Flight (3 page)

“
Okay. Goodnight.”

“
Goodnight.”

She twisted the handlebar of the motorcycle and the engine roared to life. With a wave at him, she drove out of the parking lot in front of him.

Charlie grew up in Linwood. Except while she was away at college, she had always lived at home. When she moved back to Linwood after graduation and secured a position at PAL four years ago, her parents surprised her by renovating their stand-alone car garage into an apartment for her. It was perfect for her as she liked the privacy and was still close to her parents. Having lived alone and being independent while she was at school, she enjoyed the freedom. Living in her own little apartment, she didn’t have to worry when she came home late and possibly waking her parents. 

The motorcycle slowed to a crawl as it neared the quiet residential
neighborhood surrounded by a forest to the back, and large green space to either side. Her parents’ house was at the end of the street, backing onto the forest, giving them plenty of privacy.

Charlie
rode quietly through the back lane toward the stand-alone garage. The garage felt more like a cozy little cottage, hidden behind the house and surrounded by trees. She parked her motorcycle inside the shed. The pathway between the main house and garage was well lit.

Inside the garage, it was warm and cozy. The apartment was divided into two main rooms: the living area in the front, and the bedroom in the back. Although there was a kitchenette area where she kept a mini fridge and a coffee maker, she rarely used it. She often had breakfast with her parents before she went to work. On most evenings, she worked late and was either grabbing a sandwich from the cafeteria or from a restaurant along her way home. On the evenings when she was not working late, she went out with friends.

It was similar on weekends. She was either at work or out with friends. Her parents are very social and often go to friends’ for dinner or have friends over. Sunday evenings were usually reserved for family dinners. These family dinners often included friends, both her parents’ friends and her own friends. Her mom’s motto was: the more the merrier; there’s always enough food. And for these last few Sundays, it included Jeff, which her parents were extremely happy to see.

It was nine-thirty when she got in, and she knew her parents went to bed long ago. On weekdays, her parents liked going to bed early. Her dad was an early riser, and he kept the same schedule even though he no longer worked.

She sat down at the small folding table where she set up her laptop. While working, she ate from the cartons of Chinese takeout she picked up on her way home. Tonight’s dinner was mostly vegetables: stir-fried, steamed, and with garlic, all with fried rice. She didn’t realize she had ordered only vegetables. It was something she subconsciously did whenever she was nervous.

But the question was, what did she have to be nervous about? Work was going well. Could it be because Jeff was getting impatient to have sex with her? In her mind, dating a couple of months was too soon to be having sex. She was far from ready.

She relaxed in the shower, closing her eyes as she let the warm water washed over her. Stepping out from the shower, she dressed in a cotton T-shirt and pants pajamas set. While jazz music played in the background, she snuggled in her bed and went back to work on her laptop.

She was finishing up a file when her phone rang.

“What are you doing at home?” A vivacious female voice demanded as soon as Charlie answered the phone.

“
Where would you expect me to be?” Charlie asked, instantly recognizing the voice of her childhood best friend, Mandy.

“
How about in Jeff’s bed?” Mandy giggled,

“
Tempting as that sounds, uh not yet. You know we’ve just started dating, and not even seriously.”

Her friend scoffed.
“The guy’s been crazy about you for a long time. He has met all your family and friends. You two have been going on dates at least a few times a week for two months, and that’s not serious?”

“
I don’t want to rush this, Mandy.”

“
He’s the first guy you’ve dated seriously since Brian. That’s not rushing.”

“
Mmm. Still, I’m not ready to sleep with him.”

“
Don’t you get horny?”

Charlie
laughed. “Mmm, yeah.”

“
Well, then what are you waiting for? If it was me, I would jump into bed with him in a second, if I wasn’t married.”

Charlie
laughed again. “I hope Rob didn’t hear you say that.” She said, referring to Mandy’s husband.

“
No.” Her friend giggled. “He went to check on Megan.”

Charlie
smiled affectionately at the mention of her two year old goddaughter. “And how is the little angel?  I haven’t seen her in almost three weeks.  She must’ve grown a lot since.”

“
Mmm.  I told Rob that if we’re going to be having another baby, it should be a girl.  That way she can wear Megan’s old clothes.  They’re so pretty and Megan really hasn’t worn them that much.  Most of them are still quite new.”

“
You’ve finally got tired of Rob begging and decided to have another baby, humm?”

“
Actually no, not yet.  I want Megan to be a little older first.”  Mandy said.  “Anyway, we’re off topic.”

“
What were we talking about?” Charlie teased her friend.

“
Sex, of course. You probably don’t recognize that word now, it’s been so long.”

“
Mandy!”

“
Well, I worry about your lack of sex life.”

Charlie
laughed. “Let me worry about that. Anyway, if I sleep with Jeff, it kind of makes us official, you know.” Even as she was saying it, she knew it was true.

“
What’s wrong with that? He’s a great guy, not to mention smart and good looking. I’ll bet a lot of women at PAL wants him.”

“
True enough.” Charlie agreed. She had seen the looks Jeff sometimes got from the women at PAL.

“
I thought you really like him.”

“
I do.” Charlie frowned. She was not sure why she still hesitated.

“
So when are you going to put that poor guy out of his misery?” her friend sighed, “Or are you waiting for a marriage proposal first?”

“
Isn’t that how you got me to propose?” Charlie heard Mandy’s husband commenting mock-innocently in the background.

“
Oh, you, jerk!” Mandy was heard muttering to the side, laughter in her voice.  “Just turn over and go to sleep.  This is girl talk; it doesn’t concern you.”

Charlie
laughed softly, listening to their banter. It was hard to get a word in edgewise once Mandy began her animated chatter. Being happily married and a romantic at heart, Mandy couldn’t resist trying to match make for all her single friends. They chatted for another half an hour until she heard Rob on the other end of the receiver complaining about missed sleep.

“
You know, you’re about as romantic as a pig,” Mandy muttered indignantly to her husband.

“
I must say, I would be envious of any pig right now.  He must be getting more sleep than I’m getting.” he was heard teasing.

“
Oh, you!”  Charlie smiled as she heard wrestling noises from the other end.  It sounded like Mandy was rolling about the bed with her husband.

“
Rob, stop it!  I was talking to Charlie.  Stop!  Wait!” Mandy began indignantly, only to end with soft moans of pleasure, “Mmm…don’t stop…oh, Rob,”

“
Tell me,” he demanded huskily.

“
What?”

“
Tell me you’re sorry for comparing me to a pig.”

“
Do you mind if I say goodbye to Charlie first?”

“
By all means.”

Mandy picked up the receiver. 
“Charlie, honey, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“
Bye Charlie,” Robert called into the receiver before turning to his wife and kissing her soundly.  Mandy moaned in pleasure.

Charlie
was laughing softly as she hung up the phone.  But her amusement didn’t last. It was at times like this when she wished she had someone to share those kinds of moments with; an intimacy that could only be shared by lovers. Having been hurt once, Charlie was still reluctant to let Jeff get too close even though she trusted him completely as a friend.

Putting her computer aside, she curled up under the covers, feeling strangely alone.

The small jet touched down in the middle of the long runway, cruising for several hundred yards before coming to a complete stop outside Hangar 3. The ground crew was waiting nearby. And as soon as the engine was off, they were heading toward the jet.

Ryle was assigned to start with the Maintenance department when he arrived at the Linwood plant two weeks ago. Essentially, his duties were with the cleanup crew at Bay 6. He was finishing sweeping the floor when he saw the jet roll
ed in.

It was a sleek and small jet, gleaming in the cold afternoon sunlight.

He didn’t pay attention to it, except for the solo pilot that exited the jet. It was a female pilot. Her dark chestnut brown hair flowing in soft waves down past her shoulders as she walked. She wore the same navy blue overalls that many of the ground floor workers wore, but it didn’t seem to distract from her beauty. He could make out the small waist, slim hips and long legs. She moved with a calm confidence that was extremely sexy to him. Nothing showy or deliberately enticing, and yet it heated his blood nonetheless.

Ryle stopped, held riveted by her beauty. The expression on her face was mesmerizing. She looked happy, like she was on top of the world, as she stepped off the jet. There was pride and accomplishment on her face. Her eyes sparkled. He was too far away to make out their color, but she looked like someone in love; in love with her work; in love with the results of her labor.

For a moment, he wondered if she looked like that when she had an orgasm. Just the thought caused his groin to tighten. Dammit. He was acting like some kind of callow youth. And he didn’t even know her name.

She stood with Mike
Miyasato, the Chief Flight Test Pilot, chatting. Mike was listening intensely to her, nodding and agreeing with whatever she was saying. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, but there was a confidence about her that told him she probably knew a lot about aircrafts. And Ryle found himself wondering who she was.

He hadn’t seen her before. Not in the Bay 6 area, and not around the cafeteria or the gym, the other two places he had been frequenting at the plant. But she definitely knew her way around; as she finished talking with Mike and walked off; she exchanged waves of hello with many of the workers and stopped to talk with several of them.

“Hey,” Jack lightly ribbed Ryle to get his attention when talking didn’t seem to do it.

“
Sorry, what?” Ryle muttered, reluctantly turning away to look at the other guy.

Jack was grinning widely.
“She’s something, huh?”

“
Who is she?” Ryle asked. 

“
Charlie Brison. She and her team have offices above Bay 25.” Jack told her.

Bay 25 was almost at the opposite end of the large complex and Ryle knew exactly where it was located. After all, he drew out the plans about five years ago. The Linwood plant was one of
Risberg & Sullivan’s first projects. 

“
Is she a test pilot?” He asked, remembering how she and Mike were talking for so long.

“
She’s the lead engineer for the team doing one of the components of AIR230’s testing program.”

“
Heh.”

“
And don’t even bother to ask. It’s not going to do you any good. She doesn’t date people she works with.”

“
I don’t work with her.”

“
Nice try. She doesn’t date anyone at PAL, never has, probably never will.”

“
You seem certain.” Ryle said dryly.

“
She’s been working here for fourteen years now, including all the summer jobs she had while she was at college, and she’s never dated anyone here. I think that’s a fair indication.” Jack said, shrugging.

“
Fourteen years? She looked like she just came out of school.”

“
She started working part-time here when she was just a kid. Her dad worked at PAL, and she seemed to have the same talent and skills for it. Anyway, as soon as she was old enough, she signed on for summer jobs and part-time jobs. Doing anything from sweeping decks like you’re doing, to anything they would allow her to do.” Jack said. “She learns fast and over the years, she’s worked her way around the plant. She came back after graduating from college.”

“
She’s not married?”

Jack shrugged again.
“Doesn’t seem like it. She’s always attended the company functions on her own. But she’s always working, so if you ask me, she’s probably married to the job. It’s a shame though.”