Chapter 1
After he looked at his watch that indicated past midnight, Benjamin gulped down a double Famous Grouse from which the heavy alcohol scent escaped. Even at this time of night, for a Wednesday evening, the bar was crowded. That was what he liked about the nightlife on Collins Avenue, as well as that in the various countries that he had visited until now in his career, from San Francisco to Tokyo, or from Rio de Janeiro to Monaco. However, he had hoped that this evening would be the start of his new career, but unfortunately for him, the owner with whom he wanted to negotiate for business did not show up.
He has had an extraordinary life for ten years, with constantly changing shifts, irregular schedules that had pushed him to be a night owl. He couldn’t afford to have a stable life with the constant disrupted hours of sleeping, of eating, of working, or even of waking up. If the idea of setting up his own business as an architect was becoming one of the most pressing, unfortunately for him luck would not smile at him.
He got up from the stool, buried his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans. He had a last glance in the room which breathed light smoke, and which vibrated by the deafening sound of dance music, hoping his appointment would be there. Disappointed, he seized his black jacket and left.
He took his phone out of his jacket’s pocket to call the owner who did not show up, but the latter did not pick up. He went to his car. While he opened the door, his phone vibrated while it was still in his hand. His heart pounded heavily when he saw a private number appear on the small screen illuminated by the bright glow.
“He has finally decided to call me,” he said to himself, hoping they would come to a deal and conclude their business.
“Ben? It’s me!” a female voice said.
Benjamin’s hope faded as quick as it had risen.
“Alison? Is that you? Why are you calling me from a private number? Where are you and who are you with?” Benjamin asked bombarding her with questions without even wanting even to know if his sister was fine.
“Firstly, you could ask me how I’m doing, can’t you?”
He responded with a sigh.
At first, he didn’t seem at all to want to know how she was, but she wished he would answer her question. Moreover, he was expecting another call and what he wanted was to be quick with their conversation.
“Ben, is it gonna hurt you to ask me how I am?”
“Fine! How are you, sis?”
“I am very well. Guess what? I’m moving back to Hampton!” Alison announced on the other end of the line.
Despite the distance that separated them, Benjamin could guess that she was skipping like a kangaroo with excitement in Townsville, in her old apartment of one bedroom, a kitchenette and a toilet.
“That’s it? Is that your ultimate decision or are you gonna change your mind again?”
“Yes, it is, you dumb!” She sighed in relief.
“You’re not gonna miss your shabby little apartment?” Benjamin joked.
“Actually, I don’t really want to leave my crummy apartment that I am sharing with a sewer rat to come to Hampton,” Alison answered ironically with a semblance of sadness. “But what is cheering me up is that I am gonna start my own business back in Hampton.”
They definitely craved entrepreneurship in this family!
“I’m happy for you,” Benjamin answered sincerely.
He took a cigarette that he lit before pulling in a good puff. His doctor had told him that he had to start an outdoor activity. So, he started smoking.
“When are you coming?” he asked in expiring deeply.
“That is the reason for my call. I need you to get me a plane ticket,” Alison happily announced without embarrassment. “Since you’re in aviation, I thought… you know.”
“Yes, I know exactly what you thought,” Benjamin replied. “But stupid as you are, you probably forgot that plane tickets at ten percent of the price, you can get them without me.”
“Yes, Ben. But I need a confirmed seat. I don’t want a ten percent where I must hang around for three hours at the airport for them to finally say: sorry, but the flight is overbooked. And I need it today, Ben, because I’m thinking of coming in the next few days. I have many things to do once I get there.”
“A confirmed place? So, a three-hundred-dollar ticket for only a forty-minute flight? You must be kidding me, Alison,” he lectured her.
“You know very well that hanging around at the airport with a thirty-dollar ticket is what might happen to me. Can you at least check the next few flights and let me know if they are overbooked or not. From there, we’ll decide which ticket I need, boss,” Alison said sarcastically.
Benjamin pulled another puff off his cigarette. His sister was right, and he knew it. Besides, that was what had happened to him so many times. He knew that working in aviation guaranteed less expensive tickets, but it did not guarantee arriving at the destination. How many times, when going on holidays, did he have to head back home after having waited for endless hours at the airport?
He sighed then replied:
“Ok, I’ll check the next couple of flights and will call you back.”
Without an “ok” from his sister, he had already hung up the phone.
From his iPhone, he logged onto the employee’s portal and checked the flights. It looked like Alison was lucky. The flights for the next days were booked to only twenty percent. Benjamin booked a ten percent ticket for the following Saturday flight.
“Your ticket is booked,” he told her as soon as Alison had answered his call. “I got you a ticket at two-forty-five in the morning. Be on time and once home, you give me back my thirty bucks.”
“Fine! Last thing. Could I please stay at your place for a few days until I find an apartment?” she asked in a childish and pleasant tone so as not to be reprimanded again.
“Couldn’t you find a studio beforehand knowing you would be moving back to Hampton?” Benjamin asked, taken aback.
“Come on, be nice,” she said in a voice where he could feel her mouth was mounted in an “o” shape.
Benjamin sighed, expiring white smoke.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are beginning our descent to Hampton where the ground temperature is twenty-two degrees Celsius. It’s seven fifteen in the morning if you wish to readjust your watch. For all those who are arriving at their destination, I wish you a good day. And for those who are transiting, have a safe and pleasant flight onwards. With all the team, thank you for having chosen to fly with us. Goodbye!”
As soon as the captain had finished his Passenger Announcement, it was Lake’s turn to make one to the passengers asking them to attach their seat belts, to put their seats in the upright position and turn off their electronic gadgets. Then she put down the handset and took out large plastic bags and distributed them to the crew who took them to begin the collection of blankets in the cabin which was now dived in a soothing light so as not to wake up the passengers abruptly.
To quicken the landing preparation, Lake decided to retrieve the bags in which the headphones were usually kept and put them within the reach of the crew. She opened the overhead lockers of the last row of seats but could not find the bags. She closed it murmuring a curse in between her tightened teeth, hoping that none of the passengers who were seated in the last row would not hear her, which she doubted as they were all busy putting away their bags, queuing to the toilet, which was the usual thing for them right before descent, or asking for a glass of water. She walked through the galley to get to the other side of the cabin when she saw Nicola holding out the famous bags.
“Are these what you are looking for?” she asked her.
Lake smiled at her and took them to then give them to her team when the latter came carrying an overflowing bag of blankets.
“Can you help me put them in the toilet?”
They waited for one passenger to get off the small toilet with a bright yellow light, where toilet paper was lying around. In a jiffy, Lake opened the door and with Nicola’s help, she put two of the bags inside. Then, she locked the toilet.
“So? Your first flight as purser, how was it?” Lake asked her friend, curious to know if after five years working in aviation, this position was still of interest to her.
“Yeah, I like it! You know I have been waiting for this promotion for ages and to tell the truth, it changes from the routine. At least, I don’t have the brain of a vegetable anymore after spending five years serving tea and coffee! Now I have more responsibilities and I like it. This is what I was missing. And when is your promotion?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I might have changed my mind, but I haven’t decided yet. I don’t feel like flying anymore. I’m fed up with spending my life from one country to another.”
Nicola was surprised at this new way of thinking of Lake.
“You have been complaining because you could not apply for a promotion. Now you’re saying you don’t want to travel anymore?”
“I know. But the position of Senior Flight Stewardess is enough for me. Besides, I have recently applied for the position of instructor,” Lake said when she picked up a piece of cheese from the exquisite cheese and exotic and colorful fruits platter that the crew had barely had the time to eat during their two-hour flight.
“Give me a piece of that melon,” Nicola asked whose mouth was watering before Lake put the tray in the dessert trolley.
Lake held the platter to Nicola when she engulfed a piece of the delicious juicy fruit.
“This is succulent! You know, Lake, you had better keep your job and think carefully about what you plan to do before you regret it,” Nicola reminded her.
“I know.”
Lake picked up a rag and carefully wiped the bench of the galley. When her team had picked up the headphones, she asked them to secure the cabin.
“Well, I’m off! Once the cabin is secure, let me know. And make sure that no one from your team takes anything from the plane if he or she doesn’t want to be fired.”
“You’re kidding me,” Lake replied, offended. “No one is gonna do that and you know it. They know the rules of the company. For your first flight as purser, you couldn’t be bitchier.”
“Fine! See you when we land.”
Nicola made her way to the first class, thus crossing the economy class’s aisle, littered with plastic cups and cushions.
Once the galley was cleaned, Lake removed her sleeveless jacket that served as an apron. She took out her suitcase, opened it and slipped in her jacket. From her handbag, she took off her lipstick with which she rehydrated her lips air dried by aircraft conditioning system. She then put on her fuchsia jacket that was matching her skirt. The uniform was revealing slightly the curves of her body.
When they were all supposed to regain their seats for landing, she was approached by... Carl. Now, thirty-six years old, his physique was still not that wonderfully built, manly body. And he still had this same small, rounded belly that his tall stature always tried to hide.
“You still haven’t given me your phone number. Can I invite you for dinner sometimes?”
Lake him smiled but nodded negatively.
“Go back to your seat, Carl. We will land soon,” she told him kindly.
That was what he did, saddened.
He had spent the entire flight trying to seduce her. But she didn’t have the guts to reject his advances, because what she learned in this job was to be polite even when some passengers demanded to be spoon-fed literally.
Perhaps Carl was looking for a stewardess for “a night out”! she thought, amused.
Lake was right away snapped out of her thoughts when Steven let her know that the cabin was ready for landing.
“Thank you, Steven. Get back to your seat now.”
Quickly, Lake scanned the cabin for a last check to make sure everything was in its place; the bags were under the seats, the overhead lockers closed and that the seat belts were fastened properly. Once seated, she gave Nicola a phone call to inform her that the economy class was ready to land.
