Chapter 11: The Long Flight Home

“Sandy, come on, we need to get going.” Craig pleaded with his wife who was still trying to get that last hair into place in the bathroom. Craig had their bags packed and ready to walk out but was waiting. The TV crew was with them catching the first bit of drama from this couple. The director was very excited.

“Stay with her.” the director was saying into his radio. “Team 2, get a shot of him pacing. This is going to be great.”

The crews kept moving, trying to get the perfect shot, looking for the moment when something happened.

“Ok fine. I’m done now. Happy?” Sandy said smiling and putting her brush into her case. She stepped to her frowning husband and kissed his cheek with a hand on this arm. “I’m sorry honey.”

“You are forgiven. Now let’s get our butts to the airport and get this show on the road.”

He kissed her, then picked up his suitcase and started toward the door. Sandy grabbed her bag, threw her purse over her shoulder and followed him out.

There was a shuttle waiting for them, crew and all, they all climbed aboard and road in relative silence each watching the scenery pass by. Craig was holding hands with Sandy who was looking out the window daydreaming.

“What do you mean the flight has been cancelled!? The network has had this flight reserved for months! You’re going to ruin our shooting schedule!” the producer raged at the airline employee.

“Sir, I am very sorry, but there is nothing I can do. The plane has been damaged and we don’t have another plane arriving until 3pm.” the flustered lady behind the desk said.

“Fine, but the network is going to hear about this. Your sponsorship ain’t going to be worth shit after I am through with it.” the producer slapped his hand on the counter, taking his documents and storming over to the rest of the crew. “We’re not getting out of here anytime soon. Let’s get comfortable, it’s going to be a while.”

Everyone groaned and grumbled at the news. Craig and Sandy reacted the same way.

Craig looked around, spotted a toilet and whispered to Sandy that he had to go. She told him to be quick and pulled her phone out and started reviewing her messages, emails and FB updates.

Craig was washing his hands when his phone started ringing. He managed to shake off his hands and answer it by the third ring.

“Hello”

“My son, how is the honeymoon?” said his father.

“Dad, so good of you to call. Fine, but never ending.”

“How so?”

“We are stuck at the airport. Our plane is broken down and another one is not due until almost tonight.”

“Dang. Should I send down my jet to pick you two up?”

Craig thought for a moment, “How quickly can it arrive here?”

“Let’s say three hours.” his dad said with a smile in his voice.

“What? How is that possible dad? It took like five hours to fly down here from New York?” Craig asked then stopped and tried to listen to the noise coming through the phone. He heard people laughing and with music then a woman asking for another refill. It was not normal background noise for his dad. “Dad, where are you?”

“Miami my son. You’re not the only one who got reacquainted with an old friend. Your new inlaws are here too and we are all having a great time catching up on old times.” his father said laughing.

Craig groaned and rubbed his face. Only my parents act like this. “Ok dad, send the jet and we will come back and get you.”

“Ok Craig, the jet is on its way. See you back in New York.” Craig heard more laughter, then a group yell “love you!”

Craig hung up the phone, dried his hands some more and headed back to the group. A producer was on his phone having an animated conversation with someone over the phone, so he went to Sandy who was also having a heated conversation with someone on her phone. “Yes mother ... I know mother ... ok mom, I will. Yes, he just got here. I will ask him. Love you too, bye.”

She hung up the phone and looked at her husband with that look of impatience. “Ok, spill it. What is going on and why are our parents together in Miami, Florida?”

Craig sat down, put his hand on her leg and gathered himself. “Honey, I have some news.”

She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at him.

“My parents took your parents to Miami on vacation and they are all together now. That is who I got a call from while I was away and probably the reason why you just got your phone call.”

Sandy just sat there, glaring at him. “How did they get there?”

“They flew.”

“What airline did they take?” Sandy asked.

“Um, well, that is a story for another day. Let me just say that I have many things to tell you when we get back to our homes. Ok?”

She didn’t let it go. “Honey, I want some answers and I want them now.” She then stood up, tapped her toe on the floor and gave him a glare to melt steel.

Just as she was standing up, one of the camera guys happened to look over at the couple and nudged the sound guy to get his attention and they watched them have their first disagreement. Both of them grabbing their gear and moving toward Craig and Sandy.

Craig resigned himself to answer the questions she was asking as well as the one she had not yet answered. He finally stood up and put his hands on her upper arms. “Honey, let me start at the beginning. You know my dad was into computers.” She nodded her head. “Well he wrote a small program that turned into a wonderful software package that was purchased by Google.” Her eyes got bigger at the information. She tensed up a bit waiting for the other shoe to drop. “My parents are rich.”

She leaned back away from him cocking her hip toward him, “how rich?”

He rubbed her arms lovingly, “The price Google paid was just shy of a billion dollars.”

She fainted.

Craig snatched her up and kept her from hitting the floor. The camera guy got it all on film as the director saw what happened and quickly ran over, “What happened? Is she alright?”

Craig picked up her in his arms and held her until she came around. “It’s fine. She just got a little overwhelmed by some news she got from her parents and me. It’s all fine.”

“Craig?” Sandy said, coming back to fully awake.

“Yes dear. Right here.”

She looked up at his face. “What happened? Why are you holding me?”

“You fainted honey. I had to hold you to keep you from landing on the floor. Are you ok now?”

“I don’t know. I thought I heard you say that your parents are rich. Did I imagine that?”

“No honey. You didn’t imagine that. They are.”

“Oh. Ok.” She went quiet for a moment or two, looking at her fingers, then twisting her ring around for a minute. “Are you rich too?”

“No, not like mom and dad.”

“Oh.” She said with a bit of sadness in her voice. “But you have a job and a home right?”

“Yes my love, I have a job I like very much and I own my home outright. That is all true.”

“Good.” She caressed his cheek, then asked to be put down. “Thank you honey.”

“Ok Craig, spill it. Who are your parents and what the HELL is going on?” The director asked now in his face and pissed off to the extreme.

“I will tell you, but it may take a bit, so you can go and get what gear you need while I go and get comfortable over there away from these people and I will tell you. Ok?”

The director gave it some thought and agreed. “Go, take a seat over there. We will be right over and then I expect to get a full answer. Understand?”

“Yes. I understand.” Craig said then turned to Sandy and invited her to follow him to some chairs away from the ticket counter so they all could talk.

Minutes later, the camera guy, a sound guy and the director all got themselves set up with the gear they had with them and Craig started at the beginning.

“My father is Gary Vermillion of Vermillion Software. Some years ago, he wrote a piece of software that became very valuable for what it did and how it could be used to find information about people and events. So the software came to the notice of Google and they bought it from my dad’s company. I have no idea if they bought it to keep others from using it or if they are going to use it, but they own it now. Anyway, the final price was almost a billion dollars.”

There were a few gasps from the group and from Sandy. Craig squirmed a bit, he didn’t like to talk about money, but Sandy’s reaction to the news kind of forced the issue. He looked around at the news to make sure it was OK to go on. He went on.

“So, at the time of the buyout, I was living in my parents home, a bum, fat, no life, just sponging off of my parent’s success not doing anything that would make me a husband for anyone. Until ... My dad kicked my royal hind end and got me off my butt and on the road to making something of myself. Which leads me to today. My parents took her parents to Miami for a small vacation and while I was in the men’s room, my dad called to check in on me. We had a conversation where he found out that I am stuck here with a broken plane and not likely to get home until tomorrow. So, dad volunteered to send his plane over and pick us up and take us all home.”

Another gasp moved through the group, including Sandy. “Your dad, my new father in law, has a plane of his own?”

“Two actually. A big one for take groups long distances and a smaller one for short hops in the US. He is sending over the large one to pick us up. That is the one he used to fly our parents down to Miami.”

“Fuck.” Sandy said coming to grips with what she has married into.

“Fuck.” said the director for stumbling onto the greatest love story ever told in TV to date.

“Fuck.” Said the camera guy, all of a sudden jealous of the couple and the money that has been revealed.

“Fuck.” Said the sound guy, also jealous of the couple but suddenly worried that his comment was heard by his equipment.

“Happy now? I just ruined everything and I really hope you don’t make a big deal out of this. I’m still just a guy who married a girl at first seeing her and we are still just a new couple learning how to be married for the first time. Please don’t make this about money, I really think it would ruin the show for your viewers.” Craig said pleading with the crew gathered around.

“We’ll see. For now, when is the plane set to arrive and what is it?” The director asked.

Craig sighed, hoping that his request would save his marriage and the outcome of show. “It’s just a Boeing 737 and should be here in a few hours. The pilot will let us know when he arrives and where to meet him once he finds out where he is going to be parked. Ok?”

“Well, at least we will be traveling in style.” the director said, smiling at the prospect of getting an inside scoop on a rich family. This was going to get him the raise he has wanted for years and maybe get him a bigger gig later on.

“Ok, let’s wrap it up for now, but be ready to shoot when we board the plane.” the director said to the crew as they packed their bags.

They waited. Sandy was still next to Craig, holding his hand, but she was not happy about being lied to. At least she thought he had lied to her by not telling her about the family money. Her best friend had rich parents and he didn’t bother to tell him.