Martin loved getting to the airfield early in the morning. Well, not really, but he did enjoy being alone in the Portacabin, safe from any over-enthusiastic Arthurs and snide Douglases. It wasn't his fault that everyone seemed to underestimate him, was it? Maybe it was, but it wasn't for lack of trying. It just seemed that whenever he endeavored to be anything other than an awkward gangly ginger mess of a man, something went terribly wrong. There was a disconnection between his brain and his mouth that was augmented if any female was within fifty feet. These quiet moments were his refuge from the general rubbishness of everyday life. He plopped down in the creaky chair that listed drunkenly behind his desk and settled in to start the paperwork for the day. According to the flight manifests, they were supposed to be shuttling some specialized kitchen equipment to a fancy restaurant in America somewhere, along with a person who could install and explain it. Someone called… Oh no. He thought as his heart sank into his highly polished shoes. Their only passenger was called Lea. A woman. He let his head fall to the desk and groaned at the irony of his life. The door opened and footsteps entered the small office.
"Don't start Douglas. Not today. I know our passenger is a woman and I know you just love to tease me about my horrendous history with women. Can we just leave it so I can maybe make it through one day without embarrassing myself?"
His only answer was silence, but he thought he heard a tiny giggle. A tiny feminine giggle.
"Oh no. Not again." He buried his head deeper into the cradle of his arms and wished fervently to disappear.
"Sorry to walk in unannounced like this. I asked the people in the airport where the offices for MJN were and they pointed me out here. Am I in the right spot? I am Lea by the way- very American and still slightly confused about British pilot's uniforms. You are… the… captain. Right?"
Martin raised his head when she started talking about pilot's uniforms. He hoped beyond hope that she would guess he was the captain but he didn't expect her to get it right so he was surprised when she did. "No, actually I'm the… oh. Yes, I am the captain. Captain Crieff."
She quickly walked across the small room, stopping in front of his desk and drawing his eyes like a magnet. His jaw almost hit the top of his desk. Lea was quite short, even in the low heels she wore. Her light brown hair was cut to shoulder length and corkscrewed into a riot of curls. She had grey eyes and a small pert nose that only seemed to emphasize the generous mouth currently quirked in a conspiratorial smile. Laugh lines fanned out around her eyes even though she couldn't have been more than twenty-five. As he stared, her head cocked to the side and one eyebrow ascended slightly. "Do I have something on my face?" She swiped at her forehead, making her curls swing hypnotically.
"No, you don't have anything on your face. I was just looking at you. I mean, I was admiring your mouth… No, that came out wrong. Because I definitely love your face but not that way. I mean, I don't love your face, obviously, but I was staring. No! I wasn't staring at all. It's just, I would love to have you on the plane. Or, I would love you… to be on the plane with me… or with us. The crew, I mean… Oh god." He trailed off after that train wreck of words, feeling his face flush scarlet to his ears and stared at his hands, twisting nervously in his lap. Her low liquid giggle rang out again just as Douglas burst through the door, halfway through a sentence.
"Hope she isn't in here with Captain Dunderhead. He will probably manage to scare her away with some… Oh. Hello."
Lea turned to face him and Martin dropped his head back down onto his desk with a clunk, absolutely scarlet to the tips of his ears.
"And this must be the self-proclaimed Sky god. Hello, I am…"
"An angel?" Douglas interrupted smoothly.
She gave a snort of laughter. "Not even close. Anyway, as I was saying, my name is Lea. Lovely to meet you, but please do stay over there. The smarm you are currently oozing may ruin my jacket. And it's my favorite."
Douglas seemed taken aback at her immunity to his flattery, but Lea ignored him and rose to her tiptoes to wave at Arthur who was just coming in the door.
Arthur responded as Arthur was wont to. "Hi Lea! I didn't expect you to be here with the stuff! This is just brilliant! Will you be riding along? Please say you will be! You can play word games with Skip and Douglas and charades with me and I can make you tea and it will be absolutely brilliant!"
Lea shooed Douglas out of Arthur's way as he practically tackled her in a hug. "Hi Arthur! Sorry, but I am not flying with you guys today."
Arthur's face fell in disappointment as Carolyn bustled in behind him. "What do you mean you aren't flying today, Lea? Of course you are. Besides, we need you to help Arthur take care of our other passenger."
"Why?" asked Arthur, "Aren't you coming mum?"
"No, Arthur, I am not. I am going to the opera. With Herc."
"Hence the getup." Douglas smirked.
"Shame on you, horrible man. She looks lovely. Entirely appropriate for an evening at the opera. And I guess that I could be persuaded to fly. It's just the bumps and dips that make me nervous."
"Well, if the angel doesn't like bumps, then I had better fly the takeoff then. Isn't that right, Captain Kangaroo?"
Douglas' comment made Martin cringe, but then he experienced an unexpected flash of anger. "Excuse me, Mr. Sky god, but who was it that landed us on one engine after we had a goose strike? I can fly just as well as you can when you aren't mocking me or distracting me. And what do you mean other passenger, Caroline? I have already done the fuel calculations."
Carolyn's eyebrows shot up. "I don't suggest you talk to me like that, Martin. Or has someone else hired you to fly planes? Now shut up the pair of you. We had a last minute booking. Anyway, Douglas will operate out, and Martin back. Martin, you get the flight plan filed and then do the walk-around. Douglas, you work out the load sheet. Arthur, check the food. Actually, Lea, you should probably go along with him. We don't want to repeat the baby chicken incident, do we?"
Lea winked at Martin as she followed Arthur to the plane. "Definitely not."
Douglas sauntered by Martin's desk on his way out the back. "Well, she is quite pretty. And she seemed immune to my considerable charms. Shame. But that does provide you with a much hoped for chance. Don't muck it up."