too?” he asks.
Shaking my head I start to get up. “I’ll get it myself,” I tell him.
He moves out of my way and looks down at the floor, so I hesitate. He’s trying to be nice to me, and I keep rebuffing him. I pause with my hands reached into the locker and look at him until his eyes meet mine. “Thank you though,” I say, “for the offer… it was very kind of you.”
He gives me a tight smile as the flight attendant comes up behind him and touches his arm to get his attention, her voice is all breathy while she’s telling him that she has new seats for us.
She gets us settled in a middle row of five empty seats, telling Elliot especially, that if we need anything else, she’d be only too happy to help.
I smile brightly at her and tell her how appreciative we are for her help. She looks between Elliot and I, like she thinks something’s going on between us. I don’t know why I did that, but I keep on smiling, behaving like the other half of a happy couple until she goes away.
Elliot
The second Erin walks away, Paige moves one seat over. “I hope you don’t mind,” she says. “You’re just very broad, and I thought you might like the extra space to stretch out.”
“Thanks,” I smile at her gratefully. She’s right; it is nice to have a bit more space in these small seats. I’m pretty good at keeping to my own spot, but it’s better when I can lean into the space between us and angle my legs more comfortably.
She's lifted the arm rests and is now sitting two seats away from me with her legs on the seats between us, and her head leaned to the side against the headrest.
Looking at me with heavy-lidded eyes, she seems to be struggling to hold them up. “Why are you going to London?” she asks me.
I lean my own head back and look over at her, deliberating over my answer. Something about this situation makes me think, fuck it, so I tell the truth. “Because I don’t know who I am anymore.”
Her eyebrows move closer together as she considers my words, “Who did you used to be?”
“A solicitor,” I answer, thinking about how much time I wasted studying for a career I didn’t even want.
Yawning, she shakes her head. “I didn’t ask what you were, I asked who you were.”
I look at her for a long moment before I answer, “A jerk, I used to be a jerk.”
“It’s the curse of the good-looking guy. You're all jerks,” she tells me knowingly.
I laugh a little at her revelation, “Talking from experience?”
She shrugs her shoulders and tilts her head noncommittally in response.
“So where did your catharsis come from? Some girl break your heart?”
I can't help but smile at her insight. “I kind of turned into a jerk after that actually, before, I don’t know that I was a jerk - I was just living a life that wasn’t mine.”
“So, you don’t know who you are, and you’re hoping to find yourself on the other side of the world?”
I rest my head back in the seat and sigh heavily before I turn my head to meet her eyes, “I don’t know what I’m hoping. I just know I need a change, I’m sick of just… existing... What about you? Why are you going to London?”
“Same reason as you I guess. My life isn’t anywhere near what I used to imagine it would be. Time for a change.” She covers her mouth as she yawns, closing her eyes and working her head into the back of the seat, effectively ending our discussion. I watch her beautiful face until her breathing deepens and her features soften, before closing my eyes as well, drifting off as sleep finally gets the chance to claim me.
Chapter 3
Paige
I sleep during the remainder of the flight, only waking because it’s time to fill out paperwork and eat a meal. Blinking rapidly, I yawn and stretch as I right myself within my seat. I look over at Elliot, who is rubbing his eyes, also yawning. His hair is sticking up at odd angles, which of course, looks really attractive on him. Must have been a hard life for him - looking awesome while everyone else looks shit. My eyes roll involuntarily at the thought.
“Good morning,” he says, without even glancing at me. “I think that was the best upright sleep I have