Flight (7 page)

“
Good morning. Did you enjoy the wonderful accommodations of our living room?”

“
Where’s Jess? Please tell me she’s here somewhere,” I said, not bothering to answer Owen. I was so over being made fun of.

“
She’s in with Jared,” the guys both said at once.

“
Um, could one of you please get her for me?” I asked, slipping my flip-flops back on and picking up my purse from the floor.

“
There’s no way I’m taking the chance of seeing Jared naked,” Levi said sitting up and stretching.

“
Gross. Fine, which room is his?”

“
Seriously?”

“
Yes, seriously. We have to be at work in like 20 minutes.”

“
Well, if you are already going to be late you might as well stay for breakfast.”

“
Which room is his?” I repeated.

Ten minutes later, I was walking out the front door with Jess trailing behind me. The cab was supposed to arrive any minute. “You could have at least let me get dressed!” Jess struggled to strap on her sandals.

“
Thanks for an amazing night, Allison!” Levi laughed.

“
I didn’t tell you that you had to leave, just that I was leaving.”

“
Why are you so mad?”

“
I
so
don’t have to answer that.”

“
I thought you and Levi hit it off. You two were pretty cozy last night.”

“
Don’t start. He has some nerve insinuating anything happened between us.”

“
Wait. So nothing happened?”

“
No, thankfully I slept on the couch.”

“
Then why did Levi thank you for an amazing night?” Jess looked perplexed.

“
He thinks he’s a comedian and that falling asleep on the sofa counts as spending the night together.”

Jess busted out laughing. “You two slept on the sofa together? Man, that guy must really be into you to forgo his own bed to curl up with you on the couch.”

“
Aren’t I lucky?”

“
I’d be jealous except that I had a great time with Jared last night.” Jess smiled but something didn’t look right about it, like it was forced.

“
Please, no details,” I begged.

I got through my morning work in one piece, but Jess didn’t. She lasted maybe an hour before disappearing back upstairs to take a nap. I sat in the office behind the front desk doing mostly paperwork, drinking copious amounts of water, and trying to forget the night before. Obviously Jess was into Jared, so I was already trying to come up with excuses for why I wouldn’t hang out with his friends, other than the obvious reason that I wanted to avoid Levi.

***

“
Ready for lunch?” I looked up from the pile of papers in front of me with a start.

“
What are you doing back here, Levi?”

“
Oh, Natalie told me I could come back.”

“
Oh, did she?” I didn’t want to get angry with the manager, but it annoyed me that she would just let him back into the office.

“
Yeah. You ready?”

“
I’m not having lunch with you.” I tried to keep my voice down so none of the other employees would hear. Unfortunately, Levi didn’t do the same.

“
Well, you left without letting me make you breakfast this morning, so I thought I could at least take you to lunch.” I felt the eyes of everyone in the office staring at me. I got up, grabbed Levi’s arm and dragged him down the hall.

“
I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I’m not having it.”

“
What game? It’s just lunch.”

“
So, you just like humiliating me in front of the people I work with?”

“
That humiliated you?”

“
Of course it did!” I said exasperated. “Now they think I slept with you.”

“
And that’s a problem because…”

“
Because this is my dad’s hotel. Okay, Levi? My dad’s. I don’t need my dad hearing about this and thinking his daughter is some sort of slut.”

“
Being slutty would imply spending the night with lots of guys, not just one. Heck, you can even tell him I’m your boyfriend if it makes you feel better.”

“
My what?”

“
Your boyfriend.”

“
Do you even know what that word means? Have you ever had a relationship that lasted more than a few days?” I had no idea what his dating history was, but he seemed like a player to me and I was angry.

“
There is a first time for everything. Most girls would want to tame me.”

“
Tame you? Oh my god, leave. Just leave, okay?”

“
Not until you agree to go out with me.”

“
You have to be kidding me.”

“
Not at all. I have no place to be, I’m staying here until you agree.”

“
Why? What angle are you playing?”

“
First you accuse me of playing games and now angles. You aren’t very trusting, Allison.”

“
It’s Allie! And you haven’t given me a reason to trust you!”

“
Let me.” I noticed a few employees peeking around the corner to see what was going on.

“
Okay.”

“
Dinner tonight? I’d say lunch but I’d rather give you time to cool down.”

“
Don’t you ever give up?”

“
Never. I’m not leaving until you say yes.”

I sighed. “Fine. Coffee Friday night. Then you leave me alone.”

“
I’ll pick you up at 8:00 then.”

“
Sure, whatever. Now leave.”

“
I’ll miss you too.” He turned and walked away with a huge grin on his face.

Chapter
Six

The week passed painfully slow. After a full day’s work, I was more than happy to relax in our room, but it was strange that Jess suddenly seemed to not have any interest in going out. On Thursday morning, she didn’t even get out of bed.

“
You do realize we have work in ten minutes, right?” I asked, poking my head into her room.

“
I’m just not feeling well. Is it okay if I skip today?”

“
Sure. Feel better. Do you need anything before I go?”

“
No. Don’t worry,” she assured me.

“
Okay. See you later.”

Jess didn’t look particularly sick, but I figured playing hooky for one day wasn’t a big deal. Still, something wasn’t adding up, she just wasn’t herself. I headed downstairs ready for a quiet morning of work. My quiet time didn’t last long.

“
What’s up with Jess?” Billy asked. He had made a habit of hanging out at the desk with us whenever there was a lull in work for him—which was anytime but check in and check out. We saw a lot of each other.

“
I have no clue. She refused to get up this morning. She’s in a funk or something.”

“
Is she sick?” he asked worriedly.

“
I don’t think so.”

“
Have you tried to talk to her?” Adie joined in the conversation. She seemed really concerned.

“
I tried, but she isn’t saying anything. I honestly don’t know what to do. She hasn’t wanted to do anything and she’s barely eating. I’m wondering if I should call her mom.”

“
If you are even questioning it you probably should,” Adie advised. “A mother needs to know when her child is upset.”

“
Maybe I should try to talk to her one more time, and if there is no change I’ll call?”

“
That sounds reasonable,” Adie agreed.

“
Please let me know if I can do anything.” Billy really was a nice guy and he cared about her. Too bad Jess never went for the nice guys. But if I was being honest I never did either.

***

In all of my years of knowing Jess, I had only seen her cry twice. The first time was when her beloved Golden Retriever died. The other was when her grandparents moved away. Walking into her room during my lunch break was number three.

“
Hey, you all right?” I asked tentatively as I pushed open the door. “Wait, why are you packing?”

“
I’m leaving. I’m sorry to run out on you, but I would rather spend the summer at home.” Jess jammed clothes haphazardly into an open suitcase on her bed.

I felt a moment of panic. What the heck was going on? “Umm, okay. You going to expand on that at all?”

“
I don’t want to be here and besides Emmett texted me, I might try to work things out with him.”

“
Seriously? What happened to him being like a lost dog who can’t get a clue when he’s not wanted?” Jess had dumped her longtime boyfriend back in September because she wanted to have a fun senior year. He’d tried to get back together with her a few times, but she always refused.

“
I changed my mind.”

“
What’s really going on?”

She started sobbing. I sat down on the bed pulling her into my arms. “What happened? You have to tell me.”

“
I shouldn’t have done it.”

“
Done what?”

“
It.
With Jared.”

“
Oh… Did he hurt you or something?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

“
It was my first time,” she mumbled and at first, I thought I’d heard her wrong.

“
What did you say?”

“
It was my first time. I was a virgin, okay.”

I tried to rein in my surprise. Instead of asking why she had pretended to sleep with guys before, I asked the more immediate question. “Then why did you?”

“
He didn’t ask me if I was sure. Guys always ask if you’re sure you want to… It’s always my way out. Jared didn’t ask.”

“
Oh, Jess.” I hugged her again and let her tears soak through my shirt. Somehow, my “anything goes” friend had managed to get seriously hurt and I couldn’t help but feel responsible. Jess was always so flippant about hooking up with guys that I hadn’t worried about her after the first night. She seemed so interested in him I didn’t see any reason to interfere. It wasn’t an excuse and I felt like an incredibly self-absorbed and horrible friend.

“
You won’t hate me for leaving, will you?” Jess appeared so vulnerable with her tear-streaked face. It was such a contrast to her usual bright smile. It made my stomach churn. I hated Jared for even existing.

“
Of course not. I am so sorry, Jess. I wish there was something I could do.”

“
There isn’t anything.”

“
Can I ask you something?” I asked tentatively.

“
Sure.”

“
If you hadn’t had sex, why did you push me to sleep with Toby?”

“
Push you?” Jess took in a deep breath. “Like you would let anyone push you to do something that wasn’t part of your plan? Sex on your six-month anniversary with Toby fit your plan. I just told you what you wanted to hear.”

“
What do you mean something not in my plan? I don’t have a plan.”

“
Of course you do. Straight A’s in high school, all state for tennis, Princeton, marry the right guy, get the perfect job, and have 2.5 perfect children.” Jess laughed but it sounded forced.

“
Wow, is that really how you view me?”

“
I love you, but you are not an easy friend to live up to. And look, once again I screwed up.” She laughed dryly.

“
You didn’t screw up.”

“
Yes I did, don’t lie to me. I messed up and now I have to live with it.”

“
Don’t you want to at least talk to him? I mean, are you sure you don’t want to see him again, you know, to get some closure or something?”

“
Definitely not. It’s not like I’m mad at him or anything. I wanted to sleep with him, or I thought I did, it just wasn’t what I thought it would be. It wasn’t what my first time was supposed to feel like. It should have been with Emmett. It’s funny, isn’t it? I’m with a guy for over a year and won’t put out, but I end up sleeping with a virtual stranger. But it’s too late and I just want to forget about what happened.”