She licked her lips and her gaze met his. His eyes clouded over with desire just as there was a knock on the door. “Saved by the knock,” he joked and she cracked up laughing as he answered the door to show the waiter where to set the cart of food.
He tipped the kid and closed the door behind him.
“That smells wonderful,” she said as she climbed off the bed and walked to the table where he was setting their platters. He ordered her a grilled chicken breast with seasoned rice and grilled asparagus. One of her favorite, low-cal meals that she ordered often when they were in this particular hotel on a layover.
She waited for him to sit down before she cut into her juicy meat. She closed her eyes and groaned with pleasure as the seasoning from the chicken hit her taste buds. It was cooked to perfection and seasoned well. It was incredibly delicious.
“That good, huh?” he asked her. He hadn’t even taken a bite of his food, he was watching her intently.
She nodded, “Yes, it is that good.”
He cut a piece of his steak and started chewing. “How’s yours?” she asked. He stopped chewing and smiled, hiding a thumb up in response.
So it was good, she thought.
They ate their meals in companionable silence, each enjoying their food and wine. When she was done, she pushed her plate away from her, folded her napkin up, and set it on the table.
She stood up, “I think I should get going. I need to get ready for bed,” she told him. She hated having to leave him and sleep in separate rooms, but they needed to keep their relationship a secret, at least for now.
He stood up, too, and walked her to the bedroom so she could grab her clothes and dress quickly. “See you tomorrow,” he said, and kissed her on the lips in a light kiss.
“See you tomorrow,” she said, and walked to the door. She turned around to wave bye, then left his room and walked across the hall to her own. She let herself in and went into the bathroom to clean up for bed. When she came out about ten minutes later, her phone was buzzing, indicating a text. She picked up her phone to read them.
They were from her husband:
“John is on to us. He saw you leave my room.”
Then a second one:
“He says I am a lucky bastard to have you. He wants to know my secret to cracking you, lol.”
Then the last one:
“He thinks you are “fucking hot” and will not tell anyone about our affair.”
She laughed. John never failed to hit on her, or tell her just how beautiful he thought she was.
She replied:
I am going to sleep. I bet he thinks I am a slut now.
Then she added:
“Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you.”
After the evening she had with her husband, she was more than ready to get some sleep.
She connected her phone to the charger and placed it on the table.
Crawling into bed, she smiled to herself at the thought of John’s reaction to her having turned him down so many times only for her to hook up with Jasper.
She chuckled to herself. Things just got a little more fun.
5
Jasper
The next day came earlier than he expected. He had barely slept the night before, thoughts of his wife dancing through his head and he couldn’t shut them down.
He drank a Red Bull and two cups of black coffee before heading to the airport. Their flight was due to leave in three hours, and he wanted to go over his flight route and inspections a couple of times before the passengers boarded.
He was on his third round of reviews when he saw Lily. She was walking with the other flight attendants on their way down the ramp leading to the plane. When they stepped inside they all greeted him and John. He and John said their hellos, John winked conspiratorially to him when Lily walked by. He just smirked and shook his head, they had work to do, so the entire crew got to work on their pre-flight preparations; he and John checking the gauges and control panels and the attendants checking the drinks and snacks and matching the numbers with the number of passengers expected on the flight.
Before they knew it, the time for boarding approached. He heard the women at the counter starting to call the boarding sections, and then he heard the footsteps as people began to board.
There were a few kids interested in the cockpit, and he loved giving them a view. The parents always looked embarrassed and apologetic, but he loved seeing the excitement and joy on the kids’ faces when they get to head to their seat after seeing where the pilot sat. Often, he would hear a little boy or a little girl tell their mom and dad that they wanted to be just like him when they grew up. It was cute and always brought a smile to his face, and the faces of the attendants who would overhear as well.
Once all passengers were on board, they closed the door and locked all the exits. He received clearance from the traffic control to take off, so he taxied the plane on the runway and made his announcement about the weather conditions and expectations during the flight before turning it over to Jeff, who would make the quick speech for the attendants, and then they were ready for take-off.
They were in the air for about fifteen minutes when his co-pilot brought up the promotion Jasper was up for at the end of the month. “So, you excited for your big day?” John asked him, talking about the party their local airline branch office was throwing for his recent promotion, which would take effect on the first of the month.
“Not excited, per se, but I am looking forward to it.” He wasn’t one for big shows, and this was going to be one of those things. People were going to make a big deal about his promotion, and that was the last thing he wanted. If it were up to him, he would just receive it with no announcement, and be done with it; but the company wanted to throw a huge celebration in his honor.
“Oh, come on man. You aren’t going to at least brag a little bit? You know damn well that I would if I were you.” He knew John was right. If it were John receiving the step up, everyone would be hearing about it for months, if not years. Luckily for the crew, he wasn’t like that himself.
“You know me,” he said.
“Yeah, Mr. Humble,” John mocked.
“Hey,” he laughed. “There is nothing wrong with being humble.”
“No, you’re right. There’s not, except it is boring.”
“I’d rather be boring than full of myself,” he joked back to John.
“You are full of something, but it isn’t yourself,” he rebutted. That was the good thing about working with someone who was a friend: you could joke and be a smartass to them, and they still liked you anyway.
“I bet you’re ready to get back home to your wife.”
Of course, he was looking forward to seeing his beautiful wife. They had been gone for a few days this time, and he should be able to stay home for the same amount of time before he was due to fly out again.
“You know it.”
There was a knock on the door before it opened slightly, allowing Lily’s head to pop through.
“Would either of you like water or soda? We are serving the passengers.”
“Yeah, Sweet Pea, you can get me a Coke,” John winked at her.
She turned to Jasper and waited for his answer.
“A water is fine, thanks,” he answered her, not meeting her eyes. If he did then he would get lost in them. Whenever the two of them made eye contact the rest of the world fell away, leaving just to two of them and their hunger and desire for one another. That was the last thing he needed when he was flying a plane. He needed to focus right now, and he knew she would understand because she had to work herself.