Page 56 of The Bargain
“First class service and then some,” he assures me. “Get used to it, baby. This is your new life now.”
“It’s your life.”
He takes my glass and sets both his and mine on the table before he returns to sit next to me. “I’m not sure you really understand how all in I am with you, Sofia. I don’t want to go to Paris without you. I don’t want you to go to Denver without me.”
Nerves flutter about in my belly, and I can barely breathe. “The obsession that comes with a new relationship.”
“I’ve never been obsessed with anyone but you.”
“You were engaged.”
“A business transaction. That’s all that was.”
“You were into her enough to believe she was worthy of a lifetime.”
“We’ve had this conversation. I thought every relationship was a transaction. We are not. And thank you for showing me the difference between her and you. I didn’t love her. I didn’t even propose romantically. She wanted a ring. I said fine. I gave her a budget and let her go pick it out. Alone.”
“Really?”
“Really. I don’t even approach dinner with you that mechanically. Which, speaking of, we need to get our order ready. I’m hungry. You?”
“Very. I didn’t eat that much with my dad. I was too focused on you two getting along.” I grab the menu I’ve let slip beside me in the seat. “Steak or ravioli. I always pick pasta.”
“And I’ll always pick steak,” he says. “The food with this airline is actually really good.”
“You don’t own the plane?”
“No. That’s an expensive investment, and unless I was buying into the business, I wouldn’t be interested. I tried to buy this one and had no luck. They’re a well-oiled, well-financed business, which is what you want out of an airline.”
“Do you use them for international flights?”
“I didn’t used to, but lately, I have. You can fly with them for almost the same price as a commercial flight, and without all the recent mishaps airlines are having.”
The flight attendant reappears, and we order. She also takes the champagne until after takeoff. A few minutes later, we’re in the air, our champagne back on ice, and soon we’re eating, though Ethan is also juggling a number of messages on hisphone, thanks to in-flight internet. “I’m having lunch with my father tomorrow.”
“That’s good. Do you have a plan to get through to him about your brother?”
“No, and the biggest issue I have is a lack of information. Anna keeps telling me my brother is in trouble.”
“You believe her?”
“Yes, but I don’t think it’s all his doing, or she wouldn’t be nagging me to get involved. At the very least, she pushed him in the wrong direction. Based on her rambling this morning, he’s losing his shit, I know my brother; he doesn’t do stupid shit when he feels that way. But I’ll know his state of mind when I see him. And if he’s truly losing his shit, he’ll unload on me.”
“Then you need to see him before your father, right?”
“Exactly. I’m going to try to see him in the morning.”
“Okay,” I say, finishing off the last bite of my truly delicious ravioli. “Let’s just say it’s really a problem. Will your father just fix it?”
“I’m not sure it’s that easy. If he’s made promises, meaning my brother, to the wrong people, it could be messy. I’m not sure how I could be dragged into it as Anna has claimed, since I’ve been detaching myself from the family business for a year now, but I am still a principal.”
“Couldn’t your brother have told these bad actors you’re the decision maker?”
“Yes. And that’s my one worry. And exactly why, no matter what, I’m done with the family business. If my brother and Anna are in the mix, I’m out. And I’m telling my father that officially tomorrow. I’ll help him with the clean-up, but I’m stepping away from the main corporation.”
The flight attendant takes our plates and brings us chocolate cake, and while the subject turns to Paris and the hot cocoa it’sfamous for, I can sense the tension in Ethan. There’s trouble for him on the horizon of a mammoth nature.
And I’m not sure he believes he can walk away or jet off to Paris and make it go away.
