Page 3 of Arrogant Arrival

My life is experiencing a delay.I’m twenty-nine years old, and I feel like despite constantly being on the go, my life has gone nowhere. This is the last year of my twenties. I should be living it up. Instead, I’m sitting on standby just waiting for something to happen.

Looking back, I’ve traveled to places most people only dream of going, been around the world more times than I can count, but what’s the point of the adventure when you’re completely alone?

Jimmy

“Jimmy! How was your flight?” Bianca’s cheerful voice comes through the speaker.

“Great. The plane handled really well.”

“Thank you so much for flying the plane down for Dex’s friend. I’m sorry to have called you on such short notice.”

“Short notice? You gave me a week. I don’t think you understand that my job is usually on the same schedule as fly by the seat of my pants is. Pun intended.”

“Well, Dex and I both appreciate it. Thank you.”

“Thank you for getting me a first-class ticket back. I usually fly economy when I go commercial, so that was a pleasant surprise.”

“Dex offered to have someone come get you. You could’ve flown private, ya know.”

“Nah. It’ll be nice to have some company for a change. Besides, I’m taking a moment to eat. Chocolate shake and cheeseburger heading my way any minute.”

“Chocolate shake and cheeseburger?”

“Yup. My favorites.”

“Hey, I’ll have to call you back. Georgina is in my makeup again.”

“Awe. Let her have it.”

“Says the man who doesn’t have to clean her and it up. Bye, Jim.” Bianca laughs.

“Bye, Bianca.” I end the call and place my phone face down on the table in the airport restaurant. I have about three hours until my flight from Miami takes me back to New York, so I’ve got time to kill and people to watch.

“And then the asshole had the nerve to wink.” My ears perk up at hearing the angry woman’s voice. Out of my peripheral vision, I can see three dark-haired ladies, all in flight attendant attire sitting at the table next to mine. Geez, they almost look like triplets.

“So what did you say?” one of the women asks.

“What could I say? I wanted to run my cart over his foot. Instead, I smiled and asked if he wanted to wake hiswifeup to see if she would like anything to drink.”

“Just goes to show you.” The one across from her shakes her head.

“Yeah, thatallmen are assholes.” The angry one grumbles.

“Dicks.”

“Jerks.”

Not able to stop myself, I mumble under my own breath. “Bastards.” I notice the table next to me has gone silent. Biting my bottom lip, I turn my head and sure enough, they heard me. Throwing a hand up, I smile. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Couldn’t help but agree with all of your… assessments.”

Luckily, my waitress arrives with my plate. Their food arrives as well. I grab a fry and nod to the three women. “Enjoy your meal, ladies.” I take a bite of the fry I’m holding and try to focus on my meal and ignore them shooting daggers my way.

The ladies then lower their voices to a whisper as they continue their conversation. I watch a couple struggle to get through the airport with a rowdy toddler. I can’t help but smile remembering family vacations with my parents because that was me, I used to always run off. I couldn’t get to the planes fast enough. I loved flying. I’ve always wanted to be a pilot for as long as I can remember.

I look through my phone messages for my next flights I have booked. I’m twenty-five and a self-employed contract pilot, but I work for another private company part time. They pay me a monthly salary to be available certain days to fly their employees and CEOs here and there. Then I work for myself taking on jobs that interest me. Today, I was delivering a plane from New York to Miami for a friend of my cousin’s husband, Mr. Moneybags, Dex Truitt.Her name for him, not mine.Anyway, it’s a pretty sweet gig, and even though I’m rarely home, my schedule is pretty much my own.

Just then, I notice two of the ladies stand up. One of them pats the one still sitting on the shoulder. “We have to catch our flight. I wish we were working this leg together, Jo.”

The one who’s remained seated smiles. It’s a beautiful smile, even if it is weak. Something about her tugs at my heart strings. I want to see a genuine smile from her. She keeps her attempted, obviously fake smile in place as she watches her friends gather their belongings. “Me too. You girls try not to get into any trouble.”

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