A/N - hey all this is my first attempt at a story. I'm a thg addict and only everlark does it for me. I came up with this idea while traveling back to the US by plane. Hope you like it. I do have chapter 2 almost ready and will post if this gets any reviews. Please let me know if you like. ;) I'm beta-less for now, but thanks to inmyfavor for giving me her opinion and encouraging me to really only doing this so I can offer myself as beta, per the rules of FF. I'm a much better editor than writer!
If anyone has a suggestion for where you would like to see this story go, I am open to ideas. I have some but would consider others. I love damsel-in-distress, but its hard to work Katniss into those and keep her in character. We'll see how well I do!
Chapter 1
The alerting sound of my alarm reminds me of a prison break, but it's the only one that wakes me this early in the morning. It's 3:30 am and I have to be at the airport, ready for work in one hour. My first flight of the day departs at 5:30 and I'm not usually the best morning person when it comes to people, or mornings, so I need to leave time to grab a venti quad mocha at the airport Starbucks. I'm going to need it today. Not only do I have to deal with crying babies in tight spaces and the occasional male ogler that can't seem to remove his eyes from my rear, but we're getting a crew change in the form of a new co-pilot. I don't deal with change well as it is, but our little crew had become close and now one of us is being replaced. I hope the new guy is at least half as easy going and light hearted as Darius was. We were all sad when he announced a month ago he had put in a request for a route change to be closer to his pregnant wife. We all understood his reason but we were definitely going to miss him.
I spring out of bed, not able to waste a moment since I set my alarm for the last possible second that I could get ready and make it to work on time. I've timed myself exactly to 32 minutes to shower, throw on my uniform, add some mascara and lip gloss and braid my hair while it's still wet.
I grab my keys and overnight bag that I packed last night and left sitting by the front door of my apartment and make my way to my car in the dark of the early morning. It's a 15 minute drive to the airport so I turn on my iPod to my favorite wake-me-up playlist and sigh as I wished I had that coffee in my hand right now. I look at the two curl-edged pictures of my family I keep on the dashboard. One of my parents, Prim and me the year before my dad died, and one of Prim at her high school graduation last year. Those photos remind me why I get up so early every day and spend all my time in the sky, serving and taking care of passengers, keeping my temper in check and collapsing on a hotel bed most nights of the week.
Prim is a freshman in college now and, while she was rewarded with a few scholarships, it's not near enough to pay for all of it. Prim wants to be a pediatrician and I fully support her with everything I have, including my paycheck. Being a flight attendant isn't the highest paying job, but it beats working at the local bar where my mouth gets me into all kinds of trouble when guys who are too drunk to know when to say when begin to test my patience. What little of it I have anyway.
I don't really appreciate being stared at like a piece of meat so I rarely dress the part of the sexy bartender, baring too much cleavage, midriff and upper thigh, much like the waitresses do. Therefore, my tips aren't quite as good as they could be, but I'm not about to sell myself out for a little extra money. I do have some self respect and I plan on keeping it.
Even though I didn't hate the job, I was glad to leave it behind for something with more of a future and slightly more respectable than pouring shots and repeating what was on draft every 2 minutes. Not to mention the opportunity to travel outside of my hometown, which I had never gone beyond, had my interest piqued. So when my long time friend, Gale Hawthorne, offered me a position after one of his flight attendants gave her notice I decided to take it after a little prodding from Prim, convincing me it would be a great opportunity to see and try new things and it would make her happy.
Gale worked for Panem United Airlines as the department manager for service attendants. It was really thoughtful of him to offer this job to me considering I hadn't applied for it and there were plenty of applications from people who were more qualified than me. I've been grateful for the opportunity since it has allowed me to go places and meet a handful of really great people that I can call friends. I've never really had any of those, since I'm not usually good with relationships, and for the first time in my life I wish I had known all those years what I was missing out on. Not that I had any time to have friends, with my father having died when I was twelve and my mother so incapacitated with grief that I had to be the one to raise my sister. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to be in the popular circle in high school, going to dances and parties, even maybe having a boyfriend. Most likely it would mean my father would still be alive and I would've had a mother to talk to about all the things a girl needs to be reassured about growing up. Instead, when I was 18, I finally had my mother admitted to a home where she could be taken care of and I could focus solely on getting Prim through high school and on to college.
I bring my thoughts back to reality before I can travel too far down that depressive path as I pull into the airport's employee parking lot. I know all too well what I will find at the end of it and today is not the day I can entertain those thoughts. There will be too many people making demands on me and its best if I keep my head clear.
As I walk to the terminal I feel a chill as a breeze blows and reminds me my hair is still damp from my shower. I am greeted by my friend and co-worker, the other attendant in our crew, Madge. She's beautiful and being dressed in our uniform does way more for her curves than it does for my slender frame. Madge is not toned, but her curves come in all the right places, and the dark red pencil skirt and fitted button up blazer accent it all the more. She is a morning person and her chipper smile and greeting both annoys me and puts me at ease.
"Good morning , Kat!" She says grinning ear to ear.
"Morning, Madge." I say with a little more enthusiasm than I feel.
"Are you ready to meet the new guy?"
"I guess. I just wish Darius was still here. What if the new guy is weird and awkward?" I say as we make our way down the terminal hall to our gate.
"I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides, they stay bolted in the cockpit while we're in the main cabin. Even if it is uncomfortable we only have to see him a few minutes before and after the flight. Don't worry so much."
"You're right. I guess I just don't deal with change all that well."
"Yes, we all know." She says with a slight roll of her eyes. I guess I'm an open book. We're almost to the door of the plane when I remember something.
"Oh crap!" I whisper as I slap my flattened palm to my head. I had forgotten to stop and grab my venti coffee.
"I'll be right back. I forgot my morning juice! You want anything?" I say, looking at her over my shoulder as I begin walking back up the bridge toward the terminal. She shakes her head and I'm about to turn the corner when I run into something warm and solid. I turn my face forward to see what obstacle has me reeling backwards in my black pumps when a hand reaches out to steady me with a grip that is both firm and gentle.
"Careful there." Says the most beautiful man I have ever seen, with a voice so enticing I feel my legs melting like butter. His bright blue eyes peek at me from under his pilots cap, and I can just make out a few blonde curls trying to escape from it over his forehead. He stares at me intently, with the most adorable crooked smile on his face.
I hear him clear his throat and introduce himself, but for the life of me I can't focus on anything other than those eyes so I don't actually hear his name. I've never seen a more intensely beautiful shade and I swear they need to create a new name for it from which all other shades of blue will be subject.
I must look like an idiot staring at him for so long without speaking, my mouth open slightly in the awe that I feel for him.
"Is everything okay?" I hear him say as I finally snap out of my trance and try to find my voice.
"Umm...yeah. I'm sorry. I... I wasn't expecting you."
"Who exactly were you expecting?" He says with a slight smile, showing me a glimpse of his perfectly beautiful white teeth. I love them. I want to run my tongue over every last one of them.
He notices me staring at his mouth, still with mine parted and gaping. He reaches over to my chin and pushes it upward, closing said gap. Crap. I've been caught and called out on it. He knows I'm attracted. His smile becomes wider and I feel so flustered and mortified by my lack of brain function that I spin on my heel and take off toward the terminal to get my coffee. Maybe by the time I get back he'll be locked in the cockpit and I won't have to see him again. Well, at least until I've had some time to recover from whatever idiotic behavior I've found myself in. I turn once, looking back, before I leave the jet bridge and see him staring after me, still smiling, holding onto the handle of his rolling overnight case from the same spot where I ran into him. He gives a small wave and turns to walk onto the plane.
I make my way quickly down to Starbucks and order my venti mocha, not needing the extra four shots of caffeine as I find my heart is already racing from my run in with the new crew member, whose tantalizing eyes look like the bluest sky after the darkest rain. I need to pull it together so I have some chance of redeeming my ignorant first impression later when I'm sure we will run into each other again.
