4. 4
My leg bounced underneath me as we waited in the airport terminal.
We filled two suitcases each, paying the extra fees because all of our luggage was overweight.
Having only ever flown a few times domestically, I wasn’t sure how I’d fare stuck in a plane for almost an entire day.
Iota Green would reimburse the majority of our travel expenses if they hadn’t already outright paid for them, but Elias being Elias had to upgrade our seats from business to first-class suites.
The suites he chose were fully enclosed, and Elias was firm on the idea that he didn’t want strangers watching him sleep on a plane, and of course, the seats lay flat so we could share. His words.
Packing for the flight wasn’t as traumatizing as the last time we packed for a trip.
No cryptic messages to wake us before the sun rose, nothing forcing Elias to shove as much as possible in duffle bags.
He did pack more pairs of cargo pants into a suitcase than I thought one man should own.
Perhaps cargo pants were an unfair descriptor to him, it made him sound dorky.
They were technically cargo pants, but he filled them out well, and he used every pocket. They were tactical.
He brought me to the dark side. I had a few pairs of black work pants, too.
Less pockets, but they were really comfortable, and I eventually stopped wearing jeans or slacks to work.
I was trying to maintain my own semblance of self in our relationship, but everything he did just made so much damn sense.
We couldn’t bring weapons with us, and on the surface that shouldn’t have been a problem, but it still made me uneasy. A few guns and knives would arrive separately that we would collect from the American Embassy.
Elias set his hand on my knee, and I put my foot flat on the floor, unaware until he touched me of how violently I was rattling his seat with my fidgeting.
“Sorry,” I whispered. There were too many people around us, and it wasn’t quiet, but I felt like if I spoke at a normal volume, everyone in the room would turn their heads to look at me.
“Calm down,” he said, rubbing my leg. “You’re going to give me motion sickness. You’re bouncing the entire row of seats.”
Without realizing, I had leaned forward, arms crossed in front of me, and was lightly rocking while my leg tapped away. I leaned back, trying to maintain a more natural position. “I’ve only been on a plane for a few hours before.”
He relaxed in his seat next to me, but kept his hand on my thigh. “It’s not too bad. Food on international flights is pretty good, but the jet lag will suck. Traveling to a different time zone and trying to acclimate is the worst part, but that’s what caffeine is for.”
“I don’t like being trapped. Being stuck with a bunch of strangers might be my worst nightmare,” I said. “What if there is a crying baby somewhere?”
“Then you can borrow my Walkman.”
I’d forgotten about that thing. Elias had an honest-to-god MP3 player.
As a normal person, I wasn’t aware that they still made the damn things, but they were for people who couldn’t access the internet for extended periods of time, or those who refused to upgrade to a smartphone.
Elias had left his cell phone at home, choosing to bring a satellite phone instead.
We were not the same, and I brought my phone. I was going to need to play games and browse the internet to make it through the flight. Hopefully the outpost we would be staying in had wireless internet that I was able to use.
“I really don’t think your Walkman full of old horny music is going to do much for me on a plane,” I said.
“Not all of it is horny,” he said, disappointed. “Most of it is just depressing. Also, because I’m so thoughtful and so caring, there’s stuff you like on there, too.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“Yeah, Cassie. Because I’m the nice one in this relationship. Nice people do nice things.”
I laid my head on his shoulder and smiled.
When we were able to board, I had to triple check my boarding pass. The number on the suite matched my ticket every time, but I still had to look back to Elias for reassurance. He was already in his own, the door wide open, setting his bag in the storage area and settling into his chair.
“This is where we’re sitting?” I asked.
He just nodded, a big grin on his face.
It was ridiculously opulent, and as someone who only recently came into money, I was sweating at the cost. Cans of Diet Coke and bottled water were available to me immediately in the small fridge, and as I dug through the cabinets I saw sheets, blankets, and pillows.
There was a television mounted to the wall, and a screen next to the chair that controlled everything in the suite, including the lighting.
“How much money did we spend on this?” I asked across the aisle, tossing my carry-on to the floor near my seat.
“A lot less than we’ll get paid,” he said, stretching his arms behind his head. “Just enjoy it. I’m sure you wouldn’t be happy if we were out in the open, either.”
“No,” I sighed. “You’re right.”
After the safety announcement and first drink service, Elias was fiddling with the television in his suite, looking for a way to pass the time.
I’d stayed busy playing games on my phone with the in-flight Wi-Fi, but Elias didn’t waste his time like that.
Action movies, apparently, were better for your brain than a puzzle game.
“Psst.”
I turned my head up at the sound, and Elias was gesturing for me to come over. I shook my head no.
“The seatbelt sign is off,” he whispered.
“What could you possibly need from me right now? We’re on a plane,” I said blankly.
“I miss you,” he said.
I glared at him, not yet ready for his antics. “I’m ten feet from you.”
“Fine,” he said. He actually rolled to his side, facing away from me. All I could do was roll my eyes.
The meal service was seamless, the little screen near my chair prompting me to put in my order when appropriate.
It was somewhere between breakfast and lunch, and as I looked at the menu to see waffles with berries, I hit it without thinking.
Elias could worry about hitting his macros, but I was worried about getting my fix of dopamine.
I did wonder how Elias was going to survive living in the Arctic Circle–he couldn’t exactly take his morning runs easily. Even with a coat on, I imagined that dredging through the snow would be annoying, although it would be a good workout. Maybe he’d do it anyway.
When our plates were cleared, two hours after Elias’s initial invitation, he got my attention again, urging me to come join him.
Breakfast had perked me up a little, my sour attitude from waking up early had all but dissipated. He’d flattened his chair and covered it in the sheet, so it was like a twin bed. I didn’t know our chairs could do that. Sleeping wouldn’t be so bad.
“Are you feeling sweet enough to come hang out with me now?” He asked.
Our doors were still open, so we could speak to each other easily.
I stood up, closing the service hatch and the door to my suite and took the few steps across the walkway into his space.
He stood to greet me, closing his own door and hatch until it was like we were alone.
“Maybe,” I said, walking past him to grab a bottle of water.
Elias laid down on his chair-bed and tried to make room for me. He was a big guy and this was essentially a twin bed, but I did want to spend time with him. It was a lot more entertaining to be cramped in his tiny chair than it was to whisper across the aisle.
I hoped there were bigger beds at the outpost.
I laid with my back to him, my head using his arm as a pillow. His other arm came around me. It was the only option we had, unless one of us wanted to sit on the floor. The television droned quietly in the background, another action movie.
“You smell nice,” he said from behind me.
“It’s the same perfume I wear every day. You literally bought this bottle for me.”
“I thought we were going to be nice to each other now.” He kissed the top of my head, and I shifted a bit, getting more comfortable.
“We are,” I sighed. “Thank you for complimenting the bottle of perfume that you bought me that I wear every day.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, satisfied that I gave in, even a little. “You know, I’m looking forward to being able to watch you work.”
“Do you think they’ll let you in the lab? I’m sure they don’t want any information about this virus getting out, even to you.”
“I’m your body guard, don’t I get to hover over you at all times?” He asked.
“I really hope not,” I said. “I don’t like peeing with an audience.”
“Fine,” he said. “I won’t hover that closely, but I am excited to see you in your element. It’s not something that I regularly get the chance to enjoy.”
“What about me putting different liquids into tubes gets you so excited?” I asked. My arm came up to rest on his.
“All of it,” he admitted. “Your lab coat. The look on your face when you’re concentrating, and then the look on your face when you see that I’ve snuck into the room with you.”
“I think you should consider that I get so happy to see you when you show up in the lab because you’re bringing me lunch.
” He’d done it a few times, but not often.
He’d only had a handful of assignments that forced him to leave for an extended period of time, a week or so, and he spent the majority of his time in the field in Virginia.
His work was centered on investigating viruses, the people who made the viruses, and the people who sold the viruses, but when there was a slow period they gave him random security work.