he put his hands in his pockets. “I’m not sure what you want me to think of you, Rafe.”
“I’m pretty sure I just want you to think of me, Alice,” he said in a whisper as he turned and walked back to the party.
I spent a majority of my day staring at the Google animation in my office. They really were inventive with those letters. Today was Earth Day and the O in Google was a spinning mother earth, reminiscent of Mrs. Potato Head with those gloved white arms and large features. One of the Ls morphed into a squirrel gathering nuts while another of the letters planted a tree. The fact that designing things like this was actually someone’s job baffled me. I bet that person sat in their office in Mountain View, high on a pot brownie from lunch, and smiled all day every day. They probably went home and had sex on a pile of money with their husband or wife and picked out tomorrow’s work outfit of lazy beach wear, just as excited to show up as the day before. I peeked around my screen to see my class full of new pilots answering a questionnaire I’d decided to pass out in lieu of introducing myself. A few of them looked up at me as I squared my shoulders, redirecting my gaze to the screen and pretending to type.
You can’t hide every day.
But I can today.
I’d agreed to meet Rafe at an address by text in a few hours. He told me to “Come in something I could get dirty in.”
The man had darn near stripped me of my confidence last night. I wanted him in the worst way, and I could at least admit to myself at the moment I did not want him to see last night’s panties of the stage-five clinger who’d ogled him right along with me last night. My lip curled in distaste as I thought of them together, and yet he’d made it clear he wanted me...sexually.
“Pig,” I muttered under my breath. I must have been blind when I thought there was more depth to that man. True colors are often the biggest slaps in the face. He’d all but told me he was dominant in the sack last night and little else. Maybe with Rafe what you saw was what you got. At least I had a date with a handsome Trey to look forward to.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the pilots filed out one by one, and I plastered a smile on my face as I said my goodbyes. Tomorrow, I would do better; today, I just didn’t have it in me. I looked to the sky out of my window as I watched a plane descend into the nearby airport. There had never been a time in my life when I didn’t want to be a pilot. I’d never second guessed that decision. The choice to be an instructor had come later, and I doubted it daily.
I decided airtime would be a temporary and quick fix and scheduled myself some airtime for the following week. It would cost a small fortune, but it was more than necessary.
I needed a reason to keep going.
I pulled up to the address hours later in blue jean shorts, a white tank, and sneakers. It had taken me the better part of half an hour to find the place with my drunken GPS. Every direction I looked at was a sea of grass and trees. The house sat nestled in acres of land that desperately needed some TLC. The grass was overgrown. I spotted Rafe to the left of the large country home, gassing up a riding lawn mower. I approached him as he shut the lid of the rider and looked at me with a satisfied grin.
“Thanks for coming,” he said as I looked around the house and back to him.
“What’re we doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rafe said as he grabbed my hand and led me to a small shed at the back of the property. Rows of flowers and bags of mulch sat on the cement floor along with all the tools a gardener could possibly need.
“It is now,” I said as I gave him a puzzled look.
“You two got what you need?” I jumped as I turned to see the face that matched the familiar voice.
“Hi, Dutch!”
“Hi, Alice,” she said as she took a step forward. “Thank you,” she said as she looked anywhere but at me, “for