“Sir, you got here in the nick of time,” said the attractive lady ticket agent. “Ticket and passport, please.”
“Yes, of course,” Crispin said, handing over his documents, placing his suitcase on the scale. As he watched the attractive young woman hurry to enter his information, he didn’t miss the furtive glances she cast him. Well, how opportune a situation. “Pardon me, miss, your name?”
“It’s Anne, sir,” she answered readily.
“Aw, what a lovely name,” he practically purred. “Now, Anne, would it be too late to ask a favour?” He leaned in close and flashed her his most charming panty-peeling smile. “Is it possible to be seated alone? You see, I’m a songwriter and I’m looking for a bit of solitude on the flight for… inspiration.”
“A songwriter? Wow, I knew it. I could tell you were someone of note,” she said, starstruck. “Sure, let me check, although this late in the game, I can’t make any promises. This is a fully booked flight, Mr. Clover.”
“Please, call me Crispin.” He winked. “If you could just have a look, I would be most appreciative.” Again, he gave her his most persuasive smile.
“You’re in luck! We just had a cancellation. Here, I’ve rearranged your seat. You’ll be situated a little further forward but you’ll have two seats to yourself. Now, you’ll have to hurry through security. Just show them your boarding pass and they’ll rush you through.” Once again, she grazed her eyes over him. “I wouldn’t want you to miss your flight.”
“Me neither. That would be most tragic,” he said with a wink. “Thank you, for your help.”
“Anytime… enjoy your flight, sir!”
***
Gwen didn’t understand how she had made it this far, but there she was, sitting in her aisle seat near the back of the plane. So far, Stacy’s prediction had been correct. She had gotten to the airport with plenty of time to deal with any unforeseen hitches. In fact, since things had gone so smoothly, Gwen had made it to her seat with time to spare. But with almost too much time on her hands, it only made it easier to worry about the inevitable moment when Crispin discovered her sitting next to him on the plane.
Speaking of Crispin, she hadn’t yet seen him. She was sure she would have seen him by now. She had been on the lookout, ready to hide from him the entire time she waited to board the plane. Now, she was actually starting to panic. What if he’d changed his mind? What if he wasn’t coming? The very real possibility of having to fly on her own was becoming an unbearable reality.
Not only would she not have his company, she would not have her detailed itinerary. Yes, she had a simplified version, put together by Stacy, but it was nowhere near as well planned and detailed as hers. How in the world would she survive this? As it was, her heart was racing in her chest. She was starting to perspire and she was having trouble sitting still.
Taking a few deep calming breaths, she focused on the fact that people were still boarding. She convinced herself that she was merely overreacting and that at any minute, Crispin would appear. Then, of course, she would have to explain herself. But she was sure she could handle that part. This waiting, on the other hand, was killing her.
Moments later, she felt a presence at her side. Finally, Crispin, she thought with a sigh. Looking up from her white knuckles, she frowned, discovering a middle-aged man in a business suit checking his ticket and looking at the numbers above her head. He must be mistaken. Stacy had seated her and Crispin together. This man was obviously not Crispin!
“Excuse me, miss.” He showed her his boarding pass. “I believe you are in my seat.”
“Your seat? There must be some mistake.” She quickly checked her pass and sure enough, she was in the right row but to her dismay discovered that her actual number was for the window seat. The horror! She could not sit at the window. No way could she bear the idea of being trapped in such a small space. She had specifically requested the aisle seat figuring she would feel better to get up and move around at will. Suddenly, she recalled Stacy saying that when she’d booked her flight, she had put her in the window since Crispin had already claimed the aisle. At the time, Stacy hadn’t been too concerned since she figured she and Crispin would work it out.
“Oh, but… but I can’t sit at the window!”
“Lady, I need the aisle. This is my seat. I specifically requested an aisle. I only booked it minutes ago.”
All Gwen could do was shake her head. This could not be happening. Where was Crispin? Who was this man wanting her seat? Too overwhelmed to cope, she closed her eyes and delved into herself. It was all she could do to keep from screaming. She should have known better than to have done this, taken such a chance. This is exactly the reason she avoided going outside of her comfort zone. There were too many unknown factors to deal with. She hadn’t even left Toronto, and here it was, the first of many unforeseen hitches to come.
“Excuse me, is there a problem?” asked the passing flight attendant.
***
“Everything to your liking, sir?” asked the flight attendant who just happened to be the same young lady from the check-in counter.
“Awesome, thanks, you’re a lifesaver, Anne,” Crispin said, quite pleased with his seating arrangement. In fact, things were working out beautifully. Being late had its advantages. For one thing, having been whisked through security and then driven by airport shuttle to his gate, he hadn’t had to wait around amongst the multitudes of mundanes. Thank goodness since patience was not his forte.
“Wonderful, sir, we’re moments from taking off. Please, fasten your seatbelt and turn off all electronic devices.”
“Yes, of course.” He took one last covert look at his phone and found a text from Kell. The poor bastard was wondering where he’d run off to, leaving Becky in such a distraught state. For a second, Crispin started to respond when the attendant came around again. Instead, he turned off his phone, fastened his seatbelt, and made himself at home in his roomy aisle seat. With no one beside him, he looked forward to a comfortable eight-hour flight. Perhaps he would get some sleep since he hadn’t gotten any last night.
Ignoring the last minute hustle and bustle, and the curious stares from the other passengers, Crispin closed his eyes and shut out the world. Let them gawk. Even though he had made a considerable effort to dress less Goth, he was still quite striking if not intimidating with his black clothes and long hair.
After a few deep calming breaths, he then felt an odd sensation within him. Could it be excitement? Yes, that’s what it was. He was actually quite excited about this adventure. At the same time, he tried very hard to ignore that other sensation that had rankled him since the day he booked this trip.
What was that? Regret? Yes, that’s indeed what it was, and a bit of melancholy thrown in for good measure. The melancholy, he was quite used to, being Goth and all that. But this odd sense of regret was really starting to irk him. And the worst part was, he knew exactly what was at the source of this regret. He was his own worst enemy and he knew it.
As much as he wanted to believe he was this impenetrable independent sort, the truth was, he wanted what everyone else wanted. Love, companionship, a sense of belonging. Taking a deep breath, his mind tripped back to the day he had met Gwen at the café. Even though it went against everything he was trying to accomplish on this trip, he couldn’t help but wonder if he should have accepted her offer to come with him. Poor sweet thing. The look on her face when he’d refused her and walked out the door with her precious itinerary, it had haunted him to this day.
In the very next moment, he caught himself. She would only rip his heart out in the end. It’s what always happened. Everyone left him. Why would Gwen be any different? Besides, she probably wasn’t even interested in him that way. Like she had said, she was only wanting to tag along for fear of travelling alone.
Oh, never mind. It was better this way, Crispin thought with a heavy sigh. Time alone was what he needed most. If only he could convince his heart of that truth. As it was, vision
s of her danced through his mind. He envisioned those clear blue-grey eyes and those long dark lashes, her guarded smile… oh, how he would love to give her a real reason to smile. She had the loveliest complexion… such rosy cheeks. Quite lovely for a little mundane woman, she was. Good lord, get a hold of yourself, he thought with a frown.
Try as he might to get her out of his mind, every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face. He then smiled at the memory of the velvety sound of her voice. He must be losing it for sure. He could swear he could almost hear it now. Maybe he was dreaming. Wonderful, perhaps he had fallen asleep. He would wake up any moment just in time for the landing.
Yet, somehow her voice was too real to be merely a dream. He then realized the plane hadn’t even started to move. In fact, everyone around him was looking over their shoulders towards the back at the commotion.
From his angle, he could only see a couple of flight attendants, Anne, and a young man, looking quite stressed out. They appeared to be in a middle of a crisis with a couple of passengers.
Curious and getting quite impatient, he unbuckled his seatbelt and made his way over. Whoever this was delaying takeoff, was about to get a piece of his mind!
“Ma’am, for the last time, we need you to move into your proper seat, or we will have you removed from the plane!”
“Pardon me… What’s the hold up?” Crispin inquired.
Seeing him approach, the flustered male flight attendant turned to him first and very briskly ordered him to return to his seat. “Sir, we need you to remain seated. We’ll be taking off shortly.”
“It won’t be much longer, sir,” said Anne with an apologetic smile.
“Is that right?” Crispin challenged, unconvinced. “Doesn’t look that way to me.” From where he was standing, he could see they were trying to settle a dispute between two passengers, one seated, one standing.
At the end of his rope, the male attendant, added, “Please, return to your seat or we’ll have you removed from the plane as well!”
Of course, Crispin would have acquiesced since he wanted nothing more than to get on his way. But not now, not after laying eyes on the cause of the disruption. There in front of him sat Gwen from the café, the leading lady of his recent musings.
“Gwen?” Crispin clutched at his chest. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. She had her eyes shut tight. She was clinging to the armrests of her seat with all her might, her hands grasping, white knuckles and all. Behind the flight attendants, stood a red-faced portly man in a grey suit looking quite irate. “Gwen?” he repeated, ignoring everyone else and zeroing in on her. “What in the world?”
“Crispin?” Hearing his voice, Gwen exhaled and peeked out of one eye. “Please… help me.” At that, Crispin frowned all the more.
“You know each other?” Anne stepped up, relief flooding her face while the male attendant, turned his attention to the other passenger.
“Well, I… I mean, yes, I suppose…” Crispin stuttered, at a loss for words.
“Thank goodness…” Anne said with a sigh. “Sir, I have a huge favour to ask of you.”
Chapter 5
Placing a hand on Crispin’s arm, Anne pleaded with him. “Your friend is in distress. Would you mind if we place her with you? I know you wanted to be on your own, but you would be doing me a huge favour. If not we’ll have to forcefully remove her from the plane. We really don’t want to resort to that.”
“She’s not my… I mean…” Looking from Anne’s hand on his arm to Gwen’s face, Crispin started to slowly back away, struggling to comprehend the situation for what it was. Had Gwen purposely followed him? Had she actually set this whole thing up? Was she some sort of stalker? Whatever this was, it could not be happening.
“Crispin?” Still seated, Gwen opened her eyes and reached for him, but when he took another step back, she started to shake.
“Come on already!” shouted the guy in the suit. “I don’t have time for this shit. Lady, get the fuck out of my seat!”
Snapping out of his momentary stupor, Crispin glared at the insensitive ass. Stalker or not, Gwen did not deserve to be spoken to in such a way, especially given her current state of mind.
“Hey! Back the hell up! Have a little respect!” The man immediately startled at the unexpected rebuke. “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Crispin added before stepping forward and leaning over Gwen’s seat. She had her eyes shut tight and was once again clinging to her armrests. “Gwen?”
When she didn’t respond as if in some sort of trance, Crispin furrowed his brow. He then reached for her hands and when she refused to let go, he forcefully wrenched them away from the armrests, startling her in the process. When she opened her eyes in reaction, she focused on his long wavy hair and took strange comfort in his presence. She unwittingly sighed at his proximity. Gazing at her for a fleeting moment, he then grasped her upper arms and hoisted her up onto her feet.
“Thank you so much, sir,” Anne said as she then grabbed Gwen’s belongings. “I’ll be right over to check on you both.” The male flight attendant then ushered the disgruntled passenger to his proper seat.
With a nod over his shoulder, Crispin proceeded to escort Gwen down the aisle. He tried very hard to ignore the stares from those they passed. At this point, all he wanted was to get Gwen situated and then as soon as she could verbalize it, he would demand an explanation. But not before he had a moment to calm down. He was seconds away from losing his patience.
With his hands still gripping her arms, he all but hissed in her ear, “Go on, get in.” When she hesitated, he was tempted to physically place her in the seat but then realized it would not look right even though his instincts were screaming at him to do so.
“I can’t sit at the window,” she said, turning to him pleadingly.
“Wonderful,” he said with a roll of his eyes. Here she was all five foot two at the most. Here he was, a full foot taller and he was expected to squeeze into the cramped window seat. “I suppose I’ll take it!” Doing so, in order to avoid further complications, Crispin sat down and then dragged her in beside him. She landed with a thump and sat petrified. Glaring at her, he reached around her and buckled her in, pulling the belt tight around her hips. “There, now sit still and give me a moment.”
“S-sorry…”
“I said give me a moment,” he repeated on a low growl as he shuffled his things about and buckled himself in.
Gwen took the temporary reprieve to concentrate on her breathing. Crispin was furious. That was plainly obvious. But her fear of his wrath was nowhere near that of what she had felt moments ago. The fear of not having him near was far greater than the fear of anything he might say at this point. It was odd and she couldn’t quite understand it but it was the truth. His presence even in his current state of mind, was a balm to her soul.
Anne, the flight attendant appeared by their seats with Gwen’s carryon and proceeded to place it in the above compartment with Crispin’s. “Everything okay now, Ma’am? Are you comfortable?” She handed her the book she’d left behind in haste.
Taking it, Gwen quickly stowed it in the pocket in the chair in front of her. “Yes, and I’m so sorry. I don’t know… I can’t explain it,” Gwen said very quietly.
“As long as you’re comfortable,” Anne reassured her, shooting Crispin a glance filled with gratitude. “How lucky to have your friend with you.”
“Indeed,” Crispin muttered from his seat. “Just perfect.”
“We’ll be taking off shortly. Enjoy your flight,” said Anne with an apologetic smile.
Gwen would have attempted to say something to him then if not for the last minute flight proceedings taking place. They were late taking off already and she was well aware it was all her fault. Embarrassed, she held her tongue while the announcements went on and then again when the plane started to back away and move onto the runway. It was all she could to keep from screaming when the engines started revving up. Her previous fears forgotten, she now braced herse
lf for takeoff.
Oh, God, could she do this? Of course, she had no choice!
Unable to cope with the sounds, the roar of the engines, and blinking lights, she did the only thing she could. She reached out and clung to Crispin’s hand that was currently resting on his knee. He immediately tensed before taking hold of her hand. He then moved it to her lap, palm down, and flattened it with his own.
“Do not cling to me,” he hissed in warning.
At his tone, she flinched, yet breathed a sigh of relief when he did not let go which is what mattered most. In fact, it brought her great comfort to have the weight of his strong hand pressing down on hers. In fact, the heat of his elegant fingers between her own, against her thigh had her so distracted, she almost forgot she was on a plane ascending into the atmosphere. Almost, being the keyword.
Petrified. The girl was absolutely petrified. Crispin could only frown at the entire situation. Had she not been so terrified, he would have ripped into her by now. As it was, the only thing he could do was hold her hand and wait for the plane to level out before saying a word.
Sure enough, the seatbelt warning light went off. He turned his head to look at her. Her eyes were shut tight, her head pressed back against her seat. He watched her take shallow furtive breaths. She was tense beyond belief and for a moment he wondered if she would even survive the duration of the flight. He realized plenty of people had a fear of flying but she clearly suffered from an extreme case. If he wasn’t so pissed off, he’d almost feel sorry for her.
“Now then,” he said, watching her eventually peek out of one eye, then the other. She took a deep breath and exhaled, slowly turning her face towards him. That’s when his heart nearly stopped. He should be furious, but at the vulnerability staring at him, all he could think of doing was taking her in his arms and kissing her fears away. Steeling himself against the idea, he stared back at her with a forced stormy expression on his face.
Belonging Page 3
