Chapter Thirteen
Fernando and Sophie stood on the edge of the sidewalk outside the airport, watching for a large black SUV. It didn’t take long for one to pull up before them, with the back window rolled down to reveal Anthony. They hopped in quickly and were off to dinner.
Hannah couldn’t wait for dinner talk to find out how the flight had been. “Well?” she inquired anxiously, “How was it?”
“It went better than I expected. Of course, Sophie drugged me before the flight, so I’m not sure how I would do if not using an inhibitor.” Fernando smirked at Sophie’s gasp of irritation.
“I didn’t drug you. I provided a slight sedative prescribed by your doctor to take the edge off your nerves. People who don’t like flying do it all the time,” she stated defensively.
Fernando reached his arm around her and pulled her into his side for a quick hug, kissing the top of her head, “I was kidding. Thank you for thinking of it. At least now we know I can do short domestic flights with sedation. Baby steps, right? ”
He released her, and she sat straight in her seat again, but he left his arm draped along the back of the bench seat.
Hannah and Anthony took notice of the new dynamic. Anthony winked at Hannah and wiggled his eyebrows, making Hannah grin. It looked like Fernando was going to tackle both pacts with this one trip, and they couldn’t be more happy for them.
Dinner was delightful at an upscale restaurant not far from the airport. They had a private table in the corner where they wouldn’t be disturbed. The men discussed business while the women talked about the babies. Hannah, at seven months pregnant, was in the uncomfortable stage of her pregnancy. She confided in Sophie that she had chosen the name Imani for their youngest princess, but the brothers didn’t know yet.
Soon, the ladies excused themselves to visit the restroom. When they finished their business and were washing up and reapplying their lipstick, Hannah asked, eyeing Sophie in the large gilded framed mirror, “Did I notice a familiarity between you and Fernando that hasn’t been there before?”
Sophie chuckled self-consciously, “Oh, that. No. Well, yes.” Turning toward Hannah, she rested her hip against the marble vanity top. “It’s part of his disguise for the trip. Attached men draw less attention, so I’m going to be his fake girlfriend for this trip. Nothing serious is going on, I promise,” she assured.
“Oh, sweetheart, I hope you don’t think I was judging you,” Hannah rushed to add, placing her hand on the other woman’s arm. “We have all noticed how much you care for Fernando. We would be ecstatic if you returned from your European vacation as a couple... a real one. Please don’t think for an instant that any of us would look down on you for being his assistant. That isn’t how this family operates. ”
“Really? Isn’t the secretary falling in love with the boss a little cliché? I don’t want anyone to think that I’m a gold-digger. I do genuinely care for Fernando. He has been good to me. I don’t want to do anything that will mess that up!” Sophie’s eyes glistened with unshed tears as she looked into the sincere face of the woman who loved Fernando as her own.
Hannah wrapped Sophie in a tight embrace, “Never! You are the most kind and caring person. No one who knows you would ever think that about you. Rest assured that thought never crossed any of our minds.” Hannah pulled away to look deep into the eyes of the younger woman. “I know all about how you and Fernando met. He sought you out. You had five wealthy men standing in front of you and never even batted an eyelash at them. That was one of the things that impressed Fernando and the others about you in the first place. I don’t know who suggested this fake dating thing, but I would suggest that you don’t hide your feelings for him. Fernando is a man of integrity. He won’t fire you. He may realize that he wants a woman in his life and that you would be the perfect one to have by his side.”
“Is that what you and Anthony did during your fake marriage?” Sophie asked shyly.
“Oh, that. I didn’t realize our marriage of convenience had become such common knowledge. Anthony didn’t hide his feelings for me. I knew all along that he was in love with me. I was willing to make sacrifices to help him with his brothers, whom I already loved dearly, but I just wasn’t willing to allow myself to fall. When I entered that marriage, I fully intended it to end when Fernando graduated, and the boys were well on their way. Funny how God takes our perfectly laid plans and turns them on their heads. Looking back, I never had a chance of not falling head over heels in love with my husband. I just had to get out of my own way. May I suggest you do the same. ”
Hannah wiped the countertop with the used cloth hand towel before dropping it in the laundry basket under the marble counter, looping her arm through Sophie’s, and making their way back to their table.
Sophie was more aware of Fernando now than she had ever been as possibilities swirled through her mind. She may have been dressed for travel, but when they returned to the table, his eyes were on her. She had never noticed holding his attention like that before. Was this a new development or one she had overlooked all these years?
Several hours later, they were settling into their seats on the international flight to Rome. This plane had little cubbies for individual people with small sliding doors that could be closed for added privacy. There was a divider between the double seats that could be raised or lowered depending on whether you were traveling alone or with a companion. Fernando immediately lowered it. They stowed their bags in their private assigned area and fastened their seatbelts for take-off.
Fernando reached across the center of the seats to grasp Sophie’s hand, which caused a surprised look to register on her face. “It worked the first time,” he said with a soft grin. She returned the smile and squeezed his fingers. He had to admit, he liked holding her hand. It sent little tingles running up his arm. He hadn’t felt that jolt of energy since he was a kid in high school holding the hand of his first girlfriend.
The plane took off and eventually leveled off. It was late. A dinner service was offered on the flight, but they weren’t interested, so they decided to prepare for sleep. Their flight would arrive in Rome at 3:30 pm local time, so they would need to adjust their sleeping patterns, but arriving exhausted didn’t sound like a good plan either.
Sophie went to the restroom to clean up as Fernando explored how the buttons on the remote controlling the seats worked. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that the seats laid flat and the blanket and pillow provided were of high quality.
“Well, what do you think?” Sophie asked when she returned. “Comfortable enough?”
“For me and my inferior height, yes. I can see why Gabriel felt it necessary to buy his own plane, though. His six-foot-five self would be very uncomfortable in these seats. Actually, I imagine all of my brothers feel a little tight flying commercial. I guess I will be a little nicer to them the next time they mention chartered air transportation. What about you? Will you be sufficiently comfortable?”
Sophie had reclined her seat and was covering herself with the provided blanket. “Yes, I imagine I will sleep like a baby. This pillow and blanket are so soft,” she commented, rubbing her face against the golden fibers. “When I ride on airplanes, I usually bring my own blanket and pillow. It’s so weird having one provided for me. These are really nice, though. I have lots of legroom, too. I guess sometimes being shorter is a blessing.”
“I agree with you on that. My brothers have always teased me for staying short, but in certain circumstances, it does work out well.” Turning to face her and propping himself up on an elbow to see her over the center divide, he asked, “So you got to fly as a child?”
“Before my dad left. We had a few vacations where we flew. I had a band thing and got to fly for that trip, too. My family and I just flew on the vacation you sent us on as well. That was a long flight.”
“You didn’t book yourself first-class tickets for that, did you?”
“Of course not!”
“Well, from today on, if you fly for me, you book first class. I took a peek in the back and couldn’t even imagine flying shoulder-to-shoulder like that,” he said with a little shudder that made Sophie laugh.
“You can be so dramatic at times. The flight didn’t bother us. It’s what we know. We were grateful for the flight. It beats a two- or three-day car trip, although those are fun too. You just have less time at your destination, and as we discussed earlier, your chance of disaster on your way is greatly increased. Do you want to go to sleep or watch a movie?”
“A movie sounds nice. They gave us these personal earbuds so we can watch something without disturbing others. That’s very courteous. You know how I hate hearing the videos people are watching on their phones,” he commented, handing her a small plastic package of headphones.
“Oh, I do. Trying to eat lunch with you in public can be quite challenging when there are children or teens around. You spend more time grinding your teeth than chewing your food. It’s quite funny, actually. Okay, action or romcom? I know you aren’t interested in horror or children’s animation.”
“Hey, I can be a good sport with a quality animated flic if my nieces are around. I don’t see myself going to see one on my own. Strikes me as a little creepy.”
“It isn’t creepy! Adults can enjoy animated films as much as children. Some people don’t enjoy the blood and guts or sexual content of most adult movies nowadays, so there isn’t much left to go see if you want to spend some time at the cinema,” Sophie rebutted, scrolling through the movie options. “Ooo, this one says family. Want to try that?”
“Sure, go for it.”
They decided to watch the same screen, so they split the earbud wire, and each took one side. Halfway through the movie, Sophie heard Fernando’s breathing change and looked over to see him fast asleep, his head resting on his bent elbow while the other hand was tucked under his chin. His circulation was no doubt being restricted, but he was sleeping so peacefully she didn’t want to wake him.
Reaching over the divider, she gently removed the earbud from his ear and turned off the movie. She hadn’t really been interested in it but wanted to spend every possible moment with him, so she had tried to think of an excuse to stay up longer. Now she was feeling the exhaustion of the past few days catching up with her and snuggled down into her little cubbyhole bed to sleep. She really hoped she didn’t talk in her sleep tonight. The last thing she needed was for this plane ride to unveil all her secrets before the trip even started.