Dark Touch

An Interesting Plane Ride

As I sat buckled in my seat, nerves were hitting me as we began to take off. "Brace yourself. It will feel weird at first, but only for a second," Henry said from across the aisle as I nodded my head and sat back, trying to take deep breaths. The plane took off in the sky and I closed my eyes as we ascended, quickly leveling. It was only Henry and I and one flight attendant, making it pretty quiet as we sat here for the three-hour flight. Considering I got back late last night, I thought I would take a nap, but my mind jumped with too much excitement at landing in Nevada.

After sitting in silence for a while I looked over to Henry who was typing on his laptop furiously. "So, when we arrive, are we going straight to the consultation?" I asked, as Henry sighed, stopping and looking my way.

"No, we are going to go to the hotel first and get cleaned up and maybe get some rest. "We'll meet Professor William Coast at 3:00," he said as I smiled and nodded my head.

"And is there anything planned for afterwards?" I asked, wondering what exactly this trip would consist of. He huffed in what I could only assume was annoyance, feeling regretful for asking him any more questions.

"Research if it's needed. It all depends on how the consultation goes. Do you have plans?" He asked, raising his eye at me, as I straightened up, shaking my head instantly.

"Of course not! I'm all yours. The whole weekend," I said, smiling wide as he nodded his head, giving me a small smile. Did he just smile? As the silence hit us again, I spent some time resting my eyes and looking out the window as he steadily typed next to me. After a while, I decided to do some reading, and pulled out a book from my bag. It was a historical piece that was a true story about a young Romanian girl who is captured by a German Soldier. Instead of handing her over to the German army, he chooses to protect the girl, but it doesn't come without a price. The book was a good novel on educating about Romanian culture and their relationship with Germany. It also showed the German's battle with good and evil. At the moment, I was currently at the evil part.

I begged Officer Shneider for mercy. I knew if he took me to a camp, it would be alot worse for myself. He was only asking for a small favor, and from where I stood, I didn't have a lot of room to tell him no. I pulled my skirt up, reaching my hand down and touching myself, not able to look Officer Shneider in the eyes, knowing he was staring at me with lust. He had never touched me but he had an odd request. He liked to watch me do things. Whether he wanted me to do the dishes in only my corset, or asking me to dust the shelf without panties. It had been three months, and I felt as if I was constantly looking over my shoulder, afraid that watching wouldn't be enough for him. Although, the anticipation also made me feel a funny tingle in my stomach, not knowing if I truly wanted his touch...

"Angel?" I heard from next to me as I shook my head, looking over to Henry.

"Yes? Sorry," I spoke, trying to redirect my attention, not realizing how enraptured I was from the book.

"I called your name twice. Come over here and take a look at these pictures," he said as I nodded and closed my book, moving over to him, trying to clear my mind. I moved over sitting nervously next to him, trying to compose myself and get my mind back on work. I looked down at his computer screen to see photographs of bamboo style furniture and intricate handloom designs. I looked, fascinated by the pieces of work in front of me. "Professor Coast sent these to me. While visiting, there was an abandoned part of land, and these were some of the things that were found there. He's trying to track down the origin, and our job is to see what he can provide to help him," he said as I looked closely, trying to remember where I've seen these design patterns before.

"It's very precise and all of them are done alike, so most likely they've been made by the same person, and it's specific to a native place. I've seen this heirloom before..." I spoke, trying to think about where I saw the golden pendant before.

"Well, maybe if you were doing your research on the apatani, you would be more prepared. What's got your attention?" He asked, making my eyes widen as I shook my head.

"Oh. just a boring historical non-fiction book," I said as he scoffed.

"Historical non-fiction is my living. Now tell me, what is it?" He asked more sternly. "Besides, whatever it is... it seems to have you looking flushed," he said as I reached my hand up, touching my cheek. This was quite embarrassing.

"Oh... no, it's just hot in here! It's... it's a book called Atingere intunecata. It stands for..."

"Dark touch," he finished as my eyes widened as his vast knowledge. "Yes, I've read it," he said, shifting in his seat and turning back to his laptop.

"Really?" I asked, surprised that he would read such a book.

"I was doing a research study on the relationship Germany had with other countries during and after WW2. When I was researching Romania I found a lot of interesting dynamics between the people, but I wanted to look deeper. That's when I came across Andree Albu. Her story was... Different," he said, letting out an awkward cough.

"It sure is," I said, fanning my flushed cheeks once again.

"I'm assuming your flushed demeanor is due to the part of the story where she reunites with one of her last remaining family members. Or the historic details of Munich and the land at that time period," he spoke as I bit my lip, wondering if I should simply lie to him. "Am I incorrect?" He asked, his voice a bit quieter as I nodded to him.

"It... It's the part where she is being asked to do things for him. Not the simple things from the beginning, but more of the... intimate kind of things," I said, looking down nervously, as he audibly shifted in his seat again.

"Oh. I don't think those parts are meant to move the reader," he responded as I let out a deep breath.

"It depends on your definition of move," I found myself saying out loud, closing my eyes, at the awkwardness that filled the air.

"Umm... Well..." Henry stuttered as I shook my head standing up quickly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that. I should go back to my seat now..." I said as we hit turbulence and I found myself stumbling and landing straight on Henry, who instinctively wrapped his hands around me. Our faces were close to each other, and it took everything in me to shake off the feelings that creeped up my body as I regained my composure. Without any more words, I returned to my seat, and spent the rest of the flight in silence.