Holding On To Love (19 page)

I settled back into my seat and waited patiently for the pre-boarding announcement. A half hour later our zone was called to board and I shook Kennedy's shoulder to wake her.

She yawned and smiled, "Shit, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's okay. You and that kid both passed out," I laughed. "Come on— We can board now."

She yawned again, gathered her bags and followed me to the gate. The gate attendant scanned our tickets and welcomed us aboard. We walked down the jet way and once we reached the airplane, we were greeted by the captain.

"Hello, welcome aboard," he said as we passed.

Our seats were in the last row of first class, Kennedy darted in front of me and snagged the window seat, leaving me behind to stow our luggage in the overhead bin by myself.

"Can I help you with those, Miss?" A handsome, male flight attendant asked.

"Oh, yes. Thank you. My friend kinda left me hanging here," I said, while Kennedy buried her nose in the airline's magazine and giggled.

Brat!

He lifted our suitcases into the bin with ease and I took my seat.

"Would either of you ladies care for a complimentary cocktail or some champagne?" He asked.

"Yes, I'd love a mimosa," Kennedy said.

"Same for me, thank you," I said.

"Sure thing. I'll be right back with those," he said and walked back to the galley.

I nudged Kennedy with my elbow. "What the hell, friend? Just leave me to do the dirty work."

She laughed. "It's first class, silly. You're supposed to take full advantage of the amenities. Including, letting that sexy flight attendant fondle your luggage."

"You're disturbed, you know that? Besides, I think he's gay."

"No he isn't. You're just saying that," she whined.

"Fine. Well, good luck then," I teased.

A moment later he returned with our mimosas and a warm towel for each of us.

"If you ladies need anything at all, you let me know. My name is Anton," he said smiling.

"Oh, honey. I love your shoes. Are those Jimmy Choo's?" He asked excitedly, as he eyed Kennedy's newest shoe splurge.

"Yes they are and thank you so much for noticing, I love them too," she said and stuck her foot out so he could admire them.

I turned and smiled at Kennedy, giving her a silent, "I told you so" and she frowned.

"You ladies have a good flight, we'll be taking off in about fifteen minutes," he said and moved out of the aisle so the other passengers could find their seats in coach.

"I hate it when you're right," Kennedy grumbled and all I could do was laugh.

We sipped our drinks as more passengers boarded, filling the plane to capacity. Once the last of the stragglers had taken their seats, the captain announced we would be taking off shortly. Video screens in the seat backs lit up and a short safety video played. The lights in the cabin flickered as the airplane backed away from the gate. Even with the champagne, my entire body tensed and my palms became clammy.

Kennedy reached over and took my hand. "Don't worry, Ally. Most plane crashes happen during take off or landing. Once we're in the air, you'll feel better." She said excitedly.

"Was that supposed to make me feel better? 'Cause it didn't," I said as a wave of anxiety and nausea came over me.

"I was only kidding," she giggled. "I'm sorry, I'll keep my mouth shut."

Anton collected our empty glasses and must have noticed my unease.

"Are you alright, Miss?" He asked.

I took a deep breath and squeezed the arm rest. "Yeah, I'll be fine once we're in the air."

"Well, if you feel queasy, there's a sick bag in your seat pocket," he said. 

"Great, thanks," I said in embarrassment.

The plane stopped moving and the captain announced over head, we were preparing to take off. The flight attendants returned to their jump seats and I tightened my seat belt, nearly cutting off the circulation to the lower half of my body. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the cool leather seat, as the engines roared to life.

"Please just tell me when we're in the air," I said with a shaky breath.

Kennedy squeezed my hand again and the plane quickly gained speed as it barreled down the runway.

"I will," she said softly.

I would give anything to rid my mind of the plane crash scenarios playing out in my head like a bad dream. As much as I loathed flying, I knew we only had an hour and forty-five minutes until we landed, which didn't help much.

I heard the landing gear pull up and felt the plane level out.

"Finally," I breathed and opened my eyes.

"How ya doing?" Kennedy asked.

"Better now that we're airborne," I said.

She smiled and released my hand. "You shouldn't fly without drugs, just sayin'."

"Yeah, tell me about it. At least my stomach isn't clawing its way up my throat anymore," I said and she laughed.

"So, what are your plans once we get to Denver?" She asked as she flipped through the magazine on her lap.

"Well, I reserved us a room at the Hyatt downtown, so we'll check in tonight, get some rest and I thought I'd call the Raleigh's tomorrow."

"You're gonna call his parents? Why?" She asked.

"I haven't seen them since the funeral, I just thought it'd be nice to see them," I said.

"I don't know, Ally. I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean, with them trying to move on— I just think it'll be too much for them to see you again. You did say they were pretty torn up over the whole thing," she said.

My gaze fell to the floor and I nodded. "Yeah, I think maybe I might just be an awful reminder of what happened that night. You're right, It might be a bad idea."

"I know this trip is so you can have closure and I support you a hundred percent with whatever you decide, but I hope you'll consider what I've said."

"Thanks, friend. I'll keep it in mind," I said.

The rest of the flight was quiet between Kennedy and I. She'd taken over my mp3 player, while I watched an episode of 'Deadliest Catch' and flipped through a copy of People magazine left by another passenger.

Anton made his rounds, bringing drinks and snacks to the rest of the passengers and stopping to ask us if we needed anything. We both decided the mimosas were the reason we had headaches and asked for water instead.

What seemed like hours later, the captain finally announced we would be landing shortly and asked everyone to return to their seats. I tucked the magazine back into the seat pocket and handed Anton our empty cups. Kennedy had fallen asleep against the window and I shook her lightly to wake her up.

She yawned, pulled out her ear buds and mumbled, "Are we there yet?"

"Almost, we're landing soon," I said.

"Oh, good. I can't wait to get off this plane, my ass is numb," she said as she wiggled in her seat.

I giggled, tucked my mp3 player in to the front pocket of my bag and shoved the backpack under the seat in front of me. Within minutes, we were preparing for landing, which scared me to death and I gripped my armrests again. 

We actually landed safely, taxied to the runway and rolled to a stop at our gate. We collected our belongings and followed the other passengers into the terminal.

Kennedy followed me closely as we made our way through the terminal, boarded the train and walked through baggage claim. The glass doors slid open and we were greeted by fresh cool mountain air and exhaust, of course. But the familiar smell made me smile and I realized how much I'd missed living here.

"Jesus, how much further do we have to walk? My feet are killing me," Kennedy whined as she fidgeted with her heels.

"You shouldn't have worn those heels," I teased.

"Yeah, now you tell me," she said, rolling her eyes.

I spotted the shuttle for the rental car company and hurried to catch it before it left without us. We made it just before the driver closed the doors. The shuttle was deserted and we took two seats near the back.

"What kind of car did you get?" Kennedy asked.

"Not sure, just reserved a compact," I said.

"Well, I'm hoping we get a convertible or something 'cause the weather here fucking rocks compared to Phoenix," she said and I nodded in agreement.

I reached into my bag and pulled out my phone. I'd forgotten to turn it back on once we landed, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't have any new messages anyway.

"Oh my God, I totally forgot to text Zac when we landed, damn it." I said as my phone powered up.

"I did already," she said.

"When?" I asked, since I hadn't seen her use her phone since we left.

"While you were speed walking through the terminal," she laughed.

"Oh," I said.

"He wanted me to let you know the house hasn't burned down, yet," she joked.

"Har-har, not funny."

"I think the only thing you should worry about is whether or not he decides to throw a party," she said.

I slapped my palm to my head and quickly texted Zac.

NO parties!

My  phone chimed.

Too late ;)

Jerk! I shouldn't have left him home alone. Ugh.

Very funny

"You put him up to this, didn't you?" I asked Kennedy.

She smiled and shook her head. "Nope."

The shuttle rounded the corner and stopped in front of a small house-like building. We grabbed our suitcases and stepped out of the van. I turned to Kennedy, something she was reading on her phone made her laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing, just Zac giving you a hard time," she giggled.

"Do you wanna wait out here while I get the car taken care of?" I asked.

"Sure," she said, waved and returned to her phone.

I shook my head and left her outside with our luggage. I approached the desk and handed the salesman my ID. After he typed a few things into his computer, he looked up and smiled.

"I see you've reserved a compact and unfortunately we're all out, but I can offer you a luxury at the same price if you're interested," he said in a monotone voice.

"Sure, that works," I said quickly, hoping he'd hurry up since I was beginning to feel exhaustion set in.

"Okay. It'll be just a moment while I enter your information and I'll have someone bring the car around."

"Thank you," I said and handed him my credit card.

A few minutes later he returned with my card and the paperwork. He instructed me to take a look around the car and note any damage I saw, so I decided to leave that part to Kennedy. By the time he was finished talking, I began yawning uncontrollably; his voice was putting me to sleep. He thanked me and as I stepped outside, a silver Mercedes E350 rolled to a stop in front of Kennedy, who's eyes were now as big as saucers. The attendant tossed me the keys and opened the trunk, so we could load our suitcases. We settled into what Kennedy labeled, "the sexist car she'd ever been in" and I had to laugh. It sure blew the pants off her ancient Toyota sedan. 

I tapped the gas peddle, knowing quite well that the Mercedes had a lot of power. We made our way onto the freeway, before I knew it we were going about 90 and my adrenaline spiked. 

"Are you channeling your inner Danica Patrick?" Kennedy teased.

I smiled and replied, "Yep."

I released the gas peddle just so we wouldn't get pulled over for speeding, but driving fast gave me a new sense of freedom and it felt good.

We exited the freeway and into the heart of downtown. I'd never been a big fan of one-way streets, but I was also very familiar with the otherwise confusing layout of the city. A few stop lights later, I pulled the Mercedes into the porte-cochere of the Hyatt and we were greeted by a valet.

He opened our doors and removed the luggage from the trunk, before handing me a claim ticket. I tipped him and he drove off into the underground parking garage.

"Wow, this place is awesome, Ally." Kennedy said as she took in the massive open-air lobby.

We approached the front desk, I handed the friendly brunette my credit card and ID. She thank us for choosing their hotel, gave us the keys to our room and pointed us towards the elevators. 

As we walked through the lobby area, soft jazz music played from the piano bar and I noticed the bar area was full of business men and woman winding down after their long day.

"Wanna get a drink?" I asked curiously.

"Nah. I'm pretty beat, but I could go for some food if you're up for it," she said.

"That sounds good, I'm starving," I said and my stomach growled, reminding me how hungry I really was.

"Let's go put our stuff in the room and we'll go check if they're still serving food."