Page 5 of Just Like You
“Just trying to help,” he hissed back. “But I will leave you in peace.”
Good, I thought, as he walked off. A swagger in his step.
The kind of man I couldn’t stand. Weak. Small. Insignificant.A bit like me right nowI thought.
Exactly like me, I realised trying to shuffle in my seat, causing the man next to me to have to move his tray table.
“It’s unfair,” he whined. “He should offer the same to everyone. We’re all being inconvenienced here, being strapped into these seats. Legroom is a thing.”
I whined out a sound that I hope conveyed my disinterest in starting a conversation.
Message received, my fellow passenger stayed silent, as I closed my eyes.
Two hours later, I gave up, since I could no longer feel my feet. Instead, I climbed out of the seat assigned to me, and I stood up outside the toilets, no doubt inconveniencing the crew even more since I was blocking access to their fold-down seats. At least, standing here, I’d managed to get Wi-Fi onto my laptop and was dealing with the array of emails and messages I’d missed.
Meetings for tomorrow. A bill to pay. Apparently, my corporate gym membership was due for automatic renewal, and did I want a free session with Gary-the-personal-trainer? Not in my wildest dreams. I deleted that one with a swift tap of the return key and shuffled to the side to let some overdressed bloke out of the toilets.
Economy travel was for idiots; that much was clear. I didn’t belong here, and I felt as out of place as the plastic glassof water that I grabbed off a passing tray, another of the crew acknowledging me with a fake smile.
I downed it in one, then crushed the plastic in my grip. Something satisfactory to calm the frustration in my veins.
“Would you like a bin for that?” he said. Julian. Jules. Like we were now old friends. I tried to stop myself from rolling my eyes, and he just laughed. He had a nice laugh, one of those sparkling ones where I really had to stop myself from…smiling.
And he was pushing a bin. Like the loser he obviously was. Glorified waitress and all that.
Also, the way he was standing? Hand on his hip?
Gay. So bloody gay, and now I was blushing and…
“Mr Andrieu, we’re landing in a bit, so let me just once again convey…our apologies, and…” He held his hand up to stop my rant. Yes, there was one on the tip of my tongue. “Please contact our customer service centre with your booking reference, and I will put a report in as well to ensure the difference in fare is refunded to your account.”
“A bit late now,” I huffed.
“Indeed,” he agreed. “But hey, I’ve tried? Honestly, I tried. Anything you wanted, I would have given to you.”
He looked tired. As tired as I felt.
“Anything,” I spat out, like it was a question.
“Anything. But you decided to be a grumpy arsehole, so here you are. Still standing down here drinking water when you could have spent the flight in my office sampling the fine champagne of first class.”
He said that in a hissing whisper, with just an edge of…
He was pissed off with me. Unexpected, but…
“And instead?” he continued, “I will leave you to stand here and get whacked with the toilet door. Your choice. Remember that next time you need a favour. We’re not here to piss you off. We’re here to help, and Aurelia didn’t appreciate your tone of voice, nor did Bea or Ahmed. We have all tried to help. That will also go in my report, just so you know.”
“And who’s the arsehole now?” I squealed.
Not smart. Not clever. I could feel something bubbling under the surface. Not anger. Not anymore. Instead I was… Fuck. Double fuck. These were the kind of situations I wasn't good at.
“You could have had anything,” he said sternly.
“Anything? So if I’d asked you to blow me in the loo, you would have?”
Okay. I was both an idiot, and a bastard. And I was not proud of that little outburst. That was the kind of stupidity I usually reserved for after-work drinks with too much testosterone and beer in my blood. Where I did stupid things and got away with it. Here? I was pushed into a corner between a toilet door and a bulkhead. With a small man moving right in. All the way up against my chest. His face, his little face in those glasses.
He was gorgeous when he was angry. Absolutely beautiful. Plump lips and those rosy cheeks. A reddish tinge on his face, to accompany the black in his eyes. They were blue. Really gorgeously blue. And he needed to sleep those dark circles away because…I had them too. I was tired. So bloody tired.
