- Chapter 3
Liz headed to the airport and dried her eyes. She wasn’t exactly sad to be leaving Harrison, it was exciting to be going on the trip, but she was nervous.
Traveling out of the country, working on a major campaign, it was all new and exciting. She felt like the tears were more out of fear than out of sadness. Liz stood watching as the cab driver unloaded her bags.
The airline attendant quickly came over and helped Liz with her things and she followed him to the curb side check in. At the counter was her co-worker Ricardo, who had almost finished his check in.
“I’d love to be a woman and have everyone at my beck and call,” he joked.
“Well, then you’d need to carry these boulders around all the time too.” Liz joked as she grabbed her boobs.
Ricardo and Liz had not worked together formally before, but they always sat near each other during the weekly meeting. Ricardo was a funny man and he liked to joke and keep things fun, Liz felt like she became much more of a jokester when she was around him.
At 5’10 inches, tall Ricardo had the look of a Spanish heartthrob. He was just twenty-nine years old and had been a rock star at their firm. Ricardo had landed this client in Australia and was the one who picked who got to go with him. Several people submitted their portfolios, but he picked Liz.
As they got in line for security Ricardo whispered,
“Hope your boulder holder doesn’t have an underwire.”
Then he disappeared into the security line.
Liz panicked. Yes, her bra had an underwire. Oh no! What would happen? She had never been on an international flight and only on a couple domestic flights. Her mind whirled with thoughts of the TSA officer patting her down or pulling her aside.
She reached under her shirt and unbuckled her bra. Sliding it off of her arms and then pulled it off and put it in the security bin. Liz wasn’t about to get tackled by a TSA agent.
Liz breezed through the security line and then went to grab her things off of the conveyor belt. Ricardo stood there shaking his head. The TSA agent looked at Liz and shook his head also. They both had a grin on their face.
“Liz, I was joking!” Ricardo said as he looked at her bra in the gray bin.
Liz turned every shade of red imaginable. Then she punched Ricardo in the arm.
“Don’t do that! Oh my gosh. I can’t believe you.”
Liz grabbed her things and shoved them all into her purse. Then quickly took off down the walkway toward their gate.
Ricardo caught up to her quickly but still couldn’t stop laughing at how seriously Liz had taken his joke.
“I’m sorry Liz. I didn’t think you would take me seriously.”
“I’ve never flown internationally. I didn’t know what would happen.”
Liz couldn’t help but smile though. It had been pretty funny and she had to admit if it had happened to someone else she would have laughed.
“I’ll buy you a drink. It will help you calm down before we are in a jet filled airplane and flying over water for thirteen hours.”
“Geesh stop trying to freak me out!” Liz said as she stopped right in the middle of the hallway.
“Oh come on. I’m joking. We will be fine.”
“I’ll take you up on that drink though.” Liz smiled.
When it came time to board the plan, Liz felt great. She had finished off two strawberry daiquiris and the thought of flying over the ocean not longer felt horrible. She was actually excited to get into her first class seat and relax.
“Have you ever flown in first class before?” Ricardo asked.
“Yes. But it was a short flight. Nothing like these seats.” Liz said as she played around with her reclining seat.
She let the seat fully recline and turned into a bed and then moved it back into the upright position. She played with the television in front of her and opened and closed all the little compartments around her.
“Can I offer you some champagne?” The stewardess asked Liz.
“Of course, that would be great,” Liz said as she got situated in her seat.
“I think you are going to enjoy this flight more than you thought.” Ricardo laughed.
Ricardo was very comfortable in his first class seat. Liz could tell he was an experienced international traveler. He put his things away and didn’t feel a need to explore every aspect of the seat and its surrounding areas.
“Mmmm yes. I am.” Liz said as the stewardess brought her the champagne.
It was hard for Liz to sleep during the flight because she was so excited. The trip was more than she had hoped for and the free champagne, movies, and snacks made her feel like a teenager.
As most of the other passengers in first class fell asleep, Liz continued to enjoy her overnight party. She ate tons of junk food and watched all the latest movies that she had meant to catch up on but was too busy with work.
When they finally landed in Australia, Liz was smashed drunk and could hardly walk. She hadn’t realized just how much she had been drinking until she got up and tried to walk off the plane.
Luckily Ricardo was there to help her.
He grabbed her things from the plan and wrapped his arm around her waist to support her as they walked.
“I’m so sorry. I think I’m drunk.” Liz slurred as they went up the jet way.
“I think you enjoyed the flight.” Ricardo smiled.
Ricardo gathered his luggage and Liz’s and loaded the pair into a rental car. He drove to the hotel and checked them both in.
He brought Liz up to her room and dropped her off with her things.
“Can you set the alarm on my phone for when I need to be awake and sober?” Liz joked.
Ricardo took her phone and tried figuring out how to set an alarm. As he was working on it, a Skype call came in. He tried to hit ignore but accidently answered the call. He quickly handed the phone to Liz.
Ricardo didn’t see who the person was, but the caller ID had said, “Honey.”
He left Liz and returned to his room.