Invisible String

Chapter 27 - I Know Places

Jaiden Bentley sat diagonally from me, across the aisle and up one row.

"We have to stop running into each other like this," he whispered, leaning closer to me, into our private area.

Alex almost stood up, but I pressed my arm down against his chest.

"Don't," I said, shaking my head. I looked back over to Jaiden, who was grinning from ear to ear two feet away from my face. I had a strong urge to slap him, but once again, I thought better of it. Instead, through gritted teeth, I asked, "What are you doing here, Jaiden?"

"Oh, you know, hoping to have a follow-up to our sweet little date the other night," he said, winking at Alex. Now, I just couldn't help it. My foot jerked out and hit him in the knee. He howled, biting his cheek. He groaned, then said bitterly, "I thought I told you I don't like it rough, Honey?"

Alex immediately stood up and shoved Jaiden backward into the row across the aisle from me. People stared now, and two flight attendants came over to diffuse the situation. They were a little handsy with Alex and Jaiden, attempting to pull the two apart from their little cockfight.

We separated them by shoving Alex against the window of the airplane and moving Jaiden to another side of the plane by switching his seat with another passenger. Thank goodness they didn't make us all get off the plane. I couldn't even imagine what kind of trouble that would've caused in the airport.

After sitting back in his chair with a glass of scotch in his hand, Alex asked me, still furious, "What was he talking about?"

I stared out the window beside him, afraid of jumping into this deep, dark hole of crap. "Sandra and I ran into him at the restaurant we went to."

He jerked his head to look at me. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because I didn't know we'd be running into him."

"So if we hadn't, you never would've said anything?"

"No, I wouldn't have," I said, shrugging matter-of-factly.

His voice was low, quiet, but very deep, and very angry, "Why the hell not?"

"Because I knew you'd get upset. Like you are now. I wanted to prevent it."

"That's not your decision to make, Hannah! We are in this relationship together, remember?"

I eyed him cautiously, trying to choose my words carefully before responding. Finally, it came to me. "So, either way, it would've ended like this."

"No, because now I'm left wondering if that's really the reason why you didn't tell me." He looked away, now more hurt than pissed off. "Like maybe there's more going on here than you care to admit."

"Alex, that's not it, and you know it."

"No, Hannah, I don't know that. You kept this from me. That means that you lied to me. And you know how much I hate him. And you knew exactly why it would bother me. But you did it anyway."

"Stop it, Alex! I love you. Stop acting like a jealous asshole. I want you, and I already told you why I didn't tell you. And it's the only reason."

He shook his head and looked out the window. Silent.

About an hour before we were scheduled to land, I had to go pee and made my way to the small restroom. As I was shutting the door, I felt something block it, and soon after, Jaiden slid in and put his hand over my mouth as I tried to yell for help. His eyes were wide, staring into mine. He said, "Please, don't, I just wanted to talk with you alone for a minute."

I shook my head furiously and attempted to hit him in the gut. He cringed, "Hannah, please, just listen to me for a minute, that's it, that's all I'm asking."