Unfinished Business, Unresolved Feelings chapter 11
Lee Stetson was sleeping fitfully; his upper body wedged in the corner where his seat met the wall of the plane. His long legs were scrunched against the seat back in front of him. The plane's cabin was dimly lit because it was an overnight flight and most of the passengers were dozing. The flight attendant began to make her rounds to collect the remnants of passengers' snacks as the flight would soon be arriving at its destination. As she rolled her cart down the planes narrow aisle the majority of the dozing passengers began to wake up. When she got to the final row of seats where Lee was sleeping she checked to see if he had anything that she needed to collect and couldn't help wondering why such a handsome man was traveling alone.
Fifteen minutes later the same flight attendant was once again walking up the center aisle of the plane. The pilot had instructed that all passengers should be wearing their seat belts and their seats should be in the upright position. When she got to Lee he was still sleeping with his seat in a reclining position so she tried to wake him by talking to him quietly so that she wouldn't startle him. Her attempt failed so she gently tapped his shoulder and said, "Sir, you need to wake up. We'll be landing soon."
"Mmm. Amanda, I'll get up soon", Lee responded sleepily with his eyes still shut.
He's traveling alone but I knew there had to be someone special in his life. How am I going to wake him without embarrassing him? "Excuse me, sir. You need to get up now", she said loudly while nudging his shoulder more forcefully.
Lee opened his eyes just as the pilot was making an announcement over the public address system. "We are making our final approach to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. The local time is 5:30 AM." Lee nodded at the flight attendant, moved his seat to the upright position and attempted to move his legs in the cramped confines of the coach seat he had purchased. Nobody is going to find me here; not after all the false trails I created. If Smyth or the Secret Service wants me they're just going to have to wait until I'm ready to go back. I know Billy meant well yesterday but a lecture isn't what I need right now. And Amanda. I can't talk to her yet. If I'd let her she probably could have convinced me that I'd made peace with the past by clearing my parents' names. If only it were that simple. Instead of healing an old wound all I succeeded in doing was ripping the scab off. It's as though I've lost my folks all over again because they weren't who I thought they were. Lee was briefly startled by the sensation of the plane's tires touching down on the tarmac. He could hear the passengers around him excitedly discussing their vacation plans as they gathered their luggage. Lee remained seated, his gym bag in his lap, too tired to jostle with the other passengers who were rushing to get off the plane. He hadn't gone to Las Vegas to gamble or see the shows; it was merely the biggest city close to his ultimate destination. Lee had made this cross country trek in hope of finding one person. A few weeks earlier he probably wouldn't have crossed town to see this person. Now he knew that this was the only person he could talk to about his recent discoveries. The crowd of passengers leaving the plane had thinned so Lee wearily rose, slung his gym bag over his shoulder, and trudged toward the exit.
Author's note: I'd like to apologize for posting such a short chapter. This past week several real life obligations took precedence over my writing. I'll do my best to get the next full length chapter completed as quickly as possible. Thanks for your patience!
