‘Not to worry. I have mace in my car. My insurance company also has a panic button on my phone which I can activate at any time, and I have a black belt in karate.’
‘Wow! Okay, remind me never to try and hijack you,’ he laughed. ‘Have you ever had to pull karate moves on anyone before?’
‘Once, when I was in a nightclub – my friend dragged me out to one – a guy pinched my bum as I walked past and I palm-struck him in the face.’ I thought back to that incident. I’d felt so violated by the unsolicited touch, and when I’d turned to see who’d done it and he’d given me a lascivious, drunken wink and then beckoned me with his dirty ‘come hither’ finger, I was overcome with fury. ‘And I was the one who got thrown out of the club – can you believe that? The asshole even tried to press charges for battery. But he’d touched me without my permission! I never understood that.’
‘My mom would call that male privilege and the culture of toxic masculinity. Unfortunately, it still exists.’
‘So you’d never pinch a girl on the bum if she walked past you?’
‘God, no! No!’
I squinted my eyes at Andrew, sizing him up. ‘That’s good to know,’ I said, and then started climbing out of the car.
‘Thanks for tonight. It was a big help,’ he called as I walked to my car. ‘I think my friends really like you.’
‘It’s my pleasure,’ I said, and surprised myself when I realized that statement was in fact accurate. It had been my pleasure. Synonyms forpleasureincludedenjoymentandcontentment. And right now, I felt very, very content.
CHAPTER19
‘A very good early, early morning to you, City Tower. This is Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’
‘Flightbird Six Zero Zero, this is City Tower. It is an early morning.’ I looked at my watch; it was coming up for four-fifty a.m.
‘We are inbound to Johannesburg Airport, flying over the golf course. Sun is just starting to rise, beautiful actually. Requesting vectors for ILS, please. Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’
‘Flightbird Six Zero Zero, turn left heading two zero eight.’ I stood up and looked out of the window. The sky was navy blue and, in the distance, the first rays of warm light were shooting over the horizon. ‘I’m sure we’re in for a beautiful sunrise,’ I confirmed.
‘Copy that, City Tower, turn left heading two zero eight. I’ll let you know what it looks like from up here.’
His voice disappeared again, and that same feeling I got every single time I talked to him now – an itchy, restless anticipation – took up residence underneath my ribcage. I was distracted by a few other landings, but all the while I felt effervescent. Synonyms includedfrothy, bubblyandsparkling.
‘City Tower, this is Flightbird Six Zero Zero. Established ILS, runway zero three left. Not lucky number seven today. How’s the runway looking?’
‘Perfect weather. No wind.’
‘Copy that, City Tower, no wind and looking forward to my perfect landing. The sun is up over the horizon. Looks amazing from up here. This is why I fly. You cannot beat this view!’
‘Wish I could see it, Flightbird Six Zero Zero. Cleared to land on runway zero three left.’
‘Thank you, City Tower, cleared to land on runway zero three left. I’ll take a photo for you. This is Flightbird Six Zero Zero.’
I stood up and watched his plane glide down, the morning rays now brightening the sky. It was a beautiful sight from here too, one of my favorite sights in the world. Andrew’s favorite sight was the view from above; mine was the view from below. There’s nothing better than watching a plane float smoothly to the ground with grace and elegance. And so many things needed to align perfectly for a plane to do that. Air speed, head and tail winds, angle, thrust, drag. I kept watching until his plane hit the tarmac, back wheels first, the front wheel and nose kept up until the very last minute, like a gymnast performing a precise routine and ending with the perfect dismount.
‘Flightbird Six Zero Zero, vacate right onto Alpha taxiway and contact Ground Control at one two one point six. That was the perfect landing,’ I said.
‘Vacate right onto Alpha taxiway and contact Ground Control at one two one point six. Flightbird Six Zero Zero. Thanks to you too.’
‘I don’t think I did that much; you do all the hard work.’
There was a long pause, so long in fact that I wasn’t sure if he was going to say anything back. But he did.
‘You do more than you think for me.’ And then he was gone again.
I’d just finished swimming at the gym when a message lit up my screen. I knew instantly who it was. I opened the message and a photo filled the screen.
Pippa:It’s beautiful.
Andrew:It was pretty spectacular.
