Page 49 of Too Much In Common
Chris squinted at his ringing phone before answering the pre 5:00 a.m. call. The Hastings dispatcher’s voice was far too cheery as he described the situation and the need for Chris to switch shifts because of illness. He’d end up pulling a double today.
He waited until he was in the elevator to text Tian, hoping to not wake her with the bad news.
Chris: Called in to work. Raincheck? Likely working back-to-back shifts.
Several hours later, he found a moment to check his phone for messages.
Tian: Bummer.
Tian: Took myself out to breakfast. Had the best Monte Cristo of my life.
Tian: I have a 5 a.m. report time tomorrow. Goal is to go to bed by 9 at the latest. When do you get off?
Chris: If I am lucky, I can be back by 2030. I mean 8:30.
Tian: I’m a pilot. I know military time... another thing we have in common. I also use Zulu. ;)
Her immediate answer meant they had a couple minutes for conversation. Even if it was about time zones or the time in Greenwich England. He understood why using Zulu or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) avoided confusion arising from local time differences for pilots.
Chris: Zulu is too much math, but I am usually in the central time zone anyway. I get confused when I eat lunch at dinner time.
Tian: There is that. Hope to see you tonight.
Chris: Me too.
It was after ten when he finally ended his day.
Chris: Sorry.
No response came to his text, not that he expected one.
He woke up to a text from Tian.
Tian: I should end up in Denver tonight. Maybe we can call.
Staring at the phone screen, Chris understood his former girlfriend’s frustration with his job. Tian’s offered an entire new set of obstacles. A long-distance relationship with a local zip code. He knew better than to believe his schedule would improve over the years. Being on a dedicated crew was only as normal as the principal’s life. In the summer, he could end up anywhere the Ogilvies traveled, or he could end up in Japan next time Colin had an innovative idea. If he could make his off days line up with Tian’s it would be better.
His phone pinged. Hastings. Aligning workdays would not happen soon.
* * *
Denver International, DEN, ranked as super-saver economy in Tian’s ranking of airports. She shouldn’t lay her finger on the reason she thought that. Perhaps it was because Grandpa used the old acronym, DIA, that he claimed stood for Darn Inconvenient Airport so many times. Or it was the fact that they ended up in a hotel in suburbia with nothing nearby to explore. After completing her bedbug check, she heated her dinner and texted Chris.
Tian: In Denver. An Air Force Falcon flew with us today.
Twenty minutes later, her phone pinged an answer.
Chris: How did you fly a military plane?
Tian: I didn’t. A falcon, a bird with feathers, flew on the plane. There are jets called Falcons, but I haven’t flown one.
Chris: You had a bird as a passenger?
Tian: Yup.
She attached the photo of the Air Force Cadet holding the hooded falcon.
Tian: Isis is one of the falcons that serves as the mascot for the Air Force Academy. Lieutenant Wilson was returning with her from Houston. The bird had her own seat. She was much better behaved than some passengers.
