Because I'm a Cumberbabe who loves Cabin Pressure and wishes Martin could get a girlfriend. Sigh... HE'S GETTING A HAPPY ENDING FOR ONCE!
Will become progressively fluffy as series progresses. :)
1st in series of 4.
Grabbing my iPod, I turned up the volume of the current song while I tried for the umpteenth time to straighten my wavy brown hair. After all, this was a huge day for me; my first day in training as a flight attendant. True, it wasn't for a major airline as I had hoped, but it was an airline and for that I was grateful. I'd be spending the next month on an airline that my cousin Arthur was a flight attendant for, MJN Air. Dad, bless his heart, had called in a favor with great aunt Caroline and after much 'discussion,' (as he had put it) she agreed to let Arthur (god forbid) train me in the ways of the cabin steward.
Arthur had put it that way. Not me.
Letting out a sigh, I finally put the straightener down. This was a losing battle so I may as well deal with it. Straightening my skirt one last time, I looked myself over in the mirror and let out another sigh. If only mum could have been here for this... She would have been so proud to see me taking this first move in her footsteps. She's been gone for almost 4 years now but I still miss her terribly. Reaching into my jewelry box, I pulled out a small cloth bag and removed the pin that she had left for me; a pair of golden wings that she had worn when she was a flight attendant for Air England. Fastening it to my uniform collar, I smiled as it glittered in the light. Even though she couldn't be here in person, it pleased me to know that a part of her still would be.
Standing in the airfield, I swallowed hard as I stood in front of Gerti and got my first good look at her. Certainly not what I was expecting; I wasn't even sure if she could make it off the ground. But there was still some kind of 'rustic charm' about it.
In every sense of the word...
I was still early for the flight to Dublin and Aunt Caroline wouldn't be here for another half hour. 'Perfect opportunity to check out the inside.' I thought to myself as I hurried up the steps.
Which wasn't much better than the outside... It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Who would have thought a plane could have only16 seats? Setting down my bag in the galley, I walked down the aisle; filling imaginary orders and "Yes miss, I'd be glad to get you another bag of cashews." while motioning to the different exits just like mom had always done. Looking around, I smiled. This was it. My first step as a flight attendant.
"Well mum, we finally made it." I said to myself as I reached for my pin...only to find that it was no longer there.
"Oh no...oh god no..." I said out loud as I started frantically looking on the floor. I remembered having it when I came in the plane. Surely it was still here. After a thorough search of the galley proved futile, my next thought was that it had possibly slipped under one of the seats. Since no one was around, I got down on my hands and knees, neglecting how ridiculous I probably looked crawling on the floor of the plane... But I didn't care; I was going to find it if it was the last thing I did. Going through the aisles though, the further I went, the more I worried that it was gone for good.
"Please no..." I half-sobbed as I looked down the fifth empty aisle in a row. Still no pin... But I couldn't give up yet. I started to move to the next aisle, only to be stopped suddenly as my head came into contact with someone else's, knocking both of us backwards. Looking up to see who I had collided with, my brown eyes widened as they connected with a bright pair of blue-green eyes, belonging to a rather attractive young man with a mess of ginger red hair.
"I...I'm so sorry." I stammered as he rubbed the sore spot on his head while I rubbed mine as well, realizing that my cheeks had gone hot from the blush.
"No it's my fault." the young man in uniform smirked. "Nice shot though. What are you doing on the floor anyway?"
"My pin...my mother's pin. I can't...I can't find it." I sniffed. "It has a pair of wings on it; the one she wore from when she was a flight attendant. I can't lose that..." I broke off as a let out a sob.
"Don't cry." he said softly as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping the tears from my face. "Here, let me help you look."
The warm smile on the young man's freckled face made a smile grow on mine. I had never been that comfortable around men before, (except cousin Arthur, but that didn't count...) but he was something different; for the first time since losing the pin, I was completely relaxed. With a hiccup, I wiped away the last of the tears.
"Thanks. I'm Chloe."
"I'm Ca...Crieff. Martin Crieff."
"Pleasure to meet you Martin."
"Likewise." he grinned as I quickly avoided his gaze, not wanting him to see my cheeks turn a deeper shade of red. "Wait. You said you're name was... "
"Chloe. Chloe Price."
"So you're the one Caroline was talking about."
I swallowed. "Guilty as charged... Hopefully it was all good?"
"Oh yes." he replied. "At least the few sentences she mentioned. Arthur told us more but his description was mainly that you were..."
"Brilliant?" I offered.
He smiled. "Exactly."
"Yeah, he's has that response for pretty much everything."
"True. But I'd say he was pretty accurate this time." He said as he looked at me; our eyes connecting for the briefest second before we both turned away embarrassed.
"So you've always wanted to be a flight attendant?" he asked quickly as he turned to look down the next row.
"Oh yes. Ever since I was little. You see, my dad was a pilot for a while and my mum was a flight attendant for 12 years. I was actually born on a plane." Then I realized what I had said. "Not intentionally! It just sort of happened that way..."
Dear god... I can't even believe I mentioned that story. Everyone who's ever heard it has thought I was weird for even mentioning it... I didn't even want to see his reaction. But to my surprise, he smiled and said, "So I guess flying's in your blood then?"
Instant relief that he wasn't weirded out. "You could say that." I smiled. "And you?"
"Same here. I mean, I wasn't born on a plane, but I've wanted to be a pilot ever since I was 6."
"And before that?"
"An airplane." he answered quickly before giving me a hesitant look.
I chuckled in amusement, which made his smile widen. "They say it's one of the best things to be."
"True. So are you excited for your first trip to Dublin?"
"Oh yeah. I know we won't have a lot of time there, but I'd really like to..."
"Ah ha! I've got it!" Martin cried triumphantly, making me jump in surprise as he held up the golden wings of my mother's pin. "Must have gotten kicked under..."
But the rest of his sentence was lost as in the relief of having the pin back, I had wrapped my arms around him in gratitude.
"Thank you Martin! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me." My reaction seemed to surprise him; for a moment he seemed frozen to the spot, but I felt him let out a shuddered breath as his arms slowly wrapped around me, holding me tight. By that point, I managed to remember myself and pulled away quickly.
"I'm so sorry. I forgot myself for a..."
"No no..." he grinned as his cheeks flushed bright pink. "It's quite alright." Both of us getting to our feet, he motioned to my collar. "May I?"
Smiling wider, I nodded as he fastened the golden pin to my collar with the utmost care, grinning as he made sure it was straight.
"There. Now it's perfect."
"So...we're heading to Dublin...right?" I said quickly, desperate to break the silence.
"R...right...Dublin." he stammered. "Not too long of a flight. You've ever been to Ireland?"
"No." I replied. "But I've always wanted to. I've heard it's lovely."
"It is. Actually right outside the airport, there's a rather nice little pub."
"Ah."
"And we do have some spare time between flights."
"I see." I smiled, getting the idea of where he was going with this. I guess it made him nervous because his talking picked up at quite a considerable rate.
"So...do you...I mean, you don't have to...i-if you don't want..." he stuttered. "But do you...that is...do you think you'd want to...?"
"I'd love to." I replied, finishing his sentence for him.
"R-really?" he breathed, surprised.
"Of course. Sounds like fun."
"Great. I can't wait."
It was at this point that the sound of a deep voice clearing their throat caught my attention. Turning around, I could see Aunt Caroline watching with a raised eyebrow, an older man who's eyebrow was even higher and Arthur grinning so wide it looked like he was about to explode.
"Chloe!" Arthur yelled excitedly as he ran to me and wrapped me in a bear hug. Feeling my feet leave the ground, I let out a squeal as I squeezed him tighter. Leave it to Arthur to put a smile on my face. "It's good to see you Arthur." I smiled as I hugged him again and said my greetings to Aunt Caroline, giving her a quick squeeze before turning to the older gentleman standing next to her. "And you must be..."
"This is Douglas Richardson." Aunt Caroline finished as Douglas shook my hand with a firm grip. "He's the..."
"Captain. Right?" I asked.
Caroline gave the slightest smile to Martin's wince. Not the first to think that and certainly not the last.
"No actually. I'm the first officer. That man's the Captain." Douglas replied, pointing behind me...at Martin.
I turned in surprise, trying not to let my face show it but surely it did.
"You mean...you're the Captain?" I smirked.
"It's not funny!" he said defensively.
"No, it's not that." I smiled, looking down. "It's just...you're the captain and you just spent the last ten minutes helping me find a pin that couldn't have been worth more than a fiver..." I crossed my arms as I looked up at him. "That might be one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me. Thank you."
"Oh. Well...you're welcome."
Noticing the glances between the two of us, there was no denying to Douglas and Caroline what was going on.
"Right. Well now that the introductions are out of the way," Caroline finally said after that long silence. "We really must get going. Come along Chloe."
Nodding, I was just about to follow her when Martin quickly grabbed my hand.
"So...we're still on for Dublin?"
"Absolutely." I smiled in agreement before turning to head to the galley. From behind me I could hear Douglas chuckle as he tried to change it to a cough.
"Not a bad catch there Martin." he said, followed by a rather loud "Shush!" from Martin as they went their way to the flight deck. I smiled to myself as followed Arthur and Aunt Caroline to the galley. This job was going to be, as Arthur would say...
'Brilliant.'
-The End-