A Falcon's Light

Chapter 4

A few days later, Jess drove me down to the airport. "Mr.Hughes said he'd meet us at the elevator on the 4th floor of the parking garage." Jess grumbled an 'ok' at me driving around the airport was difficult. Too many cars and not enough smart drivers. Finally, she found the sign for the outgoing parking garage, and slowly we made our way to the 4th floor. We quickly found the elevator and saw Mr.Hughes standing in front of it. He waved to us as Jess parked in front of the metal doors.

"Glad you could make it Miss Conrad." I gave him a smile and quickly ran around to the back of the car to grab my bags. Mr.Hughes assisted me with a returning grin. Once my two suitcases and my singular carry-on were on the concrete floor, we closed the trunk.

"I'll call you and Anna once we land. Thanks for the ride, Jess." I leaned through the open window to give her a hug. Once I was safely away from the car, she waved back at the two of us and took off back through the garage.

"Mr.Hughes, I'd prefer if you'd simply call me Alice," I shook his hand with a huge grin. "and I'm glad to be brought aboard, sir." I threw my black backpack on my shoulders, grabbed both bags by their handles, and pushed the call button for the elevator. "We should get going if we don't want to miss our flight." He gave a full-bellied laugh as we entered the elevator.

An hour later the two of us were seated in the comfiest airplane seats I'd ever been on. I have been in a lot of planes throughout the years, going cross-country for class and events, but none were as nice or as lavish as this one. The seats were plush and there was far more legroom than in the economy seating. Once we were at altitude I pulled my carry-on out from under the seat in front of me. Starting with the coloring book that I had bought at the exhibit's store, I began to take my mind off of the flight.

"You seem quite comfortable on a plane, Miss Alice. Not your first time?" Mr. Huges asked, taking a sip of his complimentary drink. The attendant passed by a few moments ago handing out sodas and basic snacks to hold us over until the airplane lunch was served.

"Yeah, I spent every summer and most holidays on a plane ride, so often in fact that one flight attendant recognized me. I have so many interesting stories to tell. Like this one time, I was on a plane and a family wanted to sit together so they asked if anyone would like to move, promising them a free alcoholic beverage. I was happy to move since I'm just nice, so I moved to the back and the attendant asked me and the other two older ladies what drink they wanted. They ordered some sort of drink, but I started laughing when the guy asked me what I wanted. His poor brain hadn't quite picked up that I was underaged. He had just asked a 14-year-old what alcohol I wanted. You should've seen the look on his face when he realized. I was rewarded with a whole can of soda to myself. The other two ladies found it funny too." I giggled recalling the 'oh shit' look on the poor guy's face.

"My my. What a jolly story. I'm curious as to other stories, would you kindly tell me?" He chuckled, taking another long sip of his drink, so I told him stories of my adventures. The story of the lady who gifted me a beautiful crochet bookmark, The time I calmed the guy who was afraid of flying, and the time when my father literally forgot about me.

"He forgot to pick you up?" He sputtered, almost spraying the back of the seat in front of him. He coughed, digging a handkerchief from his pocket.

"Yeah, I was like 10. I stood at the gate like I always did for like twenty minutes before going to a worker. I had quite an adventure that day. The worker lady and I spent like an hour trying to figure out how to contact him. It took him another hour and a half to get to the airport, but at least I got to see the breakroom and got free snacks out of the deal." I laughed. "Not saying I wasn't scared out of my wits, my poor little heart was beating out of my chest, but I managed to not cry. I wish I could remember the name of that lady, I would thank her."