by Alexa Davis
I settled in and pulled the pod door shut, letting the attendants know that I was not to be disturbed, and spent the entire flight emailing and texting the teams in Sydney, trying to get a sense of what was going on. By the time we landed at LAX, I had a clear idea of what the hold up was and I was ready to draw up a plan on the flight. It would be a long night and there would be a lot of coordinating needed to be done between me, New York, and the team on the ground in Sydney, but I was confident that we could make it all happen and that by the time I arrived, I'd be able to offer them a deal that would keep the construction project on track.
Or at least, I hoped that's how it would work.
"Welcome to Los Angeles, California," the pilot announced as we rolled down the runway on the way to the gate. "The time is 9:32 am and the temperature is 87 degrees fahrenheit. We're supposed to see a high of 98 today, so you might want to shed your sweaters and soak up a little sun at one of the lovely beaches if you've reached your destination, and if not, we wish a pleasant stay until you make your connection. If you need help finding a connecting flight, our customer service representatives will be happy to assist you at the gate."
I tuned it all out as I realized I had three hours before my connecting flight would leave, so I decided to head to the Marks Air lounge to relax a little before the flight. I ran my card through the reader outside of the lounge and by the time I'd walked past the front entrance, there was an attendant waiting with a warm face towel and a menu offering anything I could possible want at this hour.
"Good morning, Mr. Marks," said the blonde with the shiny smile and the stunning figure. "Is there anything I can get you this morning?"
"I can think of many things, Jenna, but this towel will do for now," I grinned. One of the things I loved most about the airline was that I had personally hired almost everyone who now worked for it, so no matter where I went in the world, it was like I was visiting a friend.
That was the experience I hoped to bring everyone who traveled on Marks Air – that sense of feeling like they were truly at home. Everyone thought I was crazy when I started the airline only a year after I'd taken over as CEO, but I knew that if we were going to turn our hotels and casinos into true full-service vacation spots, we were going to need a way to link them. I chose the omni-channel route and built an airline, and a rather successful one at that.
"Very well, Mr. Marks," Jenna smiled. "If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to press the call button and ask."
"Will do, Jenna." I smiled and then added, "Hey, how's your sister doing? Did she get the tutor she needed for her LSAT exam?"
"Now, you should know the answer to that better than anyone, Mr. Marks," Jenna said with a grin as she shook her head, and then seriously continued, "Thank you for that. She scored high enough to get into a really good school and earn a scholarship on top of it!"
"I didn't do anything," I said with an innocent look. "She took the test and scored big!"
"Just the same, thank you," she smiled.
I walked toward the room in the back that had a desk, computer, and phone ready and waiting, and shut the door. I had a lot of business to do in the two and a half hours before take off and I didn't want to waste a minute of it. I pressed the call button and Jenna's voice filled the small space. "Yes, Mr. Marks?"
"Jenna, could you bring me a fresh pot of coffee and maybe a muffin or something?" I asked.
"Of course, Mr. Marks. It would be my pleasure."
I palmed my phone and thought about calling my mother, but I knew that if I got her on the phone, I'd have to listen to the play-by-play of the Yankees win and as much as it made me happy to hear my mother enjoying herself, I didn't think there was enough time before take off. Instead, I texted her.
Austin_Marks: Mom, on my way to Sydney. Want anything on my way back?
Mama_Marks: Why Sydney?
Austin_Marks: Business. Construction hang up. Need to negotiate compromise.
Mama_Marks: Call me.
My mother had disliked Daniel from the day she first met him, but she wouldn't tell me why, so I'd stopped asking. Now and then, she'd give me some ominous warning about him before retreating into silence. I'd given up trying to guess what she thought he'd do to me.
I looked up as Jenna entered the room with a pot of fresh steaming coffee and a huge basket of muffins and laughed. "One muffin would have been fine, Jenna!"
"Well, I didn't know what kind you were in the mood for, so I had them send over one of each kind!" she laughed as she set the tray down and quickly moved toward the door. I waved her off with a friendly grin, and then I sat down at the desk, leaned back in the chair, and thought about how to position myself for the next approach. Daniel wasn't going to win this round, but I didn't want him to lose, either.
The question was how was I going to make that happen?
Chapter Fourteen
Austin
Two hours later, Jenna tapped on the door and said, "Mr. Marks, they're getting ready to board the plane now. You need to get to the terminal."
"Thank you, Jenna," I said as I packed up my papers and slowly moved toward the door. I had drank way too much coffee and desperately needed a pit stop. I ducked into the men's room at the edge of the concourse and relieved myself. As I was washing my hands, I suddenly remembered that my mother had told me to call her before I left for Sydney. I didn't want her to worry, so I exited the men's room and pulled out my phone quickly tapping her contact card and waiting for her to answer.
"Hello?"
"Mom, it's Austin," I said.
"Austin! I was getting worried about you, dear," she called into the phone. "You were going to call me back last night!"
"I know, Mom," I said sheepishly. "I got a little busy and forgot."
"Were you entertaining a young lady?" she asked breathlessly. "Ooooh, I hope it was Anna!"
"It was, in fact," I said laughing. My mother knew me better than anyone on the planet, and for better or worse, she also knew my taste in women. "But it's not like that, Mom."
"Oh hush, she's a nice girl with a great figure and you two get along so well," she shushed me. I didn't know how to explain Anna to my mother – "friend with benefits" was not in her 70s-era vocabulary and I didn't want to have to explain. I knew that I'd let the relationship ride too long without explanation and figured that it was better to let it go for now than to start this discussion as I was running to catch a plane.
"Mom, I'm calling because I'm on my way to Sydney this morning," I interrupted her list of reasons why I should propose to Anna and settle down.
"I know, but you didn’t tell me why,” she said.
"There's a problem with the new construction project and I need to talk with the people in charge," I replied.
"Who told you there's a problem?" she asked.
"Bax, well, he got the information from Daniel," I said.
"I thought so," my mother replied in a terse voice. "Austin, I don't know how many times I have to tell you to watch out for that man. He's a snake. He was a snake when your father hired him and he's still a snake."
"I know, I know," I said. "You don't like him or trust him. I'll be careful."
"Don't get snippy with me, young man," she retorted. "I brought you into this world and I can sure as heck take you out!"
"Mom, don't get so worked up," I tried to calm her as I reached the gate and saw that they were starting to close the doors. "I have to go, they're boarding the plane and shutting the doors. I'll call you when I get to Sydney, okay?"
"Austin, please be careful," she said in a very serious voice.
"I always am, Mom," I replied, a little worried that she'd given in so quickly, but grateful that she had. "I'll talk to you soon! Love you to the moon and back!"
"Love you to the moon and back, baby," she repeated our sign off. She'd taught it to me when I was a young child both an expression of love and a measure of protection in a world where she had to rely on babysitters and neighbors to pi
ck me up from school. She had told me never to go anywhere with anyone unless they said it first, so it became our secret password and the key to knowing who the stable people in my life were. Now, we just said it to express our love for one another, and I liked the tradition.
I quickly covered the gangway between the gate and the plane, and as I ran onto the plane, I ran smack into a tiny brunette flight attendant who was bent over and preparing the doors before takeoff.
"Uff!" she cried as I ran straight into her, almost knocking her face forward onto the floor. I instinctively wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her up against me to keep her from hitting her knees. She was a slip of a girl, not more than 5'3" and she couldn't have weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet, but as I held her against me, I could feel her body practically vibrating. She turned and faced me placing the palms of her hands on my chest and pushing back now that she'd caught her balance. She looked up at me and smiled nervously for a moment before the inevitable recognition sunk in and then it began.
"Oh my gosh, Mr. Marks! I'm so sorry, sir!" she cried.
"There's no need for you to apologize-," I trailed off as I bent down and studied her name badge. "Emily. It was my fault for rushing and not looking where I was going. Are you all right?"
"Oh I'm fine, sir," she said breathlessly. "Are you all right?"
"Oh sure, I'm absolutely fine," I smiled as I tried to put her at ease. "It's not often that I get to start a trip holding a pretty girl in my arms, so everything is just great!"
The girl blushed as she looked at the ground and tried to think of something to say, but no words were forthcoming and she looked up with her mouth open in a way that made me laugh. Then I leaned forward and said, "I think I need to get to my seat, they're saying that I'm holding up the flight."
"Oh! Right," she shook her head to get her bearings and then gestured to the front of the plane where my pod seat awaited. I smiled and slipped past her, catching a whiff of something that smelled like summer flowers and clean laundry. It was refreshing and I made a note to ask about whether it was her or the clean linens we brought on every flight.
As we taxied to down the runway in preparation for take off, I overheard the girl taking about what had happened with the curvy redhead also working in first class and I smiled as I heard her say in a stage whisper, "I can't believe he's the CEO. He seems so young!"
Chapter Fifteen
Emily
"I'm such an idiot," I groaned as Trish and I got ready to do the flight safety presentation in first class.
"Don't beat yourself up about it," she whispered reassuringly. "I'm sure he has women literally throwing themselves at him all the time. You're probably a refreshing departure from that."
"Don't joke about it, Trish!" I pleaded in a loud whisper. "It's humiliating!"
"C'mon, Princess, let it go," she grinned. "I'm sure a guy who runs three arms of a major corporation has more to worry about than a flight attendant falling on him."
"I can't believe he's the CEO," I said in a whisper that was louder than I intended. "He seems so young!"
"That he is," she agreed as she grabbed the props we used to do the flight safety presentation. "And a hottie, too!"
"Trish!" I laughed. "You are impossible!"
"Perhaps, I am," she shrugged. "But despite the good looks, he seems to know what he's doing, I mean, we still have jobs, don't we? Now, c'mon, let’s do this thing!"
I smiled through the presentation, but underneath it all, I was burning with humiliation for having been unprofessional with my boss. What kind of person would he think I was? Thankfully, Trish kept reminding me that he probably wasn't thinking about me at all.
Once we were in the air, we quickly shed our suit jackets, changed into our in-flight uniforms, and began to circulate through the cabin, checking on passengers and passing out blankets and pillows before we began serving what would be the first of several meals. The flight to Sydney would take fifteen hours and first class was light, so Trish and I divided the twelve passengers between us and focused on ensuring that they had everything they needed.
"You take the boss," she said as she poured hot water into a teapot for the British couple in 3B and 3C.
"Wait, what?" I said taking a moment to process what she'd said. "No, you take him!"
"Nope, I've already got my hands full with Mr. Grabby Hands in 2A," she said. "I like these guys."
"Why on earth?"
"I like being able to teach them a lesson about manners." She grinned as she set up the tea service on a silver tray and checked to make sure that there was enough cream in the china pitcher. "Fifteen hours is just about right for the Trish Academy."
"Is this how it always is?" I asked.
"Pretty much." She smiled as she lifted the tray and headed toward the British couple. "Never a dull moment!"
I shook my head and stepped out into the aisle. I tapped on the door of 1D and softly asked, "Is there anything I can bring you, ma'am?"
"She's fine," came the response from 2D. "But I am in desperate need of a hot towel and some Perrier, can you get that for me, dear?"
"Yes, ma'am," I replied as I turned and headed back to the galley, but not before another voice called out.
"She's always such a demanding pain," came the voice from 1D. "I could use a cool glass of lemonade and a cool washcloth."
"Yes, ma'am?" I replied, unsure as to why 1D was being critical of 2D when we'd only just begun the trip.
I walked into the galley and began gathering the requested items hoping that the two women weren't going to be trouble. Trish had returned from serving tea and was now preparing a second tray for the woman in 3A, rolling her eyes as she made a dry martini with onions for the hands on executive in 2A. We knew better than to say anything negative about passengers in the galley, but that didn't stop Trish from silently acting out the way in which she would school the gentleman over the next fourteen hours and thirty minutes. I laughed and stepped out into the aisle with my first tray of items.
"Ma'am, I have your towel and Perrier," I said as I tapped on 2D. The small door opened and an elegantly dressed woman in her seventies smiled at me as I set the tray down on the small table inside the door. As part of our training, we had been instructed not to call our guests by name until they indicated that they wanted us to do so. Despite this, I still made sure that I knew every one of my guests' names before the flight took off, so I knew that this beautiful woman's name was Crystal Wexler Van Horn.
"Oh, stop calling me ma'am. It makes me feel old, dearie," she scolded.
"Yes, ma-Ms. Van Horn," I replied.
"Oh good lord, that's even worse," she moaned. "Mrs. Van Horn was my bitter old mother-in-law! Call me Crystal, dearie."
"Yes, Crystal," I said uncomfortably. It was one thing to call someone by a courtesy title, and quiet another to be asked to call an elder by her first name. I wasn't sure I could do it, but I knew I had to.
"Don't look so uncomfortable, I know you think you're not supposed to call your elders by their first names." She smiled with a twinkle in her bright blue eyes. "I just don't like anything that reeks of rules or decorum."
"That's because you are a rude woman with absolutely no manners," came a voice from 1D. Shocked, I turned to see an almost exact replica of the woman sitting in front of me. I quickly turned back to Crystal.
"It's okay, dearie," she laughed loudly. "We're used to that reaction, you see, we're twins."
"For better or worse," said the woman behind me dryly. "It's been quite a burden to walk through life looking exactly like someone else."
"Oh lighten up, Cornelia. You're such a drag sometimes," Crystal said as she waved a hand at her sister. "Now introduce yourself properly and then come in here and sit down so this nice young woman can bring you what you requested."
"Cornelia Wexler Rothschild," said the woman as she held out a hand for me to shake. I lightly grasped it and quickly let go as I ushered her into the pod where her si
ster now sat holding the warm towel up to her face as she sighed happily.
"I'll be right back, Ms. Rothschild," I said as I quickly walked back to the galley to get her items. But not before I heard her mutter, "Oh good lord, are we going to have to put up with that baloney the whole flight?"
When I returned the sisters seemed to be engaged in a deep discussion about which reef they would be diving at first, so I set the tray in front of Cornelia and backed out of the pod, softly closing the door behind me.
I then turned my attention to the occupant of 3D.
"Sir, is there anything I can get you?" I said as I softly tapped on the pod door.
"Yes, please," he called as I opened the door and peeked in. I inhaled sharply as he looked up at me from the laptop he had balanced on the table in front of him. His dark eyes held mine for a moment before the sound of mail arriving diverted his attention. His wavy dark hair showed signs of having had his hand run through it numerous times and as a result was rather messy, and the shadow on his face told me that he probably needed to shave several times a day in order to keep his face smooth.
When he looked back up and smiled, my heart dropped to my stomach. This was literally the most handsome man I'd ever met in my entire life. I looked away for a moment and then brought my eyes up to meet his again. He was still wearing a warm smile, although now it was somewhat amused.
"So, this is your maiden voyage in first class, is it?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," I replied as my eyes widened briefly wondering if I was giving off a signal that let him know this.
"Don't look too surprised, Ms. Warner," he chuckled. "After all, I do own the company, so I have access to all kinds of records and things."
"Oh!" I exclaimed and then felt the blush rising in my cheeks. I was embarrassed that I hadn't thought of this first, after all, it was my job to know everything necessary to make guests feel comfortable.
"We don't expect you to know everything, you know," he said as if reading my thoughts. I blushed harder and simply nodded as I tried to think of what to say next. "Now, you asked if I needed anything, and I said yes."