So it was settled. Zoe and Dan were going to Florida. Sophia gave them the details a bit later. They would have to share a room; they had as many days as they wanted at the theme park, and was being paid for by the company (it would just be counted as "business"). They also had plane tickets to Orlando for tomorrow at 5:00 AM.
Things went very slowly at work that day. Everyone's mind was somewhere else especially Zoe and Dan's. All Zoe could think about was what would happen when they got there. Will he try anything? Wait will I try anything?! It will be hard to ignore a perfectly sexy man by my side ALL the time! Dan's mind was slightly on a different track. Ok this is my chance. Dan you can't mess this up! Calm down. It will be fine. You can handle this.
The day finally ended. Dan was going to pick Zoe up from her house at 4:00. They didn't want to get to the airport and have a huge crowd there and miss their plane. They both went home that night anticipating the next day.
Zoe opened the front door to the sound of screaming and yelling.
"Cliff! It's my turn to watch TV!" screamed a slender brunette.
"Taylor I'm done watching stupid mushy movies!" screamed back a young teenage boy.
Suddenly Zoe felt as though she was just hit with a 10-pound bag of sugar. Instead of sugar it was a little girl.
"Hi Aunt Zoe!" exclaimed Hannah.
"Hey Hannah. What's going on?"
"It's been like this all day. They always fight."
Cliff and Taylor briefly stopped arguing and ran over to Zoe. They then began to yell their side of the story to Zoe.
"Guess what you guys?" yelled Zoe even though no one could hear her. "I'm going to be gone for a week!" The room got suddenly quiet.
"Where are you going Aunt Zoe?" asked Cliff.
"Uh ha that's the thing. I can't tell you. Undercover," with a slight lift in her voice,"Sophia will be taking care of you"
"Zoe, I think I'm old enough to know where your------" whined Taylor.
" Whoa! What happened to the "aunt" part?"
"Adults call you Zoe and I'm an adult!"
"Ha! You are my niece though! They are not! That's the end of it. I'm Aunt Zoe to you!"
The night went on and on like that the whole time. It finally calmed down around 11:00. Zoe had 5 hours before Dan would be there and 4 hours before she would have to be up. She did have to get ready of course. After she got the kids to bed. She started to pack. It took her forever to figure out if she wanted to take her bikini or not. The bikini was packed. It was 1:00 AM before she went to bed.
The bright blinding light hit Zoe's closed eyes. Her eyes bolted open. She stared at her partner not realizing he was actually there, and then it hit her.
"Dan!" she grabbed the bed spread and pulled it up to her neck," what the hell do you think your doing?!"
"I'm trying to get you to come on!" yelled Dan.
"Shhh the kids are asleep." whispered Zoe. "Ok you go to your car and I'll be down in five," she said while yawning.
It was more like 15 when Zoe came out. She had on a pair of pink sweat pants and a white plain t-shirt. She slowly got into the warm car.
"I'm glad you dressed for the occasion." chuckled the man with black sweats and jacket.
"Hmm hmm," moaned Zoe with her eyes closed. Dan looked at her with amusement.
"Say goodbye to the kids?" asked Dan driving off.
"Hmm hmm," moaned Zoe once more.
It was quiet the whole way except for Dan trying to make conversation a couple of times. Zoe had fallen asleep before his last two attempts. By Dan's last try he heard a strange noise coming from Zoe. She was snoring. That was the moment he quit talking.
They got to the airport with 30 minutes to spare. After Dan finally had woken Zoe up, got their baggage taken care of, and grabbed two coffees, they only had 5 minutes.
"Flight 465 to Orlando is now boarding!" said a voice over the intercom. They gulped down their coffee and went to their seats.
"Are we awake now?" asked Dan, leaning over to Zoe.
"Yes. I'm awake. God I don't know how you could be so talkative at this time in the morning."
"I usually wake up early," Zoe looked at him with a smirk.
"I didn't know that."
"There's lots of things you don't know about me, Zoe," he said with a grin.
"Well we got 2 hours and a half. Tell me."
"Ok just the basic stuff?" She nodded her head. "Let's see, um. I wake up early."
"Know that."
"See if you keep talking you won't learn a thing." Zoe mimed her a zipper closing her mouth. "My favorite color is blue. I enjoy private functions not parties. My favorite song is All Things Just Keep Getting Better. You know Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?"
Zoe tried to stifle her laugh but then she just couldn't help it. "Ha! This from the man that doesn't watch reality TV! Ha!" Dan was starting to turn pink.
Zoe jumped up from her seat and started to dance. "When you are around! When you are around! All things just keep getting better!" Dan jerked Zoe down. Everyone on the plane was now looking at Zoe as though she was crazy.
"Are you going to make fun of me some more or do you want me to tell you some more?"
Zoe looked down as though she was being caught stealing a piece of candy. "No. I'll behave."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Raise your hand!"
Zoe lifted up her left hand. "Promise."
"Right hand!"
She shot her left hand down and raised her right. "Promise. Now come on."
"Ok. I fear only two things." He stopped. Zoe kept looking at him even though he had finished speaking.
"And?"
"What? Did you want me to tell you what they were?"
"Uh in the words of Taylor. DUH!"
"Well the first is singing. And my worst fear of all is flying."
Zoe giggled. "So I guess your not doing so good now? Right?'
"You guessed it. Ever since the time I had to go to Spain about a item." Dan looked at Zoe.
"Item? Oh oh ok. So what happened?"
"We hit some turbulence. Really rough. I didn't like it one bit. Now I'm afraid."
Zoe patted Dan's arm then gave it a squeeze. "It will be fine."
An hour went by and they sat and juts talked about not so important things. Hannah's braces, an ache in Zoe's neck, and a couple of Vegas stories floated in there time and time again. Then the captain came on the intercom.
"Hello folks. I hope your having a good time. We are heading into some rough weather. Please don't get up and please don't panic if we bump around a bit."
Dan glared at Zoe. "So! It'll be fine she says. We're going down. I know it!"
"Oh come on Dan. Just think of it as a little gravel round with few ditches and such." Suddenly the entire plane bolted into the air. None of the passengers thought anything about it except for Dan who screamed.
"What was that?! Did we hit a deer?! We're in the air!"
The rest of the plane ride was like that. Dan gave the occasional yelp every now and then. They landed safely, got their bags, and rented a car. They were now driving to a wonderful hotel where anything could happen.