Page 92 of One Year Ago in Spain
The man behind the desk grinned. “Your first time?” he asked in English.
Claire nodded.
“Okay. Do not worry. It is very safe, and we will take good care of you. The sunset dive is an incredible experience. I guarantee you will love it.”
Without realizing what she was doing, Claire had been rubbing her right thumb over and over the middle of her left palm. She looked around, hoping that Matías would show up any second now to do this with her, but he was nowhere in sight.
Maybe it was because she was early. The plane took off at nine, but she’d wanted to get there with enough time to get in the mandatory training for first-time jumpers.
Or…maybe Matías wasn’t here because he was too angry. He was a de León, after all, and he could hold a grudge like the rest of them. When Mia Kovac had talked shit about Claire at the law firm holiday party last year, Matías’s eyes hadimmediately transformed from sunshine to white-hot lightning, and Mia very quickly decided she ought to leave the party early.
But Matías had never been mad at Claire for very long, and even when he was, he never lashed out.
Claire pressed her thumb into her palm harder while the man behind the counter, Javier, went through the skydiving package information with her. There was a short instructional video she would watch, and she would dive tandem with one of the crew members, just like Matías had said. She wouldn’t have to worry about releasing the parachute herself or steering their landing if she didn’t want to, because she literally would be strapped to an experienced skydiver.
It only made Claire 2 percent less nervous.
But she signed the waiver and paid. Javier showed her into a small room that held just a TV on the wall and a few folding chairs, two of which were already occupied by a middle-aged British couple so excited they were bouncing in their seats.
“You doing this by yourself, dear?” the man asked.
Claire looked around again, still hoping for Matías, but she was all alone.
“I guess so,” Claire said.
“Were you expecting someone?” the woman asked.
“Sort of. I, um, didn’t know if he’d show up.”
The woman made a face. “Oof, sorry, love. Men can be so insensitive sometimes.”
“With the exception of yours truly,” her partner said. The woman swatted him playfully, and then Javier turned on the TV, so their conversation ended.
—
After the safetyand instructional video, Claire put on the red jumpsuit Javier gave her and thought,This won’t be so bad.
But then they walked out onto the tarmac.
“We’re flying inthat?”
Just like Ocaña Airport was so tiny she wasn’t sure it actually qualified as an airport, the plane looked like an overgrown toy. It was bright yellow with propellers over the wings, a line of seats inside, and an open door that she wasn’t sure ever closed.
Oh god. That’s the hole I’m going to jump out of.
Into the fucking sky.
She stopped walking as the rest of the group proceeded down the tarmac.
A minute later, Javier came jogging back with a dark-haired woman in a yellow jumpsuit. “Claire? This is Esmeralda. She has done thousands of dives, and she will be your partner tonight.”
“We are going to have fun,” Esmeralda said. She was a solid woman, and she linked her arm through Claire’s to coax her toward the plane.
Claire glanced one more time over her shoulder, but Matías hadn’t come.
Maybe hewasstill upset with her. Or had she strayed too far outside of Madrid for his soul? Was the distance from his body in the hospital too great?
But it wasn’tthatfar from the city…
