Chapter 3
Maria idly flipped the pages of her Cosmo as she watched a flight attendant push the drink cart down the aisle. Miniature bottles of gin, vodka, and rum clinked together maddeningly, the tingles whetting her appetite as her nerves bundled tighter together. Sighing as she tossed the magazine onto her serving table, she resorted to sounding out an unknown beat with her fingernails while she waited.
In the seat next to her, Billy shifted and she froze.
It would not do to wake him up.
Entwining her fingers together, she left five red crescents against the back of each hand as she silenced herself.
"May I offer you a beverage?"
The voice was soft, pleasant but Maria heard only relief and waved a ten dollar bill in the woman's face.
"Gin and Tonic, Budweiser."
Frowning as she saw the flight attendant accept the bill haughtily, Maria relented somewhat and forced a smile onto her face. "I've been waiting for that since last night, always tastes better on the way home."
The other woman smiled in return, popping the top on a fresh can of Tonic Water as she prepared the drinks. "You were delayed yesterday?"
"Yeah, I guess a lot of people were."
"Mm-hmm, quite an inconvenience."
"Oh yes," Maria said quickly, reaching to accept her drink as she pondered the woman's words. "Actually, I guess it wasn't so bad," she added as she took the opened beer can. "Gave me time to… figure out a few things."
Maria smiled as she sat back in her seat, raising the icy gin to her lips slowly.
"Sounds like a night in a hotel was just what you needed."
She nearly choked as the flight attendant passed her by.
Turning to ensure that her husband was still sleeping soundly against the window, Maria lifted the two drinks she had just purchased and rose against the lowered tray. Slipping out as the tray dropped back into place, she smiled as Billy snuggled deeper into the empty air and emitted a loud snore.
Balancing herself between the rows of seats as a light turbulence shook the plane, she moved up the aisle towards the first-class cabin. She paused at the curtain separating the wealthy from the 'not-so-much', then slipped behind it when she saw no one was looking.
'Act like you belong,' she chanted internally, moving purposefully up the aisle until she saw her goal and slid into the empty seat beside him.
"They don't carry Corona on short-haul flights."
Michael looked up as a voice interrupted his most important sulking over the Globe and Mail Sports page. The paper slid to the floor as he silently waited for her to explain her renewed interest in him.
"Uh," Maria started, faltering before she realized that she never expected this to be easy and placing the Budweiser on his tray. "I figured Bud was a good choice for you, cool, crisp, ruggedly handsome."
"You think Bud is ruggedly handsome?"
Michael pinched his lips as he realized she'd broken his resolve in under five seconds.
"I think someone is," she said as she dropped her voice to its most provocative octave.
"What the hell are you doing up here?" he hissed, regaining control as he grasped the beer tightly and raised it to his lips.
"I thought we could talk," she said lightly, leaning back in her new seat to take another sip of her drink.
"I think I had just about all the talking I can take for one day."
"Come off it, you didn't give me a chance."
"I also didn't lead you back to your husband's arms this morning, you did that all by yourself."
"I thought I was clear that we only had one night."
"Oh, you were perfectly clear on the length of our relationship, you just failed to mention the blatantly traitorous aspect."
"Michael…"
"Fuck it," he snapped, raising his drink to slam his tray into the upright position. "If you'll excuse me…" he prodded, turning in his seat to stand as Maria instinctively moved out of his way.
He moved passed her in a flurry of rough denim against nylon-sheathed legs, the friction sizzling across her knees as she experienced just the briefest touch of him again. She watched for a moment as he stormed up the aisle towards the cabin area, smiling when he jerked open the door to the washroom.
She was up and out of her seat before he was fully inside.
Pausing to glance around at the unaware passengers, she took a moment to sip her drink as if waiting for the lavatory to become vacant, then pulled open the door to enter.
Michael was leaning over the sink with his head bowed between his shoulders.
"Hey," she said softly as she pulled the door shut and slipped the lock to 'Occupied'.
"What took you so long?" he rasped as he turned to detach the drink from her hands.
A mixture of gin and beer painted the undersized sink as two bodies melded in the space hardly meant for one. Their hands raced to be the first to undress the other, his shirt falling first victim as her fingers danced across the buttons. Her jacket was next, the clasps breaking open to reveal only a lacy bra beneath, the accompanying garment still nestled in his jacket pocket, a souvenir of the night before.
Lips meshing as one, an instant sweat coated their bodies as sparks flashed into the surrounding air. Michael wrapped his hands around her bottom, lifting her against him to become one in the firestorm of desire. She rose willingly as he slammed her onto the vanity, lips chasing down her neck as she threw her head back and moaned his name.
"Michael… oh Michael!"
Her voice stoked the fire higher, lapping at his last resolve as he kneaded her breasts beneath his thumbs. Fighting off the blaze that signaled only destruction for the second-choice man, he bowed his head atop hers in sorrowful defeat. Then her eyes flitted open and he submitted to her inferno.
Whimpering against his shoulder, she locked a finger in her mouth to keep quiet as she accepted her membership into the 'Mile High Club'.
Still smoldering from the trail of flames he'd drawn across her chest, Maria pulled back a moment later to seek out his eyes.
He resisted, pushing his face further into the mercy of her hair before sighing against the gentle prodding of her fingers and pushing back to meet her gaze. A shock of deep chocolate locks fell across his eyes, hiding them from her examination.
"I suppose you have to go?" he asked gruffly, glad that she couldn't see his full expression.
Soundless, she reached out to trail her finger across his forehead, pushing back the veil of hair to reveal soulful eyes brimming with anticipation.
"I do," she whispered softly.
He shook his head as he ached for her to say she didn't and accepted that he'd always known she would. "Well then," he offered coolly, pushing back even as she reached to grab him closer. "I guess you should go."
"Michael…"
"Don't. I knew what this was when we started, it's fine." He ran a hand through his already wild hair as he successfully moved away from her. The new space between them equaling only a hair's breadth in the shrunken space, he shifted as he felt her eyes reach out to pull him in again, shaking his head as he fought to resist.
"Go, be with him."
Shamed, Maria bowed her head as she slipped to the floor, her body pressing against his as she reached a hand towards the door. She hesitated before opening it, flicking her eyes back up to his face. "You know this was more than a one night stand, right?"
Michael didn't move, he couldn't. He knew all too well what this could turn into and he wasn't about to let himself believe that it was what she wanted or needed.
"I think your husband's waiting."
Reaching up to place a soft hand along his cheek, she pulled him towards her slowly as their lips met in a whispering kiss.
"I think you've been waiting a lot longer than him," she murmured against his mouth, breaking free to turn away from him. Opening the door before he could even move in protest, she slipped free of the cocoon, flipping her hair past her shoulder one more time as Michael watched her disappear.
Shifting his eyes to stare into the mirror, he imagined her still sitting on the vanity, calling to him with implicit want that he felt so assuredly. He slammed his hand against the counter as her absence laughed in his face.
In the aisle outside, Maria stopped to straighten her skirt as a flight attendant gave her a cursory glance and smiled knowingly. She blushed as she buttoned her jacket and looked up to find Billy.
She froze when she saw him right in front of her.
Horrified, she watched as he fought off a flight attendant who'd obviously seen him enter from the lower-priced cabin.
"Easy now darlin'! I just want to take a quick peek to see if my little lady wandered up there. I won't be disturbing your passengers… hey baby!"
Billy looked up to see Maria standing just outside the washroom door and successfully shrugged clear of the flight attendant.
"There you are. What are you doing way up here?"
"I, uh…" Maria stammered. "The bathrooms were all taken and I really had to go." She smiled sweetly as she leaned in to peck his cheek. "We should go sit," she urged.
"Sure, sure," Billy said distractedly, letting his eyes drift around the spacious cabin as he took in what first class living felt like. He was just thinking it might actually be worth the extra cost when the door opening behind Maria caught his attention and he looked up.
Maria watched, frozen as his eyes flicked to the man doubtlessly standing behind her and then back to her face. Realization dawned crisp and violent as his lip curled back and he clenched his hand quickly into a fist.
She closed her eyes as he spoke.
"What the fuck is going on?"