“Your wife must be very understanding of your busy travel schedule,” said Dana.
My cheeks reddened but I tried to ignore it, hoping she didn’t notice how uncomfortable I felt. It was never easy having a conversation about my ex, especially with virtual strangers. But, there was something about Dana that made me want to open up.
“My wife and I are no longer together.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
It was Dana’s turn to be embarrassed. She quickly turned her back to me and began busying herself with the heap of clothes that she’d discarded onto the bed.
“It’s okay. It was hard at first, but we are adapting. You know better than anyone what it’s like to have to adapt to less-than-favorable circumstances. Losing your husband and then raising a kid on your own can’t be easy for you, either.”
She nodded, not saying anything. I could tell it wasn’t really what she wanted to be talking about right now, so I didn’t press it. Her focus seemed to be on me. I felt flattered that she seemed so attentive. We sat in silence for a moment, a knowing comradery passing between us.
“And it doesn’t help that you have a boss who almost gets you killed on your first day,” I finally chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. She winced and then tried to force a laugh, letting me know that my bleak attempt at humor hadn’t gone over so well.
We sat and talked for what seemed like hours about everything: our lives before, our lives now, our families, our careers. And I couldn’t keep myself from staring at her pretty mouth while she talked. The way her breasts heaved up and down when she laughed made me start to get excited. She had an amazing laugh.
We both jumped when there came a light knock on the door.
“Hey, it’s Maggie. I have some desert for you.” I opened the door and saw Maggie standing there with two plates of warm apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream that was already starting to melt. I thankfully grabbed the plates and handed one to Dana.
“Thank you,” Dana told Maggie, and I echoed her.
“You kids have fun,” Maggie said, before nodding and leaving us again.
I chuckled at her reference to us as kids. Dana was clearly younger than me but neither of us were kids. I liked Maggie’s youthful spirit though, so in a way, it did feel like we were all younger than we probably were.
It was the best apple pie that I’d ever eaten. Dana said the same thing. It was the perfect ending to the night. I was starting to enjoy myself so much, I’d almost forgotten the circumstances which led up to our being here.
All of a sudden, it dawned on me. This was the first time in a long time that I had had a real conversation with a woman. Usually, I didn’t do this much talking with women who I planned on sleeping with. I thought that the less talking, the better. It would just give them the wrong idea when I wasn’t one for commitment or anything more than a casual hookup.
But, Dana was different. She was interesting. She made me want to know everything about her. And she seemed to be enjoying our conversation, too.
Even though my goal was not to get into Dana’s pants, I had to admit that that would have been nice, too. On top of being interesting, she was incredibly sexy. Every time she brushed her full, blonde hair away from her face, I wanted to reach out and touch her. I could smell her womanly scent fill the room and it was mesmerizing.
But, I reminded myself I couldn’t. She was my employee, and she had just started. Plus, there was something about her that made my cock so fucking hard and my stomach tie itself into knots. I just knew that if I gave in and claimed her, that I would want to own her, possess her, dominate her.
After she’d finished eating, I could tell that she was starting to get sleepy. She climbed into the huge bed and buried herself in the white, fluffy comforter, looking like a caterpillar in a cocoon.
“You know, this place is so beautiful. And romantic. It seems like the perfect place to get away for a couple. Which, apparently, Maggie thinks that we are.”
“Yeah. And I noticed that you didn’t correct her.”
Very true,” was all that I said. Then, I added, “You didn’t correct her, either.”
She smiled at me and we both laughed. I knew we were rather shamelessly flirting, and I liked it. I told myself I’d just tease her a bit. It didn’t have to mean anything.
We shared another silent moment, staring at each other. I wondered if she was having the same thoughts that I was.
“I feel bad about the pilot staying back at the airport. I know that he was already mentally exhausted from the day. He would have appreciated being able to rest in an amazing place like this.”
“And what? We were all going to pile into this bed together?” I joked. “James and me and you?”
She laughed, and I realized she hadn’t even flinched at my suggestion that any of us would lie down in the bed together.
“Well, it certainly is big enough.” She laughed again. Her eyes were so warm and inviting. She was picking up on all my signals and throwing them right back at me.
“Don’t worry about James,” I told her. “He wanted to stay back to make sure that everything got taken care of. I know that this wasn’t his fault, but I think that he feels responsible somehow. He wants to make sure that the plane gets fixed so that we don’t have to wait around and can leave as soon as possible. As soon as the weather gets better. I know it’s almost Christmas and you want to get back to see your son.”
Dana nodded slowly as if she understood.
“I’m sorry if I’m talking your ear off. I know that you must be tired,” she told me. “I just love to talk, especially with someone as interesting and easy to talk to as you are. Honestly, it’s just now dawning on me how little I actually share about my life. I have been so busy working and trying to hold it together or everyone else, I hadn’t realized how much pent up frustration I had been holding in.”
“No worries. I enjoy talking to you, too. And I really don’t share a whole lot about my life, either,” I told her. I couldn’t believe I was being so honest and open with her. But I couldn’t seem to stop myself. “When you are responsible for keeping a large corporation running, the only thing that anyone really cares about is you not letting your personal life get in the way of business. And I’ve gotten really good at doing that.”
Dana nodded again, absentmindedly, staring off into space.
“So, how long have you been a flight attendant?” I asked, wanting to shift the mood.
“About four years now.”
We talked even more about our lives. She opened up and shared with me about what it was like meeting her husband, marrying him, and having their son. I almost felt a twinge of something, seeing the way that her eyes lit up as she described him, remembering the happy details of their lives before tragedy struck.
Was it jealousy?
How very bad and wrong of me to be jealous of her husband for having what death had robbed him of. But I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that this was what I wanted, too.
It made no sense. Ever since my ex left me, I had no plans to fall for anyone. I knew better than that. I knew nothing real could last.
But, the way that Dana described her husband made me almost believe in love. And she had obviously believed in it very much.
The way she spoke of him made one thing really fucking obvious: he was a great man who truly loved and appreciated his wife. He was a real hero, by profession and in the eyes of his doting wife.
Yep, I thought, deciding to name the feeling in hopes that it would go away. What I was feeling was definitely jealousy. At what I could have had, but never really did. At what someone else had had with Dana, when I wished I could.
Fuck.
What had I just admitted to myself?
I couldn’t help but wonder this question, along with others.
I wished I could have her?
What the hell is this woman doing to me?
I didn’t have any answers to my question. All I knew was that she was making me want to do things to her to pass the time while stranded in this cabin that we really shouldn’t do together. And, from the way she was looking at me, I could tell that she wanted to do them too.