Padmé thinks the passenger in 26B is gorgeous. Flight attendant AU.
A/N: This one shot is dedicated to the two - or perhaps one? - disrespectful guest reviewers who have nothing better to do than attack my work. It's easy to comment hate anonymously, but I'm the bigger person to actually have put myself out there and publish atories for a ship that is pretty small in comparison to others in the Star Wars fandom. Try harder, sugar pie.❤️
"Again? Really? Padmé, you need to focus." Ahsoka snapped her fingers in front of her friend, surprising the older woman beside her.
"What?" She said crossly.
"You were checking out 26B again."
"No, I wasn't. I was looking at the cabin, not just him."
"Suuuure. I have no doubt you weren't thinking of getting his seat in the upright position." She snickered.
"You're such a child," Padmé said with an eye roll.
"Maybe so, but it's clear you've got it bad for tall, dark and beardy."
Even though her colleague was annoying her, she had to smile at the mention of the man in 26B. "Alright, I do think he's handsome. And it's funny. I usually don't like beards on men, but it really suits him."
"Like you just want to run your fingers through it and smell his aftershave?"
"Psh, no." Inwardly, Padmé cursed. How did she know that was exactly what she'd been thinking?
She really needed to stop being so unprofessional. It was embarrassing. It's not like she had never seen attractive passengers on the plane before, but this man was different. There was something soulful in his eyes. The way he looked at her, smiled so slightly, with a mischievous tilt in the corner of his lips.
Padmé had been a flight attendant for seven years and she'd never felt such an interest towards a passenger before. She knew of several attendants who'd shamelessly hooked up with pilots and passengers when they managed to sneak in some time. That was never her style. She didn't do hook ups or casual sex. If she was going to give such an important part of herself to a man, it'd have to be with someone she loved or liked a lot.
It's funny because she normally never felt sexually attracted to men she had barely even spoken to. Especially passengers whose names she didn't know. She just had this feeling of excitement whenever she looked at 26B. There was something soulful in his eyes that drew her in.
It also helped that he had a sexy English accent and when she introduced herself as one of the flight attendants, he looked at her intently and replied that he was sure he'd enjoy this flight. The man really knew how to stroke her feminine ego. From anyone else, those words would've sounded hollow or creepy, but from him, they sounded very complimentary.
"Well, looks like it's time for our rounds." Ahsoka grabbed a black garbage bag from a compartment at the attendants station. "I'll take care of it since you're in dreamland." She started to move to the section where 26B was, but Padmé caught her arm.
"Let me. It's not good for the senior flight attendant to shirk her job. Why don't you go to the other side and ask if people would like pillows and blankets?"
"To hear is to obey," replied the younger woman with a knowing smile on her face.
Padmé fondly rolled her eyes at her friend and went down the aisle collecting the passengers' trash. Luckily, people were tired - this was a red eye flight - so many of them hadn't taken any snacks at all and instead, were fast asleep. When she reached 26B, she held out the bag. "Excuse me, sir. I'll take your trash if you're finished with it."
He'd been listening to something on his portable CD player, but when she spoke to him, he looked up at her and sent her a dazzling smile. "Oh, hello there."
"Hi. Um, have you got any trash?"
"Certainly." He reached into his pocket and took out an empty wrapper of roasted cashews, placing them in the bag. "I don't suppose you can spare any more of those? I do love cashews and those are some of the best I've ever tasted. They've made this flight very enjoyable for me...besides other things." His voice lowered and his eyes seared into hers.
Hot damn. Padmé fought back a squeak of surprise. He really knew how to flirt! In all her years of being a flight attendant, hell, of being a woman, she hadn't met a man who'd been able to come on to her in such a smooth, confident manner. It was making her a little horny to be honest.
"I'm glad to hear that you've been having a good time on this flight, sir." Her breath came out a bit halted because she was so nervous and excited. "Once I'm finished making my rounds, I'll be back with some more cashews."
"Thank you. I appreciate you very much." His eyes twinkled.
It was a miracle she managed to get away from him without tripping and falling on her face. Ahsoka would've laughed her ass off if she'd seen how much this man affected her colleague and Padmé was grateful that the younger woman wasn't around to watch their interaction.
When she came back to his seat with his nuts, she handed him the bags. "Here you go. I brought you three."
"Three?" He looked at her in surprise. "Is that even allowed?"
"Well, no, but there haven't been many people asking for cashews. They tend to want peanuts and almonds, so we have a lot more of cashews than anything else. I do t think it's a problem if you get a few extra bags, especially since you've been so polite."
"Thank you." He took the bags of nuts from her and his fingers brushed against her knuckles before he drew away. From the gleam in his eye, it was obvious the touch had been intentional. "I suppose you run into a lot of rude people on your flights."
"Not always, but many are inconsiderate. They treat you like you're their personal maid and if you don't have a certain snack or drink, they act like spoiled children." She shrugged. "Any job where you deal with people is going to have its highs and lows, but I love being a flight attendant, so it doesn't bother me too much."
"Why did you decide to be a flight attendant, if you don't mind my asking."
It took her bus surprise that he was engaging in such a personal conversation with her, but his manner was so welcoming that it made her feel easy to speak to him. "Oh, I've always wanted to travel and being a flight attendant makes it possible. I've been working for this airline for seven years and I've been to thirty-two states in America, thirty-five countries in Europe, twenty-six in Asia and seventeen in Africa. I've been to Australia six times and Alaska, twice."
He looked at her in admiration. "That's quite impressive. I've only been to a few countries in Europe, and that was for business so I wasn't able to really do sightseeing. I'm guessing it's different with you."
"Mmhm. A lot of times we were stuck in other countries because of bad weather or we were redirected to another airport that happened to be across another country's border. We even had to land early in other countries because of passengers' medical emergencies."
"Such as?" He looked at her expectantly.
"Burst appendixes, heart attacks, pancreatitis, . I could tell you some crazy stories about the things I've seen while being a flight attendant."
"I'd like that. Maybe after this flight is over, I could treat you to dinner? We should be landing within the next hour, correct?"
She licked her lips and nodded, forcing herself not to blush. "Yes, sir."
A sigh came from his mouth and he leaned towards her. "Please, call me Obi-Wan. If I'm going to take you out to dinner, we should be on a first name basis."
"Alright. My name is Padmé."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." He held out his hand and she shook it, feeling giddy from the strength and warmth of his touch. Tiny tingles of electricity went up her arm and their eyes locked.
Suddenly, she felt naked standing there. Clearing her throat, she withdrew her hand and tried her best to behave nonchalantly. "Do you have a pen and a piece of paper I could borrow?"
"Of course." He opened his suitcase and took out a legal pad and a pen.
She accepted both items and quickly scribbled her cell phone number on the paper. For a brief moment, she thought she was taking an awful chance with this guy. Sure, there was an intense attraction between them, but he could be a suave serial killer.
"If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to take you to a place that's on the public side."
Surprised, the brunette stared down at him. "How did you know I was thinking that?"
"It was all over your face. You paused and I could tell you were thinking hard about this. I don't blame you. One can never be too careful with all of the creeps and perverts out there."
"That's very true. You could be one of them for that matter." She squinted at him.
"Yes. Or I could just be a tired businessman who wants to spend some time getting to know the beautiful and charming flight attendant on his red eye flight."
God, he's good at that! Padmé knew her cheeks were pink now and she moved a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, I'm a great judge of character and so far, I don't get any bad vibes from you. But just know I'm a black belt in Taekwondo."
Obi-Wan placed his hand on his heart. "I am forewarned. Maybe you could show me a few moves."
"Sure. If you try anything funny, you'll see plenty of them." Handing him the legal pad and pen back she sent him a raised eyebrow and a cheeky grin before walking away. She had no idea how she was so comfortable flirting with a complete stranger, but something told her that this man was going to be an important addition to her life.