Faye is quite possibly the strongest woman I’ve ever met. Had I been through a quarter of the shit she has, I’d be in a fuckin’ mental institution. But Faye, she finds positivity in life. The darkest of things she pulls out of, and I admire that. I really do.

“Daddy, can I stay the night here?” Jack asks me running down the hallway.

“Oh, buddy, I don’t think so.”

“Please!” he begs.

“You don’t have any clothes here or your toothbrush, maybe next time.”

He nods listening to me, right as Braxley yells, “The movie is starting.” And he runs off down the hall, leaving me chuckling.

“Sometimes, I wonder what goes through their little minds,” I tell Faye as she yawns next to me as we both are sitting on the couch. I check the time, it’s late, we’ve been here all day, and I have to get going, but part of me doesn’t want to.

“We should go.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, and as we stand I just want to kiss her gorgeous lips, but knowing about her past has me hesitant. I don’t want to push her.

“Thank you for hanging out today and for letting Jack come over,” I tell her, and before she can answer, I pull her into a tight hug and to my surprise, she clings to me. As I hold her back, I battle with my cock to keep it down. It wants her in every way imaginable.

“Thank you for lunch and for just…listening. I hope you don’t think I’m crazy.”

I kiss the top of her hair, smelling her sweetness, so fresh like a summer’s rain. “‘Crazy’ is the last word I would use to describe you. You’re strong, Faye.” Then I let her go, and together we head towards the boys who are both lying on the floor of Braxley’s room, watching their movie. “What are you guys watching’?” Faye asks them.

“The new Lego Movie.”

“Well, we gotta get going, Jack.”

“No, please let me finish the movie.” Which Faye pauses.

“It’s late, buddy. We’ll have another play date here soon.”

“Please, Daddy, I’ve never seen this movie before?” Their little eyebrows push together as they both give us that look begging, and I look at Faye who can’t say no to them either, “Are you boys hungry for dinner?” she asks.

“Yes,” they chant in sync.

“I can order pizza,” I offer, feeling bad that we’ve stayed at her house all day.

“No, you don’t have to do that. You already bought lunch.”

“Please, it’s not a big deal. Brax, what kind of pizza do you like, sport?”

“Pepperoni.”

“All right. Jack, you still want double cheese?”

“Uh huh.”

“What do you like, Faye?”

“Oh, I don’t care. I’m sure two pizzas is enough for the four of us.”

“Just tell me what kind you like!” I order her, and she shakes her head, not giving in.

“Hey, Brax,” I kneel down. “What kind of pizza does your mommy like?”

He gives me a grin showing off his missing front tooth and responds, “She loves vegetables pizza.”

“All right, vegetables pizza it is.”

She rolls her eyes at me, and I pull out my phone to place the order. She un-pauses their movie, and I follow her back into the kitchen. “I can pay,” she offers, and I give her a playful glare from across the room, which she clearly understands is me not accepting her offer.

Going into my text messages, I pull up her address and complete the order online. And as I finish, she passes me another glass of wine. “I shouldn’t,” I tell her, “I’ll have to drive home soon.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, don’t be sorry…ever.”

I follow her into the living room, and she sits back on the couch. I sit next to her, and my eyes follow hers as she gazes out into the water of the pool.

“You okay?” I ask as she’s suddenly become quiet.

“Yeah, I am. So you never told me what you do for a living.”

“Ahh, I didn’t, did I? I’m a pilot.”

“Really, what kind?”

“I work for a commercial airline, but I do contract out and take private flights for extra money from time to time.”

“Wow, so you like fly the plane?”

“Yeah,” I chuckle at the obviousness of her comment wanting to tease her so bad. “I mean, with technology nowadays it’s more like babysitting the plane, but I’m in charge. The takeoffs and landings are all a manual process, and getting from one place to another safely is my job.”

“Do you like it?” she asks me, intrigued, and for once it’s nice to meet someone who is genuinely interested in what I do and not just my looks.

“I do, I love it, there is nothing like the feeling of being in the open sky.” Faye’s glass is almost empty. I get up, grabbing the bottle of wine and topping it off. She smiles at the gesture and says, “Thanks. Is being a pilot sometimes hard on the home life?”

“The long days and traveling can take their toll on relationships. That’s why I started to contract out for private flights. They are shorter and quick money. I’m just at a place in life where I want more time with Jack, and if I meet someone new, I will be around more.”

“I’m sorry you’re going through that,” Faye tells me.

“Don’t be; I’m happier than ever without that kook.”

“But she is the mother of your child.”

“She is, and she has her moments, but even the judge can see Jack is better off with me. He granted me primary custody, which she’s fighting for and stalling the divorce over it.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Pray she’ll make a change, but until then…keep fighting her. I have to do what I believe is best for Jack.” And the truth is, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Char is putting me in a very bad situation with wanting primary custody, and it’s not that I don’t want to compromise and give her joint custody, but she’s got to take care of herself first and learn to be financially responsible. There is no way I will lose Jack to her, or I’ll lose my mind. He’s everything to me.

* * *

“Flight attendants, please prepare for landing,” I announce over the intercom of the plane. We are making our final descent into Dallas after a full day of flying, and my co-pilot, Elliot, says to me, “Captain, we are clear for landing, autopilot is now off.”

“Ten-four. DFW control tower, this is American 1472, we are six thousand and approaching,” I radio in for clearance to land.

“American 1472, you are clear for runway 177, alpha center.”

Slowly I bring the plane down from the sky and find my mind is on Faye. I can’t shake her from my thoughts, no matter what I do. Especially now since we hung out, she’s all I think about.

The plane gets lower and lower, and I hold on to the controls until the wheels smoothly touch the ground. I ignite the brakes, and we slow from two hundred miles per hour to ten. “American 1472, you are clear for gate seven,” the control tower says. “Ten-four, American 1472 will head towards gate seven.”

“Echo Helo, cross 177 to the right,” they direct me, and I ask Elliot “Left, right, clear to cross?”

“Left clear, right clear,” he affirms, and we cross to the other side of the runway, then make our way to gate seven, following the person directing us on the tarmac. As I bring the plane to our final stop, Elliott thanks the passengers for flying. Then I turn my cell phone off airplane mode. Right away, a text comes through from Char, Did you get a chance to review the new custody agreement I sent you?

Oh, I received it, and she is out of her fuckin’ mind if she thinks that I’m going to give her primary custody and she knows why. I don’t even know why she would think it’s an option. Have you found a rehab to help with your shopping problem? I text her back, and I know she won’t respond, because she doesn’t think she has a problem, but she does. Her compulsive shopping led to our divorce. The lies and debt were through the roof, one step from forcing us both into bankruptcy, and the judge saw it too when I turned over our bank statements. I won’t have Jack spending the majority of his time sitting in a dressing room, zoned out on some sort of electronic device while she carts him around like he’s a toy and digs us into a financial hole we can’t get out of. It’s his future too.

Going back into my text messages, I see the one I typed to Faye while we were flying today. I snapped a picture of the sunset which reminded me of one of her paintings. Pressing send, I think to myself how much it sucks what she’s been through. A woman like her deserves the world, not the shitty hand of cards she’s been dealt.