Flight (6 page)

Charlie arrived early at the plant on Monday morning. Taking her exercise bag with her, she headed straight toward the fitness center.  It was six a.m. in the morning, hopefully she wouldn't run into Ryle Sullivan; she thought to herself. But as she walked up to the running track, she found her eyes unconsciously sweeping the mezzanine, looking for his tall imposing figure. She sighed when she didn’t see him. Whether the sigh was relief or disappointment, she couldn’t be sure.

Clipping on her iPod and putting in the
earbuds, she was able to jog several laps without any interruptions. The swimming pool was brightly lit, with the one-way glass windows that looked out to the surround woods. The cool water felt refreshing after her workout. She did a dozen laps in the Olympic size pool before she showered and changed for work.  On her way back to the office, she stopped by the cafeteria to pick up breakfast.

Jeff’s office was in the same hangar as hers, but far away from hers. Jeff often came in early as well. Walking along the lower level, she glanced up as she walked passed Jeff’s office. She was not surprised to see him there, already bending over his computer, working.

Several people called out to her in greeting as she made her way up to her office. Charlie’s own office included a little meeting area. She walked past the outer office where Julie and Karen’s desks were.

She had settled into her chair to read her e-mail when Jeff showed up at the doorway.

“Good morning.”

“
Good morning.” She said, returning his smile.

“
What time did you get in?”

“
Six.”

He whistled,
“I can’t get myself up that early.” He grinned.

She smiled.
“My parents are always up by five-thirty. I’m used to it.”

“
Did you go to the fitness center?” He asked.

“
Yes. I swam my laps.” She murmured. “What about you? Did you get a chance to go out for a ride before work this morning?”

“
Yeah, just around the pathway.” Jeff said.

Jeff was an avid cyclist. The employee housing, where he lived, backed onto a park with a pathway. Jeff spent most mornings on that path, cycling. It was because of the path that he didn’t want to move away from the employee housing. After a year at PAL, Jeff decided to stay on permanently. He had talked about looking for a new place, and had even asked
Charlie to go with him to look at some houses. This was before they started dating. He couldn’t decide on any of the houses because he wanted to look for something close to a cycling path.

“
Do you want to go have dinner after work tonight?” He asked her.

“
Sure. How about eight?”

“
Eight’s good.” He grinned. “I’ll see later.”

Charlie
spent the morning writing reports. It was closer to lunch when she finally made her way to Bay 6. The rest of her team was already there. She recognized most of the support staff that was helping in Bay 6, including Ryle. She was aware of his presence as soon as she walked up to Bay 6. She had to suppress an inner trembling as she met his eyes. He was looking back at her directly, a relaxed look on his attractive face.

While
Charlie and her team worked, the support staff helped with whatever needed to be done, most of which were menial chores, including finding tools, lifting things and cleaning up. For some reason, it was hard for Charlie to concentrate. She was aware of Ryle standing just a few feet away, watching her. And that unnerved her.

She slipped in under the hydraulic systems to have a better look
at a troublesome valve. She was surprised her hands were steady as she checked out the hydraulic systems; and that she was able to hold the tools without trembling.

“
Can you pass me the spanner?” She asked, reaching out her hand for the next tool. The tool was handed to her, and there was a momentary brush of strong fingers against her palm. It left a tingling feeling and her pulse gave a jerk. “Thanks.” She muttered.

“
No problem.” Ryle answered.

She shouldn’t be surprised it was Ryle, and yet, she was still surprised by how his touch, even when she didn’t know it was him, made such an impression on her senses. She took a deep breath before refocusing and loosening the relief valves.

Working with Ryle nearby was a strangely unnerving experience for Charlie. When he was near, she could barely concentrate. It took effort to ignore his presence and focus on her work. And she felt she was being watched, even when she wasn’t looking at him. It shouldn’t affect her, but it did. It was not the first time someone at work was interested in her, and in all honesty, it won’t be the last. But none had such effect on her before. Not even Jeff. So why should Ryle be different?

So he was incredibly attractive; there was something very sexy in the way he moved, so cool and confident; the way he talked; even the way he looked at her was arousing.

Ryle enjoyed watching Charlie work. She seemed so calm and confident, her voice as smooth and warm as she was. And when she laughed, the sexy infectious sound gave him the craziest urge to grab her and kiss her.

She led her team trying to solve the current problem so adeptly that he couldn’t help but admire her. Nothing seemed to deter her; and she remained composed. Composed except when their eyes happened to meet. He saw the way her eyes would brighten, almost like a deer caught in headlights. For several moments, there was surprise and some other emotions in her eyes, and then she seemed to close it like a shutter, and she was all business
-like again. It was those moments that he knew she was not as indifferent to him as she wanted him to think.

He saw the way her hands trembled when his touched hers by accident. Whether she wanted it to be or not, she was as aware of him as he was of her. He gained some kind of satisfaction from that.

It was almost one o’clock when Charlie and her team finally broke for lunch. Supporting Charlie’s team gave Ryle an advantage to be near her. Although she was often surrounded by members of her team, he managed to fall in line behind her at the cafeteria, which took some maneuvering without being too obvious. Walking into the cafeteria with her team, various people, men and women, walked up to greet her. She seemed popular and he saw respect when others talked with her.

She seemed to be doing a pretty good job of ignoring his presence behind her in line, except for the sideway glances she gave him which told him she knew he was there.

“You seem to know a lot of people here.” Ryle commented, watching as she picked up a tray and some utensils.

“
Yes.” She answered shortly.

“
How long have you worked here?” He asked. He picked up a tray, utensils and followed her down the line.

She looked like she wasn’t about to answer him. She was busy studying the beverages in the cooler compartment. She finally selected a mixed vegetable and fruit juice and glanced at him.

“I’ve worked at PAL for fourteen years if I include the years I did part-time and summer jobs.” She told him.

“
Fourteen years, wow; you don’t look old enough.” He teased.

She gave him a cool look but didn’t take the bait. Instead she moved on without answering. He grabbed a drink without looking at it and followed her.

“How long have you been flying?” He asked.

She shrugged,
“About fourteen years.”

“
And how old were you when you started?”

She sighed,
“Fourteen.”

“
That would make you twenty-eight.” He grinned, getting the answer after all.

“
Wow, you can add.” She said sarcastically. “Did you put that in your resume?”

Ryle laughed, amused.
“I should, shouldn't I? I'm sure it'll impress some big wigs.”

Again she didn’t answer him, but moved up to the food counter to smile at the woman behind the counter.
“Hi Rita, can I get a plate of organic pasta with a side of salad please?”

“
Coming right up, Charlie.” Rita answered with a smile.

Ryle picked the veal parmesan with pasta.

“Are you a vegetarian?” He asked, noting the choices on her tray as he followed her to the dessert section.

“
Why do you ask?” She asked.

“
Your lunch choices seem to indicate that you are.” He pointed out lightly.

“
Oh,” She muttered, glancing down as if she just realized it. “No, I’m not.”

She paused in front of the desserts and chose two plates: a slice of field berry pie and a piece of tiramisu.

“And you like sweets.” He murmured, watching her.

“
You’re very observant.” She mocked and walked off to pay.

He grinned. Despite her sarcasm, he noticed the sparkle in her eyes; and it was not annoyance. She paid and walked away towards the table where her team sat down. Ryle paid for his lunch and tried to catch up with her so he could sit down next to her. But unfortunately a few others had joined the table at the same time and sat down beside her. Ryle had no choice but to sit a couple of seats away.

“Hey Ryle,” Karen, Aria and a couple of their friends seemed to have came out of nowhere and surrounded him, sitting down beside him and across from him.

“
Hey,” He gave them a friendly smile. He noticed they were dressed especially nice today. Aria wore a short skirt that showed off her shapely long legs. Karen and Ally both wore fitted dresses that molded to their sleek petite frames. Emily’s trendy top was daringly revealing.

“
Are you busy this Saturday?” Aria asked.

“
Some of us from work are going to the Blue Bar.” Karen told him.

“
They have a live band playing on Saturday nights.” Emily said.

“
Do you want to join us?” Ally asked. “It’ll be really fun.”

Since he arrived at PAL, there had been no shortage of invitations. But although they were pretty and nice, he wasn’t interested
in getting involved with them, even casually. Despite what he told Logan, he didn’t feel right about getting involved with anyone at PAL; with the exception of Charlie. She kept coming up in his thoughts. And that was happening more and more frequently.

Ryle glanced towards
Charlie, but she was in a deep discussion with several people sitting around her. One of them was a guy in his mid-thirties, handsome, clean cut, smart, and he seemed extra attentive to Charlie. Ryle had seen them talking together before and he wondered if that was the kind of guy she liked. From the way the other guy was looking at her when he thought no one else aware of it, it seemed like they might share something more than just a co-worker relationship.

Heh
. Maybe Jack wasn’t so right after all. Or maybe Charlie was just very discreet when it came to her private relationships.

“
I’ll see you tonight?” Jeff said softly so no one would hear.

“
Yes.” Charlie smiled, agreeing.

He gave her a grin and walked off in the direction of his office with a couple of others.

Charlie continued on her way back to Bay 6.

“
Who was that?” Ryle fell into steps beside her, matching his long casual strides with hers.

Charlie
almost laughed at his audacity. “That’s really none of your business.” She replied without looking at him.

“
Are you two dating? Is he your boyfriend?”

This time she did turn to look at him, shooting him a cold look that was meant to put him in his place. But instead he grinned.

“Okay, dating but not boyfriend; Got it.”

Charlie
nearly stumbled; she was so surprised by his deduction. How did he do that? She wondered, trying to keep her composure and not giving any merit to his conclusion.