Mark tried his best to never get show over excitement for anything. However, if there was one thing he could show weakness for, it was his frequent trips to Chicago O'Hare International Airport. While many travelers rued the day they stepped into the flat aerial wormhole, Mark would have partaken in Homer's Odyssey and Iliad if he was promised an opportunity to fly in the far-stretching blue atmosphere, tracing a white marker across the infinite sky. He stood at the edge of the train platform, and he turned around when he heard a Hispanic-laced accent roll into his ears.
"So you'll be back by six. right?" Silvia asked.
"Yeah. I guess everything will be fine, then?"
"Oh, definitely. Me and Iggy will be perfectly safe with each other." Silvia placed her hand on Arthur's back, causing him to jolt up like a small rabbit hopping over a tiny brook.
"Alright. Well, you know my address, so you can just drop him off at six." The steel-gray train jostled forward and extended past Mark for several cars before resting on the elevated white tiled platform. The scent of burning oil wafted over the people on the platform while they waited for the lethargic passengers to squeeze out of the narrow, thin doors like ants that have had their home stepped on by an unwelcome steel-toed boot.
"Alright, I'll see you then." Mark said with his back turned. Silvia shouted her goodbye and waved her hands vigorously. Her and Arthur stared at the lurching train accelerating in speed like a horse flung out of a racetrack starting gates. Silvia smiled to herself and turned around, prompting Arthur to walk next to her. They walked past the graffiti-laden white walls and up the stairs, causing a resounding clank to echo through the buzzing station. Silvia began to jog up the steps when she saw the faded sunlight reflecting off of the walls. She reached the top and took in the rumbling of the car tires softly caressing the pavement underneath, and she turned to see Arthur finally reaching the surface. She waited until he was beside her, and they began to walk down the wide, cracked sidewalks of the city street.
"So, looks like I get a few hours with you for myself." Silvia said as she looked up at Arthur, who wore a hint of red on his cheeks.
"Oh, yes. I know. So, uh, what do you want to do then."
"Well, i would take you to my place, but you probably won't get along with Francis." Arthur rolled his eyes at the mention of the other nation.
"Please! That old frog is embarrassing enough as is. I don't need people to see me around him.
"Since when have you cared about what people think?" Silvia leaned closer to Arthur and brushed her arm on his shoulder.
"I-I don't! I just care what people think about me and him. That stupid fail country would probably accost me nonstop. I feel a little bad for you, to be honest."
"Oh, no. It's not that bad. He's just misunderstood. Can we sit for a sec?"
Arthur agreed and the two found a long, green plastic bench in front of a flashing store display. It had headless mannequins with all of them showing pale blue suit with a purple striped tie. A logo with a curved "OR" was emblazoned on the chest area, and a sign proclaimed a clearance sale of fifty percent off on the price. Silvia stared at the suits and bit her index finger in contemplation before slowly lowering herself on the bench. Arthur payed the display no attention, and he planted himself next to her.
Silvia reached into her pocket and pulled out a school bus yellow lighter. She pulled out from her chocolate bar colored purse a small, white box with a red triangle splitting the top and bottom of the box in half. She flipped open the top and pulled out a nicotine-laden cigarette. She rubbed her thumb on the lighter switch, making it bloom into life. The cigarette tip reached the flame, and Silvia popped the cigarette into her mouth. Then, she closed her eyes and drew for almost five second before releasing. Her shoulders lowered in relaxation, and she held the lit cigarette in her right hand.
"So Iggy, tell me about Mark. What's he like?"
Arthur stared at the calm young adult and looked down at the burning cigarette in her hand. "Well, he..uh...he's quite uptight. I'm trying to find the right words, but he can be quite weird. Like, i was practicing today and he just yanked out the chord. It wasn't like I was playing anything terrible like what you hear a lot. Especially in Britain, sad to say. But he did it anyway. And I couldn't believe that he forced me to sleep with him, either."
"W-what?" Silvia's mouth flung open and her tan face blushed to a barely noticeable metallic red.
"I thought he turned into France for a few seconds. And you know why i had to do it? He didn't want me to go to the other room because there was stuff 'no one should see'." Arthur used his hands to signal quotation marks around his description of the mysterious guest room. "Not to mention those pills he keeps taking. He keeps saying there aspirins, but they don't look like that, do they?" Arthur grasped his breath and slouched onto the windowsill behind him.
"I'm sorry, love. I guess I'm still adjusting to this new environment."
Silvia almost collapsed on Arthur's side from his words. She turned her head and propelled her cigarette towards her mouth and took another deep drag, before exhaling and loosening her muscles. She grinned at the flustered country and put her hand on his hard shoulder.
"It'll be fine. I think this guy just hasn't really done much, lately. He seems really focused getting his license. Did you see that smile he had when he got on the train?"
Silvia jumped to her feet and pushed her palms into the air, stretching her slim fitting jacket and undershirt up as she threw the cigarette onto the street curb. Arthur got up and looked at her before Silvia turned around and faced him.
"How about the three of us go to this club I know tonight. It's not the calmest place, i know. But we need to calm Mark down. Plus, I wouldn't mind seeing some of those moves you have."
Arthur seemed to have not heard the last part when lifted himself off of the lime bench. "Are you sure? We don't want to get in trouble, and he seems like someone that would cause it."
"It'll be fine. This place is pretty upscale. Which is why we need to get you into something a little classier."
"Again! Why is everybody criticizing how I look. This is normal attire in Great Britain." Arthur said while he vented out his annoyance.
"I'm sure it is, but I think a little cosplay would look great on you." Silvia tilted her head to look at the suit in the display.
"Cosplay? Isn't that like for Halloween?"
Silvia grinned like a leprechaun finding gold at the end of a rainbow. "Oh, it's nothing too out of the ordinary. Plus, you would look great in it." She said in a low voice.
Silvia took Arthur's hand and pulled him into the store. They both had to briefly shield their eyes from the reflecting light in the uniformly white interior of the store. After recovering, she pulled Arthur towards a rack of pale blue suits and took one off of the shelves while making a squeaking noise that made Arthur tense. She pulled out the suit and pushed the hesitant Arthur towards the quiet dressing rooms. She yanked open the finished mahogany door and powered Arthur into the dressing room with her.
"Okay, so just put this on and I'll see how it looks."
"I'm sorry, miss. But you need to leave."
"Oh no. It's fine. I'm just...uh, making sure you'll be okay in here. But, I really need to see how it looks."
"I'll show you when I'm done, love. But it takes an expert to look good. So, I'll be out in a minute." Arthur flicked off his black shoes onto the hardwood floor.
"Alright, just let me know when you're ready." Silvia said in a dejected manner.
Arthur had his back turned towards the tall wall next to him, so he wasn't able to see Silvia bury her cell phone into Arthur's vacant shoes. She walked out of the stall and went out into the main display area. She saw a wandering middle-aged African-American wearing a dark blue polo shirt and a name tag. She waved her hands and the man stopped as she approached her.
"Yes ma'am. Anything?"
"I need you to call a number for me." Silvia said as the man adjusted his earpiece.
"Well, ma'am. There's a payphone ou-."
"I'm so sorry. My battery's dead and I don't have any change. I need to hurry to see if my grandfather's okay at the hospital." Silvia raised her eyebrows in worry and fidgeted in front of the portly bald man. Her eyes grew wider and she clasped her hands behind her back as she waited for a response.
"Okay ma'am. Here you go. Make sure you don't leave the store," the employee said.
Silvia squeaked her gratitude and scurried towards the dressing room. She pressed the numbers on the illuminating touch screen faster than a cat leaps after a frightening scare. She lowered the phone's volume, and then she heard the triumphant sound of her phone's generic ringtone erupt from inside the dressing room.
"Arthur," she said in mock concern. "I need my phone. i think it's my grandma."
"Hold on. I'll slide it under."
"There is no under. It goes down to the bottom. Just let me in."
"I-I'll just be a second, Silvia."
"No, i need it now!" Silvia leaned her shoulder on the door and turned the chrome handle. To her surprise, the door opened and she stumbled into the room. She bumped into Arthur and he wrapped his arms around her to absorb the impact of them colliding into the mirrored wall behind Arthur. Silvia bounced off of him and they both rebounded from the impact and stood straight, facing each other.
Silvia's eyes wandered towards the shirtless man in front of her. Her pupils traced the well defined muscles on Arthur's physique. She stared at his firm chest and lowered her gaze towards his lower abdominal muscles. Silvia was frozen as she lusted over Arthur's toned body. While she kept examining his firm build, Arthur's face showed a tinge of read and he cleared his throat. Silvia peered up at Arthur's face and stammered as she slowly walked backwards to the door.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't know it was unlocked. Uh, Yeah. Just keep getting dressed and I'll...be right here!" Silvia said erratically as she slammed the tall door shut and leaned on it.
Silvia stared at the dark grey wall in front of her with her mouth slightly agape. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. She grinned like a madman and sighed in content. She heard a rapt knock on the door, and she jumped away from the door.
"Silvia, you didn't get your phone!"
The streaming wind made a small whistle through the miniscule air openings on the ivory Gulf Stream G-450 jet airplane. The skyscrapers of downtown Chicago were small bumps on the horizon line as the rolling waves crashed on top of another in the watery expanse of Lake Michigan. The yellow marble that is the sun was lowering in fatigue from a long balmy day. The plane cut through the small remnants of a low-floating cloud and flew on the navy blue sky that was turning into the faint purple of twilight.
"We got clearance back," Mark said.
"I'm not deaf. I know what the guy said. Shift it to cruise."
Sitting next to Mark was his instructor, Charlie Burke. He was a modest looking man, with messy, short black hair and a thick, handlebar mustache. His country accent sliced through the sun filled cockpit.
"So, you hungry Mark? There's a couple of crackers here."
"Not really, sir. Just got back from something." Mark unconsciously patted his stomach from the heavy and spicy Thai food almost forced down his throat.
"Oh. I just wanted to know if you wanted anything. Renee's making some fine turkey dinner. Extra gravy, too. Whoo! Smoother than a harmonica around a bonfire on a cold mountain night." Mister Burke cracked a sharp laugh.
"That's great, sir." Mark said.
"How's things in the real world, Mark?" The older man asked in genuine concern.
"Oh, it's fine."
"Still single?"
"Why? Is someone gonna ask me out?"
"Oh, not that I know of, but I just wanted to know something."
Mark looked down at the display in front of him and yawned before flicking a light switch on the control panel. Mark tried to relax his cramped body in the instrument-filled cockpit of the small passenger jet, but his instructor would not allow a moment of peace.
"Whats been going on in your life?" Mister Burke asked.
"Sir, isn't there a law against this? Asking all of this personal stuff on the flight?"
"I'm just caring about one of my student's well being, Mr. Warner. Nothing wrong with that."
Mark waited a few seconds as he took in a long, deep breath and released it like a locomotive slowly pushing out steam "Well, I got a roommate."
"Really? Male?"
"Of course. he's from-wait. what do you mean by that?" Mark contracted his eyebrows and glared at the man sitting next to him.
"How does he look?" Mister Burke asked in rapid succession to his last question.
"Sir, I'm sure your wife is much more attractive than this guy. I can assure you that much." Mark said, attempting to cast aside the conversation like he was swatting away a fly. Mark leaned back in the leather black chair and turned his head towards his flight instructor. Mister Burke looked towards his lap, attempting to organize the right words to say to the young pilot.
"Mark, I'm not gonna sugarcoat this. A lot of people talk about you."
"What do you mean? What's wrong?"
"Well, you know there's a lot of talk about you . You're not exactly the most social person, or friendly. And some people have been whispering about your, uh, mentality."
"People are saying I'm insane," Mark said in a flat voice.
"Well, this happens to everyone. I just want you to know that. When i first went through flight school in Boston, there was a lot of shady stuff going on. It wasn't until I met Renee down at that grimy bar in Washington that I was a hundred percent sure what I was."
"Wait, are saying I'm gay, too?" Mark's voice rose in annoyance.
"No! No, absolutely not," Mister Burke attempted to calm down the high-strung pilot. "It's just, since I first met you a couple years back you've been one of my best pilots. And I just wanna make sure everything is alright with you and this doesn't distract you.
"Trust me. If it was that easy to distract me, I would've been six feet under a long time ago."
"I'm just saying if I were you, I'd just be open-minded and just try new things. Like this roommate guy. It might work out."
"You'd make a terrible me then, sir."
"Not to mention, your test is coming up in a month or so. You have over sixty hours of airtime, and i taught you. So, I won't be too surprised when i see you showing off your license at him. Plus,I wouldn't mind meeting this guy too. Or at least seeing what he looks like." Mister Burke added the last part meekly.
Sir, let's not talk about him or the test, okay. I need to focus so I can land."
The two wallowed in the pool of incessant silence. Mark lowered the throttle and breathed slowly through his mouth. Mister Burke smirked and wiped his handlebar mustache.
"So, where's this guy from?"
Mark hesitated before answering. "He's British."
Mister Burke exploded into a massive coughing attack and guffawed as loud as he could. He covered his mouth as if he was trying to stamp out a burning need to laugh. Mark rolled his eyes and stared at the growing city skyline.