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“I’m sorry, the next flight is leaving in forty-five minutes and is completely booked.”
“Give me your list of passengers,” I demanded. “And their phone numbers.”
I could easily buy two tickets from well-meaning, well-paid travelers for double the price, and Duffy would be none the wiser.
She shook her head. “We don’t give out our customers’ information. Company policy.”
“I’ll pay you.”
Since when was I so desperate? Since when was I paying people to do ridiculous stuff? That was more my friends’ thing.
The woman glared at me, undeterred. “That won’t fly, pardon the pun.”
“There must be a solution,” I insisted. “For us to go on that flight. We’re just two people. One of us is, like, less than a hundred and ten pounds.” I motioned to Duffy.
Her eyes dropped back to the screen, and she pounded the keys with a huff.
“Actually ... there are two business class seats.”
“How much?” I pretended to care.
“Four thousand eight hundred and seventy-five per ticket, sir.”
I fished out my credit card, dumping it between us. “I’ll buy them.”
She clasped the card between her fake nails, eyeing me skeptically. I didn’t look like money. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d flown business.Discoverybought us economy seats, and I never fussed about it.
She swiped the card. We both held our breaths, like I didn’t know what my checking account looked like. After a few seconds, she nodded.
“It’s printing now. Thank you for choosing Unified Airlines.”
“Thank you for pretending I had a fucking choice.”
“I still can’t believe they upgraded us to North Star seats just becausewemissed our flights,” Duffy squeaked excitedly beside me an hour later, while we were both tucked in two bluish booths on the airplane. “My seat is a proper bed!”
See,nowI was feeling guilty. But what was I supposed to tell Duffy? That I spontaneously decided to shell out nine thousand dollars I wasn’t supposed to have on a last-minute trip?
“Lucky us,” I muttered noncommittedly.
“Wait till I tell Kieran about this.” She rolled onto her side, beaming up at me. “He’s going to start missing all of his flights. He might even show up a couple days after.”
“It’s probably a one-off,” I said, not wanting the Markham family to miss their family vacations. “Best not to try it at home.”
Duffy laughed, patting my hand. “You’re right. He can be so literal. Oh, I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
This won her a sidelong glance from me. “Yeah? Why?”
Did she want me to meet the family? Was she going to introduce me as her roommate? Her boyfriend? Her husband? Her partner in deceit?
While we were on the subject—Poppins looked so happy now. Would it really be the end of the world if I told her I was filthy rich and was taking her for a spin for a year or two until she got out of my system? I had the means and she had the will.
You’re not buying your wife, you idiot. If she doesn’t love you poor, she doesn’t deserve you rich.
She accepted a Bloody Mary from an air hostess and bit the tip of the celery, chewing thoughtfully. “Because you’re both teetering over the same mental age of thirteen.”
I smiled tightly. “What was that? All I heard was the wordteat.”
“You’re hilarious.” She pointed at me with the celery stick. “You know, I could really get used to this sort of lifestyle. See why I want to marry someone rich?”
