Page 96 of Flight of Fancy

“Eh? You’re on a first-name basis with her!”

Arianna blushed but blamed it on the tea steam. “We’re friends. But not like that.”

“So how about Ms. Sabin?” Esther leaned across the table, eyes aglow with girlish mischief. “She seems much more sophisticated than certain pilots we know.”

It felt weird to tell them before Kaylinn, but Arianna couldn’t help herself. “Actually, she came to Singapore to support me too. Last night… we got engaged.”

Charmaine squealed in excitement; Esther smiled in satisfaction.

“I like this down-hair you,” she said later. “It suits you, Miss Song.”

For once, Arianna agreed.

“Did you hear that almost everyone went on leave in protest of what happened to you?” That’s what a message from Riley later said on Arianna’s phone when she was en route to Lion Orchard. “I couldn’t believe it! Anyway, there are a couple of things I have to get off my chest. First, I knew about you and Elle. Because I know Elle. She is the one who recruited me from Alaska. I figured it out quickly after I started working your route. Also, I saw her on your phone when we were doing that modeling gig. Also, I’ve slept with her. That’s the other thing I have to tell you. It happened before either of us met you! It didn’t mean anything. I was a rebound. I’m happy for you two. Let me know if there’s any way I can help.”

Arianna was so overwhelmed by the message that she almost missed her MRT stop.

“Soooo….” She spotted Elle at the bar where she said she’d be. “What’s a rebound?”

“Huh?” Elle asked.

Arianna showed her the message. “Everyone but me has slept with her. Even my sister.”

It didn’t take long for Elle to almost have a heart attack and fall off her stool. Arianna placed her bag in a basket beneath the bar and casually sat beside her, ordering a cocktail and musing on the word ‘rebound.’ She had a feeling it had an interesting meaning.

And she wanted every detail!

Chapter 29

There was only one important piece of business dragging Elle back to Seattle so soon. Once it was on her mind, it bothered her until she couldn’t sleep.

It couldn’t be addressed over the phone. It had to be done in person, and soon.

“What’s up?” Pam asked when she helped herself into the penthouse she used to share with Elle. One that would soon be put onto the market. That’s one of the many things I need to tell her. Things were changing. Including what these two exes meant to each other.

Elle offered her a seat at the dining table. There was no coffee offered. Instead, Elle languidly leaned back against her chair, legs crossed, arm draped behind her as she gazed both out the window and at Pam, who was her usual radiant self in that late summer light.

“Why did you report Arianna and me to my company?”

The smile struggled to stay on Pam’s face. “What are you talking about?” She fidgeted with her bag straps with a click of her tongue.

“You know exactly what I mean. Someone ratted us out. The only people who knew about it were someone at work and you.”

“There’s your answer then. It was whoever you worked with.”

“Nice try. I know it was you. It happened right after you met her.”

Pam continued to come up with excuses until Elle’s piercing gaze finally got through to her. “Fine.” She clutched her purse to her chest, staring straight ahead while Elle continued to casually sit beside her. “I may have left an anonymous tip.”

Although Elle knew it was true long before inviting her ex over, it still shocked her to hear Pam confess so easily. “What did you possibly gain from that?”

“I didn’t gain anything.”

The bite to Pam’s voice was the simmering resentment that had existed between them since shortly before the breakup. Pam’s leaving hadn’t come out of nowhere, after all. For her to so “easily” go to another woman must have meant there was anger behind that feminine façade that had kept Elle content for so many years. Merely content… it’s so easy to see now. Since falling in love with Arianna, Elle understood. She had been merely content. Now, she was happy.

There was just this tiny string to pluck.

“Her dream was to become a flight attendant.” Elle fought to maintain her composure as she explained Arianna’s side of the fiasco. “She used to be a Singapura Girl. Even you know what that means.”

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