Page 69 of January

“Welcome to your above-the-city tour of New Orleans, Louisiana. Tonight, we will fly over Jackson Square, the French Quarter, City Park, and Lake Pontchartrain, among some other landmarks, and I’ll be your guide as we take it all in, so sit back, relax, and enjoy your view of the beautiful New Orleans as the sun sets around you.”

Melinda had been up here before, and she hadn’t lied to Kyle: this view would never get old. She’d take in some of it tonight, but for now, she was more than content to watch Kyle taking it all in for the first time. Kyle continued to stare out the window, and a few minutes in, she pulled out her phone and began taking pictures. Melinda pulled her own phone out and took a few of Kyle, wanting to capture the memory for her for later. When Kyle turned and slid over toward her, Melinda was surprised, but Kyle cupped her chin and kissed her sweetly.

“Thank you for this. This is…” Kyle looked over Melinda’s shoulder out her window. “Amazing. The best thing I’ve ever done. I…”

Melinda kissed her again and said, “You’re welcome. Now, keep looking because this isn’t an all-night kind of tour.”

When Kyle laughed in response, Melinda could hear it clearly through those headphones, and as Kyle continued to look around, Melinda held up her phone, and they posed for a picture together, smiling wide.

The tour was short, only about thirty minutes, but normally, they were only about twelve minutes, so Jeremy had more than doubled their time in the air. When they were on the ground, Melinda thanked Jeremy, and they removed the headphones and the vests, leaving the pilot to take care of his next tour group. They were safely at the entrance of the airport when Kyle pulled Melinda into her arms and kissed her hard, shocking Melinda at first until she melted into the kiss, letting Kyle press her against the side of the building. Melinda kissed her back, letting their tongues play for a bit before she heard the glass doors next to them open.

“Well, we should go on more helicopter tours,” she said, catching her breath.

“I can’t believe I was just in a helicopter,” Kyle replied, pressing her forehead against Melinda’s. “Thank you.”

“Thank Jeremy. He did all the hard work. All I did was take pictures and watch you look completely in awe.”

“Iwasin awe. I’ve been on a few planes, but there, you’re so high up most of the time that you can’t see anything. I can’t believe I got to see the whole city up close but also above it at the same time.”

“It’s a beautiful place,” Melinda said, kissing Kyle’s nose. “Now, I’ve got a reservation for us, so we should order a car.”

“Reservation?”

“You and Jolie didn’t take me up on Commander’s Palace when she was here, so I thought we’d go there tonight. Do you have anything against turtle soup?”

“Sorry. What?” Kyle asked, looking confused.

“You can try mine,” Melinda replied, pulling out her phone to order them a car since the small airfield was too far away for them to have walked. “And after dinner, if you want, we can grab drinks at Pat O’Brien’s. It’s inside a courtyard with a fountain that has a fire going through it. It’s touristy, but it’scool, and you can order a Hurricane big enough for both of us. It’s a New Orlean’s standard.”

“You guys have a drink called a Hurricane in a city that has hurricanes every year?”

“We’re kind of known for it. We’re ironic or masochistic. I don’t know.” Melinda chuckled. “Or, we can go to one of the gay bars, if you want. It won’t be any quieter, though.”

“Can we have a drink somewhere else?”

“Name it,” she said, confirming her car.

“I still have those beers at the house. Though, there’s not much else there.”

“They didn’t leave anything?”

“They removed most of it in a few hours. Most of the furniture was cheap and easily taken apart, apparently, but they left the kitchen table and a couple of chairs.”

“What about that beautiful record player?”

“Packed away safely. But I do have a phone that plays music,” Kyle said, looking hopeful. “I was thinking that I’d rather be alone with you in a place where I can hear you than be in a bar where we’re likely to have to yell, or one of the million people you know here might spot us.”

Melinda smiled and said, “You know I have a nice apartment, and there’s beer there, too.”

“I know. But you don’t have my garden,” Kyle replied, taking her by the hips. “I also have blankets, and we could lie out under the stars for a while.”

“Yourgarden,” Melinda asked, liking the sound of that.

“It will soon be filled with tourists, so we should enjoy it while we can.”

“Whatever you want,” Melinda said, trying not to think about tourists taking over a house that she now considered Kyle’s.

As they got into the car, she worried that when she’d be giving tours of the Garden District after Kyle returned home, she’d walk by this house, and her heart would hurt because Kyle wasn’t in it. Melinda wanted her to always be there, and as Kyle took her hand in the back seat, she wasn’t sure howshe’d deal with her being gone, whenever that happened.

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