Catching Caitlin

by Amy Isan

  I leaned up and propped myself on my elbow. “I never said I would go.”

  He frowned and crossed his arms. “Well, are you?”

  I milked the moment for a little bit. I’m sure his mind was burning all night wondering if I was going with him or not.

  “Sure, I’ll go.”

  “Sure?” he said. “That’s the best I can get out of you?”

  I rolled over, dragging the sheets with me. “Yep,” I said teasingly.

  He shook his head, smiling to himself. “You should get dressed.”

  I didn’t have any other clothes with me, so I slipped on what I had worn yesterday. A little bit wrinkled, and not nearly as comfortable as silk pajamas. It would have to do though. I did my best to fix my hair while Hugh got ready.

  He packed up his small duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder. I raised an eyebrow.

  “How long were you here anyway?”

  “Four days,” he said, “I didn’t want to be away from work very long.”

  “A man who can’t stand to be away from work?” I shook my head, “That’s a surprise.”

  “Why’s it a surprise?”

  “I remember when you worked for a tire place in high school, you hated it.”

  He shrugged, “Things change. I’m not the same man I was in high school.”

  I wondered if I was the same woman?

  He pulled out his wallet and left a tip on the night stand for housekeeping, a hundred dollar bill. I tried to act casual about spying on his tip, but he shot me a knowing glance.

  We exited the room, taking the elevator down to the lobby. He signed off for his room charges and flashed a smile at the clerk.

  I knew I wasn’t going to tell Aaron, even though I wasn’t sure why I didn’t want to. Maybe I didn’t want him to tell me what I was doing was stupid, or tease me that I thought I had gotten over Hugh.

  As we drove to my house, I kept looking at him. Not looking, but staring. He drew me in. I’d forgotten what it was like, to be so enraptured with someone. How I could miss someone so much and never realize it? This wound that was cut into my heart felt a little better when I was with him.

  ***

  After a short drive across town, we pulled into my parents’ driveway. Hugh brought us to a firm stop, but left the car running. He slung his arm over the back of the seat and looked at me.

  “You want me to come in and help you pack up?”

  I looked at the house, examining its new paint and shutters. While it looked new and fresh on the outside, I knew there was nothing but a crumbling marriage on the inside. It made my stomach twist.

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll be real quick.” I opened the door and crossed into the house.

  My mom wasn’t in the path to my room, so I didn’t have to see her. I sighed as I closed my door, leaning my head against it.

  I squeezed my temples, trying to assure my self I wasn’t losing my mind. Am I really doing this? Leaving with Hugh to cross the country? I

  I had no idea how long I’d be gone, but I figured four days worth of stuff would be good enough. I tossed the strewn clothes from the floor into my half-emptied suitcase and zipped it shut. I’d probably never pack so fast for the rest of my life.

  As I made it toward the front door, I decided I should leave some kind of note. I set my suitcase down and went to the kitchen, tearing off a piece of paper from a notepad that was abandoned on the counter.

  Went out of town for a while, don’t worry about me. I have my phone. I should be back in a couple of days. - C

  I pinned the paper to the fridge, and went out the front door.

  Hugh was waiting, standing near the opened trunk of the car.

  “That was surprisingly fast,” he commented.

  I nodded, slinging the suitcase into the trunk. “Did your parents redecorate?” he pointed at the shutters. “I swear it wasn’t this nice before.”

  I blew at my hair, tossing it into the air. “Thanks. They must’ve done it while I was gone.”

  “Looks really nice. Like a new home almost. A lot better than what I remember.”

  I slammed the trunk shut and came around to the passenger side. I climbed back into the car, and Hugh swung out of the driveway.

  “Next stop, Reno.”

  ***

  When we reached the airport, Hugh turned in his rental while I started freaking out about the huge security lines.

  “When is our flight again?” I asked.

  “About thirty minutes.”

  “What?” I nearly let go of my suitcase handle. “We won’t make it! Look at the security checkpoint line!”

  “We don’t use that.” He waved my comment off, and gestured for me to follow him. Bewildered, I moved past the crowd with him, joining him in the employee checkpoint line. A TSA agent checked our IDs and let us go on through.

  There wasn’t a terminal line for us, and our flight wasn’t listed on any of the screens. Hugh led us out through one of the terminal doors, and I finally saw why we had it so easy.

  Because he had it so easy.

  A private jet sat on the runway, some personnel tending to it. My jaw dropped: a private jet?

  “You’ve got to be kidding me, is that for us?”

  “Definitely. The company jet, just for us. And it’ll take us right to Reno. No pit stops.” He took my suitcase and handed it to the bag check waiting at the stairs. “My home,” he added.

  We climbed the stairs, and the plane was almost as exquisite as his penthouse suite. Caramel leather with milky white accents dominated the interior, with only a handful of seats. Most of them weren’t in a ‘standard’ airplane layout, but facing in different directions. The pilot greeted us, and Hugh addressed him by first name.

  Definitely a luxury I wasn’t used to. While Hugh and the pilot talked, I walked about the cabin, taking it all in.

  It still smelled new, like new car. Maybe new jet? I hadn’t been on a lot of airplanes, but it was definitely high class. It was like comparing a hostel to a penthouse suite. You could tell they were used for the same reasons, but only barely.

  ***

  I buckled my seat belt as Hugh sat next to me, ignoring his own buckle.

  “Nervous?” he asked, putting his hand on my leg.

  “I’m more surprised than anything... I can’t believe I’m going to Reno in this thing.” I gestured to the cabin.

  He beamed. “Would you like a drink? That always helps me when I fly.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  He leaned over and opened a compartment. Some bottles of whiskey and rum were shoved deep into the glimmering ice.

  He grasped a bottle by the neck and yanked it out. “Could you hand me those glasses?”

  As I grabbed the glasses, I felt the airplane begin to move. That lazy movement where you can barely feel the world scooting past the windows. There was a sense of tension to it, knowing that it would end with your pinned to your seat as the plane launched into the sky.

  I gulped and handed Hugh the glasses.

  “You made me think we were going to be late for nothing, didn’t you?” He poured about a shots worth of rum into each.

  He handed me my glass with a smile, “Here.”

  The drink swirled inside it, as the airplane backed from the gate to prepare for take off.

  “Shouldn’t we wait?”

  “Why wait?” He downed his drink, and cracked a smile. He set down the glass with a clink.

  I looked down into the liquid, watching it my reflection shimmer. “Should I really be coming with you?”

  He turned from looking out the window and leaned over. He twisted his wedding band mindlessly, like it was an old habit.

  “I want you to be here, Caitlin.” He touched my knee, and rubbed with his thumb, which almost tickled. He swallowed hard. “But it’s weird being here with you though. Weird but exciting.”

  The engines on the airplane howled as they spun up to speed. I finished my drink just in time. The airpla
ne lurched forward, pinning me back against me seat. Hugh was across from me, so he shifted to the edge of his seat. He grabbed my leg, I don’t know if to steady himself or just to touch me. He retrieved the glass from my clenched hand and set it down for me.

  As the plane pulled into the sky, I settled down and tried to relax. I always felt tense on airplanes, and this was no exception. Hugh’s touch was comforting.

  I answered him. “I know what you mean. I’ve felt all wound up inside since I ran into you again.” I brushed my hair back. “I still kind of do.”

  “You seem different,” I added. “I don’t know what it is. I didn’t tell Aaron I was coming here.”

  “Really? How come? You two used to be really good friends.”

  “Because,” I looked away. It was hard admitting this to him. “He would have told me it was a bad idea. That ‘you shouldn’t get back together with exes, they were exes for a reason,’ or something like that.”

  He frowned, as if he were considering it.

  “I don’t think that’s always true,” he said. “Not every relationship is the same after all.”

  I smiled at him. “Everyone did say that we were going to burn each other out, we were too young, maybe if we had met later.”

  “I thought that too. There were days when I wish I had just been a little older,” he said. “Days where I wished I wasn’t so young when I first met you.”

  The plane leveled off a bit, and the roar of the engines quieted. The pilot came on the mini-intercom, greeting us.

  “Hello, you two. I just thought I should let you know, we have a good tailwind and should reach Reno by late afternoon. I’d estimate 4 hours.” He clicked off the intercom.

  Hugh looked back out the window, pursing his lips.

  He was different. There was something guarded about him, like he was carrying some kind of weight. Before college, he felt less heavy.

  But maybe I was carrying weight too. A lot had happened in the last couple of years. It realized I was encountering less and less nostalgic memories, and more and more of a new man.

  A man I barely recognized.

  I leaned back in my chair, and looked at my glass.

  “Would you like another?” Hugh asked.

  “Sure, we’ve got time to kill after all.”

  He smiled in agreement. He took my glass and poured another, before handing it back to me.

  “Aren’t you going to have another?”

  “Nah, I’m not a heavy drinker.” He looked out the window, seemingly oblivious to what it sounded like he just implied.

  I gripped my glass, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

  I downed it anyway.

  Hugh fetched a couple of snack packs that were hidden away in the alcohol drawer. He offered one to me, which I took.

  “How long are we going to be in Reno?”

  His eyes fixed on the horizon out the window. “However long you want. You pretty much have unlimited access to your own jet as long as you know me.”

  He was twisting and twisting his wedding band around his finger.

  If he wasn’t married, what could have happened? The question burned in me, but not as intensely as it did before. He said he’d tell me, and I trusted him.

  I sat back down in my seat, feeling a bit tipsy. What if my life could fall into place, and I could be really happy? I leaned back in the chair, surprised by how far back it went. Closing my eyes, I dreamed of a life where I didn’t have to stress about my parents, my money, or my happiness.

  Maybe I’d find that happiness with Hugh.

  ***

  A gentle shake woke me up, someone’s fingers pressed against my shoulder. I blinked and forgot I was on an airplane. No, a private jet. I squinted at Hugh.

  He must’ve seen the shock in my eyes, and he quickly comforted me. “Hey. I just wanted to wake you and let you know that we’re almost there.” I dropped my shoulders, looking around, still somewhat lethargic. He asked, “Are you hungry? Those little snacks weren’t very filling.”

  I stretched out with a yawn. “Yeah, I could definitely use some food.”

  Hugh stood up and went into the back of the plane for a moment. I brought my seat back upright and looked over at the fluffy clouds. They looked endless, like the ocean.

  He came back up, and handed me a plate of steaming food. Chicken and rice, with some vegetables toppled over the side of it.

  “I already ate, but I prepared yours just in case.”

  “Oh wow, this looks great!” He handed me a fork. I chuckled. “I was afraid you’d give me chopsticks.”

  “You’re not nearly ready enough to use chopsticks,” he teased. I grinned and dug into the food.

  I wasn’t a little hungry, I was ravenous. I forgot I hadn’t even eaten breakfast, so it was all built up from last night. He laughed, sitting down and buckling himself in.

  “How much longer do you think we have?”

  “The pilot said about 25 minutes, then we’ll get ready to descend.”

  I swallowed some chicken, feeling light headed from eating too fast. “Where will we stay?”

  “My place. A nice condo near downtown.”

  “Is it big?” I blurted out. I quickly bit my tongue. He didn’t seem offended. If anything, he was pleased.

  “It’s big enough.”

  ***

  The airplane lowered through the cloud cover, whiting out the windows for a few moments.

  I finished my food, and left the tray sitting next to me. I hated landings. The only way I had to cope with them was just squeezing onto the arm rests until it was over, but it was an exhausting ten minutes every time. I hated it.

  Hugh asked, “You okay? You look pale.”

  I shook my head weakly.

  Hugh unbuckled his seatbelt without a second thought. He moved next to me, replacing the tray and grabbing my hand.

  I smiled, feeling better already. “Thanks Hugh.”

  “James is an excellent pilot,” he said, touching my shoulder. I softened in his grip. “Just breathe and talk to me.”

  I tore my focus away from the window, the clouds passing made me dizzy.

  “Okay, umm... What do you do at your company?”

  “I work as a regional district manager. It’s a fancy title that amounts to me making sure all the power plants keep their output within guidelines.”

  “It sure sounds classy.” I squeezed his hand back. “I thought you wanted to be an musician?”

  He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. “I did, but that was high school you know? When I went to college, my dad told me I had to do business, so I did. And you know what? It wasn’t too bad, and I liked it.”

  “How’d you start working for...?”

  “Silver Energy,” he answered, finishing my sentence. “After a bit of college, I earned an internship with them. Next thing I knew, they were hiring me on and I was getting promotions left and right.”

  “How’d you manage that?” The airplane broke through the clouds. We were a lot closer to the ground than I thought were, which was a curse and a blessing. I always watched to see when the plane reached a survivable crash distance.

  “I put a lot of time in, 80-90 hour weeks, which... I wouldn’t recommend. It got me noticed though.”

  “Holy shit, did you even sleep? Was it worth it?”

  “I slept enough.” He opened his eyes. “It was easier than dealing with my life at the time.”

  The airplane coasted in, the vibration of its landing gear lowering shaking my seat. Hugh pulled my hand up and kissed it. It was sweet enough to make my cheeks burn.

  “You know airplanes have exploded on the runway from running over debris?” I said, my voice still shaky.

  “I didn’t, but don’t worry. I promise that won’t happen.”

  After hovering over the runway for what felt like ages, the wheels touched the ground. The flaps roared against the wind, slowing us down with the howl of the engines pulling against the weight of the craft
.

  Slowing to taxiing speed, the airplane started making its way toward a gate.

  James popped on the intercom again, “Hugh, I’m happy to conclude another speedy flight. It’s 5pm local time, and I hope to see you again soon.” He clicked off the intercom.

  “Isn’t it weird having him address you directly?” I asked. “Especially since everything he says sounds like what any other pilot would say?”

  “It was weird at first.”

  The airplane stopped at a gate. I guess James was the only crew member on board, because he came out of the cockpit and opened the stairway latch.

  Before we got up, Hugh turned to me. “We have to go right to my work, I have a meeting I have to catch. I’ll get to show you off a little too.” When he saw the look on my face, he smiled. “I’m kidding.”

  When we exited the plane, our luggage was already waiting for us. Reno smelled a lot different than Maine. That salty and piney smell was absent, replaced with dry and somewhat muggy air.

  “It’s so hot!” I gasped, feeling choked as the wave of heat hit me.

  “I forgot you’re used to the east coast. This is way better.” I reached for my luggage, but Hugh insisted he take it. I followed him off the airstrip, through the thankfully air-conditioned airport, into the parking garage.

  No rental this time, his car was parked at the airport. A flashy black Porsche.

  As he came around the front to pop the trunk, I teased him a little. “You would have a Porsche wouldn’t you?”

  “A lot of things might have changed, but my dream car never did.” He loaded our luggage in the surprisingly spacious front-trunk.

  The smell of clean, warm leather greeted me when I climbed in. As we left, he didn’t even pay for parking. The mention of his name changed the parking attendants expression from boredom to excitement.

  Reno.

  It wasn’t Vegas, but it would do.

  Chapter 3

  We blasted down the highway, the scenery whizzing past us. No time to soak in the sights, I was too busy clenching the seat as we curved through the turns.

  Hugh driving was more conservative when he was in the rental car, but now that he was back in his car, he didn’t have a care in the world.

  The sports-like passenger seat kept me from sliding all over the place, but it couldn’t do much to stop me from fighting his turning power.