The Sky's The Limit (WLW)

4

"Anyone wanna come with to check out the Colosseum?" Melissa asked when the crew was eating lunch the following day. No one had left the hotel at all during the morning because everyone wanted to rest and recuperate after the events that had transpired on their flight. To everyone's relief, Emily had completely recovered with a good night's rest and her headache and dizziness was gone.

"I'll come with." DeMarcus replied, cutting off a piece of steak from his plate. "I've actually never seen it."

"You've never seen the Colosseum?!" Jasmine widened her eyes in disbelief. "It's one of the most important historical structures here. Everyone needs to see it."

"I've never stayed in Rome for longer than a day." DeMarcus replied when he had swallowed the bite he took from his fork. "And usually I'm too tired to even leave the hotel before the next flight somewhere else. T's seen it countless times, but she's not old and her bones aren't as brittle yet."

The table laughed softly at his remark.

"Why don't we all go?" Caitlin suggested. "It's a really nice afternoon and it's not peak tourist season yet, so it won't be too crowded."

"That's a great idea." Tanner smiled. "We can all do our part to show Marc around and then afterwards, maybe we could rent some bikes to ride around the city a little."

"Did you forget that we all have old, brittle bones, Tanner?" Emily chuckled. "We'll be too tired after walking around such a huge landmark."

Tanner returned Emily's chuckle. Her laugh was infectious and she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy finding ways to hear it more often.

"How about we get some gelato and sit down to watch the sunset then?" Melissa offered. "We'll easily get back here in time for dinner and if not, we can order room service."

"Done." Emily agreed with the plan, looking across the table at Tanner to see her smiling in agreement too.

What the crew didn't see was that both women were feeling slightly conflicted, given what had happened outside Emily's room when they had arrived at the hotel. Both the Captain and the head stewardess were well aware that they were venturing into dangerous waters as far as sustaining a professional working relationship was considered. Both women cared about maintaining a healthy work environment and not jeopardising the dynamic of their crew.

Still, Emily couldn't get the scent of Tanner's skin, or the feeling of it on her lips, out of her mind, and Tanner replayed that moment like a broken tape of the way Emily's lips lingered just a fraction of a second too long on her cheek. Both women believed that action to be a mistake, and, unbeknownst to each other, decided they would each make an effort to avoid another such mistake in the future.

The rest of the lunch was filled with small talk about what everyone was going to do when they arrived in Brazil in a few days' time. It was going to be another excruciatingly long flight, so they needed to utilise their time in Rome to rest as much as possible, all the while enjoying the Italian culture and hospitality granted to them as co-payment for doing their jobs. The prospect of Brazil was exciting, for no one on the crew had actually visited the country yet. It was an entirely different world they would be traversing together.

After lunch, everyone went back to their rooms to gather any belongings they wanted to bring with them, particularly sunglasses to protect themselves from the sun's afternoon glare. It was still winter in Italy, but the sun remained bright as ever.

"Alright everyone," Melissa called to the crew when they had all gathered in the lobby, wearing long pants and coats to brave the winter winds outside. "Let's go!"