Coffee and Cockpits (8 page)

I sucked in a gasp. “No. And I don’t want her to. It’s my secret.” I stuck out my hand. “Shake on it. Promise me this stays between us. Not even Captain Anderson will know. Deal?”

He rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Fine.” His hand interlocked with mine, and my heart pounded. His skin was soft and warm. He tugged me forward with barely any effort.

I struggled to breathe as his eyes hooded. “All I was going to offer is to help you gain your CPL. I don’t know why you made it such a big deal.” He laughed, letting go of my hand.

Stumbling backward to breathe air that wasn’t contaminated by Liam’s wonderful scent of spicy cinnamon, I squeaked, “My commercial license?
Why
would you do that?” I couldn’t understand. I had years to go before I would have the money for the exams and lessons. Even saving as much as I could from my salary and over-night cash envelopes.

“I see the same fire in you that was in me when I started. I didn’t have the money either, but someone else helped me.” He shrugged. “Call it paying my debt to karma. I want to return the favour.”

I stood there dumbfounded. I got him all wrong. Here I was thinking he was as horny as his step-sister, but he wasn’t—he genuinely wanted to help me. I didn’t know what to say.

“Nina. We need you up here,” Joslyn called.

Her shout was followed by a gruff request from Captain Anderson. “Mikin, get your ass up here and stop fraternising with the flighty.”

We both laughed, and I stopped in surprise at the camaraderie springing between us. Liam’s smile faded a little as we stared at each other, riveted.

“What the hell are you up to?” Joslyn appeared behind me. Her mouth hung open, staring at Liam.

I wanted to groan. Brilliant.

Liam’s face shuttered to impassive and he placed his hat back on his head. “Nothing, Jos.” His eyes settled on mine. “Talk to you later?”

I snuck a worried glance at Joslyn’s reaction. “Maybe. I’ll think about your offer.” I gave him a crooked smile. “Thanks.”

His face softened, and he gave Joslyn an ‘I’m up to no good’ air kiss. The minute he was gone, Joslyn attacked me with a verbal interrogation. “Oh my God, what offer? Are you going to sleep with him? I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist. No one can.”

“Easy with the inquest.” I laughed, patting her forearm. “Nothing happened. Nothing is
going
to happen. So stop fretting and focus on your own consuming love life.”

Her hand clutched at the scarf still around her neck. “You win that round. But if I find out he’s whisked you away and licked chocolate off your body—I might be forced to hammer some sense into you.” She winked so I knew she wasn’t that pissed.

The mental image of Liam naked and dripping chocolate sauce all over me flamed my blood to a boil.

Now
how was I supposed to work?

T
he flight to Samoa was mostly full, so it didn’t give me and the girls a lot of time to hang out down the back. We ran around serving over-nuked, foil-wrapped food and delivering drink orders. Joslyn was the equivalent of a wind-up rabbit after inhaling too many Redbulls, and Samantha was graceful and helpful. However, excitement gleamed in her eyes every time we mentioned Samoa.

We were all bouncing at the thought of landing amongst the palm tree splendour and scorching sun. Pity we couldn’t overnight there instead of Sydney.

“Have you ever been?” I asked Jos.

“No. I can’t wait. I’ve always wanted to go to the Pacific.” She leaned against the galley bench. “Do you think we’ll have a lot of time on the ground? Can we go and explore?”

I shook my head. “I doubt it. It’ll be a quick turnaround, especially if we have to get back to Sydney before we go over the hours we can fly.” Which sucked. I wanted to stay as much as she did.

Joslyn pouted.

I opened my mouth to tell her to stop sulking—that we’d be back—hopefully in the not too distant—

A sonorous
boom
tore through the air, smashing into my ear-drums with the force of a fist.

Oh my God!

The plane bucked and shuddered as shrieking metal and thundering pandemonium hammered the cabin.

Fuck!

What the
hell
was happening? What caused the blast? Oh my God.
Oh my God
. All my training siphoned away, leaving only rabid panic. My heart was a frantic hummingbird in my chest trying to break free; careening into my ribcage.

The shrieking and thundering hushed as suddenly as it begun and ice doused my flesh as silence blanketed the cabin. The silence was even worse than the catatonic noise. My lungs heaved as I froze. What should I do? Was there anything I
could
do? I had no control. If my time was up, I was screwed.
Stop freaking out!

There was a brief pause where every passenger and crew didn’t move.
See, we’re still alive. Everything’s fine
.

Passenger’s eyes were the only thing that shot around the aircraft, nobody moved as if their seats would fall from beneath them, or a wing would fall off, or we would plummet like a boulder from the sky.

I took a step, breaking the hold of silence and swore. I jinxed it. The plane took my footstep as the green light to jerk, buck, and yaw. We went from slicing through the air like a herringbone to holding on for dear life to a bucking bronco.

“Samantha! What do we do?” I yelled, stumbling in turbulence.

Screams erupted from throats as the orange oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling; dangling a death-jig with cords and tubes, forecasting a morbid end to this journey.

Please let this be a training drill or something! Maybe our line exam didn’t finish yesterday, after all. I didn’t know a thing about being a flight attendant in that moment.

The plane ricocheted as if bouncing off clouds like a Ping-Pong ball. I grabbed a seat rest while Samantha lost her footing and collapsed in the galley, slipping and sliding on her stomach with each shake.

Joslyn shouted, “What the fuck is going on?” Her green eyes wide with terror. “How do we stop it?”  

We couldn’t stop it. That was the horrible thing. If gravity wanted us, it would have us.

My body surged with adrenaline as the turbulence stopped and the plane levelled out. The craziness calmed, but I didn’t trust it. Was it over? Or was it just beginning?

I took a deep breath.

Then my stomach was left at ten thousand feet as we nosedived.

“Oh shit!” I screamed. My fingernails dug into the foam of the seat rest, and I slammed to my knees.
No! Oh no
. I didn’t want to die!

Joslyn squealed and lost her grip. She sprawled down the aisle, careening past screaming passengers and debris.

Shit!We’re going to die. Please don’t let us die!

Samantha yelped as cupboard doors flung open, spraying her in coffee sachets and cutlery. I couldn’t breathe as we plunged to our death. The training drilled into me wasn’t any use. My life was over before it even began. God, I shouldn’t have thought chasing a career was more important than enjoying and living life. I should’ve fought harder. Detaching myself from my father took so much out of me, I’d been weak when it came to letting men into my life. And now I’d never find true happiness.

Terror-tears leaked as we hurtled from sky to ground. Regret crushed me at not having the courage to be fully open with anyone, including myself. I thought I could ignore affection—that I didn’t need it. Hell, I needed it. I
wanted
it. And I’d never experience it.

I squeezed my eyes closed as the whining of engines and screams of passengers stole my last thread of calmness. Almost hyperventilating, I made a promise.
Please, if we survive, I won’t hold back anymore. I’ll chase my dreams. I’ll never let others stop me from living my full potential. I won’t let fear steal my future. I want to live with no regrets. I want to
live!

As if my promise was accepted, the craziness was over. The squealing engines coughed, resuming proper frequency, and the cabin righted from free fall to soaring horizontally. Normalcy returned, but my fingers wouldn’t let go of the seat rest. My hands ached from gripping so hard and my cheeks were clammy with tears. 

Whimpering took over the screams and people started looking around for us—the crew who are supposed to know what the hell was happening. We were just as scared and clueless as them. It wasn’t a comforting thought. I didn’t have any energy left to comfort them.
I
needed comforting. What the hell had happened?

The phone buzzed and because I was the only one not flat on my belly, I picked it off its cradle.

“Everything okay in the cabin?” Captain Anderson’s voice was cool, professionally level. No indication he just flew through a life-threatening nosedive.

Sucking in a breath, I tried mimicking his calmness. My voice betrayed me with shaky nerves. “Yes, sir. Some frightened passengers, and I haven’t been able to check for injuries, but we’re all alive.”
I think
.

I desperately wanted to ask what happened, but it wasn’t my place. My job was to reassure the passengers and leave the rest up to him and Liam. As much as I didn’t want to. I wanted to huddle in the corner and mantra my promise over and over. I would never let my life pass me by again. I’d fight for everything I wanted. I was a coward for not letting myself feel, or need, or rely on another.

Liam came on the line. “Nina?”

Oh God. I wanted to rely on him. Could I rewind the flight back to when he offered to help me with my CPL? I’d hug him if I could. He deserved a hug and not my distain. “Yes.” I couldn’t stop trembling. “What happened? Are you alright?”

His voice hitched. “I’m fine. Are
you
okay?”

“I think so. Bit shaken, and I have carpet burn on my knees, but I’m good.” Relief filled me as Joslyn and Samantha moved gingerly about the cabin. They seemed okay, thank God. “Joslyn’s okay, too. What happened?” Did I want to know? Was it fixable? Was this reprieve temporary or were we safe? I itched to rip up a seat and find a life jacket underneath—ready for the horrible conclusion of crashing.

Liam paused. “We don’t know, but whatever it was, it took out our electronic equipment. All our instruments malfunctioned.”

I gulped as Joslyn tended to a few people. Her wrist was bleeding from her skid down the aisle. Whatever blew up most likely took out our navigational system too, along with…

Oh crap.
“Do you still have autopilot?”

Liam answered, “No. All our instruments are out. We’re flying using the horizon and pressure gauges for speed.” He took a deep breath. “Look, keep everyone calm. I’ll do an announcement. We’ll land in forty-five minutes. Anderson and I can keep us airborne till then.”

Until then? Jeez how bad was it? My heart stuttered and I decided I definitely didn’t want to know. “Okay.” I said, concerned at the stress in his voice. Fear laced my lungs, but at the same time tempered with relief. I had faith in him and Anderson. My life, along with hundreds of others, was now in his hands. I wasn’t afraid. Well, that was a minor admission, I was petrified. “I’ll prepare the cabin for landing.”

“Thanks.” Liam sighed. “I’ll, um, talk to you soon. Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”

A zap of calmness filled me, beating back my worry. Yep, he definitely deserved a hug.

Hanging up, I turned to Samantha who was white as a cloud. Considering she was my superior, I didn’t think she dealt with near-crashes all that well. “We need to calm the passengers and prepare for a landing.”

“Are we ditching?” she asked, eyes huge.

“No, we won’t have to land in the ocean. Captain Anderson and Liam can land us, as planned, in Samoa. They’re flying manually and not on auto anymore.” I laughed, rather morbidly. There would be no calls for coffee or newspapers anytime soon. “Help me do the rounds, and we’ll buckle in for arrival.” Somehow, I became the boss and my trembles petered off as I focused on doing my job. There was structure in my training and I latched onto it.

The passengers were bug-eyed and freaked. I was on my third woman, informing her we were safe, when Liam came over the intercom.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. We apologise for the sudden descent and execution of the oxygen masks. There was a small problem with the instruments, but we have rectified the error and are safely on course to Samoa. Please sit back and relax, and we aim to have you on the ground in thirty minutes.”

The entire cabin groaned in relief. Passengers who looked ready to throw up with panic settled into their seats, melting into relieved puddles.

The speakers clicked off, and I rushed to pick up the ringing phone in the back galley. “Yes?”

“Get everyone secured and make sure everything is locked down. Okay?” Liam’s voice was tense and gruff.

Fear thickened my blood. “Why do I get the feeling this isn’t gonna be a simple touch down?”

Captain Anderson came on the line. “Nina, all our electronics are down. Do you understand what I mean?”

I stood there dumbfounded for a moment before I finally caught up. “The landing gear won’t come down.”