Dreams Take Flight (5 page)

“Lucas, I don’t want this moment to end. Can we do it again?”

“That was great. I feel like I could fuck all night, but have you forgotten where we are?”

“Come on, let’s do it again.”

“Autumn, I would love to, but let’s not tempt fate any longer. So far we’re safe; let’s keep it that way. Why don’t you just stay here, clean up, and I’ll go next door and do the same? Meet you at the front desk.”

“All right, if you must. Let me check and make sure the coast is clear.”

Autumn poked her head out the door and looked around. “OK—no one’s around. It’s safe to go out! See you at the front desk.”

After quickly freshening up, Lucas and Autumn met at the front desk and then parted company for the evening.

CHAPTER THREE

Rocky Start

S
everal days passed. Lucas arrived at the airport around nine in the evening, his usual arrival time for a ten-thirty departure. Heather, the customer service rep on duty, greeted Lucas with an enthusiastic hello.

Lucas couldn’t help but wonder if Autumn had ever talked to Heather about their rendezvous.

“Hi! How are you tonight?” Lucas said to her.
She’s a beauty,
he thought,
but I can’t be distracted by a pretty woman. Besides, she and Autumn working in the same office is a recipe for disaster. And anyway, I don’t need or want a relationship with anyone, and if I keep messing around, that could happen.

“Heather,” he said to her, “you see Mike yet tonight?”

“He passed through a few minutes ago.”

“Thanks. He’s probably in the office.”

As Lucas continued through the lobby, he waved at a couple of transient pilots waiting on a nearby couch. Curious about a beautiful Falcon Jet on the ramp, Lucas stopped for some lighthearted pilot conversation.

Lucas asked one of the pilots, “You guys flying the Falcon?”

The other pilot responded with a definitive “Yes,” spoken like a proud father.

“It’s a beauty. I love the paint job.”

“Yeah, we get lots of compliments.”

“Who you guys fly for?”

“The plane is owned by Pete Rosco, but today we have his daughter and son-in-law on board. They’re at the ballgame. Who do you drive for? And what do you drive?”

“I fly for State Side and tonight I’m flying a Convair 440, but I also fly their King Airs, Lears, and Cessna Jets. A nice job, but I’m scheduled to go to Global shortly. Looks like they’re changing my start date, but that has to be worked out.”

“Quite a contrast in rides. You know, moving over to a scheduled carrier your life will become one big schedule. What’s your name?”

“Lucas. Lucas Sanders.”

“My name is Buddy,” the first pilot said. “My partner is David. Say hi, David.”

“Hi, David,” David replied with a smile. “OK; hi, Lucas Sanders. Sorry about that; just couldn’t resist.”

“How old are you, Mr. Lucas Sanders?” Buddy asked.

“Twenty-nine. Wish I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that question.”

“You do look young, but that isn’t why I asked. I just wondered how long you’ve been in this racket. Airline jobs are good, but so is the one you have. Don’t be too quick to jump ship.”

“I hear ya, but for now I feel compelled to press on. Buddy, David: nice talking with you; I have to finish preparing for tonight’s flight. Have a good flight home. Perhaps we’ll cross paths again.”

“See ya, Lucas. Have a safe flight.”

Lucas headed for the office to check in before the routine preflight checks to the Convair.

En route to his office, Lucas once again passed directly in front of Heather. This time, he didn’t say a word. Heather’s demeanor was one of frustration with disappointment written across her face as she reluctantly watched Lucas disappear without saying anything to him.

Upon entering the flight office, Lucas greeted Mike with a big, upbeat “How ya doing tonight, Mike?”

Mike responded in a warm and friendly manner: “Hello, ready for a rough ride tonight?”

“Sure, we can handle it. Because of the weather, I’m going to ask line service to add another hundred gallons of fuel to both sides—just in case.”

“Good idea.”

“Mike, I’m going to run out and do the preflight and take care of the fuel—anything else you can think I should do? I already filled the thermos with coffee.”

“No,” Mike said. “Not that I can think of.”

Just prior to Lucas leaving the flight office at Gold Coast Aviation to perform the preflight, Mike looked up at Lucas and said, “Heather asked if she could go with us tonight and I told her she could.”

Lucas responded abruptly, saying, “Why would you allow that?”
I can’t have Autumn and Heather in my world. I will have to be on guard all night.

“We take guests with us all the time.”

“Sure we do, but why Heather?”

“Because she asked if she could go with us tonight. Besides, we both know why she wants to go for a ride. She’s wanted to jump your bones for as long as I can remember, and everybody around here knows it. Surely this is no surprise to you, is it?”

“I know, and that’s exactly why she shouldn’t come with us. Besides, you know we have weather on this trip! Neither of us needs a distraction.”

“Come on, Lucas! What’s the big deal?”

“I don’t have time for romance! I fly all night and go to school all day. Look, I have an airline job waiting for me after school, and I can’t screw that up.”

“Lucas, have you really looked at this young lady? She is a knockout—she has legs that any guy would love to stroke, the face of a china doll, the innocence of a twelve-year-old looking for her first kiss—there are hundreds of guys in the Midwest who would love to be in your shoes. Besides, what does any of this have to do with Global?”

“First, she isn’t a young lady; she’s a twenty-one-year-old kid. Secondly—”

“And how old are you, you ungrateful shit?” Mike interrupted. “If you got your dipstick wet a little more often, you wouldn’t be so uptight.”

“I’m not uptight; I’m busy.”

“Too busy for a romp between the sheets with the most beautiful woman you’ll ever meet?”

“Fuck you, Mike! I don’t care what she has between her legs. I don’t have time for that kind of distraction.”

“Lucas, will you listen to yourself? Heather is going for a ride with us. No one is asking you to start dating.”

Lucas raised his voice: “I understand that, but this is nothing more than a ploy on her part to get something going, and I don’t appreciate her abusing you, our friendship, and our willingness to take people for rides.”

With that comment, Lucas turned and headed for the office door.

“Lucas,” called Mike, “come back here. Does your reaction to Heather have anything to do with the accident?”

Lucas immediately stopped in his tracks. While processing Mike’s words, he stared down at the floor. Removing his hand from the doorknob, he turned to partially face Mike. “Maybe,” he said. “Have you noticed the similarity between Heather and Morgan too?”

“I have, but I thought that accident was behind you.”

“It will never be behind me. I look at Heather, or any attractive girl, and I can still see Morgan lying in the street in a pool of blood. There was nothing I could do for her. Here I am four years later, and I’m still helpless.”

“We’ve talked about this before, Lucas, and you just can’t continue blaming yourself for what happened.”

“I know that. I do know that, but I can’t live through anything like that again. And Heather is so much like Morgan they could be twins. When I see Heather pressing for attention, all I see is Morgan insisting that I take her for a ride on my motorcycle. I see that car pulling out in front of us. I can still hear the tires squealing and the sound of metal as it crumpled beneath me. Here I am with a bright future, and Morgan has never seen another sunrise or sunset. I can’t just dismiss that event. It took Morgan’s life, and changed me forever.”

“Look, Lucas,” Mike said. “I can’t sit here and tell you to forget what happened. I know that will never happen—but you must not let that accident destroy
two
lives, and I’m afraid that’s what’s happening. Life isn’t fair. For all we know, we may not return from our flight tonight. If we make it back to St. Louis, something could still happen to either of us on our way home. If you’re going to do anything, recognize that life is precious and that you should live it to its fullest—appreciate what you have, who you are, your friends, and don’t overlook the people who may be a part of your future.”

“I know that, Mike, but if I let Heather—or anyone—into my life, I would feel like I was betraying Morgan. That would be more than I could live with.”

After saying that, Lucas spent a speechless moment just looking at the floor. Finally, he turned back to Mike and said, “Hey, we need to change the subject. Besides, I need to get some stuff done before we can leave.”

“I got ya. Just think about what I said, Lucas.”

With those parting words, Lucas opened the door and headed straight to the Convair.

With preflight completed and departure time approaching, Lucas settled into the copilot seat, fastened his belt, and began to arrange his office in the sky. As Lucas finished his cockpit routine, he could hear Mike and Heather enter the plane, followed by Mike raising the stair and locking the door. Mike appeared over Lucas’s left shoulder as he entered the cockpit with Heather close behind. Although a tight fit, Lucas didn’t even acknowledge Heather’s presence.

Lucas had his flying face on, and began to put order to the commotion that took place as Mike and Heather arrived.

“Mike,” he said, “we’re ready to roll. Heather, if you hang on for just a second I’ll get that jump seat set up for you as soon as I get our clearance.”

Lucas: “Clearance delivery, this is Convair three-seven-one-three-papa, IFR to Dallas.”

Controller: “Convair three-seven-one-three-papa cleared as filed. Departure will be one-one-nine-point-nine—squawk zero-seven-five-eight.”

Lucas: “That’s Convair thirty-seven-thirteen-papa, cleared as filed— squawk zero-seven-five-eight and departure one-one-nine-point-nine.”

Controller: “Read-back correct. Contact ground when ready to taxi.”

Lucas: “One-three-papa.”

Looking over his left shoulder, Lucas said, “Heather, if you can move up on this ledge, I’ll drop the jump seat for you.”

As Heather followed his instructions, Lucas’s left arm brushed the backs of her legs as he dropped the seat. She was excited knowing that she was going to spend the next five hours just inches from him—the person she’d had a crush on for months.

Seat in place, Heather and Mike buckled their belts and settled in for their departure.

Lucas thought to himself,
This is almost more than I can take. I don’t have any interest in entertaining this chick tonight or any night
.
Although—and I’d never admit this to Mike—she
is
a looker. Her innocent, young, fresh appearance would qualify her as a spokesperson for the milk industry. Besides, what was she thinking, wearing that loose-fitting miniskirt up here? Therein lies the problem—she wasn’t thinking. Screw her. I have one task, and that is to get to Dallas and back home safely.

“Mike, you ready to go?” Lucas asked aloud.

“Let’s do it.”

Lucas began reading the checklist to Mike: “OK, starter selector is on the right, door lights out, got the manifold pressure reading. Ramp agent is giving me a thumbs-up on the right—let her crank on the right.”

Following that command, Mike engaged the starter on the right engine and the mammoth-sized propeller began to turn. During that phase, Lucas monitored the turning propeller. “There’s one blade,” he said, “two, three, four, five, six, seven…twelve and ignition.”

Shortly after Lucas called for ignition, the engine roared to life, with a heavy cloud of smoke billowing from the exhaust.

“Mike, it’s yours for the left side.”

After Mike went through a similar routine on the left side, Lucas announced: “Both are fired up and it looks like we’re about ready. I’ll finish the checklist and we can go. Booster pump and external power is off, cowl flaps open, starter arm normal, door warning lights are out. Checklist completed.”

Mike said, in an authoritative voice, “OK, Lucas; let’s get this show on the road. Why don’t I take the leg to Dallas and you can bring her home?”

“Sounds good,” responded Lucas.

Lucas: “Ground control, this is Convair thirty-seven-thirteen-papa, IFR to Dallas at Gold Coast: ready to taxi with information bravo.”

The ground controller responded by saying, “Convair three-seven-one-three-papa, taxi to runway three-zero left.”

“Roger, three-zero left, one-three-papa,” responded Lucas.

The Convair slowly pulled from its parking place and began its journey to runway three-zero left. Once out of the ramp area, the landing lights were turned off and the plane continued with a slow, lumbering pace between the dimly lit blue taxiway lights.

While Mike and Lucas went through their routine, Heather sat in stunned silence, speechless as she watched two people bring a machine to life. They were about to take her into what appeared to be a boundless night. She now saw Mike and Lucas in a completely different light. She had seen them both as they moved about the lobby area, but never before in such a mesmerizing setting. Watching Mike and Lucas work together was breathtaking—each seemed to know what the other was going to do before he did it.