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“Is the takeoff really as bad as Mike says it is?”
“It depends. I’m not a fan of it. But it’s a small part of the entire flight. I’ll be there the entire time, Olivia. Okay? I can hold your hand through it if you want me to.”
I picked up her hand and settled it against mine, threading our fingers together. I patted her hand and looked into her eyes, watching the excitement roll behind them. She was shaking with excessive energy, readying herself for her first ever plane trip and her first time out of the country. She couldn’t stop smiling. Even with the heaviness underneath her eyes and the exhaustion I still saw in her stare, she was more excited than ever to take this trip.
I latched onto that and forced myself to forget about the email.
“And don’t worry. If you don’t want to sleep on the plane ride, I’ve got the best coffee from Guatemala stocked on the flight,” I said.
“Oh, I won’t need any caffeine. If I fall asleep, I fall asleep,” Olivia said.
“Well, then there’s also a fine selection of wine, if you need help getting to sleep.”
She shook her head. “Nope. Don’t think I’ll need that, either. But thank you, Brett. That’s very kind of you.”
“No wine and no coffee? What ever are you going to drink?” I asked playfully.
“Eh, Mom says I always need more water in my diet. I’ll just stick with that. Unless you have that aloe water stuff. Have you ever tried it?”
“Aloe what?” I asked.
“Aloe water. My favorite comes in the mango flavor. It’s got chunks of aloe vera in it that gives it this kind of chewy texture. I don’t know. It’s different, and I like it.”
“Olivia, you don’t like pulp in your orange juice.”
“Oh, no, no. This is different from that. It’s not as fine as pulp. You’ll just have to try it. Maybe they’ll have it in Amsterdam,” she said, smiling.
I studied her excitement as she gazed out the window. She pulled away from me, pressing herself against the window like a little schoolgirl. But I couldn’t get our conversation out of my head. It was simple. It shouldn’t have struck me as odd. And yet, it did. There was something really weird about it.
And it bugged me that I didn’t know why it seemed weird.
“Well, if you get tired on the flight, I do have a bedroom in the back. You can hear the hum of the engine a little bit, but it isn’t too bad. I had the walls lined with soundproofing material to reduce the noise back there. You’re more than welcome to it,” I said.
“Is there any cake on the flight?” she asked.
She looked back at me, and I watched her swallow hard.
“No. There’s no cake on the flight,” I said.
“Good. Because my mother had this chocolate cake at dinner a few hours ago, and something wasn’t right about it.”
“About the cake.”
“Yeah. I don’t know. I just don’t want to throw up on the flight or anything. Just thinking about it makes my stomach roll again. I was just asking, is all.”
“Are you feeling okay, Olivia?”
I watched a split second moment of panic rush behind her eyes. And it was enough to set me on edge.
“Why do you ask?” she asked.
“I don’t know. You just seem a little… off,” I said.
She sat down beside me, sliding back into my body. “I guess I’m just nervous.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know. About the plane ride. About being out of the country for the first time. About whatever business it is we’ll be dealing with while we’re there.”
“Business? What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on, Brett. Don’t lie to me. I know Amsterdam is a big proponent of you moving forward with these international plans. It’s okay,” she said.
“Well, I’m not planning on working, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said.
“Yeah, but the two of us brought our laptops anyway,” she said.
I chuckled. “I suppose we did, yes.”
“It’s fine. I’m really not upset about it. So long as you promise me one day in the city so we can explore.”
I dipped down and kissed the temple of her head. “I promise you, we’ll get plenty of time to explore the city.”
“Good. Now, we just have to figure out how to relax me. Because we’ve just pulled up to your jet, and my heart is slamming against my chest.”
The car came to a rolling stop, and I looked out the window. Olivia leaned a little heavier into my side, and I felt her shaking. She was nervous. I couldn’t blame her. My first plane ride had my mind spinning in all sorts of directions. I pulled her into my lap and tried to calm her down. I let the odd conversations and the rigid movements of her body fall away from my mind. I pushed the email to the side and swallowed down the sneaking suspicion that she was still hiding something from me. I wanted to enjoy this with her. I wanted to experience all of these first-time experiences with her.
