Sparks - Wendy Higgins Page 0,3
of my first friends when I got stationed in Newark.
“You’re joking,” he said.
“Nope.”
“Bet that made his day.”
“Whatever,” I grumbled with a smile, imagining Silas’s gorgeous face and persistent five o’clock shadow. “I’d offer to bring you a drink, but we’re both seated now.” I usually brought drinks to the pilots, and whenever I flew with Silas I drew funny pictures on his napkin or wrote something nice.
“Roger that, and no worries. See you on the ground. Good luck with the irate ones.”
We hung up and the pilot’s voice came on overhead. “Flight Attendants prepare for landing.”
Two steps ahead of you, buddy. I didn’t know the First Pilot. Most of them were men and women who came and went straight from home and kept to themselves. It was the younger Second Pilots, or co-pilots, who fraternized with us FAs. Only downfall? Most of them were married. Even Silas. That was a weird concept for me when I’d started this job. Even though practically everyone back home in Virginia Beach was getting engaged and married, I still wasn’t used to having to check for wedding rings and stuff. It felt like everyone was moving forward but me.
My body relaxed at the feel of the plane lowering in elevation. It was my favorite part of the flight, like when you laid in a bathtub with the water draining and your body got heavier and heavier. It was comforting. The wheels touched down and the brakes pumped hard, pushing me forward against the straps like the end of a roller coaster ride. I loved this part too. But when we slowed, I looked outside of the small window and bit my lip.
Snow was coming down hard, even here in Philly. I held back a groan. It wasn’t just snow, it was crazy wind, whipping the fat, white flakes into a frenzy. Yeah…we totally weren’t going back to Newark tonight. I lived fifteen minutes away from Newark Airport, but snow in Jersey made for even more disastrous driving conditions than normal, especially on all the bridges. And I needed new tires. So, it was kind of good that I didn’t have to drive home in this. But still…I was going to be missing roomie-night, which I’d looked forward to all week. I tried not to let the heavy disappointment show on my face at the thought of being the only one not there.
“Welcome to snowy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where the local time is 10:15PM. As you can see the storm is upon us. Please check the displays for updated flight information.” My mind wandered during the rest of the pilot’s message as he attempted to calm the passengers. Basically, if this thing dumped on us, a lot of planes would be grounded for at least a day, and ground transportation would be spotty. I hoped people liked sleeping on sketchy airport floors.
Marcelle dealt with the airline agents and paperwork when they opened the door, and then said good-bye to the passengers, along with both the pilots, while I was stuck taking stock of the remaining beer, wine, and liquor inventory in the galley behind them. I remotely heard them laughing about the huge bout of turbulence, and then that low country voice rang through.
“Took that one clean off her feet.”
I glanced up from where I was crouching and saw the officer peering down at me fondly. My stomach flipped. I literally didn’t know how the organ could stay intact after that.
“I saw it from the back!” Marcelle said, laughing. “First she flew up about a foot off the ground and then plop!” She smacked her hands together and everyone laughed. Wonderful. I gave a tight smile, glad they were finding such amusement at the expense of my pride. Everyone at Omega Skies Newark would know about it by the morning. Sigh.
“She’s still a rookie,” Silas explained, and I rolled my eyes, continuing to smile.
When I chanced a look at the officer again, he gave me a nod and lifted two fingers in a wave, then departed. I felt a weird rush of sadness and the urge to jump up and chase him. How often does someone feel that kind of weird connection or whatever it was? It was depressing to think he was walking away and I’d never see him again or have a chance to get to know him.
“Good-bye, Miss!” I looked up at the warm smiling face of the guy who’d caught me.
“Bye! Thanks again!” I gave him a big wave as an urge