10. Olivia #2
Olivia followed him up the steep steps, ducking to enter the plane.
Inside, it was furnished with leather chairs that would have looked more at place in a fancy estate home than in the kind of airplane Olivia was used to.
Leo stowed their bags in an overhead compartment as a young woman in a blue pilot’s uniform stepped out of the cockpit.
Her black hair was tucked back in a bun beneath a neat blue cap, and she had the polished appearance and straight-backed stance of someone who had spent a lot of time in the military.
“You made it, Mr. Barclay,” she said.
“Leo, please,” Leo said. “Yes, I did. And I have a guest. Are we on track for our flight plan?”
“We’re a few minutes behind schedule, but the airport has been very considerate about updating our flight time,” the woman said.
She turned to Olivia. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.
I’m Samantha Peterson, and I’ll be your captain today.
Unfortunately, we don’t have much time for pleasantries, as we’re already running behind, but if you have any questions once we’re in the air, please don’t hesitate to ask.
For now, please take a seat and fasten your seatbelt. ”
“Thanks,” Olivia replied as the polished Samantha Peterson disappeared into the cockpit and shut a small door behind her. She took one of the seats, and Leo slid into the corresponding one across the aisle from her and flashed her a smile.
“Sorry that we don’t have a full-service flight,” he said. “I’d usually have a copilot and two stewards, but this was a last-minute trip.”
“You couldn’t wait to do a little gambling?” Olivia asked. Leo’s blue eyes took on a faraway look.
“Something like that. Anyway, we don’t have hot food options, given the lack of service, but there are drinks and light snacks in the back if you get hungry once we’re in the air.”
Olivia’s stomach rumbled as though it had heard Leo’s suggestion, and she realized that she hadn’t eaten anything that morning.
“I think there are even some packaged sandwiches and coffee,” Leo said. “Plus cookies and chips and that kind of thing.”
“Good to know.” Olivia sat back in her seat as the plane taxied down the runway, picked up speed, and leaped into the air.
She felt the ground drop away more dramatically than she usually would have on a commercial flight, probably because the plane was smaller.
Beneath her, the Nevada desert and the tall, shiny buildings of Las Vegas faded away.
Olivia was still in disbelief about this whole situation.
What had she been thinking, agreeing to go to New York with a stranger — her husband?
What had inspired her to marry him last night?
It couldn’t have just been drunken stupidity.
Some part of her must have seen something in Leo that she didn’t want to let go of.
Maybe that same part of her had agreed to handcuff the two of them together, so that they wouldn’t lose each other in the morning.
Then there were the many questions about Leo himself. Who was he? How was he this wealthy? Had he really invited her back to New York just because he wanted to get to know her better and to sort out the divorce, or was there more to it?
Leo, for his part, was looking at his phone again. Perhaps he was arranging for the rental car to be returned or doing something else the uberwealthy did that Olivia couldn’t fathom.
As if he sensed her gaze on him, Leo looked up. “You seem thoughtful,” he said.
“A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours for me to think about,” Olivia replied.
“If you have questions about me, you can just ask,” Leo said.
Olivia opened her mouth, but for some reason, she didn’t say anything.
Maybe it was because she couldn’t decide which question to ask first. Or maybe some part of her held her back, still trying to figure out the situation before she revealed her hand.
“The same for you, of course,” Olivia said.
“I already know that you like chocolate, don’t like olives, and are a photographer,” Leo said. “That seems like the important stuff.”
Olivia laughed softly. “Maybe.”
“Now, do you want something to eat? We’ve reached our cruising altitude.”
“Yes, please.”
Leo went to the back and returned a few minutes later with a packaged sandwich, a selection of chocolate, chips, and pretzels in small bags, and a cup of steaming coffee.
“You’re a lifesaver.” Olivia wrapped her hands around the cup (which was a real porcelain mug, unlike the paper cups she would have received on a commercial airline).
“Do you want cream and sugar?” Leo asked.
“Please.”
He handed her two sachets of sugar, one white and one brown, and two little plastic cups of cream.
Olivia poured everything into her coffee and took a long, happy sip.
She needed the sugar as much as the caffeine if she was going to make it through the rest of the day without collapsing into exhaustion.
“Thank you.”
“Sure.” Leo raised his own mug in a toast. “Now, I sincerely apologize, but I have a big client meeting this afternoon. Do you mind if I work a little while we fly?”
“Of course not,” Olivia said. “Go right ahead.”
Leo took out his laptop, set it on a foldable table in front of his seat, and began working. Olivia looked around the cabin for something to entertain herself with, and settled on the romance novel she’d packed in her bag. She still had a few hundred pages left.
Olivia did her best to lose herself in a world of pirates and princesses, but she kept stealing glances at Leo. As fantastical as the book seemed, her own life at the moment was almost as difficult to believe. And that kiss had been more romantic than any described in the book.
Olivia had the feeling that her adventure was only beginning. What would happen next, she couldn’t predict — she could only hope that she’d get to know Leo better, and that things would work out in New York.