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“Goodbye, Father.”
He barely looked at me as Michael jumped up and trailed him to the black car waiting for them to take them wherever they were going. I could just watch. Advice time was over. Wherever they were going, someday, I’d get to go, too. I’d be so important, people would always want me in their meetings.
* * *
I blinked awake.We were in the air, someplace over water. When had I fallen asleep? I unlocked my seatbelt then glanced around. Both Roy and Stephen snored in their seats. Tito was awake, earbuds in his ears. He nodded at me, then his gaze went back out the porthole next to him.
Michael leaned against the window across from me, sleeping or at least resting with his eyes closed.
What a strange memory to dream about, I realized as I stretched. Sort of random. Why had I been so stupid, to pester Michael of all people about dating all those years ago? I went out with Todd three times after that. He paid each time, and he’d been a good kisser, but then he broke up with me for a theater major, and I’d promptly forgotten he existed. My heart wasn’t hurt, not by Todd or anyone else, ever.
Nor until Michael professed feelings I couldn’t let myself return.
I was messy inside, and at least I had the sense to keep it to myself.
I managed to pee and splash water on my face before the plane started to shake. I gripped the sink and stared at myself in the mirror as the color leached away from my face. I’d looked much better than I currently did, and I felt some small relief because no one would want to take my photo. Not unless they wanted to title the pictureGirl Next Door becomes a Monsteror something. Even the Russian mobsters would run away screaming.
The shakes didn’t stop, and I opened the door to the lavatory. Water bottles waited on a countertop next to sodas. Also, vodka and whisky. Probably I could find a beer in the small fridge, but I grabbed a water and headed back to my seat to strap in and pretend I was fine. I was good at pretending, after all, as Michael had pointed out.
I turned toward him, considering his rugged features at rest. In his sleep, he grimaced. What time was it? According to a clock on the wall, it should be past time for him to have more medicine. Bending over, I grabbed his bag and pulled the bottle out from where I’d seen him stow it in the outside sleeve earlier.
Taking one pill out, I put the bottle back. The water I grabbed would work to help him take the pill. “Hey,” I grabbed his knee and gently shook it to rouse him. “Time for some pain meds.”
He lifted his lids. “Shit. Sorry. Yes, thanks.” I handed him the pill and then opened the bottle for him to take a drink to wash it down. “You don’t have to take care of me, Bridget.”
“I know, so just assume that when I can and do, I want to. Okay?” I closed the water and stuck it in the sleeve on the seat in front of him, so he could reach it if he wanted it. “Go back to sleep.”
He stared at me in his quiet way. “You were sleeping before. What woke you?”
“Who knows?” I wasn’t going to share with him that a perfectly good memory had woken me from sleep as though it chased me.
“The plane is shaking.” He sat up and groaned. “Go strap in.”
“I will.” When I would’ve turned, he grabbed my arm.
“It’s perfectly safe. That’s not something you have to worry about. Trust me. And I’m sorry I said those things in front of the others. Pain is messing with my head. I’m used to being able to say things to you because mostly we’re alone when we’re together. It’s no excuse, though. Those are your secrets…our secrets. You can trust me with them. I promise.”
Him telling them I was scared of turbulence didn’t bother me much. Not really. “I think it bothers me more that you talked to Hope about me, if you want the truth.” I strapped back into my seat. He stared at me before he undid his own seatbelt and got up to come over to me. “Michael, what the fuck? You’re injured. Do you want to make it worse?”
“I think that you have misunderstood what I said to Hope exactly. I only told her anything because I wanted her to know I empathized with her.” He shook his head. “Why does it bother you so much for her to know you said no when I shared my feelings with you? What part of that makes you upset?”
“The part where it was none of her business,” I hissed back at him. “I love my sisters. I’d die for them and their families. Gladly. Still, there are parts of my life I don’t tell them about, because it belongs to me and only me.”
He nodded. “Fine. But that was part of my life, and that’s what I shared with her.”
“Fair enough.” I put my head in my hands. “There are things about me that you’ll never understand. I don’t expect you to feel any sympathy for me. I rejected you, after all, so let’s leave it alone. I never should have said anything to you about it. I’m sorry.”
Michael knelt, which had to be hard. “What don’t I know, Bridget?”
“Hey, boss.” Tito got up and patted him on the shoulder. “Go strap in. You don’t need a concussion to go with your gunshot wound.” Tito eyed me. “Want anything, gorgeous?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
“Later.” Michael spoke to me. “Someday you’re going to tell me the truth.”
I doubted it. I never lied, but I concealed with the best of them.
With that thought in mind, I closed my eyes. I’d pretend to sleep for however long we had left.
