Chapter 23
C H A P T E R
CLOTHES PILED ON HONEY’S BED AS SHE TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO WEAR FOR HER DATE WITH NIKOS. She placed the dress against her body, looking at herself in the mirror before she tossed it on the bed and went to find something else. It was hard to find something to wear for an occasion like this.
“Though I don’t approve of you working in the back,” Olivia said while sitting on her bed. “I don’t mind if it’s with Nikos. At least he isn’t a weirdo and is cute.”
“All it takes is for one handsome guy for you to change your mind,” Honey quipped as she picked out another outfit.
“It’s more than that. All Kai does is sing his praises. He’s really his hero and yours.”
Honey rolled her eyes.
“Thanks again for babysitting today at the last minute,” Honey said. “I owe you.”
“It’s fine,” Olivia said, waving her off before she frowned. “But I must admit that it is weird that he wants to do it so early. Don’t things like this usually happen at night?”
Honey glanced at the clock, seeing it was still only around noon.
She could understand why Olivia questioned it, but Honey just shrugged.
It was not as if she knew what was going on in Nikos’s mind, and on top of that, after taking over his uncle’s position, Nikos was busier than he had ever been.
This might have been the only time he had on his schedule for something like this.
“Nikos might not be weird as that guy from the other night, but he’s definitely a sex-craved pervert,” Honey said, slightly annoyed that she would become another notch on his belt, even if she was getting paid for it. At this point, no girl in the club had gone unscathed.
“I like this,” Honey finally said before she went to go put it on.
After getting ready, an hour later, she heard the doorbell ring. She ignored her sister’s look and went to get the door. When Nikos saw her, he flinched, and Honey frowned as he stepped back.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, feeling self-conscious.
“I’m just blinded by your beauty,” Nikos said as he animatedly clutched his heart.
Honey scuffed as she opened the door further, and he stepped inside. As soon as she closed the door, Kai bolted out of his room, racing towards Nikos.
“Nikos!” Kai said, and they did their weird little handshake that they had learned when they were at the amusement park. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here to pick you and your mom up,” Nikos said, and Honey frowned, confused.
“You might want to change into some jeans,” Nikos told her pointedly. “Go get ready, Kai.”
Kai excitedly did as told, but Honey couldn’t because she didn’t understand.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“It’s a secret,” Nikos said, winking before plopping on the couch. Honey sighed, knowing Nikos wouldn’t tell her, so she returned to her room to change into something more comfortable, like jeans.
After they both got dressed, to her surprise, Nikos relieved Olivia of her babysitting duties before they left in Nikos’s car.
Nikos was tight-lipped, so it didn’t matter how much they asked.
He wouldn’t tell them where they were going.
It was an hour-long drive, and Honey nearly dozed off before Nikos pulled up to an area with acres of asphalt and airplanes.
“I’m going to take y’all on a plane ride,” Nikos said as he parked the car.
“Cool! I’ve never been on a plane before,” Kai said as he bounced in his seat.
Honey vaguely remembered Nikos saying he was a pilot, but she hadn’t believed him, and to be honest, even though they were here now, she still didn’t quite believe him. She had thought he was just simply bragging.
They got out of the car and met the man who owned the area. Honey stood next to her son while Nikos spoke to the owner. They were laughing, joking, and at ease, but Honey wasn’t. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to get on a plane ride with Nikos and her son. She wasn’t sure if it was safe.
“You’re ready?” Nikos asked her, and she looked past him and at the plane waiting for them. She wasn’t ready at all.
“I don’t know about this,” Honey said, uncertain.
“Mommy, it looks like fun,” Kai whined as he tugged on her arm.
“It’s fine,” the owner assured her. “Nikos has his license, and he’s really good. Better than good, actually.”
“There’s no need to be afraid,” Nikos told her, grinning. Honey sighed, having a feeling she wouldn’t be able to get out of this, and she guessed she should be able to trust the owner’s words. Saying Nikos was better than good was a big claim.
“Fine,” Honey said as Kai cheered.
They all got on the plane and strapped up properly, according to the instructions.
She watched as Nikos moved with ease, setting everything up as if this were second nature to him.
There were many buttons, and she was overwhelmed by them, but Nikos barely had to look at them to know the right one to turn on.
Before she knew it, they were in the sky, looking down on New York.
Honey’s heart raced as she looked out the window, seeing how small everything under them looked.
She had been on a plane before, but never like this.
Not on a small, private aircraft like this, with just two other people, especially when she knew the person piloting, which made her look at Nikos, stunned.
“I told you I was a pilot,” Nikos said, winking, clearly bemused by her shock.
Honey wished she could say she hadn’t doubted him, but that would be a lie.
She waved it off when he said it before, thinking Nikos was just bragging because he seemed like the type to do that.
But as she watched him shift the gears and hold the wheel to make them swerve to the left, she had to acknowledge that Nikos was a pilot.
“This is so cool!” Kai exclaimed as he pressed his face against the glass. “Mommy, I can see everything!”
“Sit back, Kai,” Honey lightly admonished worriedly. Kai slightly pouted but did as told. She had to admit now that Nikos clearly knew what he was doing. But that didn’t take away from her paranoia. But while she was worried, Nikos was not as he laughed.
“It’s fine,” Nikos said. “I’m the best pilot there ever was. I would never let anything happen to you both.” Kai brightened as he leaned forward to press his face against the window again.
Honey didn’t know whether to roll her eyes at his words or smile at his obvious concern for them. So she settled on doing neither, feeling both reactions seemed overly familiar and revealing.
“What button is this, Nik?” Kai asked, and it wasn’t long before her son rambled about everything on the plane, and as always, Nikos indulged him, answering all of his questions.
Honey bit back a grin as she flew into the sky with them, feeling more at peace than she had ever been.
It was what she needed, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Nikos had done this for her because of what had happened at the club the last time.
A few months ago, she would have thought she was out of her mind for thinking Nikos would do something like that.
But now, she realized that though he wasn’t perfect, Nikos was a kind man and was thoughtful when he needed to be.
They were on the plane for another fifteen minutes before Nikos took them back down. And though Honey had a good time, she was grateful for it. The sky was nice, but she felt much safer with her feet and her son’s feet planted on the ground.
They sat together on a bench outside the building, enjoying some of the snacks the owner brought them. Kai popped animal snacks in his mouth, tossing them up in the air before attempting to catch them with his mouth, while Nikos and herself simply looked up at the sky they had once been in.
“So, you really are a pilot,” Honey acknowledged begrudgingly. When he had said it, Honey thought he was just trying to boast about himself. But after that flight in the sky, Honey could never deny Nikos’s profession again.
Nikos chuckled, and she refrained herself from rolling her eyes. So arrogant.
“I was a pilot in the Air Force in my country,” Nikos said proudly.
“When I was younger, I never thought it was something I would want to do. It wasn’t like it was a dream of mine.
But when I joined after high school, I fell in love with it.
There’s nothing better than being in the sky. It feels like home up there.”
Honey could tell he was telling the truth. Nikos’s eyes were already bright but seemed even brighter while he talked about flying. She had never seen him like this before, and it made her wonder why he was done here with her, in New York, when he could be up there somewhere flying.
Unlike the other men in his uncle’s profession, like his cousin Theo, Nikos didn’t seem to enjoy what he did. Even now, after taking over for his uncle, he didn’t seem to enjoy it.
“Why did you stop?” Honey asked curiously. That question dimmed the light in Nikos’s eyes and almost made her regret asking. She didn’t want to spoil his mood.
“Life,” Nikos stated plainly, and that was all Honey needed to hear because she knew well what ‘life’ meant.
Such a simple word but somehow managed to express various things because ‘life’ had happened to her too.
It had given her a gift in the form of her son, but it had also bestowed her with other troubles.
It was the same answer she would give if someone asked her why she wasn’t a chef.
“I want to be a pilot just like you when I grow up, Nik,” Kai said, and Nikos’s eyes brightened again.
“You can be,” Nikos told him. “I know you will be. Sergeant Pilot Kai Wells. I can see it now. We’ll even fly together one day.”