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“I just need to slip past you.”
“Of course,” I said, stepping out of his way, then facing Eli again. “You can’t just order me around,” I said as I was once again shuffled as another man walked toward me with a huge bag that nearly knocked me over.
“You’re not in the military,” Eli nodded.
“Exactly,” I said, sidestepping the next man to walk toward me. Geez, I felt like I was on a commercial airliner instead of a private plane. “I’m not one of your men.”
“Trust me, I know that,” he grinned, reaching into an overhead bin and taking a bag from a man that walked up behind me. “Step back.” I did as he asked, getting out of his way. “And I would never want you to feel like you don’t have a choice.”
Finally, we were getting somewhere. “I’m glad you see things my way.”
Eli motioned me into the row of seats, so I slid in, then another as he crowded in next to me. I followed suit when he sat down. I felt like we were finally getting somewhere.
“As I was saying, I can’t just up and leave my life. I have animals relying on me.”
His eyebrows pulled together. “Is a fish considered an animal?” He grabbed the seat belt and pulled it across my waist, motioning for me to lift my arms. Out of habit, I did as he asked while he secured the strap.
“Yes, they have brains and can feel pain.”
“Huh,” he nodded. “I guess you learn something new every day.”
“It’s actually a member of the carp family.”
“I would not have guessed that.”
“Please make sure all barf bags and weapons are stored. We are now clear for takeoff.”
“Takeoff?” I screeched as I tried to stand, but was jerked back in my seat. My eyes flicked to the door, but it was already closed. “But I have to get off the plane!”
“You should try to calm down. Scottie’s a nervous flier.”
“Who’s Scottie?” I screeched. At this point, I was about to jump out of the plane.
“He’s the pilot. He’s usually pretty steady, but we’ve had some bad luck lately. Most recently, a bird got sucked into the engine. Everyone on board had to jump.”
My eyes widened in panic as I slowly turned to face him. “From the plane?”
“Well…yeah.”
“That’s it!” I yelled, struggling to unbuckle. I finally worked it out, and when Eli wouldn’t move, I climbed over the seat and jumped into the aisle. I could hear him calling after me, but all I could think about was getting off this plane. “Help! Someone help!” I started yelling as we rolled down the tarmac. I could see the ground turning outside as the plane got into position. I didn’t know much about planes, but I knew if I got on one, I was likely to die a very slow, painful death. Then again, if I fell to my doom, I might just crash and burn, which would at least be quick, if not painless.
I started jerking on the door, but was ripped away at the waist as Eli carried me back to my seat. I slammed my foot into the seat we were about to pass to prevent him from carrying me further. “No! You can’t make me fly!”
“It’ll be a short trip,” he said as if I wasn’t losing my shit right now.
“I don’t care if it’s a five-minute trip! You can’t make me go up in this death trap!”
“It’ll be fine,” he said again.
Why was he so calm? Why wasn’t he freaking out about going up thousands of feet in a metal machine that wasn’t meant to take to the skies?
He finally pushed me past the seat, but I twisted in his arms and grabbed the seat as he tried to carry me further. My nails dug into the fabric as I screamed for my life. Then I glanced out the window and saw the plane lifting off the ground.
“No,” I whispered, sagging in his arms as we climbed higher and higher. I didn’t even notice us soaring up into the clouds as the light faded and I passed out.
8
ELI
