His mouth twisted. ‘I have to admit that we weren’t that close—but, yes, it was still a shock.’
That feeling intensified in Sidonie’s chest. She revealed huskily, ‘I did love my mum, and I know she loved me, but we weren’t that close either. She was very...self-absorbed.’
Suddenly the plane lurched into movement and Sidonie’s hands went to grab the armrests automatically as she looked out of the window. ‘Oh, God, we’re moving.’
A dry voice came from her left. ‘That’s generally what a plane does before it takes off.’
‘Very funny,’ muttered Sidonie, and their recent conversation was wiped from her mind as she battled with the habitual fear of flying she faced.
‘Hey, are you okay? You look terrible.’
‘No,’ Sidonie got out painfully, knowing she’d probably gone ashen. Her eyes were closed. ‘I’m not okay, but I will be if you just leave me alone. Ignore me.’
‘You’re scared of flying? And you’re taking two flights to Dublin? Why didn’t you just take a direct flight?’ Now he sounded censorious.
‘Because,’ Sidonie gritted out, ‘it worked out cheaper to do it this way, and the direct flights were all full anyway. It was short notice.’
The familiar nausea started to rise and she clamped her mouth shut, feeling cold and clammy. She tried not to think back to the huge breakfast her Tante Josephine had insisted on them both having before they’d left on their respective journeys. It sat heavily in her belly now.
The plane was moving in earnest; this was always the worst part—and the take-off. And the landing. And sometimes in between if there was turbulence.
‘Did something happen to make you scared?’
Sidonie wished he would just ignore her, but bit out, ‘What? You mean apart from the fact that I’m miles above the earth, surrounded by nothing but a bit of tin and fibreglass or whatever planes are made of?’
‘They’re actually made mainly of aluminium, although sometimes a composite of metals is used, and in newer technology they’re looking at carbon fibre. My brother designs and builds cars, so we’re actually looking into new technologies together.’
Sidonie cracked open one eye and cast Alexio a baleful glance. ‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because your fears are irrational. You do know that air travel is the safest form of travel in the world?’
Sidonie opened both eyes now and tried to avoid seeing outside the plane. She looked at Alexio. That didn’t really help, she had to admit.
She said somewhat churlishly, ‘I suppose that the likelihood of the plane going down while its owner is on board is not very high.’
He looked smug. ‘See?’
Then he leant closer, making her pulse jump out of control.
‘And did you know that of all the seats on the plane these are the safest ones to be in—in the event of a crash?’
Sidonie’s eyes widened. ‘Really?’
She saw humour dancing in those golden depths and clamped her eyes shut again while something swooped precariously in her belly.