Mr Real Estate

Book #1

The cabin crew smiled with their eyes as best they could, their mouths hidden by mandatory masks, as passengers filed one by one onto the aircraft. The air in the gangway was humid, sticky and smelled of fuel. The air that beckoned from within was cool and smelled faintly of cooked food. It was far more enticing.

Aria nodded her hello and scanned her ticket one more time. Her new ticket. Business Class - she'd never set foot in that part of an aeroplane before, let alone taken a seat in it. When the ground staff had asked if she'd be willing to be upgraded she'd hardly had to give it a second thought. An 11 and a half hour flight from Bangkok to Adelaide, with a 3 hour stop over in Singapore, would be so much more comfortable in Business Class, she had no doubt.

"This way, ma'am." a young cabin crew member gestured to the left and nodded his head. Aria followed his instructions and stepped into the front part of the aeroplane.

There was a centre aisle, 6 seats on either side. A total of only 12 Business Class passengers, and she was one of them.

2B - Aria spied her aisle seat. Tugging her backpack off her shoulder, she swung it carefully into the overhead compartment and sank gratefully into the larger-than-usual seat. Plush, with extra leg room and space to lie back. It was going to be so good. Another member of the cabin crew handed her a warm, moist hand towel and then held out the hand sanitiser.

"When you're buckled in, you can remove your mask. If you get up for any reason, please put it back on." she explained, moving on to the next passenger.

Aria nodded, rubbing her hands together and slowly looking around. Other seats were starting to fill up and she guessed the rest of the aircraft was the same. It wouldn't be long before her trek back home would begin and her 5 weeks in Thailand would be officially over.

An incredible 5 weeks. Two helping to paint an orphanage and three teaching English at the primary school in the same district. She'd enjoyed the teaching the most - it had air conditioning for one, but she'd also met some amazing people.

Aria dug her headphones from her purse, and her phone and a book and then kicked the purse under the seat in front of her just as a pair of shiny black loafers stopped beside her seat. She looked up.

"Hi there, I think we're neighbours." An American accent surprised her slightly, but the smile set her at ease. He was tall, dressed strangely for the climate in a deep navy business suit and carrying a laptop bag. His dark brown hair, greying only slightly at the temples, was swept neatly to one side and his eyes were bright, sincere.

"Oh, I'm sorry - let me get out of the way." Aria said hurriedly, jumping up from her chair and allowing him to slide into the window seat. Slipping the laptop bag under the seat in front of him, he gave her another smile and wiggled his mask at her.

"Sorry, I ripped this thing off as soon as I was through," he explained apologetically, "I was stifling hot."

Aria smiled back.

"Yeah, they're not so fun when the weather is like this, huh?" she agreed, sitting back down and fastening her seatbelt.

The stranger nodded slowly as a member of the cabin crew handed him a warm towel and the sanitiser. Aria watched as she bustled off and started to place glasses on a trolley.

"We get actual glasses in Business Class, do we?" she asked. Her neighbour chuckled.

"Glasses and real cutlery, too," he said, "I take it this is your first time up here?"

Aria blushed slightly, but nodded.

"Upgraded, can you believe it? Sorry - I won't be a complete noob the whole time, I promise." she admitted.