“Now breathe! Deep breaths, in-out-in-out.”
“Oh, this is absurd. How many more times is she going to do this.”
Throwing my friend, for want of a better word, my best Anne Robinson scowl, I turn back to the extremely nervous one gulping for air in front of me.
“It’s ok, Jenny. There’s nothing to worry about. You do know it’s the safest form of travel, don’t you?”
She takes a deep breath and looks at me with gratitude swimming in her baby blue eyes.
“Thanks, Becca. I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I let it get to me.”
I smile and give her a hug as Rachel looks at us with a worried expression.
“Do you think she’ll be ok? I mean, it’s a long flight. What if she really freaks out and tries to open the door? I’ve heard these things happen all the time.”
Jo rolls her eyes and huffs.
“For goodness’ sake, all of you. Pull yourself together, Jenny, this is getting way out of hand. You’re stronger than this and I’m beginning to feel a panic attack of my own coming on at the thought of a week with you lot. I mean, it’s not as if my life isn’t in chaos at the moment and this is all I need.”
Sighing heavily, I smile at Jenny reassuringly.
“Take as long as you need. There’s no point in working yourself up. We’ve got plenty of time before take-off. Maybe you should just sit quietly for a minute and gather yourself together.”
Jo snorts beside me.
“Oh yes, take all the time you need. After all, it’s not as if the passengers aren’t going to arrive any minute. The sight of their fearless crew is really going to instil confidence in them. For god’s sake, Jenny, pull yourself together and remember your training.”
My heart sinks as Jenny’s eyes fill up again and I glare over at Jo. She just raises her eyes.
“What? I tell it how it is. There’s no point in pandering to her. This has been getting worse ever since her mum died and she needs to snap out of it.”
“Jo!”
She shrugs.
“Just saying. Anyway, Rachel swap with Jenny and we’ll keep her out of sight in the galley. You’ll have to take her position. This is all I need, a crew member afraid of flying and no Captain. This is not getting off to a good start.”
Jenny looks at her with a stricken expression and my patience starts to wear thin. Taking her hand, I smile softly.
“Come on, Jenny, lets’ go and make ourselves busy. It will take your mind off it. We’ll leave Jo to go and boss the rest of them around. You’ll be fine, trust me.”
Jenny sniffs and smiles gratefully as Jo looks at us angrily.
“This is all I need. One Captain down and four hundred passengers about to descend on us; they are probably drunk already and singing, ‘Loco in Acapulco’ at the top of their voices. To cap it all, Jenny is having a meltdown and I’m in my own private emotional hell.”
I smile, but any sympathy I have for her is fading fast. I know Jo is having major problems, but the priority is Jenny. She has just lost her mum, and it’s hit her hard. She never moved out, and it was just the two of them for most of her life. She was always timid and insecure and now she is hanging by a thread. The fear of flying started after the funeral. She was always a nervous person but never this bad. Now she fears her own shadow.
This trip was meant to bring her out of herself and bring some light to her now dark life. It’s not starting well.
Then it gets a whole lot worse as Jo hisses angrily.
“Oh, for god’s sake this can’t be happening. What the hell is he doing here?”
We look up and my heart sinks as I see the Captain entering the cabin sheepishly. Great, it just gets better and better.
He smiles at us nervously and disappears quickly into the cockpit where his First Officer is carrying out the pre-flight checks. Jo looks at us with a look of pure and deadly, murderous intent.
“Well, if he thinks I’m going anywhere with him, then he’s got another thing coming. He’s done this on purpose, you mark my words.”
I reach out and pull her back before she marches in there and lets rip.
“Calm down, Jo. It will be fine. I expect he was all they had.”
Jo glares at me but I note the mist in her eyes. I feel bad for her. Pete is—was, her boyfriend. They have just had a major bust up and was another reason to come on this trip. She needed to get away and so we engineered this trip for the four of us. One week’s stopover in Acapulco. Fun city, full of tequila shots and endless days sunbathing. Just what we all need—to leave our inhibitions behind and let ourselves go for once. It’s not often we all get rostered on a trip together and this took some engineering. If Pete is joining us, then it’s going to be one hell of a bumpy ride.
Rachel sighs heavily.
“This just gets better and better. Now, all we need is a bunch of unruly passengers, a medical emergency and to run out of gin on the first drinks run. If anyone wants me, I’ll be drowning my sorrows in First Class.”
She walks away and Jenny stares after her sadly.
“I’m sorry, guys. I’ll try to pull myself together. Becca’s right, I just need to keep busy to take my mind off it.”
“Ladies, ladies, stop your gossiping and let’s rock-and-roll. I just spoke to dreamy, sex on legs, handling guy and he told me the wheelchairs are on their way.”
We look up and see Marcus, one of the Stewards, heading towards us. Jo looks at me and shakes her head.
“Whatever, I don’t have time for this. Come on everyone, get to your positions, we’ve got a flight to operate.”
As we head towards our positions my heart sinks, as Jo smiles in a slightly maniacal, mass murderer, serial killer kind of way and says darkly, “He’s going to wish he never came.”
~*~*~*~*~