LOU'S TATTOOS

Chapter 17: THE FLIGHT

After being awake most of the night, preparing for this whirlwind trip, Lou began to doze in her seat just minutes after takeoff. Sometime later, she opened her eyes, realized she had laid her head on Randall's shoulder, and jerked upright.

"Omigosh!" She looked around sheepishly and drew back into her own seat, away from him.

Randall brushed at the shoulder on which she had been lying.

"I'm sorry," Lou said. "I know it's rude to drool on strangers."

"You didn't mean to," he said. "You're just one of the lucky ones who can sleep on airplanes.

"And what were you doing?"

Randall gestured toward the nearest window. "Keeping watch. I promise you: one spark, one puff of smoke, one irregular vibration from those engines, and you'll be the second to know." He never took his eyes off the window, but concentrated on his duty as Safety Officer.

Lou felt sympathy for him. He was really scared, probably had a phobia he just couldn't shake. She tried again to distract him. "So, ah, Randall, what do you do when you're not guarding airplanes?"

"I'm in publishing. Is that seatbelt sign lit? It was off a minute ago!"

"No, that's just the glare from the window," she said.

The boy with the toy airplane popped his head over the seat in front of Randall.

"Coward," said the boy.

"Juvenile delinquent," said Randall.

"Candy pants."

"Mucous wad."

A flight attendant passed down the aisle, and the boy disappeared into his seat.

"Publishing," said Lou. "So, when I write my next steamy, sexy novel full of every sin known to man and a few I just made up - like involving Siamese twins and a dwarf with a pool cue - I could call you and you could publish it?"

Okay, that got his eyes off the window. He slowly turned to look more closely at Lou.

"Is that what you do?"