Chapter 3: Interesting Flight

Although my parents had told me that they were paying for our holiday, not allowing me to pay for anything, I had arranged a few changes. I had a copy of the itinerary, so with the help of Bill, I had upgraded our tickets for the flight to first class. There were a few other changes, mainly to make things easier for my parents, not to show off.

First thing Monday, when we were ready to leave, instead of us piling the luggage into Moms SUV, I had a car and driver waiting to take us to the airport. Dad started to protest, saying he felt fine driving, I said it was meant to be a holiday for all of us, that meant Dad too, so not driving was just the start of the break. He relented when he saw the wisdom of my change in plans.

When we arrived at the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport, we were dropped off right outside, so we didn’t have to trek across the parking area with our luggage. This went down well with all of us.

When we got to book in, that was when my next change became obvious, we were rushed through with no trouble and directed to the VIP room, instead of the usual waiting area. Mom wanted to be mad at me about that, but the VIP room had a waitress which served us drinks and the seating was much better, so she let it go.

When it was time to board, we were allowed to board first, which meant a lot less time waiting around. The seating area was a lot more plush and the seats more comfortable than we would have been, so Mom relented on being mad, and just commented on how different it was to be treated nicely.

Another change was the seating, instead of being rows of three seats, where we would have all sat in the same row, it was rows of two, Mom and Dad sat next to each other, I was sitting one row ahead.

The seat next to me was empty, that didn’t bother me, I had a book I could read during the flight to keep me occupied if necessary, or there was always the in-flight entertainment.

The rest of the first class area was filled, mainly with businessmen, most were probably CEO’s or top stockbrokers, who could afford the luxury for flying in style.

We could hear the rest of the passengers boarding, so it wouldn’t be long before we were ready to get going. Although we were in first class, it was only a small plane for the short flight, so we were just seperated from the other passengers by a curtain.

That was when another passenger entered the first class section, it was easy to tell it was a woman, due to the skirt she was wearing. Apart from that though it wasn’t easy to tell much else, since she wore a denim jacket, a cap and shades to hide her features.

She made her way to the only empty seat, the one beside me. I looked up under the peak of her cap as she got close, that was when I recognised her. “Good Morning Miss Leithold, do you have a preference for seating, would you like the one with the window?” I asked politely, but quietly.

She stopped dead, gave me an astonished look, then her shoulders sagged. “This one will be fine thank you.”

She put her handbag in the seat as the steward helped her lift her travel suitcase into the overhead storage area. She then picked up her handbag, sat down and left her bag in her lap.

“How did you know it was me?” She asked, “the cap and shades were meant to disguise me, I haven’t even put any makeup on.”

I smiled, “You can’t disguise a beautiful woman with a cap and shades, your one of the most attractive women in the world, you would need a facemask to be anonymous.” I stated. “It also doesn’t help that I pass a twenty foot high billboard of you every morning on my way to school.”

Miss Leithold giggled, “OK. I guess it was pretty daft, but it has worked in the past, guess I didn’t count on sitting next to a fan.”

There were giggles coming from the seats behind me, that could only belong to Mom, but I just ignored them.

“Are you going to Florida for business or pleasure?” I asked to get the conversation going again. It was a pretty lame question, the stereotype for flyers, but I just couldn’t think of anything else.

“Business I am afraid, I would much rather be going to the keys for a break, but no such luck, I have a shoot over the next few days.” Miss Leithold replied, “And you?”

“Pleasure, definitely pleasure.” I laughed, “My parents are taking me to see my grandparents and to enjoy the coast and its multiple entertainments. So are you doing another Brandy Melvin cover, or is it other work Miss Leithold.”

“Please call me Scarlett, looks like we are stuck being next to each other for a while, so no need being so formal. Yes it is a BM cover for the summer swimwear line.”

“Thank you Scarlett, my name is Jack by the way, Jack Owens. At least you are getting to do the swimwear section in the sun of Florida, you won’t have to worry about goosebumps.”

Scarlett let out a delightful sounding laugh, it was soft but infectious.

“Yes Florida is much more appealing than say Nova Scotia would be, to be stripping off and posing for hours.”

“So will you have any free time at all?” I was meaning to relax and have some fun, but Scarlett took it to mean something different.

“Why Jack are you propositioning me?” She asked with a smile.

“Opps, Sorry, no that wasn’t my intent, but if you were to decide to take me up on the offer, I would be very foolish to refuse such an honour.” I replied with a raised eyebrow.

Scarlett gave another of those delightful laughs, “Oooh very smooth Jack, I like you.”

Another bunch of giggles came from behind us, letting us know we were being overheard.

“Sorry about the uncouth people listening in on others conversations” I indicated behind us with a jabbing thumb, “but my parents seem to be rather interested in our talk.”

Scarlett just smiled at me, before peeping between the seats to look at my parents. She gave them a little wave before turning back to the front again.

“Don’t worry about it Jack, I can believe that they enjoy your talks with strange women very much. I must admit I am, and we have only just started, I can see it being a much more pleasant flight than I had first feared. I tend to find that I am surrounded by arrogant businessman, who seem to think that I will find it fascinating to hear about how much money they have made in the last deal they made, whereas I have no idea much of the time what they are talking about, and find their attitude off putting and insufferable.”

“Oh, I better leave that subject well alone then, though it will limit the subjects I am well enough versed in, to provide conversation for the duration of our containment.”

That started a prolonged burst of laughter from the back seats, both parents this time. Even Scarlett was laughing at me, though I was being partially serious.

“So what scintillating topics of conversation shall we talk about then.” Scarlett asked.

I was given time to think about that, since the steward called for our attention to go through the pre-flight safety procedures.

When that was over, it was time for the take off. I was surprised when, during the time the plane’s nose rose to start climbing, Scarlett took my hand in hers and held on tightly. I gave her a quick look out of the corner of my eye, she was looking pretty scared, obviously not a good flyer. I gave her hand a comforting squeeze and just smiled as she looked at me, she relaxed slightly and even managed a slightly strained smile back. The engines were roaring as we gained height, it went on for quite a while until we obtained our cruising height.