Turbulent Intentions(25)

Finally, the bus arrived at Sea-Tac and Stormy rushed through security and up to her job, out of breath as she looked around for her boss. His beady eyes were thankfully focused on something in his miniscule office.

“Good morning,” Amy said, with far too much joy for any human who wasn’t a morning person. “How ya feeling today?”

“Better,” Stormy answered while cracking a smile as she clocked in.

The airport was alive with activity, like a frantic ants’ nest. People were coming and going from all over the world as they strolled through the terminals. Stormy thought that learning about people and their adventures to and from exotic destinations made working at an airport coffee shop much more interesting. See, she could look at things either positively or negatively. At least by looking at her recent life in a positive light, she was in a much better mood.

As she was making a fresh pot of house coffee, she was interrupted by the small bell on the counter.

“Good morning,” Stormy said without turning.

Since she was so accustomed to the sound of the bell, there was no hesitation in her response. When she finally spun, expecting to see another typical passenger, she stopped in her tracks at the reflection of Captain Armstrong in the polished brass of the espresso machine.

Green Eyes.

Her nerve endings instantly began firing all at once as she felt the impeding confrontation. Without thinking, she darted in the direction of the back stockroom. Gosh dang it. All of that pep talk and at the first sight of Captain Armstrong, she’d panicked.

Chicken! She continued to scold herself even as he yelled after her.

“Does this mean you’re not going to serve me today?” Cooper called out. She didn’t notice him leaning over the counter to get a glimpse of where she’d disappeared to.

“I’ll be r-right there,” Stormy stuttered as she rounded the corner farther away from him.

What am I doing and why can’t I just face this man? He’s an ass, but he’s no different than many other men. I can face him without panicking, she thought to herself as she wiped the sweat from her palms onto her apron.

Stormy brushed her brown hair behind her ears as she composed herself. Quickly taking several deep breaths, she squared her shoulders and prepared to come back out.

“Come on, I have a plane to catch,” Captain Armstrong called while ringing the bell.

With one last deep breath, Stormy turned around and came back to the counter. She spoke as if nothing were wrong. “What can I get you today?” she said, while taking notice that Henry was out of his office chair and walking from his door to watch the transaction.

“I’d like my usual, please, and try not to force yourself to smile too much,” Cooper said in a quiet tone with just the tiniest hint of tenderness. As he subtly smiled from the corner of his mouth, the slight impression of a dimple formed in his left cheek.

While wondering if he was actually concerned about her, Stormy almost felt like sharing with the guy. Damn, it had to be the eyes, she guessed. They seemed to tell her to trust him. Though, from personal experience, she knew that wasn’t the case.

“I haven’t exactly been in the most smiling kind of moods,” she said with a false laugh. “Because of our little interaction a couple days ago, I might just lose my job.”

He stood there, his smile slowly dropping. For just the briefest of moments, she was shocked to see that he might actually feel the tiniest bit bad. She wasn’t sure how that made her feel. It was too much and it messed with her opinion of him.

She didn’t like it.

“I don’t know what to say. I . . . I’m sorry,” he said, looking at a loss.

“Don’t try to be sympathetic, Captain Armstrong. It’s not your style,” she said. Then she squared her shoulders again and got back to business. “I’m sorry, you said you wanted your usual? Was that with four shots?”

“Yes, doll. Glad you remembered.”

She gritted her teeth, but she kept on making the drink and then handed it to him.

“Look, Stormy . . .” he began when an announcement came over the intercom.

“Captain Armstrong, please report to Gate A6. Captain Armstrong, A6.”

He sighed as he looked at her. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, and then he closed it again before giving her a look she couldn’t quite interpret.

“I have to run,” he finally said. He grabbed his coffee and took off as if the plane would start itself and leave without him if he didn’t get there immediately.

Stormy was left hanging at the coffee counter without the slightest clue of what Captain Armstrong had been about to say. As she shook the confusion away, Stormy’s eyes caught Amy’s, and it became apparent that Amy had been observing the awkward transaction between the two of them while stealthily peering from the back room.