Theme song: I've Got a Crush on You (Frank Sinatra) – yeah, okay, listen to it before you think that I'm the most cheesy hopeless-romantic on the fanfiction market.
---
"Okay, no quizzes. Don't panic." He grinned at her, flicking hopelessly through the in-flight magazine.
She wasn't laughing.
He was. "Okay, I'll make one up."
"I'm not promising I'll answer anything."
"Ah well, it's worth the try."
"They should have more free alcohol on domestic flights."
He laughed, "Okay, question 1 – oh I can't think of anything as bad as yesterday."
"Definitely going to need alcohol." She was gripping the armrests and her knuckles were white.
Mark was forced back into his seat as the plane took off. He would have enjoyed the view more if Susan hadn't been quietly hyperventilating beside him. "Okay, other than this obviously, what is your greatest fear?" Get her mind off it. Probably could have picked a better question…
"That's not a fun question."
"Okay, I'll try again. First kiss?"
She laughed but didn't answer.
"Well?"
"Jack Bertram. Twelve. You?"
"Fifteen." He coughed
She laughed. Second time since the plane started moving. Not bad.
"Go on, tell us the whole story." She had relaxed a bit, this could be interesting.
"Puppy love, what can I say?"
Susan raised her eyebrows, telling him to continue.
"She had a crush on my best mate, but he'd kissed lots of girls and she wanted practice. Broke my heart."
"Happens to the best of us." She held her hand to her chest dramatically.
Mark laughed, trying to ignore how stunning she looked. As usual. "So what's your sad story?"
"Oh, well after Jack," she laughed, "Actually I didn't do the puppy love thing. Infatuation? Sure. But love… Not till college probably. But even then, it was pretty pathetic. I dunno, I guess if that's all it is I'm a disappointed romantic." She offered a wry smile.
"Well, in my meager experience, it's not disappointing… well, not at first. I guess love can be the worst thing in the world when it goes wrong but if it's good, then it's great." He shrugged, pretty much sure he wasn't making sense.
"Yeah, I guess anything that's worth anything costs something."
"Profound." He teased.
"The pilot has turned off the fasten-seatbelt light however, please keep your seatbelt on while seated." The flight attendant interrupted.
Susan took a deep breath. "Now's the easy bit."
"So now that you're not freaking out, what is your greatest fear?" he ventured.
She thought about it. Personal question. Very. But this was Mark, hardly a stranger. Greatest fear? Losing Suzie… Suzie was fine. "Probably being alone." She laughed at herself trying to cover how uncomfortable she felt, "Now that's pathetic."
"Not it's not." He shook his head, touched by her honesty. "I was going to say mine was failure, but I think you're right. Being alone would be worse. Like, totally alone. I mean, some people you can do without, but others, you just don't want to think about it…"
"Like who?"
He shrugged again, "I dunno, lots of people, like Doug and you and… oh, I dunno." He looked out the window so she couldn't see his eyes.
She was touched and smiled at his shyness as he looked away. "Thank you." She wanted him to look at her. So much for getting over him.
He grinned at her, half wishing he'd kept his mouth shut, half glad that he'd said something – like letting out some steam so the truth wouldn't boil over and explode everywhere. He wanted to kiss her again. And again. Damn it…
"Your turn to think up a question." He hoped she'd take his mind off it.
"Okay." She leant back into her chair. "Absolute highlight of parenting?"
"I'm assuming you mean after consummation." He teased and got the playful though a little painful, slap he deserved right across his chest.
Stop flirting, she silently reprimanded herself though she laughed.
"Well I'm sure it's the cliché, but that first moment is breathtaking. And, I dunno… I love watching Rachel sleep. No matter how bad things get if she is happy when she's sleeping then I know I haven't failed completely."
Susan nodded. "Do you see her much?"
He shook his head. "Na, but it's my fault. If I made the effort… it's just that I feel like I'm intruding at Jenn's and organizing to have her always creates problems."
"And you like to keep the peace?"
He nodded. "Peace isn't all its cracked up to be I guess, but still…"
She smiled, "I think you do okay. I mean of course it's going to be difficult, but Rachel can't doubt you love her. You're a good dad."
He nodded in acknowledgement.
She knew he didn't really believe her but she didn't know what else to say. She took a deep breath, "My questions are worse than yours. How about… okay, what is the funniest thing you've ever seen?"
A slow smile came over his face as he remembered. He laughed as he started, "My mates trying to steal one of their dad's car. They had this whole elaborate plan to roll it out of the driveway and down the road before starting it. Then they jumped in…"
She interrupted, "They? Don't you mean we? I know you were the leader of the pack."
"Hardly!"
"Sure." She rolled her eyes.
"Okay, WE jumped in the car and Jem starts it up and then half a block later the engine explodes and everyone on the whole street comes out to see what's going on. Including the dad who owned the car. We were doing his yard-work for weeks."
"Grand Theft Auto. Go Mark. I didn't know you had it in you."
"Okay, miss innocent, What's your criminal history?"
She laughed, "Aside from jay-walking and smoking in non-smoking areas?"
"Other than that."
She thought for a moment, then a slightly embarrassed smile came over her face, she covered her eyes, resting an elbow on the armrest, not on his side. "You're not going to believe it."
"Ooh, this is good." He grinned.
She rolled her head back and didn't look at him, "Public exposure."
He cracked up laughing, "What did you 'expose'?"
She tried not to laugh, "Oh, just the usual." She shook her head. "I was drunk, young, stupid."
"All the usual excuses."
"Yup, just thank God I threw my shirt into the crowd AFTER I crowd surfed."
He was laughing so hard it hurt.
She sat back in her chair waiting for him to stop, shaking her head, not sure if she should have told him.
Then he looked up at her and started again.
"You're never going to be able to look at me the same again are you?"
"No." he shook his head. "So did they arrest you?"
"Almost. They gave me a shirt instead and drove me home. Dad was NOT impressed."
Mark started laughing again.
"You're trying to imagine the look on his face aren't you?"
Mark nodded, stopping laughing. "And I thought I knew you."
"That's not me. You know me. That was alcohol and stress and teen rebellion or something."
"How old were you?"
"Eighteen. Okay, enough about me. What's your most stupid, embarrassing moment?"
"Oh, not nearly interesting enough to compete with that."
"Cop out." She shook her head, holding his eyes. She wasn't backing down that easily.
His eyes drifted to her lips. He forced himself to look away but she'd noticed and forgotten her question. Or had he asked her a question. What was going on? She should just kiss him, then she'd find out. Wonder how he'd react… not a safe train of thought really. "I might try and get some sleep." She leant back on her seat and shut her eyes.
"Yeah." He did the same. What the hell had he been thinking? He hadn't been thinking. That was the problem. No doubt about it he was looking forward to this holiday but she wasn't getting any less captivating and he knew it would happen again. No matter how strong his resolve.
---
"Um, reservation for Lewis." Susan searched her bag for her credit card.
"Lewis… right." The woman clicked away at a computer. "And guest?" she nodded at Mark.
"Um, actually, I don't suppose you have any spare rooms." She asked.
Mark smiled at her playful tone.
"Sorry, all booked up this week. But we can have an extra bed put in yours if that would be preferable."
Susan looked at Mark, hoping he wouldn't mind.
Mark shrugged, only meeting Susan's eyes for a moment. "Can we split the bill?" he asked the woman on the other side of the desk.
"Yeah, no problem." She took their respective credit cards. "You are in room fourteen. We'll have that bed made up as soon as possible. You can leave your bags with the concierge. And dinner is still available in the restaurant – until nine."
"Thanks." Mark took back the cards and handed Susan hers. The concierge took their bags and they headed to the dining room in silence.
"Sorry about that – I just assumed…" Susan began, pretending to look at the menu.
"Don't worry about it." He smiled. "Really, I don't mind. We're both adults."
She met his eyes, glad they weren't as awkward as they could be. Considering the comments from colleagues, the looks that lingered too long, the truths that kept slipping out… and now the room thing. "Thank you."
He laughed. "Relax. The flying is over. You're on holiday." He took her hand impulsively. Then realised what he was doing and let go too quickly.
"Yeah." She took a deep breath and stretched her neck. "I'm exhausted."
"I'm not surprised."
"Are you ready to order?" the waiter stopped at their table.
"Ah, sure." Mark told him what he wanted.
"Sounds good." Susan couldn't make up her mind.
"Any drinks to start?"
They ordered martinis and handed their menus to the departing penguin suit.
"So, have you been here before?" Susan asked. She had to get the topic off them and onto something that wouldn't lead back to them, but this was all she could come up with.
"No, I haven't been here for years. I was a kid when we left. So I can show you the baseball pitch and the best beach and the best tree to climb and maybe even a couple of caves and secluded bays, but…"
"Sounds great. Hidden caves? We can go on adventures."
"Hunt for treasure."
"Yeah, unless you already found all of it."
He laughed, "No, there wasn't anything there. Thoroughly disappointing. But then they might have been found by pirates since then and, you know, used as treasure troves."
"Well it's worth the try. We might not have to go back to work after all." She grinned.
"Oh, I hope you're not in emergency medicine for the money, cause I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't get a hell of a lot better."
She laughed. "Plus, I'd never talk you out of going back. You're workaholic tendencies would jump into action and force you back on the plane."
"Meanwhile your vertigo tendencies would jump into action and drag me off again."
She laughed. This was good. They worked well without all the stupid sexual-tension-complications. But she couldn't seem to be able to ignore them, no matter how hard she tried.
---
"Okay, no quizzes. Don't panic." He grinned at her, flicking hopelessly through the in-flight magazine.
She wasn't laughing.
He was. "Okay, I'll make one up."
"I'm not promising I'll answer anything."
"Ah well, it's worth the try."
"They should have more free alcohol on domestic flights."
He laughed, "Okay, question 1 – oh I can't think of anything as bad as yesterday."
"Definitely going to need alcohol." She was gripping the armrests and her knuckles were white.
Mark was forced back into his seat as the plane took off. He would have enjoyed the view more if Susan hadn't been quietly hyperventilating beside him. "Okay, other than this obviously, what is your greatest fear?" Get her mind off it. Probably could have picked a better question…
"That's not a fun question."
"Okay, I'll try again. First kiss?"
She laughed but didn't answer.
"Well?"
"Jack Bertram. Twelve. You?"
"Fifteen." He coughed
She laughed. Second time since the plane started moving. Not bad.
"Go on, tell us the whole story." She had relaxed a bit, this could be interesting.
"Puppy love, what can I say?"
Susan raised her eyebrows, telling him to continue.
"She had a crush on my best mate, but he'd kissed lots of girls and she wanted practice. Broke my heart."
"Happens to the best of us." She held her hand to her chest dramatically.
Mark laughed, trying to ignore how stunning she looked. As usual. "So what's your sad story?"
"Oh, well after Jack," she laughed, "Actually I didn't do the puppy love thing. Infatuation? Sure. But love… Not till college probably. But even then, it was pretty pathetic. I dunno, I guess if that's all it is I'm a disappointed romantic." She offered a wry smile.
"Well, in my meager experience, it's not disappointing… well, not at first. I guess love can be the worst thing in the world when it goes wrong but if it's good, then it's great." He shrugged, pretty much sure he wasn't making sense.
"Yeah, I guess anything that's worth anything costs something."
"Profound." He teased.
"The pilot has turned off the fasten-seatbelt light however, please keep your seatbelt on while seated." The flight attendant interrupted.
Susan took a deep breath. "Now's the easy bit."
"So now that you're not freaking out, what is your greatest fear?" he ventured.
She thought about it. Personal question. Very. But this was Mark, hardly a stranger. Greatest fear? Losing Suzie… Suzie was fine. "Probably being alone." She laughed at herself trying to cover how uncomfortable she felt, "Now that's pathetic."
"Not it's not." He shook his head, touched by her honesty. "I was going to say mine was failure, but I think you're right. Being alone would be worse. Like, totally alone. I mean, some people you can do without, but others, you just don't want to think about it…"
"Like who?"
He shrugged again, "I dunno, lots of people, like Doug and you and… oh, I dunno." He looked out the window so she couldn't see his eyes.
She was touched and smiled at his shyness as he looked away. "Thank you." She wanted him to look at her. So much for getting over him.
He grinned at her, half wishing he'd kept his mouth shut, half glad that he'd said something – like letting out some steam so the truth wouldn't boil over and explode everywhere. He wanted to kiss her again. And again. Damn it…
"Your turn to think up a question." He hoped she'd take his mind off it.
"Okay." She leant back into her chair. "Absolute highlight of parenting?"
"I'm assuming you mean after consummation." He teased and got the playful though a little painful, slap he deserved right across his chest.
Stop flirting, she silently reprimanded herself though she laughed.
"Well I'm sure it's the cliché, but that first moment is breathtaking. And, I dunno… I love watching Rachel sleep. No matter how bad things get if she is happy when she's sleeping then I know I haven't failed completely."
Susan nodded. "Do you see her much?"
He shook his head. "Na, but it's my fault. If I made the effort… it's just that I feel like I'm intruding at Jenn's and organizing to have her always creates problems."
"And you like to keep the peace?"
He nodded. "Peace isn't all its cracked up to be I guess, but still…"
She smiled, "I think you do okay. I mean of course it's going to be difficult, but Rachel can't doubt you love her. You're a good dad."
He nodded in acknowledgement.
She knew he didn't really believe her but she didn't know what else to say. She took a deep breath, "My questions are worse than yours. How about… okay, what is the funniest thing you've ever seen?"
A slow smile came over his face as he remembered. He laughed as he started, "My mates trying to steal one of their dad's car. They had this whole elaborate plan to roll it out of the driveway and down the road before starting it. Then they jumped in…"
She interrupted, "They? Don't you mean we? I know you were the leader of the pack."
"Hardly!"
"Sure." She rolled her eyes.
"Okay, WE jumped in the car and Jem starts it up and then half a block later the engine explodes and everyone on the whole street comes out to see what's going on. Including the dad who owned the car. We were doing his yard-work for weeks."
"Grand Theft Auto. Go Mark. I didn't know you had it in you."
"Okay, miss innocent, What's your criminal history?"
She laughed, "Aside from jay-walking and smoking in non-smoking areas?"
"Other than that."
She thought for a moment, then a slightly embarrassed smile came over her face, she covered her eyes, resting an elbow on the armrest, not on his side. "You're not going to believe it."
"Ooh, this is good." He grinned.
She rolled her head back and didn't look at him, "Public exposure."
He cracked up laughing, "What did you 'expose'?"
She tried not to laugh, "Oh, just the usual." She shook her head. "I was drunk, young, stupid."
"All the usual excuses."
"Yup, just thank God I threw my shirt into the crowd AFTER I crowd surfed."
He was laughing so hard it hurt.
She sat back in her chair waiting for him to stop, shaking her head, not sure if she should have told him.
Then he looked up at her and started again.
"You're never going to be able to look at me the same again are you?"
"No." he shook his head. "So did they arrest you?"
"Almost. They gave me a shirt instead and drove me home. Dad was NOT impressed."
Mark started laughing again.
"You're trying to imagine the look on his face aren't you?"
Mark nodded, stopping laughing. "And I thought I knew you."
"That's not me. You know me. That was alcohol and stress and teen rebellion or something."
"How old were you?"
"Eighteen. Okay, enough about me. What's your most stupid, embarrassing moment?"
"Oh, not nearly interesting enough to compete with that."
"Cop out." She shook her head, holding his eyes. She wasn't backing down that easily.
His eyes drifted to her lips. He forced himself to look away but she'd noticed and forgotten her question. Or had he asked her a question. What was going on? She should just kiss him, then she'd find out. Wonder how he'd react… not a safe train of thought really. "I might try and get some sleep." She leant back on her seat and shut her eyes.
"Yeah." He did the same. What the hell had he been thinking? He hadn't been thinking. That was the problem. No doubt about it he was looking forward to this holiday but she wasn't getting any less captivating and he knew it would happen again. No matter how strong his resolve.
---
"Um, reservation for Lewis." Susan searched her bag for her credit card.
"Lewis… right." The woman clicked away at a computer. "And guest?" she nodded at Mark.
"Um, actually, I don't suppose you have any spare rooms." She asked.
Mark smiled at her playful tone.
"Sorry, all booked up this week. But we can have an extra bed put in yours if that would be preferable."
Susan looked at Mark, hoping he wouldn't mind.
Mark shrugged, only meeting Susan's eyes for a moment. "Can we split the bill?" he asked the woman on the other side of the desk.
"Yeah, no problem." She took their respective credit cards. "You are in room fourteen. We'll have that bed made up as soon as possible. You can leave your bags with the concierge. And dinner is still available in the restaurant – until nine."
"Thanks." Mark took back the cards and handed Susan hers. The concierge took their bags and they headed to the dining room in silence.
"Sorry about that – I just assumed…" Susan began, pretending to look at the menu.
"Don't worry about it." He smiled. "Really, I don't mind. We're both adults."
She met his eyes, glad they weren't as awkward as they could be. Considering the comments from colleagues, the looks that lingered too long, the truths that kept slipping out… and now the room thing. "Thank you."
He laughed. "Relax. The flying is over. You're on holiday." He took her hand impulsively. Then realised what he was doing and let go too quickly.
"Yeah." She took a deep breath and stretched her neck. "I'm exhausted."
"I'm not surprised."
"Are you ready to order?" the waiter stopped at their table.
"Ah, sure." Mark told him what he wanted.
"Sounds good." Susan couldn't make up her mind.
"Any drinks to start?"
They ordered martinis and handed their menus to the departing penguin suit.
"So, have you been here before?" Susan asked. She had to get the topic off them and onto something that wouldn't lead back to them, but this was all she could come up with.
"No, I haven't been here for years. I was a kid when we left. So I can show you the baseball pitch and the best beach and the best tree to climb and maybe even a couple of caves and secluded bays, but…"
"Sounds great. Hidden caves? We can go on adventures."
"Hunt for treasure."
"Yeah, unless you already found all of it."
He laughed, "No, there wasn't anything there. Thoroughly disappointing. But then they might have been found by pirates since then and, you know, used as treasure troves."
"Well it's worth the try. We might not have to go back to work after all." She grinned.
"Oh, I hope you're not in emergency medicine for the money, cause I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't get a hell of a lot better."
She laughed. "Plus, I'd never talk you out of going back. You're workaholic tendencies would jump into action and force you back on the plane."
"Meanwhile your vertigo tendencies would jump into action and drag me off again."
She laughed. This was good. They worked well without all the stupid sexual-tension-complications. But she couldn't seem to be able to ignore them, no matter how hard she tried.