Page 19 of Shared By the Pilots

It was the next morning, and the two of us were in line at a distillery to buy the special bottles of Mezcal. We had gotten here half an hour before they opened, and there was already a line to purchase the special batch of liquor.

“You know what this means, right?” Dex said.

“What?”

“He has a girlfriend,” Dex replied confidently. “Or he’s engaged. Oh! What if he’s secretly married but hides it from everyone at Gulf Airlines?”

“That… seems unlikely.”

“Why else would he suddenly leave at midnight after getting a phone call?”

“Maybe it was something for work.”

“Gulf Airlines doesn’t make pilots come into work in the middle of the night. Flight shifts are scheduled a month in advance. And even if itwasrelated to work, he wouldn’t need to keep it a secret! Face it, Veronica: it has to be another woman, and he doesn’t want her to find out what you two did last night.”

I thought about Luke. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy to cheat on someone. But of course, it was ridiculous to think so. All foolish women thought that before discovering the truth. And it’s not like I knew Luke very well; we had spent one single night together.

I groaned. “Last night was so much fun. Why did it have to end like that?”

“I’ll take my apology now, please.”

I whirled around to face him. “What apology?”

Dex cleared his throat and spoke in a high-pitched voice. “I’m sorry for doubting you, Dexter. You were right about saying yes to the first three guys who ask me out. You are the wisest power-bottom in the greater Houston area.”

“You still think agreeing to go out with him was a good idea?”

“Yes I do.”

“Even if he has a secret family in Omaha or something?”

He nodded. “And even though the night ended in a less-than-ideal manner, you’re still glad it happened. Admit it.”

The doors up at the front of the distillery opened, and the line began shuffling forward. “It’s possible, potentially, that you are at least partially correct.”

Dex clapped his hands together. “That might be the first time you’ve ever admitted that I was right and you were wrong.”

“There was one other time,” I replied. “When I first moved to town, you told me barbecue was better in Texas than North Carolina.”

Dex made a face. “North Carolina barbecue is vinegar based. I don’t know how you ever liked the stuff. Ugh.”

“One thing Iwasright about was my reason for not dating pilots,” I said. “Now it’s going to be awkward on the return flight to Houston.”

“Only awkward for him,” Dex insisted. “He’s the one who fucked up, not you. Act confident on the flight. Pretend like he’s not even there. Make him sweat.”

There was a four-bottle limit per person, but that’s why I had brought Dex with me. We bought the eight bottles together, packed them in my suitcase with special bubble wrap, then headed back to Miami International. Adam Mandalay, the third member of our crew, was waiting at the gate.

“And how did we enjoy our stay in Miami?” he asked. “Was it a good time, or bad?”

“Somehow, it was both,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Everything was fantastic except the ending. I’ll leave it at that.”

“So like Game of Thrones.”

Dex busted out laughing. “Oh myGod. The final season was so bad!”

---