Doctor's Orders (6 page)

‘Angel…are you OK? What is it…travel sickness?’

Let’s go with that, I thought. At least it would get
me off the hook for the moment. ‘Yes, sorry…I should have told you.
I get it sometimes.’

‘Here…sit down on this bench, and I’ll get you some
water. Back in a sec.’

I was glad to have a few moments alone. What the
fuck was I going to do now? Skydiving is not the ideal pastime for
someone who is terrified of heights. And I was too young to die. I
looked up at the sign again and read the smaller print beneath the
headline.

Enjoy the spectacular views from 14,000 feet!

14,000 feet! I get scared going up a step ladder.
There was no way anyone was going to make me jump from 14,000 feet.
But if I didn’t, I would make a total fool of myself, ruin any
chance of a relationship with Brad and probably lose my job,
too.

I’ve been fucked a few times, but never as well and
truly fucked as this. What the hell was I going to do? I thought
fast, and by the time Brad came back with a bottle of water, I had
a plan. I would just go along with things for a while, and then at
the last minute, I would fake sickness again, and they would have
to go up without me. Brilliant! I was feeling better already.

I recovered a little, and by the time we got into
the preparations stage, I was almost back to normal. I didn’t even
have to listen to the trainer. After all, I wasn’t going anywhere.
I just smiled and nodded at him, and pretended to listen. But all I
was hearing was ‘blah, blah, blah…’

Well, that was a dumb attitude. Because to cut a
long story short, my plan didn’t work out. I kind of got sucked
into the whole process, and somehow that opportunity to butt out
never arose. The next couple of hours flew by, and before I knew
it, I was sardine-sandwiched into one of the tiny planes with Brad
seated right behind me. But all was not lost…I had a plan B. When
it came to the big moment when I was supposed to jump, I would just
refuse to go. I would play the scared little girl routine. Easy.
They can’t make you commit suicide, right?

The whole idea certainly seemed suicidal to me. I’m
not comfortable flying in a jumbo jet, never mind a minute and
rather frail-looking Cessna. There weren’t even any seats. We all
sat on the floor like paratroopers in an old war movie. When the
plane started to hurtle down the runway, I thought I was going to
throw up again. I clenched my fists so tightly that they turned
white. Soon we were up in the air, and I felt more vulnerable than
ever. It was awful. There was no way I could look down. The plane
circled higher and higher. There were twelve of us in the plane,
five newbies including me, five experienced jumpers, the pilot and
the leader of the group.

I felt Brad lean closer to me, reaching around the
parachute pack that was perched on my back. I saw him clip some
straps onto my pack. ‘You’re OK now…you don’t have to do anything.
Just enjoy the ride. We are nearly at 14,000 feet.’

Oh, bollocks!

Now there was no way out. Brad and I were strapped
together, and he was going to take me down with him. I was going to
die. I resigned myself to my fate. I’d had a good life. I’d had
more fun than most women get in eighty years. I suppose it all had
to end sooner or later, and it turns out it was going to be sooner.
Maybe this was some kind of divine retribution for my sinful
ways.

I was trying to remember if I had written a will,
when the leader guy threw the door open.

Shit!

A cold wind whistled through the compartment and I
looked outside to see nothing…absolutely nothing except blue sky
all around us, bluer than any sky I had ever seen before. If I
hadn’t been so shit scared, it would have been beautiful. I
realized with a shock that we were first in line for the exit. Brad
shuffled us forwards, closer to the edge, and there was nothing I
could do except panic. I found myself sitting in the doorway with
my legs dangling over the edge. Now was the time to shout that I
couldn’t jump…

…I never got the chance. Brad pushed forward, and we
were out of the plane and spinning. I started to scream. I was
hurtling through thin air, wind rushing past me. As we spun, I saw
the plane disappear into the distance, fast becoming a tiny speck.
We cleared some clouds, and then looking down, I saw the ground
below me, a distant spot that seemed to be slowly getting nearer.
The rushing wind lasted for what seemed an eternity, but must have
been less than a minute. I felt Brad’s hands gripping me, and
somehow I felt reassured. Maybe this was going to be OK. Maybe I
wouldn’t die. Just a few months in hospital, perhaps, then a
lifetime in a wheelchair.

Then something happened…It felt as if I was being
pulled up into the air, but in fact we had just slowed
dramatically. I looked up and saw our parachute open above
us…possibly the most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my life.
The billowing cloud of blue and white material looked magical. We
weren’t going to die!

Now my world view changed completely. I was floating
in space with a hot guy’s arms around me, and a spectacular view of
the world to enjoy. The adrenaline from the fall was pumping
through me, and I was experiencing a huge high. I could see the
ocean below, the surf crashing on the beach, and the green of the
parkland beyond. Better than sex? I wasn’t sure about that, but it
was pretty awesome. We floated downwards, circling around the
landing area, swinging in closer and closer. The ground seemed to
rush up towards my feet, and I realized that we were almost down,
and coming in fast. Brad told me to lift my legs, and he guided us
down to the grass, coming to a neat, running landing.

A moment later, I was sitting on the grass feeling
totally exhilarated. Heck, what had I been scared of? I wanted to
do it again! And I was more intrigued than ever by my parachuting
partner. There really was more to this guy than met the eye. This
put a whole new spin on the phrase ‘flying doctor.’

Brad unclipped himself from my parachute pack and
helped me out of it. I jumped to my feet and hugged him. I couldn’t
help it! The moment was so intense. He didn’t seem to mind, in
fact, he was laughing.

When we left in the Range Rover an hour later, I was
still on a high. I couldn’t wait to tell Ellen about this…she would
be laughing on the other side of her face. Better still, I had a
DVD of the event to prove it. But all that was to come later. I was
starving, and when Brad suggested finding a restaurant to get a
meal, I was all for the idea. We drove into Wollongong and soon
came across an Italian restaurant that looked friendly and
inviting. It’s a good job Aussie restaurants are very relaxed about
dress code. I felt scruffy in my rumpled clothes, although Brad
somehow managed to look immaculately groomed. I wondered vaguely
how he did that. Anyway, half an hour later, we were enjoying some
excellent pasta and discussing the adventures of the day.

‘Well, you did it,’ Brad grinned. I felt I had gone
up in his estimation that day. I guess he was used to women who
chickened out of scary activities. Ha…not me! I’m up for
anything…LOL!

‘Of course, I wouldn’t have missed it for the
world,’ I lied. ‘Thanks for an awesome day. I’m still feeling a
buzz.’ And that was the truth…I was just glad to be alive.

‘Great,’ Brad smiled. ‘I think working with you is
going to be fun.’ He reached across the table and squeezed my hand
once again. It was just a friendly touch, but it sent a feeling
like an electric shock shooting up my arm. What kind of fun was he
talking about? I had some ideas that I would like to suggest, but I
didn’t think this was the moment.

‘I’m looking forward to it,’ I said. ‘You are full
of surprises. I can’t wait to see what happens next.’

By the time the meal was over, I was more intrigued
than ever by this complex and mysterious man. He was driven to
succeed, certainly, but there was more to him than a desire for
power and money. As we talked about his career, I realized that he
genuinely cared about people, and wanted to leave his mark on the
world. By comparison, I felt shallow and self-centered. My life had
been primarily driven by my hormones, with not much thought into
making the world a better place. If I left a few guys with smiles
on their faces, that was good enough for me. Or was it?

Luckily, falling out of an airplane had given me
enough credit to make up for any deficiencies in other areas. We
got along famously, and by the time we left the restaurant, we were
best buddies. During the drive home, I wondered where this might go
from here. Probably nowhere. Surely he had a beautiful wife, or
fiancé – or at least a girlfriend – tucked away somewhere. But if
that was the case, why wasn’t he spending the day with her? Maybe
she wasn’t dumb enough to jump into space at 14,000 feet.

Eventually, we pulled up outside my apartment just
as darkness fell. I didn’t want the day to end there, but I didn’t
want to do the corny old ‘want to come in for coffee?’ line either.
Then I remembered the DVD of my death plunge. I found it in my bag
and waved it enthusiastically.

‘Hey, you want to come in and see how we did?’

Brad smiled his acceptance, and a few minutes later,
we were sitting on my sofa, drinking coffee, and watching me make a
complete fool of myself. The soundtrack mainly consisted of me
screaming my lungs out during the free fall, then cooing like a
happy pigeon for the rest of the descent. I sounded like a total
idiot, and Brad seemed to find it very amusing. We watched it
several times, then I switched it off. Ellen had gone out for the
evening, so we had the place to ourselves. There was an awkward
silence for a few seconds, and I was busy trying to think of
something to say to fill in the gap when Brad leaned forward and
kissed me. His lips were firm and insistent, and I gasped with
surprise. I certainly wasn’t expecting that.

This was different from most of my other encounters.
Somehow this was not just sensual, but caring and loving, too. I
felt like a schoolgirl on her first date, enjoying the touch of a
man for the first time. I responded, putting my hands round the
back of his head and pulling his mouth tighter against mine. I felt
stirrings of longing, deep within me. I wanted to feel his flesh
next to mine, and when he pushed me gently back against the sofa, I
didn’t resist.

We lay back together, kissing softly. Then I felt
his tongue probing into my mouth, like a precursor of sexual
penetration, a gentle reminder of what we could be doing. It felt
good. Brad slipped an arm around me and I felt his fingers tracing
down my back, then caressing my buttocks. I ran my fingers along
his skin, from the hard muscles of his shoulders to the small of
his back. Brad kissed me on the cheeks, then gently worked his way
downwards, kissing my neck, my shoulders, and then moving further
down to kiss my breasts through my clothes. Was parachuting really
better than sex? I had a feeling I was about to find out for sure.
Brad brought his hand up and slipped it under my T-shirt, sliding
up to my breasts and gently stroking them. I couldn’t help but let
a moan slip out. Damn, it felt good. I felt a burning desire to get
naked, to feel his bare muscles next to my soft flesh.

And then he stopped. In mid boob grope. He pulled
away from me with an apologetic look on his face.

‘Angel,’ I apologize. ‘I was getting carried away…I
didn’t mean to take advantage?’

Take advantage? I thought. He wouldn’t be the first,
not by a long way. But I sensed that would be the wrong thing to
say. I guess he was the kind of guy who expected a little more
sophistication from his ladies.

Fuck.

I mean, no fuck.

I stumbled over my words. ‘Oh…er, me too! That’s not
like me at all!’

Hey, stop laughing….I was trying to be serious. Brad
stood up and straightened his clothing, and I felt obliged to do
the same. He bent down and kissed me quickly on the cheek, the kind
of kiss you give your grandmother when you say goodbye. ‘I’m
sorry…I’d better go. I’ll call you on Monday…about work, that
is.’

Within a few seconds, he had regained his composure,
and became the confident and self-assured Brad once more. He
hurried out of the door, and was gone.

***

Well, that was a
bummer. One minute it looked like I was about to get an injection
of alpha male directly into my system, and the next I’m sitting at
home alone with no dick in sight. I was really pissed off.

My brief romance with Brad was all over.

What had it lasted…a few hours? Longer than many of
my encounters with men, granted, but we didn’t even get to the good
bit. Anyway, it was more than that. Brad wasn’t just another hunk
of male hormones. He was something special, and…well, I guess I had
been hoping something special might happen, although I wasn’t
really sure what.

And now I had scared him off. He was going to call
me on Monday, but only about work. In other words, he had finished
with me before we had even got properly started.

Bummer. I was all on my lonesome again.

What now? I scoured the kitchen for chocolate and
found a large bar of Cadbury’s Crunchie hidden behind the
microwave. Ellen is one of those annoying women who can eat huge
quantities of chocolate without putting on any weight whatsoever.
But she also knows I will binge on her chocolate supplies if I have
a bad day, so she hides it in obscure locations. It’s a kind of
chocolate arms race. Ellen is always looking for better places to
hide it, and I am always decoding her defence system and locating
it. If it wasn’t for all the exercise I got between the sheets, I
would probably be packing a few extra pounds by now.

I plonked myself in front of the TV with the
chocolate and half a bottle of cheap red wine. I began flicking
through the channels. Surprise, surprise…nothing worth watching.
Just re-runs of American sitcoms and embarrassingly bad reality TV
shows. They should have tried making a reality TV show about my
life…that would be a real eye opener. I bet I could raise the
channel ratings a bit. Never mind
The Farmer Wants a Wife
–
how about
The Lady Wants Some Dick
. Ha ha! And if you said
‘what lady?’ then shame on you.