Love Springs Eternal | Benslie

Chapter 3

Leslie and Ben met up the following Thursday afternoon. They went over what to expect for the weekend ahead and got into Ben's car to drive to the airport. It was an almost hour-long drive to the airport, a two-hour flight to Charlotte, and an hour and a half flight from Charlotte to their hometown in Indianapolis. So, all up, they had to spend a gruelling almost six hours in small confines with each other. This would be the deciding factor for how well they'd do over the weekend.

Before long, Ben had parked at the Bradley International Airport, and they were pulling their luggage out from the trunk. They moved swiftly through the bag drop and security and had a bit of time to kill before their flight, so they split up to go do their own thing. Leslie took a chance to buy some reading material because she had nothing to bring with her that she hadn't already read a million times. She was grateful to find multiple new political biographies on the shelves. She couldn't imagine going on these flights with Ben without something to distract her.

Checking her phone, Leslie noticed it was almost time for boarding, so she headed to her gate with her new books. She ran into Ben on her way back, so they silently made their way to their gate to board. She was surprised to find out he'd bought first class tickets. Very well, it would be fitting she shouldn't have to suffer as much on this trip. They boarded the plane, stowed their luggage and took their seats to await takeoff.

"Hey, do you want the window seat?" Ben asked, shocking Leslie.

She composed herself from her shocked state before answering. "Sure," she replied. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ben smiled, settling into his new seat.

Leslie frowned to herself. Why was Ben being so nice? Was she supposed to be playing nice already, too? She shook her head. There was plenty of time on this trip when she would need to play nice and pretend she was in love, and she didn't want to risk getting tired of it prematurely. Indifference was her decided feeling. When they were alone, indifference was the only thing she'd show him. She shot a quick text to Ann to let her know they were taking off and she'd message when they got to Charlotte.

Takeoff went smoothly, and she enjoyed looking out of the window as they ascended into the sky. There was something really magnificent about being able to see the world from a bird's eye (or airplane's) view. As soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off, Leslie got up and grabbed one of her books. Ben watched in wonderment as she read her book the whole plane ride. Every so often, he'd look away because he needed to get food, or she'd move her head and he didn't want to get caught staring. If she caught him, she'd probably bite his head off for being annoying.

Eventually, they landed in Charlotte and raced to get to their terminal to catch their connecting flight to Indianapolis. Leslie wasn't sure why she was so surprised their tickets for this flight were first class as well, but she was. One thing was for sure: she wasn't even in Indianapolis yet and she was already frazzled. Maybe attending her classes before her travel was a bad idea. No, she needed to attend those, and she was right to go. As soon as they were seated on their next plane, she was right back to reading her book, which she put down only to watch their takeoff.

Ben took his time on this plane to pray that his family wouldn't do too much poking, prodding or meddling. They were full-on, and Leslie definitely wasn't prepared for the onslaught of questions and memories from his childhood.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt your book," he said, touching her shoulder gently. "I was just thinking, maybe I should prepare you for my family."

She put her book down. "What for?" she laughed. "I presumed you Wyatts were docile creatures. You're not exactly intense yourself."

"Except for when I'm drunk apparently," he joked, and she shot him a death stare. "Too soon? Sorry. The point is, my family is intense, and I don't feel like you're adequately prepared for it. Remember, they think we're dating."