Playboy Pilot(25)
What if.
What if.
What if.
What if what we have is different?
When Jolene came by to take my dinner order, I couldn’t help myself. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” She smiled, flashing her perfect white teeth. God, could she have been more opposite from me physically? She was like an Amazon woman. They all were. What did he want with me, if he liked them?
“I noticed that the pilot likes to sing Beatles songs. I was on another flight with him, and he sang Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
“Uh-huh. Usually, he just sings that one. For some reason, he did a different one today.”
“My dad used to sing the Lucy song to me,” I lied. “Is there a story behind why he sings that one in particular?”
Without hesitation, she shook her head. “I don’t think so. He told me once he just likes the song.”
I examined her face for any sign of dishonesty. “Okay. Thanks.”
I knew she was telling the truth because she had no reason to protect him at this point. If anything, it probably would have given her pleasure to spill his secret. He hadn’t told her the meaning behind the song.
As Jolene took my order, my heart was doing a bit of a happy dance. The fact that he’d dated her for two months and never opened up to her like he did with me gave me a bit of hope. The cynical side of me, however, quickly concluded that maybe he opened up to me because he figured he’d never see me again.
The rest of the entire flight was spent ruminating. I asked God to give me a clue that my being here wasn’t all a huge mistake. At one point, I was able to fall asleep again.
By the time I woke up this time, the sun was shining through the plane windows, and we were almost in Dubai. I had no clue what time it even was there.
I noticed that the man sitting across the aisle from me had a charger plugged in. Thankfully, he let me borrow it to power up my dead phone.
When Carter’s voice came on the intercom, it sent chills through me, not only because I hadn’t heard it in a while, but because he sounded down and tired.
“Ladies and Gentleman, we are now on our final approach into Dubai International Airport. The time here is a little after one-thirty in the afternoon. This is the hottest time of the year in the UAE. Current temperature is a scorching ninety-three degrees. Stay cool and thank you again for flying International Airlines. We hope to see you again soon.”
Closing my eyes, I said a little prayer for a smooth landing. My ears popped as the plane lost altitude. My heart began to beat out of control in anticipation of revealing myself to Carter.
The landing was smooth as could be. When the engines were shut down, I powered on my phone, shocked to find that there were several missed messages—all from Carter.
Oh my God.
He’d bought me a ticket.
He wanted me here.
He must have thought I’d been ignoring him.
Sweat started to permeate me. My heart felt like it was going to burst.
Unable to see past the line of people waiting to exit the aircraft, I stretched my neck to search for him.
There he was, standing tall at the front of the plane with one hand crossed over the other as people thanked him for landing the plane safely.
He didn’t look like the Carter I knew. His eyes were dark and empty as he nodded to them, going through the motions.
It seemed to take forever to get to the front. With every step forward, my pulse raced faster. Only a few more steps to him.
Someone had asked him a question and in the middle of answering, he stopped mid-sentence when he finally turned and saw me standing there. For a few seconds, he froze in apparent shock. His chest was rising and falling as his breathing quickened. Then, the previously sullen look on his face slowly gave way to a massive smile.
This was one of those times in life where words were not necessary. Carter slowly shook his head in disbelief, looking deliriously happy. Did I still have my doubts about his intentions? Yes. But he sure as hell couldn’t have faked the look of genuine happiness on his face in that moment.
We just stood there staring at each other for several seconds. All of the passengers had exited the plane, but the crew was still scattered about.
Carter leaned in and whispered, “I see you got my texts.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No. My phone died shortly after dropping you off. I only saw those texts just now. I ended up rushing back and buying my own ticket.”
His eyeballs were moving back and forth as he processed that. “Perky…” He paused.
“What?” I smiled.
“I don’t know what this is.”
“Neither do I. I—”
“Let me finish,” he interrupted. “I don’t know what the fuck is happening here, but when I thought you were gone, it felt way worse than it should’ve after only knowing someone for two days. So, I don’t know what this is. I just know I want more of it.”