“I’ll be a Karen if that’s what it takes to get treated with respect on this funky ass flight. Seriously! Whiskey but no champagne on a flight is crazy!”
“I know another thing that’s crazy.”
She crossed her arms with a huff. “I don’t even like whiskey.”
“It’ll help you sleep,” I said, fishing into my coat pocket. “Well. That, and this.”
Her eyes flicked to the pill bottle in my hand like a seagull with a fish. “What’s that?”
“Like I said,” I answered, unscrewing the cap, “something to help you sleep.”
Right on cue, the flight attendant returned, setting down our drinks with a clink that screamedgood luck, sir.
It seemed Aurora forgot her earlier gripe with the flight attendant and the whiskey, because she picked up her glass immediately. “Should I take it with alcohol?”
“Not really,” I said. “So we’ll do half.”
I split the pill with my teeth and held it out to her.
“Is it X?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Xanax, right?”
Her eyebrows drew together in confusion.Is it weird I take Xanax?
“X is ecstasy…”
Now it’s my turn for confusion. “That makes no fucking sense. There isn’t even an X in that word.”
She sighed before grabbing the pill and dropping it onto her tongue.
“God, you’re so old,” she mumbled, chasing it with the whiskey. “You know, I usually don’t take drugs from men. Especially men I can’t stand.”
“Aw,” I teased. “You don’t love me any more, Rabbit?”
She stuck up her middle finger and I actually smiled.
What the fuck happened to paying her dust?
Within minutes, her shoulders eased and the constant movement finally stopped. Her lips curled into a faint, relaxed smile as she sank deeper into her seat, mumbling something I couldn’t quite make out before her head tilted toward the window.
For the first time since takeoff, there was peace.
I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.
Maybe now I could finally get some damn sleep, too.
I wokeup to the dead weight of Aurora Rodriguez knocked clean out on my arm.
Her cheek is pressed to my bicep, mouth slightly open, one hand is still curled around the blanket I don’t remember her having while the other hanging off her lap.
She was invading my personal space.
Again.
I blink slowly, my head thick with sleep I didn’t even enjoy. My shoulder was numb and my back was stiff.
The captain’s voice crackles overhead.“Welcome to San Francisco…”
