earlier.
Mika’s tongue turned to lead in his mouth, too heavy for him to lift. What the hell? It wasn’t like him to get tongue-tied around a boy.
“Well, uh—” James backed away a step “—that was all. I’ll, um . . . yeah.”
Right as he turned around, realization jolted through Mika like lightning. He sat up in his seat and caught James by the arm. “Hey, wait a sec.”
James looked at him, a wary expression on his face. “What?”
“Do I know you?”
“No? Not unless you mean from before. Why?”
“You called me ‘Mika.’”
With his free arm, James pointed to the bag at Mika’s feet. “There’s a name tag on your luggage. It says ‘Mika Bailey.’”
“Yeah, but you pronounced it correctly. Most people call me Micah.”
James frowned. “Why would anyone call you Micah? M-I-K-A is pronounced Mee-kuh.”
“Thank you! Jesus.” Mika released James’s arm. “People are always insisting to me that I’m saying it wrong. Like I don’t know my own name.”
“They’re the ones who are wrong.” James flashed a brilliant smile that made Mika’s stomach lurch. In a good way. “I’m James, by the way.”
“I actually knew that. Not to be creepy, but they called your name over the PA system earlier.”
“Hey, I can’t judge. I got your name off your luggage.” James hesitated. “Uh, speaking of earlier, I wanted to thank you for the food. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Don’t mention it. It was the least I could do.”
It seemed the peace offering had worked. This was a friendly enough exchange. For some reason, it made Mika’s heart pound.
James crammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and fidgeted. “It seems we’re going to be stuck here for a while.”
“Yeah, we are. Guess we’ll have to find some way to entertain ourselves.”
They both paused, words dangling in the air. Mika couldn’t quite work up the nerve to give them a voice.
“Well, it was nice meeting you.” In a not-so-subtle move, James’s eyes darted down Mika’s body. When he looked up again, his cheeks were pink. He turned back toward his seat a row over. “I’ll see you around.”
Mika perked up like a cat that’d heard a can opener. Oh no you don’t. No way I’m letting you go after that. “Hey, wait!”
James stopped and whirled around, one eyebrow raised. “Yeah?”
Mika scrambled to think of something to say. His mind immediately went blank. He ended up waving at the gate desk, which was still crowded with pissed-off travelers. “I was just thinking. Since everyone’s at the front, we can have our choice of seats.”
James’s other eyebrow rose to join the first. “So? Aren’t all the seats the same? Or . . . did you want to sit together?”
If asked, Mika would have staunchly denied that the suggestion made his heart flutter.
He cleared his throat. “You don’t travel much, do you?”
“Not really, no.”
“Well, I do, and I’ve picked up a few tricks.” Summoning his confidence, Mika winked. “Congrats, you get to benefit from my expertise. The most coveted seats at any airport are the ones near power outlets. If we go right now while everyone’s standing, we can snag them for ourselves.” He had a tablet in his bag that he’d been meaning to revive after not charging it all weekend.
“Where would they be? Near the walls?”
“Yeah, but there should be some in those beams too.” Mika pointed to one of the big square pillars interspersed throughout the airport. “Check all the ones nearby and see if they have outlets.”
James wove through the seats as commanded, and upon walking around the nearest beam, his face lit up. “Yup. There’s one right here.”
“Sweet. Grab us those seats.”
“One thing, though.” James chewed on his lower lip. “My phone’s still charging, so I have to stay by the station. Unless you have a spare USB cord I can use? Mine’s in my checked bag.”
“You’re in luck. I do.”
“Perfect.”
While James gathered his belongings and moved them to their new seats, Mika fished in his ba
g and pulled out two USB cords with wall chargers. He kept one for his tablet and then tossed the other to James. “Here you go.”
James caught it neatly. “Thanks so much.” He moved behind the pillar, presumably to plug his phone in.
Mika shouldered his bag and followed him. Once there, however, he discovered that a lot of people had left scarves and jackets behind to hold their seats. James had landed one next to the pillar, but the spots closest to him were all occupied.
Shifting his weight, Mika paused a few feet away. “Guess these seats are taken, huh?”
Without looking up from his bag, James pointed to the row facing them. “I think those are free.”
Frowning, Mika looked between James and the seats he’d indicated. He supposed he didn’t need to be right next to his tablet while it charged—especially not while James was there to keep an eye on it—but the rows of seats were separated by a good few feet. When the others filtered back, it was going to make having a conversation awkward.
That was the point of this, right? James had seemed like he wanted to sit together. Though now that I think about it, he never actually said that.
After weighing his options, Mika shrugged. “Guess I don’t have a choice.” He dropped his bag onto one of the free seats and opened it. He wormed his tablet out from beneath his haphazardly packed clothes. “Would you mind plugging this in along with your phone? It’s—”
When he turned around, he stopped short. James had pulled a laptop out of his bag and had plugged both it and his phone into the two free outlets.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, blinking at Mika. “I didn’t realize you needed to charge something too. Do you mind waiting?”
“Um, kind of. My tablet’s totally dead. Can’t we share? Or can you plug your phone into your laptop?”
For a moment, guilt flashed across James’s handsome face, but then his blue eyes iced over. “My phone was about to die when I approached you earlier, but that didn’t seem to bother you.”
Mika opened and closed his mouth. “I already apologized for that.”
“No, you didn’t. Unless you think buying me a sandwich is the same thing as saying the actual words. Because it’s not.” James flipped open his laptop and looked at the screen instead of Mika. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
Mika wasn’t going to be brushed off that easily. “Dude, you can’t be serious.”
“I sure as hell can. I’ve been stuck here since noon, and no one, including you, has done anything to make my life easier. So, why should I do anything for you?”
The fragile truce Mika had sensed between them earlier snapped. “You know, you’re using my USB cord. I could easily ask for it back.”
“Are you going to?” James shot him a challenging look. “You’re the reason I didn’t get to charge my phone earlier, after all.”
Damn it, he has a point.
For a long moment, Mika seriously debated if he was petty enough to demand his charger back. It would be oh-so-satisfying to wipe the self-righteous look off James’s face. But a nagging voice in the back of his head reminded him that he’d started this whole thing. Now he was reaping what he’d sown.
Mika tried the diplomatic approach one final time. “James, come on. Are you really not going to share the outlets with me?”
James smiled beatifically. “Sure I am. Soon as I’m finished. Won’t be more than thirty minutes.”
It took Mika a moment to remember where he recognized those words from. That was exactly what Mika had said to him before.
“Fine,” he spat. “Enjoy my charger. For now.” Mika scanned the area. There were other outlets in this airport. All he had to do was find one.
But as he looked at the other gates, his heart sank. With a slew of other planes delayed, they weren’t the only ones who needed to charge things. Clusters of people huddled near every wall, beam, and floor implant that boasted an outlet. Not only were there no other seats near one, but they were all in use as far as Mika could see.
Defeated, Mika looked back at James.
James’s smile widened until it overtook his face, cheerful and victorious. His expression said it all: serves you right.
Mika glared at him with all the vitriol he could muster. “This means war.”
James spent the next hour vacillating between delight and crippling remorse.
Holy shit. He’d actually done it. He’d stood up for himself. If only Melissa could see him now.
Of course, he’d also alienated a man who was on the cusp of maybe becoming his friend, and he’d sunk to Mika’s level too. The same level that had led James to conclude Mika was rude before.
If this was standing his ground, he wasn’t certain he wanted anything to do with it. He certainly didn’t want the waves of guilt now rolling through him.
He kept his eyes trained steadfastly on the computer screen in front of him. It wasn’t because the spreadsheet he’d been filling out was particularly fascinating. Doing so made it easier to ignore Mika seething at him from across the aisle.
It was intimidating. Despite doing his best to not look directly at him, James was certain Mika hadn’t blinked in the past ten minutes. He almost had to admire that sort of single-minded focus. It made blood want to rise into his cheeks. Having Mika so engrossed in him, eyes sharp and face all intense . . .
James huffed a breath. There’s gotta be something wrong with me. A stranger is glaring at me, and I think it’s hot.
Well, he supposed Mika wasn’t a stranger anymore. In his head, James ticked off the things he’d garnered from their short conversations. Mika traveled a lot—though he hadn’t mentioned if it was for work or pleasure. He really didn’t like it when people botched his name. He was flippant and irreverent, but not totally without a conscience. If he were, he wouldn’t have bought James lunch or lent him his phone charger.
Thinking about that sent a fresh bout of remorse shooting through James.
Did I make a mistake? Mika might have wronged me, but he was obviously trying to make amends. And I shoved it in his face, all for some petty revenge.
James peeked up. Mika caught his eye. His glare intensified like sunlight filtering through a magnifying glass.
Don’t back down. He started this. You’re simply finishing it.
Earlier, Mika had muttered something about war. James sincerely hoped that was a metaphor, because if this kicked off some kind of blood feud between them, things could get ugly.
Hell, they could get in a lot of trouble. They were in an airport in New York. That was hands down one of the worst places in the world to cause a ruckus, no matter how innocuous.
The best thing to do would be to keep his head down until his phone finished charging. Then, he’d give Mika back his USB cord, and they could go their separate ways. Metaphorically speaking, of course, considering they were headed to the same city.
It was a shame. There was still so much about Mika that James wanted to know, and now he never would. He’d wondered before why he was so captivated by Mika. He’d chalked it up to attraction earlier, but now he suspected he envied him. In the few short exchanges they’d had, Mika always seemed to say exactly what was on his mind. James would kill to be able to do that.
Although, right now, he’d kill for a handy bathroom. Shutting his laptop, he scoped out the area. The closest set of restrooms was down at the end of the departures wing, near the stairs. If he lugged his stuff all the way there and back, someone was guaranteed to snag his seat. But he couldn’t very well leave his bag unattended, with his expensive laptop in it that he needed for school. If only he had a jacket or something.
He searched for a plan B. There was a family bathroom not fifteen feet away. He supposed he could justify using that if he was quick. He hadn’t seen any parents around with babies in need of changing. Since he wouldn’t be gone more than a few minutes, he could leave his stuff to hold his seat. Although, he really should ask someone to keep an eye on it, just in case.
There was a woman with a cheerful, maternal face two seats down from him that would make a perfect candidate, but of course, James’s eyes slid past her and landed on Mika. Perhaps he could use this as an opportunity to fix things. They were going to be stuck together for at least a few more hours. James didn’t want to be anxious the whole time, and Mika’s eyes had to be getting sore.
Mustering up his courage, James met Mika’s glare. “Hi.” He offered up an amiable smile.
Mika’s face contorted with so much wrath, James’s smile yelped and ran for cover. “You ready to give me my charger back?”
Off to a rough start.
“I’d be happy to. Thank you again for letting me borrow it.”
Mika held out a hand.
James swallowed. “I, uh, need a favor first, though.”
“That’s laughable. I’m still suffering the consequences of the last favor I did for you.”
“Hear me out, okay?” James had set his phone on the carpet. He bent down and checked it. “My battery’s at eighty percent. How about a compromise? I need to use the restroom.” He pointed out the family bathroom. “If you watch my stuff for a couple of minutes, I’ll give your charger back when I return.”
“Lemme get this straight.” Mika held up a finger. “If I do this for you, then you’ll return my rightful possession to me? The one that you have to give back anyway, or else you’re stealing?”
Mika’s voice rose toward the end of his sentence. There weren’t that many people paying attention, but a middle-aged man lowered his newspaper long enough to frown at them.
James leaned forward and stuck out his bottom lip. “Please?”
For a moment, Mika’s face contorted again. But then, Mika made a frustrated sound and looked away, a noticeable flush painting his cheeks. “Fine. I’ll watch your things. But when you get back, I’m going to reclaim my charger.”
“Of course. Thank you, Mika.”
As James walked away, he swore he could feel Mika watching him. It took all his willpower not to pull an Orpheus and glance back. He approached the bathroom, checked down the hall both ways for any parents or people with disabilities who might need it more than him, and upon finding none, went in.
New Heights Page 4