Emily

"The captain has activated the fasten seat-belts lights...would all passengers return to their seats immediately. We are about to experience some turbulence. Please also close all overhead lockers and secure loose baggage"

Fuck, I thought...I hate turbulence. Especially considering where we were. Thousands of miles from land, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Its all Katie's fault...as usual. Getting married to that Aussie Rules footballer with the ten megawatt smile and the intelligence of a retarded Allosaurus is one thing...getting married in Western Australia, and expecting us all to fly over here is quite another. Bang went my savings for my gap year, and bang goes any chance I had of pulling Lizzie Poole, the girl I met just before the wedding was announced. We'd been out a couple of times, but just as part of a crowd. The sly glances and lowered eyelashes had bleeped my beginners gaydar strongly, but I had competition within my student group for her affections. And Freddie McClair definitely wasn't gonna play fair and wait for me to get back before making his move. I know Lizzie is bi...and Freddie was definitely gonna work hard to make his cock the one that gets crunched. Fucker.

I sighed and pulled my seat upright, pushing the tray flat against the seat in front and turning the fastener. My seat belt was already on...I never take it off while we're in the air, unless I'm going to the loo. I glanced around, but no one was rushing to obey the instructions. Typical. Good old Emily, always doing what teacher says. I could hear Katie's mocking laughter in my head as I checked the belt for the tenth time since we took off.

Just then a voice came from behind me, a voice I recognised from earlier in the flight. Shit...its her. The sexy blonde stewardess from boarding. She'd taken my boarding card and torn it in two, before looking up to give me the normal emotionless smile and seat directions. But then our eyes locked. Christ on a bike...clear blue eyes, icy blue, with that dark ring round the iris which should be made illegal. I stared, she stared, and it was only when the fat businessman behind me pushed his bag into my arse that the spell was broken.

"Uhh..Seat 64c...right at the back Miss...have a good flight" she said.

I chanced one last look before tearing my eyes away from hers. Jesus she was pretty...and very sexy in that pale blue skirt, white shirt and black stockings...not that I noticed much, of course. I saw a faint blush on those creamy cheeks before realising I was staring again. Fuck, I hoped she was on my end of the plane. It would be just my luck if she wasn't.

But my luck held. Sadly, I hardly saw her for the first three hours. They worked in pairs, and my side of the plane got the sour faced brunette with excess facial hair. I did get another sidelong look from sexy, but that was it. I was guessing she was a couple of years older than me, slim but curvy (Oh Emily, when are you going to leave your pervy adolescence?) Perfect really. But who am I kidding. I'm going back to grey old Bristol...she's a trolley dolly on B A. ...we're not exactly going to bump into each other again on Saturday night, are we?

"Would you mind?" she smiled, as I turned to look at her "The captain says it might get rough for a few minutes...tropical storm or something. I should be at the other end of the aircraft, but you have an empty seat there?"

Did I mind?...did I fuck!

I blushed then...never been one to hide emotions well, especially when its from sexy blondes with killer eyes.

"No problem" I said "You can hold my hand when it gets rough"

Jesus, did I just say that, I thought feverishly? she'll think I'm either a total mong, or worse, some sort of serial groper. But she just smiled shyly back, and I understood with a rush of unexpected warmth, that she was flirting too. Keep calm Emily, I told myself...don't fuck this up,..you could become a member of the mile high club here...and then winced at my own stupidity. Yeah, right..she's bound to want to rumble with me in a cramped plane toilet...not.

But after we got chatting...well, I did most of the chatting. Mainly because I always talk a lot when I'm nervous...when her bare arm was resting against mine, and the electricity which was discharging there was on the verge of setting my hair alight. I had no idea if she was feeling it too, but I was having very inappropriate thoughts about what colour her underwear was, and if you could fit two people in the toilet 3 feet behind my seat.

We swapped life stories. I moaned about my sisters leopard print fetish (once, memorably, Katie had flourished a pack of animal print condoms in my face...fucking hell, anyone who needs the stiff dick inside them to coordinate with their handbag is a sick woman...) And Naomi...for that was her name, laughed in all the right places, and persisted in rubbing that smooth arm against mine.

I don't know where I got the courage from...normally, a girl has to wiggle her tongue at me in that disgusting way Cook used to at school simulating cunnilingus, for me to notice she was available. The worlds least perceptive lesbian, me. But from somewhere deep inside, I braced and asked the question I was dreading the answer to. I fancied this Naomi rotten, we'd probably never see each other again, but I had to try, yeah...?

"Err..."I started unpromisingly "I really never do anything like this...but I'm gonna confess something, right off. I fancy you something rotten.. I don't suppose...?" I nodded in the direction of the empty loo's behind us.

She stared at me for a long moment, not a flicker of emotion in those cerulean eyes, and I thought I'd blown my chances. Fucking stupid Emily, I chided myself...always misreading the signals. Probably has a girlfriend at every stop...certainly gorgeous enough...

Then she smiled, and the lurch in my stomach made me shudder. Those eyes and that smile...definitely illegal in at least 25 states in America...

"Well...I never do this either...I barely get out of second gear on a night flight like this...but I can't fault your logic...Emily?"

I nodded. Yep, Emily Fitch...that's me, unsatisfied lesbian of Bristol. Guilty as charged.

Naomi reached over and settled her warm palm on the back of my hand. The kilowatt level went up exponentially, and my heart pounded crazily.

"The lights go out in 15 more minutes...then I'm due a break of an hour...I'll just go up front and clear it with the head stew"

She started to get up, but paused as I leaned back to let her pass.

"For the record, Miss Fitch..." she smirked "I really fancy you too"...and winked.

Then she leaned forward, giving me two extra treats, one visual, the other tactile. Her lips brushed mine slowly and I actually moaned at the brief contact. As she pulled back, I got a full on glimpse inside the neckline of her white shirt...cream underwear then, holding in the soft swell of two perfect breasts. I swear I had a mini then...my stomach clenched, and my legs snapped together.

Her smile told me she knew exactly the effect she had had on me. I blushed, and as she pushed past my knees, I reached out and ran my fingers down from her waist, over her perfect round bum...and squeezed. The muffled hiss that she let out made me feel a bit better about my lack of control. Someone elses motor was running too.

Luckily the plane was half empty, and at least three rows in front of me were vacant. The guy sleeping in the window seat across the aisle wouldn't be any the wiser, but I still looked around carefully after she'd gone...making sure our little bout of contact sport had been unobserved.

The next 15 minutes were sheer torture. I got up and went to the rear toilets anyway, checking they were clean and also changing into a skirt instead of my jeans. I know that was a bit presumptuous of me...but I needed to change my knickers anyway...for some reason, the ones I had on had become unaccountably damp...

Eventually, after a bit of shuddering and descending crazy lift movements, the plane steadied again and the lights gradually dimmed. I suppose there were about 50 passengers on board, but 90% of them were up front, or in First Class, so I virtually had this end of the plane to myself. When Naomi came back down the central aisle, she did a nominal check of the seats either side, but I think it was just for the benefit of her fellow attendants up front. When she got two rows from me, she grinned and nodded in the direction of the toilets. My legs shook slightly as I stood up, but before she had reached me I was already making for the door. I opened it, thanking whatever God was looking down on me for the lack of other passengers. As soon as I got inside and turned, she was with me. She locked the door nimbly from behind her... I had a momentary twinge of unease as to how many times she had performed that little party trick, but I had no time for any more doubts.

"Jesus...I've been wanting to do this ever since I ripped your boarding pass" she growled, and closed the gap between us. " Do you have any fucking idea how much I want to kiss you?"

I didn't...but I soon found out. Her lips were soft but demanding. We just...fitted..if that's not too stupid a way of putting it. As soon as her warm tongue touched my lips, I moaned and opened my mouth. Suddenly buttons were popping and hands were under skirts. I had a second to register shock that she'd disposed of her knickers altogether before my fingers found the place she obviously wanted them to be. It wasn't romantic, and it wasn't leisurely. The wait for this had obviously turned us both into needy women... We kissed frantically for what seemed like hours, but was more like seconds and used our fingers on each other, hard and greedy. She came first, but I was just seconds behind. I've never got off that quickly, even drunk in a pub toilet, but she seemed to know exactly what buttons to press.

We stood like that after we'd come, heads on each others shoulders, lungs trying to replenish the oxygen we had used up. Her body was warm and trembling against mine. I realised she had been as blown away as me about what had just happened. I almost never went in for random toilet shags...it just wasn't me. And its not as if the two vodkas I'd drunk earlier had made me lose my wits. It was her...Naomi, who'd befuddled me. Surprisingly enough, I didn't get the expected feeling of remorse or regret. It wasn't that at all. I felt a bit sad...now that we'd done the deed, but mainly because I knew this was it...a one off, never to be repeated. We both moved our heads at the same time, facing each other.

Her face was guarded, but I could see other emotions in those pale eyes. It was a shock to realise they mirrored my own feelings.

"Say something" she said, and smiled shyly.

"I wish this wasn't...that we weren't..." I whispered, knowing my voice was going to break at the end. I didn't want this to be it.

"I know..." she whispered "I know..."

I kissed her then. The first time I had done that. Both other times, she had instigated it.

Her mouth opened and I relaxed into it. If this truly was the only time I was going to have her in my arms, I wanted to be able to remember more than just a frantic shag against an airline vanity unit.. This time she moaned, and something intangible passed between us. Not love...that would be stupid...we hardly knew each other...but something bigger and stronger than lust. The kiss went on and on. I didn't want to stop. I knew when I did, it would all be over. I would go back to my seat...she would go back to being cabin crew, and we would part at the same door we met at. A shy smile, regret in both our eyes, then I would be walking down the steps towards my old life, leaving her behind.

We did stop, of course...oxygen deficit ensured that, but it was as if neither of us could bear to be the first one to pull away.

"Naomi?" I said breathlessly

"Don't speak" she whispered, trying to recapture my lips "Don't...it will mean its over...and I don't want..."

I stopped her saying it by kissing her again. It worked, but we both knew it was only delaying the inevitable. Finally we pulled apart. She kissed me again, but this was a goodbye kiss, and the twist I felt in my stomach obviously showed in my eyes.

""I wish..." she started and I blinked a small tear away.

"Yeah...me too" I said sadly.

She sighed deeply and started to re button her top and straighten her skirt. I did the same. We didn't look at each other while we made ourselves presentable, which felt like a betrayal all of its own. We must have looked like adulterers, dressing after a furtive shag in some seedy hotel. It was a dismal way to end something pure...something good.

Just then, the seat belt lights went on over the door and the plane lurched violently sideways. Naomi was thrown against the sink, and I heard her hiss in pain. I was just about to make a crack about knowing when to be worried about your safety when the crew look terrified, but one glance at her face froze the joke in my throat.

"Fucking hell" she winced.."That was..."

That was the last thing either of us said for quite a while. The plane flashed bright blue, showing the aluminum frame of the aircraft through the plastic walls. I knew that meant we had been struck by lightning. What I didn't know was a whole lot more terrifying.

The plane lurched again, this time downwards, and I grabbed for the door instinctively.

"NO!" Naomi shouted, wrapping her arms around me and bundling us both to the floor of the cubicle. The planes engines started to scream, and I felt my stomach lurch as we lost altitude at an alarming rate. I could hear screams and crashing luggage from outside, and understood why Naomi had stopped me running out. The screams got louder as another lightning strike illuminated the plane in violet and blue. We were going down almost at a 45 degree angle and I knew that was terrifyingly wrong. Big aircraft aren't meant for violent maneuvers, and thats exactly what this one was doing.

We levelled out after a long minutes, but the flashes and crashing thunder increased until it was continuous. Whatever we had flown into was no ordinary storm. I stared at Naomi with frightened eyes, but all I got in return was her own. We clung to each other tightly. They say your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die. They lie...all I could think, over and over was how typical this was. I meet someone special, and inevitably...we die horribly together.

Another flash of lightning, another violent downwards lurch and I could hear things breaking and shattering outside. An engine squealed violently, then went deathly quiet...we lurched in the opposite direction...then it happened the other side. Suddenly there were no engine noises at all. Strangely that was more terrifying than the shrieking jets.

I heard desperate screams and the sound of wind barreling through the cabin outside. More frightened screams...then just a whistling noise...the cubicle got very cold instantly. I knew without being told that we had a breach in the body of the cabin. Aircraft aren't meant to fly with holes in them. And they definitely don't do well with both engines gone. I cried out in terror and the arms round me tightened like a vice. Both of us were scared shitless, but only one of us was thinking. I would have just blindly rushed out into the cabin at the first sign of disaster and probably would have already been spiraling down into the cold blue water of the Indian Ocean, dead as Dillinger.

The vibration got worse, then the plane tilted up at the front. I guessed the pilots were trying to glide the aircraft in. Into what, I had no idea. Do planes float...was there land below?...How fast were we still going? Jumbled words and questions bounced around in my head as the plane carried on quickly descending. Suddenly we slowed, and I heard the flaps groaning as they lowered. Like when you came into land at an airport...but we were hundreds of miles out to sea, surely?

Then the vibration was joined by a deep groaning in the fuselage, like the plane was howling in agony. Several huge bangs came from up front and then we shot upwards so hard, we had to put our hands up to stop our heads bashing against the plastic ceiling. Then we were thrown back down so hard my backside was the only thing that stopped me breaking my back. I screamed in pain, and felt Naomi grab on to me. It fucking hurt so much, I started crying, but just at that moment there was a tearing, grinding noise outside and the whole cubicle spun round, throwing us about like we were in a washing machine. Naomi lost her grip on me and my head collided with hers. Everything went black...

I woke up with my head singing like I had the worlds worst hangover. I was frankly surprised I'd woken up at all. Gradually I took in my surroundings. The cubicle was on its side, so the sink and vanity unit were perched above my head with water dripping from the bowl. It was dark and cold...I moved my head and then wished I hadn't. Pain shot through my temple and when I winced, I could feel dried blood tighten my skin.

"Naomi...?" I croaked "Naomi...?"

I heard a dull groan from below me and realised I was laying on her. She groaned again, and I fumbled for a handhold before struggling to take my weight off her legs.

"Are you OK?" I said stupidly. How the fuck would she know...she sounded like she'd just come round too.

"S'OK" she mumbled "Fucking legs hurt...I think my ankle is twisted"

It felt like the cubicle was resting on its side on something solid. Although I could hear the sea outside...like a rolling thunder, but there was no water inside our little escape capsule, apart from the drip from the suspended sink.

"Can you stand?" I said, my voice echoing strangely in the dark.

"Yeah...think so" she answered, then hissed in pain as she stumbled to her feet, balancing her weight against me.

"I think we need to see where we are babe" I said slowly, wondering when Naomi had become my babe...

Between us, we wrenched the flimsy door open and light flooded in. Wherever we were, it was dawn. We climbed out of the confined space and stood staring in total amazement at the scene out there...