Page 51 of Arrogant Arrival

Unsure what to say to that, I give her a small smile. Jim’s mother and grandmother stand before me. “It was wonderful meeting you both, Martha and Patty.”

Patty shakes her head and points to herself. “Yia-Yia.” She takes my hand in both of hers and squeezes it. “Kortisi mou.” She pulls me down and takes my cheek in her hand as she kisses one side, and then the other. She points to herself again. “Yia-Yia,” she says as she begins to shuffle toward the door.

I want to cry. She asked me to call her grandmother. I didn’t even think she really liked me. Martha’s eyes are glassy as she lifts her hands but then drops them. Then, she lifts her hands again but hesitates. Finally, she comes up to me and wraps me in a hug. “You are, in fact, a good girl. I know what I said to you earlier. All I’m saying now is please don’t break his heart.”

I wrap my arms around her and gently squeeze. In her ear I whisper, “What if he already broke mine?”

In a deadly calm voice, Martha’s Greek accent rings clear. “Then we clip more than his wings.”

We both laugh as we pull apart. The door bursts open, and Jim runs in with red-rimmed eyes surrounded by dark circles. Martha pats my cheek and turns to Jimmy. “Adrouli mou, I’ll give you two a moment. I’m going to take Yia-Yia and get a coffee, ’kay?”

“Yeah, Ma. Will you get me something, too?”

She nods and waves bye to me, leaving me alone with her son. Jimmy takes a few steps closer to me. “I guess you’re free of me?”

I nod. “I guess you’re able to spread your wings now and fly off. Free as a bird.”

“Listen, whatever you think…I’m sorry. Nothing happened.”

“If nothing happened, then why are you sorry?”

“Because, either way you got hurt, and I was the cause of it,again.”

A car honks outside. Not being able to stand the awkward tension building around us anymore, I decide to take my leave. “Goodbye, Jim.”

He reaches out to me, but I jerk out of the way. I hurry to the door and take off toward the cab before the tears start falling. I quickly get in and ask the driver to leave. I don’t look back.

At the airport, I get in the line for airline employees and pray everyone will move faster. Once I’m through, I faintly hear what sounds like Jim’s voice calling out to me.

“Jolene! Jolene! Wait!”

My phone buzzes and I see it’s him calling me. But I’m a coward…I keep walking, and I don’t look back. I hurry to my flight where the crew is already waiting. Unfortunately, of all the pilots to work this flight, it’s Trip. Renee walks up looking fabulous while I feel like I’m on the verge of tears.

“So what happened with your Greek god of the sky?”

“I thought I was God of the sky?” Trip jokes.

“Jo, here, was with her very own Greek demigod.” Renee jokes.

“Wait…the contract pilot? You stayed in Greece with him? Didn’t he have a family?”

I want to groan. Trip already didn’t think very highly of me, and now he thinks I’d go as low as sleeping with a man who has a family. Just because I hit on him while he was with Kendall does not mean I lack every moral fiber. In my defense, they weren’ttogether. Standing tall, I try to maintain what dignity I have left, “He was with his family, but it wasn’thisfamily. He was with his mom, cousins, his niece, and…Yia-Yia.” I smile.

Trip beams and his eyes brighten. “That’s really nice, Jo. Greece, huh? That must’ve been amazing. He seemed like a nice guy.”

“He was.”

“Was?”

“Nothing came of it.”

“Now, Jo. Don’t waste time wondering. I know that look. Kendall and I missed out on so much time that we could’ve been making memories together. Everything worked out in the end, but it still pisses me off.Wasted.Lost time that we won’t get back…and for what?”

I look around and Trip notices my unease. He takes my arm and leads me over to a more private area. “Listen to me, Jo. Call Kendall and ask her. Maybe a woman-to-woman convo might help. We’ve known each other a long time. I don’t want to see you make the same mistake I did. Call him. If you like him and think you two had a connection, chase it down. I had to. And I could kick my own ass that it took me so long before I did. Do you have his number?”

“Yeah. He tried to call me, but I was…this is so embarrassing. He tried to reach out to me once we left each other just now but I was too scared. I wouldn’t answer his call. I’m afraid he is going to love me and use me, and I like him too much. I wouldn’t survive the fall for him.”

“Are you kidding me? You can’t be serious, Jo.” Trip shakes his head. “I know we didn’t work out, but I was an asshole. And maybe this guy is an asshole, or maybe he used to be. It sounds like the guy is trying. Now, it’s your turn to try.”

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