Page 52 of Mr. Red

“You’ll find out.” He smirks.

The bastard.

I take a deep breath while putting my shoes on.

It’s fine. I’m fine. I can let loose.

God, I need a drink. I look at the clock on the stove as we leave. It’s not even seven in the morning. No problem, it’s a vacation. Early morning drinking is encouraged.

We don’t say much in the vehicle—a black town car with a driver. I didn’t expect much chit chat from Mr. Strong and Silent over there. If I don’t make an effort, then that’s that. I’m not really feeling like myself, hence the silence, and possible snoring. I doze in and out of sleep on the way to the destination.

The driver pulls up to a small airport and stops at a gate. My leg starts fidgeting. Is this normal? Don’t we have to check in somewhere with desk clerks? What about security?

“Matt, what are we doing? Don’t we need to go to the entrance?”

“I’m flying my plane.”

“You know how to fly a plane?” I ask, my eyes wide.

“I like to do things myself. You can sit by me in the cockpit, or in the cabin if you prefer. It’ll just be you andme.”

Once we get dropped off Matt grabs the bags and walks to the gate, typing in a code. Then we walk to a plane like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Everybody just walks over to their own private plane. How can he be so nonchalant?

We pass several garage-looking buildings, which I guess are hangars. Then we approach a freaking plane, pulled out of its place, stairs down, waiting to be flown. It’s not super small, but it’s not a huge commercial one either. It’s white with five windows. I can’t believe my first time flying anywhere will be on a private plane. It’s cool to go on a vacation, but this is way cooler than I would’ve thought.

Matt takes our bags up into the plane. A moment later he descends down the stairs as I gawk at the creation.

“Go get settled.” He nods towards the entrance. “I’ll be in shortly.”

“Do you need help?”

“No, don’t worry, just go relax.”

I climb into the cabin and am greeted with clean, cream leather seats made for about five people. The cabin isn’t big, but it feels spacious and airy. There’s a long bench-style seat I choose to sit in, facing the staircase. When Matt comes inside, I’ll be able to see him enter, as long as I don’t fall asleep waiting.

I check the to-do list on my phone out of habit. There’s nothing listed. I scowl at my phone, throw it to the side of me, and cross my arms over my chest. I have no idea why I agreed to go on this trip. I think about bailing, but the need to stay with Matt is winning.

I look around the cabin as my leg pops up and down. To stay awake, and sane, I search for those cute little alcohol bottles before Matt boards the plane. I can sneak in somedrinks to take the edge off. I peek out the window, watching Matt bustling around outside.

I find a cabinet disguising a mini fridge; this must be where the goods are. Any time in the morning is a respectable time to drink when you’re about to lose your shit. Once I open the door, there’s a plethora of choices. I’m going with a vodka. It’ll go well with the orange juice conveniently in this little fridge. Perfect.

Maybe we can play a little nookie in the cockpit. I’ve always wanted to join the mile high club. Bonus: doing some extracurricular activities will help with this anxiousness. I bite my lip wondering if he can fly the plane and screw me at the same time.

After my first drink is empty, I look around for safety information. There’s no flight attendant, and since I’ve never been on a plane, I want to know where they keep the parachutes. Unfortunately, there are only floating devices and exits. I need to let Matt know he needs a better escape plan.

A shot later and I’m sitting back on my bench-style seat, feet up and crossed, ready to get on with this adventure. Matt appears, looking focused on his tasks at hand, breathing heavy. Probably lots of pilot things to do.

“Hello there, Captain,” I say with a salute.

“I see someone has loosened up,” he gives his crooked smirk. He heads into the cockpit. “Give me another twenty minutes and we’ll be on our way.”

I’m still sitting on the bench seat. I don’t want to disturb him and there’s nothing to clean on this thing, so here I sit. My eyelids flutter closed, despite my efforts to keep them open. It’s warm in here and the position on this seat is comfortable.

The plane starts moving, startling me awake. I’mfrozen in my seat. It’s similar to sitting in his car; like I might break or damage something. The best option seems to be to freeze.

I can’t believe Matt is flying this thing. I watch through the window at the trees getting smaller and smaller as we ascend into the clouds.

Once the plane seems stable, I walk into the cockpit. I can’t do nothing any longer. I knock on the outside of the door, even though it’s open.

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