Page 2 of Too Much In Common
The elevator reached the fortieth floor. Chris exited, but Javier pushed the button for the tenth floor and the security offices, leaving Chris alone in the hallway.
Rarely did Chris have the apartment he shared with other bodyguards to himself. He traded his suit for a t-shirt and jeans, sat down with the remote, and pulled up a list of movies he hadn’t seen from his streaming service. The chance to watch one without plot spoilers from Javier was too good to pass up. Escaping into a world of superheroes battling over-the-top evil would take his mind off of remembering the look of fear in the school secretary’s eyes as she bravely faced down the irate father.
An hour and a half later, Javier came in as the credits rolled. “Don’t turn it off. There are two scenes hidden in the credits.”
Of course the movie did. The franchise had done the same thing for years. “Thanks.”
“Hey, your package is still here.”
“Yeah.” How had he forgotten his earbuds so quickly? Chris ran his hands down his face. The movie hadn’t been enough for him to unwind. Maybe a few laps in the pool would do the trick.
The second credit screen disappeared, and the streaming channel served up new viewing options. Before choosing one, Chris went into the kitchen in search of dinner. He inspected the package with the familiar smile logo. It seemed normal enough until he opened it.
* * *
As a pilot, Tian had used hundreds of different showers. They were part of her personal hotel rating system. Nothing could ruin a day like a drizzly showerhead or brighten one like a soap commercial-worthy shower. The multi-function showerhead with bonus rain feature in her new apartment achieved the never-before awarded triple-platinum level of awesomeness. The fact she didn’t have to share a bathroom with her roommates made it better. Not that her roommates were slobs—Brit and Simone were the best—but not having to share the shampoo shelf or color code her razor was an amazing luxury. Reluctantly, Tian shut off the shower. If she stayed in any longer, she would relax herself right into a nap. Picking up the unexpected two days of work on her way home from her aunt’s funeral put her days behind her unpacking plan.
Faced with a mountain of boxes, Tian threw on her reserve clothes from her pilot’s case, a novelty t-shirt featuring a bird relaxing on the tail of an airplane and a pair of yoga pants. She left her hair wrapped in the microfiber turban and searched for the box containing her sheets. A pilot had priorities and her first one was sleep.
A half hour later, her roommates burst through the door.
“You’re back!” Brit dropped everything onto the newly made bed and surrounded Tian with the hug she’d needed for days.
“You can thank Simone for the extra two days away.” Tian stepped back from the hug. “Did she tell you what she did?”
Simone leaned on the doorjamb. “I did. Brit has already lectured me about it, too. I didn’t have a choice. The FO was in the hospital and you were conveniently at Logan Airport.”
“You still should have told me I’d be flying with my father before I agreed.”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t take it if I did. And we needed a First Officer quickly.” It was impossible not to forgive Simone’s contrite voice.
“Fortunately, Dad knew I’d been at Aunt Ella’s funeral, and he didn’t ask about Mom or talk about anything family related other than the celebration for the airline’s hundredth birthday and the four-generations-of-flyers thing.” As a female pilot, Tian had taken more of a spotlight than she’d wanted from last October’s article and documentary.
“Legacy Airlines’ First Family of Fliers.” Brit raised her arm and spoke as if reading the headline off of a marquee. The syndicated article explained how the four founding families of the airlines continued to be the major players in the industry. The Carvers, Hansons, Johnsons, and Pitts were all highlighted. “If that doesn’t make the moniker ‘Nepotism Air’ stick, nothing will.”
Tian opened another box. “I’m glad I convinced Dad they needed a photo of all the employees at Legacy who are Great-Grandpa’s descendants so you two can have your spotlight. Desk agents and schedulers keep the flyers flying. Dad said they are doing follow-up articles. I specifically mentioned that Simone should be interviewed.”
Simone gasped. “You didn’t!”
“No, but I wanted to. But I decided your stalker doesn’t need any more information. Even if you put me in a cockpit for four hours with Dad, you’re still my favorite cousin.”
Brit shuffled through the things she’d dropped on the bed. She handed Tian an envelope. “From the county courthouse.”
“No package? I got an alert that I had one.” Tian placed the order days ago, knowing she’d need the item for her next flight.
Brit shook her head.
Tian turned the envelope over. No yellow forwarding sticker. “Wow. How did they have our new address in the system so fast? You moved in on Friday.”
“I didn’t bother filing a change of address since we all use virtual mailboxes,” said Simone.
Tian opened the envelope. Two words popped off the page. “Jury Duty.” She skimmed the letter and then read it again. “Dear Mr. Christian Ray Johnson.” The “mister” wasn’t surprising. Tian got that more often than she could count. “Ray” should have been spelled R-A-E. Her eyes drifted to the address. “This is for apartment 40H, not 40A.”
“Let me see.” Brit read over her shoulder. “Oh, wow. I never asked Chris what his full name was.”
Simone joined them. “What are the chances?”
“This is the hot guy alert you texted me about?” Tian had received a flurry of texts describing their hot neighbors, Javier and Chris. She’d meet Javier that afternoon in the building security office. Her roommates weren’t wrong about the hot part, but he was a bit too flirty for her taste, although his Latino suave was all that.
