AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Um, Ella’s fine.” My voice broke on the last word. It seemed to have taken an eternity, but we were in the air, and nothing catastrophic had happened yet. The plane was leveling off, and the engines weren’t so loud now. I let go of his arm as casually as I could and returned my hands to my lap. I wondered how high we were, but I couldn’t bear to look out the window. I swallowed as my ears popped.
“Talk to me,” he said. “Any concerns? Any questions you need answered right now?”
I did a body check and tried to slow my breathing. I was alive. The plane hadn’t blown apart due to some undetected crack in the fuselage. Although that might still happen. “So…everything seems normal in this flight right now?” I asked, a hint of pleading in my voice.
“Everything’s great. The most that will happen over the next few hours is a bit of drag or turbulence, but you shouldn’t let it bother you, since it’s a natural part of flight. Before you know it, we’ll be touching down in New York.”
“There aren’t any weird sounds or anything?” I cocked my head. “What’s that hissing noise?”
“Cabin pressurization. The system’s automated and backed up, so everything you hear is normal.”
I saw a hint of amusement in his eyes. My fears must seem ridiculous, considering he flew planes for a living. “I’m sorry.” I put a hand to my forehead, trying to see the humor in what was going on. “I have a tendency to worry about things. To overthink. My field of science is based on questions more than answers.”
“I’d love to hear about your work,” he said, settling back a little. “And I’m not just saying that to keep you talking so you won’t be scared.”
We both laughed, and I let out a breath. As the plane barreled through the sky, I started telling him about my previous research at the European Gravitational Observatory in Santo Stefano. I described the three-kilometer wide VIRGO interferometric antenna that we used to intercept the gravitational waves of energy from events happening in the farthest reaches of the universe, light years away, waves that were measured in such tiny increments that those increments were still being invented.
I explained that the study of molecular-sized, light-years-distant waves could eventually lead to answers about the origins and dimensions of our universe. At that point, his friends started listening, eavesdropping at first, then joining the conversation and asking me as many questions as Devin. They were so curious and engaged that my nervousness receded, and the ongoing hum of cabin pressurization bothered me less. A bout of turbulence made me stammer in the midst of explaining the curvature of space-time, but I managed not to fall to pieces, and the ride smoothed out moments later.
“So, you’re doing more of this work in New York?” Juliet asked. “Research on gravitational waves?”
“Yes. Well, it’s an NSF-funded project. The National Science Foundation.” I looked away, biting my lip. “It’s this thing called theAstrophysicists, Cosmologists, and Engineers Consortium, or ACE Con. They’re doing a lot of the stuff we did at Santo Stefano, but honestly, I wish I didn’t have to go.”
“You’ll miss your work in Italy?” Devin asked.
“It’s more that I don’t respect the person in charge.” I pushed thoughts of Leo from my mind, and the frustrating helplessness of my situation. “I work in a very tight field. It’s competitive.” I shrugged. “Sometimes you just have to do stuff for your career.”
Fort nudged Juliet. “You’d know about that. You have the boss from hell.”
“He’s not so bad.” Juliet laughed. “Okay, he’s pretty out of touch. His name is Goodluck Boundless, if that tells you anything. He’s an artist, but in his mind, he’s more akin to a god.”
I laughed along with them, but felt a little embarrassed. Talking to normal, non-scientific people was a minefield for me. I thought back to the social skills classes my father had forced me to take as a child, when he saw my braininess alienating me from my peers. Rule number one: don’t blather on about esoteric thoughts and theories until people’s eyes glazed over.
“You work for an artist?” I asked, dutifully turning the conversation to her. “That must be fun.”
“It is fun. Goodluck’s pretty well known in New York,” said Juliet. “Have you heard of him?”
Juliet was pretty, brown-haired and bright-eyed. I hated to admit that I didn’t know her artist, but I’d never heard the name. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not much into the art world.”
“See?” Devin laughed. “I’m not the only one who’s out of touch with the ‘scene.’”
“What do you do for a living?” I asked Fort next, since I already knew Devin was a pilot. I was aware that I was focusing attention on his friends because I couldn’t look at him without blushing.
“I work for Sinclair Jewelers,” Fort said. “Actually, my father is the owner, so I work for him.”
“Your dad owns Sinclair Jewelers?” They were a well-known luxury brand, even in the Tuscan countryside.
“Fort’s filthy rich. His real first name isForsyth,” said Devin in a haughty accent.
Fort gave him a look. “Does Ella know that your dad owns the airplane we’re flying on right now?”
“He owns the whole airline,” Juliet chimed in, nodding at me. “Talk about filthy rich.”
“My dad’s only part owner,” countered Devin. “He doesn’t own the whole airline, and I don’t own any of it.”
I watched this exchange with amazement. All this time, I’d been sharing the cabin with millionaires. They were Fortune 500 people, and I was a thirty-year-old lab rat. “My father teaches physics at the University of Munich,” I said. “He’s never owned any companies, but he’s a really hard grader, from what I understand.”
That’s right, Ella. Joke and smile as if you have a perfectly well adjusted father, as if he hasn’t been living in a fantasy world for the last fifteen years.
