American Stepbrother
Chapter 1
CHLOE
We were the first ones to board the plane. Already, I was feeling jittery with nerves. My fingers clutched the straps of my rucksack as I followed my mother through the airbridge. The air was stale and smelled of old rubber.
I quickened my pace, eager to get inside the cabin, so I could enjoy all the luxuries first-class flying had to offer me. Usually, my mother and I flew economy, but my soon-to-be stepfather bought us the tickets as an early wedding gift.
“Welcome aboard.” A friendly looking flight assistant nodded in greeting before she guided us to our seats.
The first-class cabin was even better than I imagined. The seats reclined back, turning into full-sized beds. They even had built-in heating!
“Can I get you anything to drink?”
“Do you have champagne?” my mother asked.
I shot her a look. It was only nine o’clock in the morning.
She grinned. “The drinks are complimentary, dear. We might as well take advantage of it.”
“I’m sorry, Ma’am,” the attendant only spoke up when we were finished talking, “but, I am not allowed to serve alcoholic beverages until after the plane has reached a certain altitude. I can, however, get you some sparkling water for the time being.”
“Make that two,” I interjected. “Please.”
She nodded her head before disappearing behind a set of red velvet curtains.
“This is nice...” my mother practically moaned as she reclined into her seat, sinking into the soft, leather cushions. Accidentally, she pressed one of the many buttons on the side of the arm rest, causing the seat to start vibrating. “Oh my, don’t tell me this thing can give me a massage.” She closed her eyes, looking like she was floating on cloud nine.
I smiled to myself, glad that my mother was enjoying herself. Lately, she had been working long days and even longer nights as the company she worked for expanded to adapt to the growing electric car market. I had barely seen her as I finished my last year of secondary school. She almost missed my graduation ceremony, but just when I was nearing the end of my valediction speech, I saw her slip into the auditorium with the biggest bouquet of flowers I had ever seen.
Now, we were both going to enjoy our summer in the United States, where she would marry her boyfriend, and I would finally get to meet my stepbrother… Adam Villee.
He was a mystery to me. All I knew was that he hadn’t gone to university and that he had a habit of getting into trouble. Hopefully, we’d manage to get along…
Trying not to agonize over it, I grabbed War and Peace from my rucksack. The thick tome sat heavily on my lap. In tandem with my biotechnology courses, I had decided to take a course on Russian literature during my first semester at Oxford. Tolstoy had always been one of my preferred authors and I was excited to reread the classic.
***
A few hours into the flight, I closed the book, rubbing the back of my neck in order to alleviate some of the stiffness. My back cracked as I adjusted my posture, rolling my shoulders.
Beside me, my mother was snoring softly, looking like she was enjoying the best sleep of her life.
A nap didn’t sound like a bad idea right about now…
I asked one of the attendants for a blanket.
She quickly returned with a thick fleece that was nothing like the thin, almost cardboard-like pieces of fabric they handed out in economy.
I smiled, settling myself into the seat once I was cocooned in the blanket.
Almost instantly, I fell into a deep, deep slumber.
In my dreams, I was on the Walk of Fame. All the people I expected to be in Hollywood formed the crowd that lined the red carpet.
Lady Gaga.
Jon Bon Jovi.
Howard Stern.
Jimmy Buffett.
Madonna.
Tiger Woods.
Oprah!
The A-list celebrities seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see. They urged me forward.
It was only then that I realized I was wearing a beautiful custom-made gown. The skirt glittered brilliantly with what had to be thousands upon thousands of sequins. Around my midsection was a thick, silken sash dyed in the richest purple I had ever seen. The highlight of the dress, however, was the shoulder strap decorated with large fabric peonies. They looked so lifelike… I could almost smell their sweet scent wafting through the air.
Suddenly, a bright spotlight shone on my person. I shielded my eyes with my arm, wondering what was going on.
“Chloe…” a soft, seductive voice called out my name.
Strong fingers interlaced with mine, pulling me forward.
I stumbled on my high heels, crashing into the mysterious man’s chiseled chest.
“Are you okay?” His voice crept into my skull, turning my mind into mush. “Do you need me to carry you?” he asked, his lips so close to my ear that I could feel his hot breath.
I shivered, finally gathering the courage to look up at him.
To my utter surprise, it was Jake Gyllenhaal!
I gasped, my eyes widening to the size of the moon. I couldn’t believe it. I was actually in Jake’s arms!
He cocked his head to the side, looking at me with those adorable blue eyes of his. “Chloe?”
The way he said my name made me want to melt.
“Y-yes…?” I stuttered, still shaken about the fact that I was in the arms of my celebrity crush.
“Shall we?” He carefully pried me off his body, much to my dismay, before taking my hand in his and guiding me down the red carpet.
Paparazzi flashed countless pictures of us.
It was a dream come true…
“This is your captain speaking…” The suddenness of the intercom system jolted me from my dream. I sat up, a little disoriented. “… and this is just a friendly warning that we are about to land at the JFK airport in New York and that everyone should fasten their seatbelts.”
Right on cue, the overhead lights flashed on. Attendants walked up and down the aisle to make sure everyone was fastened and had their seats in an upright position.
“The current time is 12:03 P.M. The weather is looking nice. A high of 88 degrees Fahrenheit…”
I did a quick calculation in my head. That was about 31 degrees Celsius. I had never quite understood why America never adopted the metric system. It was so much easier…
“Hmm… are we already there?” my mother asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
“Yeah. Seems like you managed to sleep through the whole thing…”
“Oh my!”
“Ma’am, if you could please fasten your seatbelt,” one of the attendants directed my mother.
“Oh, right, right. Sorry.” She quickly buckled herself in, still looking a little wide eyed and bushy tailed. “Well, are you excited?” she asked, turning in my direction.
“Yeah.” I smiled for her benefit, even though my stomach was twisting into knots. “I just hope it’s as nice as I imagine it is.”
“Don’t worry, dear. You’ll love America.”