Page 10 of Stranded with the Billionaire
“What?” he asked.
“The closet with our luggage is gone,” Sterling made her way back to Jake. It was only a few feet to walk but difficult with her knee and the angle of the floor. Her jeans, leggings, extra socks and fleecy jacket were a thing of the past. With a violent shiver she looked around. Maybe there was something they could use to keep warm, if she could just find it.
“What about my coat?” Jake asked.
“Gone,” Sterling repeated the word again. It summed the situation up nicely. Nearly everything was gone. She thought about what to do. “I think there were a couple of those silver blankets in the cupboard near the door.”
The wine. All that beautiful wine was gone. So was any food. Sterling grimaced and made her way to the cockpit doorway. She pulled open the cupboards that were there, looking in each to see if there was anything useful.
“Found the flashlight,” Jake called to her as he spotted the item. He nearly groaned as he bent over to pick it up. Slowly straightening, Jake pressed the button. “It even works.”
Considering how dark outside it was, they were going to need it. The question was, did they try to shelter in place until morning, or try to set out on foot as soon as possible? Sterling pulled out the blankets. There were three of the thin silver blankets. If they had something to stick a blanket to the doorway, then they could stay in the cockpit without freezing to death for a short time. It would be better to stay the night here, rather than walking in circles or going the wrong way in the dark.
Or meeting wolves or whatever other creatures were out there. Sterling shuddered and tried not to think about it. She had every intention of getting down the mountain rather than freezing to death on its peak.
Pulling out items and shoving them around, she found a roll of packing tape. Sterling wasn’t sure what it was doing on the plane, but she intended to use it. Thanking God for this small miracle, Sterling limped back inside the cockpit. “Help me with this.”
“With what?” Jake got to his feet, standing behind her.
Handing Jake the tape, Sterling broke open one of the blankets, freeing it from the plastic packaging. “We’re going to tape this to the door to prevent the wind from coming in. That way we can stay the night and not freeze.”
“Were you in girl scouts or something?” Jake asked as he ripped off a piece of tape.
“No. That would probably be useful about right now,” Sterling admitted. “What about you? Boy scouts?”
“Nope. I hated camping,” he said as he taped the blanket to the doorframe.
“That means you went camping. Hopefully you retained something useful that will help us,” she pulled the blanket as tight as she could while he leaned over her, taping it. He was right close to her and Sterling had a moment where it was hard to breath. She blamed his cologne. Men shouldn’t smell so good.
“I learned that I hate snakes, bugs, racoons, deer and all other wildlife and sometimes even my two brothers who excelled at camping,” Jake had a sharp breath as he bent to continue taping the side of the door. “I learned that fingers do not plug holes in the canoe, gravity was not my friend, and that I hate climbing trees almost as much as I hate horses.”
“Who hates horses?” Sterling had to question.
“They bite,” Jake remembered the occasion with a frown. “They also sweep off riders by going under low hanging branches on trees.”
“That doesn’t sound pleasant,” Sterling frowned. His horse obviously hadn’t been trained very well. Her memories of being out in the bush involved bonfires and copious amounts of alcohol as a teenager. Something she was glad she’d stopped doing. It was an idiotic thing. Especially when the guys decided to see who could jump the highest over the bonfire.
Not great times. It was a miracle no one had gotten burned or killed.
“It wasn’t pleasant,” Jake responded curtly. “Nor did it probably teach me any real life skills.”
“What about reading a compass or map?” Sterling asked hopefully. Not that she had a compass, map or even a starting point.
“No,” he grimaced and hugged his ribs as he straightened. “Like I said, nothing useful.”
Finally, they taped the blanket to the floor. Already it felt warmer in the small space. Jake helped Sterling to her feet and she finally had a look at her knee. It was swollen and oozing blood from when she had smashed it against the consol. The first aid kit was on the other side of the cockpit door. Sterling shrugged. It wouldn’t kill her to just leave it for now. She had no intention of going back into the cold until absolutely necessary.
“You’re going to get frostbite in that skirt and those pumps if we have to start walking through the snow,” Jake remarked, looking at her calves.
Sterling pulled her blanket out of the packaging. “I didn’t make up the uniform requirements. If I had, it would feature much more sensible and less sexist clothing.”
“Is it sexist?” Jake enquired.
“Yes,” Sterling stated. “A skirt and pumps? Would a man be wearing those to work as a flight attendant?”
“Not likely. Unless he were in drag,” Jake shrugged. “However, I don’t think women and men should try to dress like each other. It doesn’t really work. We both have roles in society and ways of doing things that are unique. Our uniqueness should be celebrated rather than forcing us to try to be the same. We aren’t the same. We never will be.”
“I’m too tired to get into an argument about that right now,” Sterling sighed.
