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“Of course.”
The next thing I know, I’m greeted by Sarah, and then introduced to Kat’s brother, Ryan Morgan. We talk about Kat’s pregnancy sickness for a bit, at which point Ryan says his sister has always been a barfer. “One of her many nicknames is Barf-o-Matic,” he says, making everyone on the call, including me, laugh.
I tell Jonas and Sarah how much fun Hannah and I had at their amazing wedding last month, since this is the first time I’m speaking to them since that night, and they both go on and on about how much fun they had. At my urging, they tell me about their honeymoon, which Josh and Kat joined for a short time before splitting off on their own trip to Argentina. And, finally, it’s time to get down to the actual reason for their call.
Sarah takes the lead in explaining Ryan’s situation, which, in a nutshell, is that Ryan met a scorching-hot brunette at a bar in Seattle tonight—a flight attendant named Samantha who blew Ryan away in every conceivable way.
“We both made it clear we were feeling a major connection,” Ryan says. “I know it sounds crazy, but it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.” He sighs deeply. “Unfortunately, before Samantha and I had exchanged numbers or even last names, my crazy ex blasted into the bar and made a huge scene, and Samantha understandably bolted like Cinderella at midnight. After quickly dealing with my ex, I ran outside to find Samantha, but she was gone.”
“Did she leave a glass slipper that we might be able use to track her down?” I ask.
“That’s exactly why we’re calling,” Sarah chimes in. “To see if we can construct some kind of glass slipper you might be able to use.”
“I’m willing to try.”
“Whatever you can do would be greatly appreciated,” Jonas says. “Ryan reminds me of myself after receiving Sarah’s first email.”
“You mean he’s totally and completely obsessed?”
Jonas laughs. “Exactly.”
Ryan says, “I know there’s no guarantee Samantha’s supposed to be the great love of my life. But what if she is? I’ve never felt chemistry like that before. Not even close. If I never see her again and never find out what could have happened, I’ll always wonder what if.”
“I’m sold,” I say. “Tell me everything you know about this woman, no matter how seemingly trivial or inconsequential.”
“You should probably take notes,” Sarah pipes in to say. “We’ve been brainstorming for the past half hour, so we’ve compiled a list for you.”
“True to form,” I say, chuckling. It’s very on-brand for Sarah Cruz to approach the situation in this manner. The woman is a thorough researcher, a brilliant analyst, and an all-around smart cookie. I open a tab on my screen for note taking. “Okay, hit me.”
Sarah says, “Samantha is a twenty-seven-year-old Argentinian-American. Brunette with brown eyes. A Virgo.”
“Oh, good. Virgo helps narrow down her birth date.”
Sarah says, “Samantha speaks English and Spanish. Works as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines, based out of LA.”
“Was she in Seattle for work or pleasure?”
“For work,” Sarah says. “She was in uniform at the bar. She said she flew in from LA today.”
“All good info. Do we know if Samantha flew from LA to Seattle on her regular route?”
Sarah says something to someone on her end of the call. And then, “We don’t know.”
Ryan chimes in with, “Samantha and I didn’t talk about work all that much. But I think her still being in uniform suggests she came straight from her flight to the bar, so she must have landed not too long before she got there.”
“Good thinking. That’ll help me narrow down which flight she was on, if need be. Around what time did she get to the bar?”
“Around eight-thirty,” Ryan supplies.
“Got it. What else?”
There’s some chatter on their end of the line, followed by Sarah saying, “That’s it, unless you’ve got questions.”
“No, I think I’ve got what I need. Great work, guys. No promises, but I’m guessing if I take a gander at Delta’s employee files for a bilingual, Virgo flight attendant named Samantha who flew from LA to Seattle this afternoon, I’ll be able to find her pretty easily.”
“Holy shit,” Ryan says. “Thank you. Wow.” There’s no mistaking his excitement.
“No promises, though. I don’t know what kind of search functionality I’ll find in the database. We’re positive she said she works for Delta, right? It’d suck if I’m looking around in the wrong database.”
“She didn’t actually say it, but only because we didn’t talk about work, like I said. But she had little triangles on her scarf, and when Sarah and I looked online, the logo definitely belonged to Delta.”
Delta. My eyes saucer as a lightning bolt hits my brain. How did I not think of this before?
“Of course, I insist on paying you for your time,” Ryan says.
