Page 10 of Perfect Score

"You saw that, huh?" he says, flashing her a smile. "Thanks."

She nods, preparing to keep the conversation going when a passenger coming back from the lavatory clears their throat, waiting impatiently for her to move out of their way.

She leans as tight as she can against the seat in front of Brent and the passenger manages to get past her but now the other flight attendant is headed this way and her eyes widen, knowing that she's about to get pushed along.

"I'd better move but if there’s anything I can do to make you more comfortable, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m Heidi, by the way." Her voice, sweet-as-sugar.

I roll my eyes. I’m sure this is the kind of attention that Brent is used to receiving regularly from women. Especially when they know he’s a professional hockey player with an eight-figure NHL contract.

Brent shifts his body towards her and away from me, almost like he’s closing me off from their conversation.

It shouldn’t bother me, but who am I kidding. Everything about Brent bothers me.

Brent clears his voice. “Funny you should ask, Heidi. Any chance that San Diego is your final destination too?” he asks.

I shouldn’t care about her answer.

I shouldn’t even listen in on Brent trying to pick up the flight attendant. For all I care, he can spend the entire weekend in a hotel room with her and miss the wedding activities altogether. That's one less pain-in-my-ass situation to deal with. But I can’t wish for that because it would hurt my sister and David to not have Brent at the wedding.

I glance up at Heidi, disappointment streaked across her face as she bites down on her lower lip.

“Actually, it's not. My work week just started, and this is the first flight of the day.” There’s hesitation in her voice.

I swear to God that I can actually read Heidi’s thoughts, and I'd bet my photography equipment that for a split second, she considered quitting her job just now to take Brent up on whatever he was about to offer her for the weekend.

“He’s not worth it.”I want to warn her.“He’ll break your heart.”

But I keep that little nugget of personal experience to myself. She wouldn’t have listened to me anyway.

“That’s too bad. I need a date for my grandmother’s birthday party tomorrow. Maybe another time,” he says, though he’s just being polite–she just missed her shot.

“Aww, your grandmother…”

I can see the moment Heidi falls harder for Brent when he mentions being a doting grandson, but before she can fall any further, another flight attendant steps in, realizing she might lose Heidi to a sudden "illness" if she doesn’t intervene. “Come on, Heidi, we need to get through our flight check for the pilot,” she says, physically nudging her down the aisle without waiting for Brent’s response.

I try to muffle back a giggle and then return to my phone.

Phoebe: Did you make your flight?

Zoey: Barely. But on the plus side I got more action from TSA than I’ve had in months.

Phoebe: Was he cute at least?

Zoey: Nope, it was a lady… but I have to hand it to her, she knows how to feel up a woman.

I didn’t actually get strip-searched, but she did run a hand between my breasts since I was wearing a wire bra and slid her hands under to make sure I didn’t have anything hidden in it.

Just tits in there, I’m afraid.

Phoebe: Ha! Stop teasing. I was hoping you were bringing a date who could take care of that for you while he makes Liam green with envy.

The idea of coming to this wedding alone and watching Liam walk around with the woman he left me for just doesn’t sit right with me.

There’s not much I can do about that since I’m still single, although Liam and I have been broken up for almost a year.

One night a couple of weeks ago, I got wine drunk and dialed up my sister to tell her that I was going to find a hot date to make Liam jealous. She loved the idea, and then it took on a life of its own, turning into a manhunt for my date over the past two weeks. Unfortunately, my efforts proved unfruitful, and now I am attending the wedding alone.

In my fantasy world, Liam seeing me with someone else would make him realize what he lost and beg me to take him back. Seeing me alone will only solidify that he made the right decision. There isn't much chance it will happen without a date to show him that someone else thinks I’m worthy.

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