Page 50 of Too Much In Common
Chris: Does she collect frequent flier miles?
Tian: No idea. Can you talk tonight?
Chris: Yes. In a half hour.
Tian: Ok. I’m going to shower now then.
Curled up with a cup of lemon herbal tea, Tian read an ebook while waiting for Chris’s call. The couple had reached the break up point of the book after his ex-girlfriend sabotaged them. Her attention wandered from the book. She’d called Chris her boyfriend, but how could they be when they hardly saw each other? For the next six months, she wanted to spend as much of her time off as possible with her dad. They’d only made a start in repairing the relationship.
Tian closed the book app and opened her work calendar for February. As promised, her father had arranged for the flight to Paris, and she had another one to Rio to complete her necessary 787 flight hours. She’d also bid on several flights to or through Boston’s Logan airport, making it easier to see her parents. There wasn’t room to add in a relationship with a boyfriend.
If Chris even qualified as a boyfriend. At this point, he was a friend she’d kissed. Platinum-level amazing kisses. He qualified even if women usually saw their boyfriends more than once a week. Nothing like a long-distance relationship with the man who lived next door.
The half hour mark passed and then the hour mark.
Tian: Still waiting for your call. Half an hour until I need to go to bed.
The phone rang.
“Hey, sorry. I was waiting for you to call.”
Tian put her phone on speaker and reviewed their texts. “Oh, we didn’t say who was going to call.”
Chris laughed. “I wasted an hour watching hockey when I could have been talking to you.”
An hour she’d spent realizing that they were fooling themselves to think a relationship would work. She wouldn’t break up over the phone, though. Been there, done that, both as recipient and deliverer.
“I was reading a mediocre romance. “
“No happily ever after?
“I’m sure it will have one. They always do.” She needed to change the subject. “You should have seen the falcon. She was gorgeous.”
“Birds flying on a plane. Reminds me of that t-shirt you wore when we first met.”
Oh no, he was getting sentimental after only two and a half weeks of knowing each other.
“I hadn’t thought about that. Besides the Air Force, a couple of bird sanctuaries may fly with their birds of prey, including bald eagles on commercial airlines. Although the eagle has a special cage.”
“It seems like the Air Force would fly them on their own planes.”
“I assume they do.” Tian ran out of things to say about the bird. She’d only seen her for a moment, as the bird was first on board.
“Anything else interesting happen today?” asked Chris.
“Not really. I flew with Cook again. I like his style, and he doesn’t hit on me or talk down to me, which is a bonus.”
“Do you expect every man to be a jerk to you?”
His question caused her to pause. “I hope they won’t be, but I am usually on my guard.”
“That is a sad way to live.”
“How else should I?”
“I don’t know. You are talking to someone who is paid to see threats everywhere and hope he is wrong.”
“Wow. Neither of us looks for the good. Kind of depressing.” Tian yawned.
