Chapter 9
Paul and Carol made their way to the control tower. Carol looked around and felt a sense of calm and relief wash over her. Something just felt right whenever she was around planes. She took a deep breath and leaned on a nearby chair. "Paul, I can't believe Charles would do something like that. I...I" Carol clinched her first tightly then released it. "I want to hate him but I want to know why. We started together. Went to Flight School together." Carol gripped the black chair in front of her and grunted. "Outside of you Paul, Charles was the only other person who was there for me. Through all of it. All of the hate, the comments, the laughs, ALL OF IT!"
Before she could go on she felt her phone go off. She grabbed it and looked at it. It was a message from Marcus.
"Carol. I know I just ran away but I couldn't face her again. I also couldn't explain everything at that moment so if you'll give me a chance, I would like to talk 2 you. Just lmk. Please."
Carol sighed and started to respond but her mind was still focused on her best friend Charles. She put her phone away and flopped down in the chair. Paul placed his hand on Carol's shoulder. "Carol, I remember when you started. You were so bright eyed and full of passion. Everyone told me I was crazy to take a chance on you." Paul took a seat next to Carol as the employees went on with their day. "I don't think I ever told you this but, my boss and all the shareholders fought me tooth and nail to not hire you. They used every tactic they could and pulled rules out left and right. Even in all of that, I saw something in you. Something I hadn't seen....well I hadn't seen since I first graduated Flight School."
Paul took a sip of water from his bottle. "I also saw how Charles stood by you. He came to my office and looked me in my eyes and said 'if you don't hire Carol, you will regret it. Wherever she goes, I go. And wherever we go, we will be the best duo in ANY airline on ANY flight.'" Carol was stunned. All the years of knitting Charles she never knew he did that for her. Paul continued. "I said that to say it truly is confusing as to why he did what he did. The only way is to ask him and right now we have no idea where he is. He could've traded shifts but we don't know." Much as Carol wanted answers she would have to wait. There is a chance he was working therefore his phone was in Airplane mode. Plus he wasn't on his scheduled flight.
*Charles and Lacey*
The flight was going well and Charles had kept his word and Lacey was flying. Still, there was a part of him that wondered if Carol had to be involved. He wondered if it could've been any other pilot. There was no shortage of them in the company. Charles held his head down regretting everything he did to Carol. He turned towards Lacey trying to form the words to ask her about Carol. "Hey Lacey? With this plan, did we absolutely HAVE to involve Carol? I mean, we could've gone with anyone else. Or just went to Paul. Why Carol?" Charles anxiously awaited her response. Lacey simply glanced at Charles and went back to looking at the sky. "I don't know. You and her are close so it was easier. Look, it doesn't matter. We're already here. So stop thinking about it so much and focus. Jeez. Everyone's so fixated on Carol. She's not that good. Not good at anything. Plus she's not even that cute."
Lacey was starting to become visibly upset and in that moment, it became clear why she chose Carol and Charles. "You're jealous of her?" Lacey's right eye twitched a little bit. "Me? Jealous of her? I am NOT! SHE is jealous of ME and all my greatness! I AM GREAT and she is NOTHING! I deserve EVERYTHING she has and more!" Lacey was breathing heavily and clinching her first tightly. Charles was about to respond when he heard a beeping sound and the fuel light blinking. "Lacey, the fuel light is blinking." Lacey stopped her ranting and sat next to Charles. "Ok? Is that a bad thing?" Charles turned his head to face Lacey. "Yes Lacey. Yes it's a bad thing. Was there anything wrong when you did the checklist?"
Lacey eyes wandered around the cockpit trying to think of a response. "Um...no. I mean it looked ok. Maybe the guy didn't do it right. It's his fault. Stupid gas guy." Charles gripped the control stick and pressed the button for the radio. "This is Flight 5672. We are low on fuel and need an emergency landing." Lacey put on her headphones and spoke. "Yeah, we are low on fuel because the gas guy messed up. Help us." Charles didn't have time to correct her on how to properly say it's an emergency. The only thing that mattered to Charles was making sure everyone was safe.
*Carol*
Carol took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. She sighed and looked at the different planes landing and taking off. It calmed her. Her calm was interrupted by the crackling of the radio. The voice on the other end sounded very familiar to Carol and Paul. "Charles? Is that Charles?" Carol jumped up and rushed to the radio. Paul assured the employees that Carol was a pilot and she could help. Carol got on the radio. "Charles? Charles? What's going on?" There was silence on the radio before a response came through. "Carol? Hey so um. Right now we are low on fuel and need to land. What do you have for us?" Carol looked over at Paul then the employee who was looking for the closest place to land.
"Charles. Who's up there with you? Randy? Matt? If it's Randy, he knows the Southeastern area pretty well and can tell you a few places to go from where you are." Again it was another pause before a response came through. "I have Lacey up here with me. I know but look she hasn't been given a chance and I know how people tried to hold you back so I just wanted to help her get a fair chance." Carol and Paul looked at each other. Anger filled Carol as she responded. "Charles, no one is holding Lacey back. Lacey isn't a pilot because someone is keeping her from it, she's not a pilot because she REFUSES TO GO TO FLIGHT SCHOOL AND PUT IN THE HOURS!!"
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The Pilot's Holiday
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