Hotel Business

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!

Summary: AU Jackson Rippner was never a manager. He was just an ordinary businessman on a red-eye flight. He became enthralled with a woman from afar. To his delight, he is in the same row as her, only he is in 18E and she is seated in 18G beside a strange man in 18F. He knows something is wrong and when he attempts to intervene, his life quickly spirals out of control.

Chapter One

Jackson Rippner sighed. Even after traveling several times a month for the past five years, he still could not get over the arduous waiting time between arrival and departure from the airport. It seemed that he had been standing in line at the Texas airport's check-in line for Fresh Air Airline for three hours. His newspaper was propped open on his pinstriped arm, yet he was not paying attention to the black words. He had read every printed word well over five times—the disadvantage to being a speed reader.

Why again did I choose a red-eye? Why not a day-time flight? Maybe I would have left hours ago…

A few steps ahead of him, another passenger who was clearly as annoyed as him, if not more, was yelling at a counter attendant. The poor woman appeared to be in shock. When will people learn that anger gets them nowhere quickly?

As he watched; clear blue eyes intently focused upon the people ahead of him in line, Jackson noticed a gorgeous woman. The young woman with curly red-brown hair was defending the exasperated counter attendant from the annoyed passenger. She certainly had guts to go against this man. He smiled at her from afar.

Another man jumped to her defense and succeeded in driving the irate passenger away. She smiled at this man and thanked him. The black-haired man refused to leave her alone. He kept talking to her and she was clearly uncomfortable. His continued presence was disturbing her.

Jackson briefly considered making his way to her side and rescuing her from this over-enthusiastic man, but amazingly enough, she saved herself. Or at least the check-in line did. She was called forward and he left her alone. She seemed gratefully to be able to leave him behind. He could see her trying to discourage him with made-up lies even from his position in line.

He watched her until she disappeared, dragging her carry-on with her. Jackson sighed deeply. If he was lucky, his flight would arrive soon and he could return home to Miami. Well, it would be home soon enough. His office was transferring him to their new headquarters in downtown, located near a high-rise hotel named the Lux Atlantic. Ironically, he was scheduled to stay in the Lux.

Despite having spent the majority of the past five years in various hotels, Jackson was not overly fond of them. He was looking forward to being the manager of the new headquarters of the computer company that he worked for. Walker Electronics was eagerly branching out and it was his turn to receive the cushy desk job.

After tonight, there would be no more traveling. He was retired from travel. All he had to do was make it to Miami and his future was set.

But Fate intervened that evening and brought his world crashing down to his feet.

Lisa Reisert was drained; both physically and mentally. She had been rather close to Grandma Henrietta and her death was a crushing blow to her already fragile world. Had she been a weaker person, a breakdown would have occurred. But, Lisa was no weakling.

She was the full-time manager of the Lux Atlantic Resort in Miami, a swanky hotel located near the waterfront. Her job entailed long hours, painful shoes, and nasty, two-faced customers. She was well-known for her patience with the oddest requests and complaints. Lisa was rather good at her job and threw herself into her work whole-heartedly.

True, she should have taken a time-out a long time ago, but she was unable to leave work. Taking just a few days off to attend the funeral in Texas had derailed her. Lisa found it exceptionally hard to function without a set schedule and was experienced mild sleep problems. She would not be surprised to learn that she was an insomniac, seeing as her father was one.

Her cell phone rang. She yanked it from her dark jacket pocket and answered it with a cheery "Hello?"

"Lisa, is that you?" her father's voice came over the line and she rolled her eyes.

"Who else would it be, dad?" she teased him.

"I thought I'd check in on you. You are coming home tonight, right?"

"Yes, dad. I'm waiting for my flight now. It's the red-eye. I should be home early in the morning."

"Do you need anything? Would you like me to pick you up?" Joe Reisert offered and Lisa smiled. He was a caring, if not over-protective, father. He always had her best interests at heart.

"No, dad, I'm fine. I'm taking a cab home. If I'm lucky my flight will be in early enough that I can run home, change and head in to work."

"Lisa, you don't need to rush back to the hotel. I'm sure that they wouldn't mind you taking an extra day or two off…"

"I'm sorry dad, but they need me. There's been some problems with new computer system and Cynthia's going slightly insane."

"Who's Cynthia again?" Joe wanted to know. Lisa sighed.

"She's my assistant in a way. She's not quite a manager, yet we work rather closely. She's a nice girl, but she can only take so much stress and pressure…"

"Okay, but you had better stop by at some point tomorrow. I'm expecting you. Don't make me hunt you down at work, Leese." She smiled widely. He always knew how to make her laugh.

"Bye, dad. I love you and I'll see you soon. I promise."

"Bye, sweetie."

Lisa slipped her phone back inside her pocket and turned around to scan the bar. She had met a semi-charming man in the check-in line. He had recommended having a drink before the flight. She had been hesitant to join him, but a drink would do her some good. She needed something to take the edge off—the cheap wine from the funeral just was not cutting it anymore.

Grasping the handle of her carry-on, Lisa turned around and spun straight into a startled young man. The drink in his hand spilt; the lid flying off and the coffee it contained spraying them both.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized sincerely, handing her a napkin from his hand. "I didn't see you there."

Lisa looked up from her coffee-covered clothes and into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. "No, it's my fault. I should have been watching my step… please, let me buy you another coffee."

"That's not necessary."

"No, I insist. It's the least I can do."

"Okay," he agreed. "But you might want to change clothes first." He smiled at her and gestured to her wet clothes. He was not much better off—his pinstriped jacket and dress shirt had been splashed as well. Yet, lucky Lisa had born the brunt of the mishap.

"I'll meet you back here in, oh, let's say fifteen minutes?" she suggested, eager to change her clothes, but also to speak with him.

"It's a deal," he agreed and she nodded before they went their separate ways.

Author's Notes:

Okay, I had way too many study halls this week and as a result too much free time on my hands. I started wondering what might have happened if Jackson either refused the job or was not a manager. Would the red-eye have gone differently? How so? And this story suddenly came to mind! It will follow the basic plot of the movie and have some of the same scenes with differences and new scenes. I had to have them meet some how, and re-doing the spill scene seemed to be a good introduction. Though, I sure the manager/assassin waiting for her in the Tex-Mex is less than thrilled. He's not nearly as good at his job as Jackson was, and is therefore rather sloppy. Enjoy and please review!