SHADES OF LOVE

CHAPTER 24

Security at a private terminal was worlds apart from the security you'd grown to know and hate. Queues were non-existent, gone were the crowded security halls, you didn't even need to remove your shoes nor unpack your electronic devices. It was a far more streamlined affair.

And private jet concierge. Yep, that was really a thing. Private airport transfer, fast track VIP service, private lounge access, personal escort to the tarmac... and there you found yourself, in front of a sleek white jet.

Wow.

You tried try to keep your face neutral and act normal. Or as normal as you could be when you're hopping a private jet to meet your hot boyfriend in Italy.

Yeah, right. As if. 

Pausing at the top of the stairs, you couldn't help but snap a picture with your phone—you so had to show it later to Julia and your mom. After taking a few quick shots just to be sure you got a good one, you shoved your phone into your purse, only to watch it helplessly free fall down the stairs and onto the concrete.

Damn it! 

You got down as fast as you could. "That's okay, I got it," you said to the airport concierge agent as he turned around to help you. 

You know that sick feeling in your stomach when you reach down to pick up your phone and brace yourself for the damage? The worst. 

You winced when you saw the shattered screen. You'd dropped your phone a few times before—and it survived without as much as a scratch—but never from that kind of height.  You didn't think you would need a cover, because you always thought nothing critical would happen. "Well, there you have it", you said to yourself as you went up the flight of steps again and into the cabin, intending to assess the real damages just as soon as you got to your seat.

An attractive older woman in a lovely tailored burgundy uniform introduced herself as Mara and greeted you as you boarded. She happily took your coat and ushered you into the main seating area of the aircraft.

You found yourself taken with the understated elegance of the interior. It was breathtaking. The front half of the cabin had an intimate area with a gray suede couch flanked by two dark gray leather recliners assembled around a gleaming dark wood coffee table. Across the aisle were two more leather recliners facing each other with a small table in between. The same dark wood was used to form panels that created two bathrooms as well as a partition that separated the back sitting area from the front.

The second half of the cabin had eight creamy ivory leather seats, four rows of four, with two seats on each side of the aisle. Each seat had an entertainment center built into the headrest for each guest to use and you could see a luxurious blanket placed on each chair. A shiny mahogany bar spanned the back wall of the room, with doorways on either side, probably leading to a private room.

"Please sit anywhere, we'll be departing in a few minutes," Mara said with a bright smile. "In the meantime, can I serve you something to drink?"

"Water would be fine, thank you."

You were buckled in at the table with your drink and testing your phone when the plane started taxiing down the runway. Turned out, not only was the phone screen seriously cracked, the touch-screen function wasn't working at all—meaning you couldn't see or do anything, not even turn it off. Great... Now you had to take it to a store to have it checked as soon as possible. You could not by any means go around without a phone.

Luckily, Ignazio had already let you know that Raoul would be waiting for you to take you to his place, otherwise you would have no way of reaching out to him. You only prayed you hadn't lost all your phone data... Because, yes, you were one of those people who wasn't really in the habit to do regular backups, or even check if the automatic backups were working properly. That definitely had to change.