Page 51 of Sparks
My stomach twisted. The last thing I wanted in my life was complication. Or to contribute to a situation that would hurt another woman. Why did Shawn’s attention have to be so addicting? We ate in silence for a while, their sounds of appreciation making me happy.
“You seem conflicted,” Cheryl said, rubbing my knee.
“I am.”
“Of course, you are,” she whispered. The other girls just watched me quietly.
I felt my emotions rising with a burn and cleared my throat. “I should get to bed.”
We all stood and cleared off the coffee table, taking stuff to the kitchen and wrapping it up in silence. I wondered what they were thinking.
I climbed into my soft pallet and set my alarm for the next morning, then tossed and turned all night.
Hope it’s not too early to text.
Shawn’s text came literally two minutes before my alarm went off, and it was a much nicer thing to wake up to.
Just getting up, I typed back with a coffee emoji.
It’s gorgeous here in Okinawa. You’d love it.My heart gave a giant boom inside my chest. He attached two pictures and I smiled at the ornate gardens and Asian architecture.
Did you sleep on the plane?
Ha! Two hours. That’s more than I usually get when I fly.
Oy. I’d be dead on my feet.
I’m used to it. Soldier life.
I quietly climbed out of bed and tiptoed into the hall, where I grabbed my uniform.
I’m about to shower,I told him. The second I sent it my face flushed.
He shot back with the monkey covering its eyes emoji and I giggled.
I’ll text you when I get to the crew room,I promised.
Roger that.
After my shower Holly was waiting to jump in. “Can you take me today too?” she asked. “I’ll get ready fast.”
“Sure,” I told her, glad to have her company.
It was another freezing day. Poor Holly’s hair was still half wet, so her teeth chattered during the drive. My car was kind of old, so it took forever to fully warm. We were just feeling toasty when it was time to park and catch the shuttle to the terminal. Gloves and scarves went on and then we speed-walked down the frozen walkway.
“I’m so over this winter,” Holly said. “It’s even worse than Ohio.”
“Spring is just around the corner,” I chirped, even though we had weeks to go.
Inside the terminal we sped to the crew room, waving at familiar airport staff faces as we went. I stopped and got a vanilla latte. I had shoved a toasted bagel with cream cheese in my purse before I left, along with a sandwich for lunch, which I tossed into the crew fridge when we arrived.
Silas was sitting at a table with Beth and another copilot when we walked in. His face beamed when he saw us. We slid into chairs, me next to Silas. I was hoping I’d see him. While the others were chatting and sipping their coffee, I slipped twenty-five dollars from my polyester dress pocket and placed it in front of him. He eyed it like something gross.
“That’s too much.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know how much things cost. Don’t be difficult.”
He peeled the twenty from the five and tossed the five onto my lap before pocketing the twenty.
