Chapter 9: When a Man Loves a Woman...

Herb turned out to be the last straw. Charlie had his plan.

Charlie got up from his seat and strode decisively into the house. He checked a piece of paper, a paper with Sid’s schedule on it. He sat at his computer and looked up some airline schedules, then went to pack a bag. Just enough for a week of so. This wasn’t going to be a long trip, either way.

He called for a car to drive him to Burbank ‘Bob Hope’ International airport. They had a non-stop flight to Nashville, BNA, airport leaving in three hours.

On his way, in the car, he booked a seat. It wasn’t what he would normally fly, but anything to get there was okay.

They dropped him off at the entrance to the terminals, and he walked up to the security check. He knew his way around the airport — he’d flown back and forth to Nashville numerous times working with clients.

He grabbed something to eat at one of the restaurants close to his gate, and when they called his group for boarding, he walked aboard knowing what to expect. As a late comer, his choice of seats was limited, and he found himself with a woman sitting by the window, a young child on her lap, and a huge, like 6-foot 5-inch, 300 pounds plus man, in the aisle seat. As he squeezed himself into the middle seat, he kept thinking that this flight was going to be painful, but it was only a means to a desirable end.

The child next to him was asleep, and Charlie hoped for a quiet flight. That lasted just about until the wheels left the ground, when the babe began wailing. The man’s arm on the aisle seat took up the entire arm rest.

“Don’t worry,” he said to himself, “only four-and-a-half more hours of this.”

Then he noticed the baby’s bottle was leaking on his shirt.