It caused awince in his heart at the mere memory of her distress. Yet he wouldbe lying if he said he hadn’t appreciated the sentiment. At thatthought, Crispin gave his head a shake and approached the airlinecounter. It was for that very reason, he had to get away.
“Sir, you got here in the nick of time,” said the attractivelady ticket agent. “Ticket and passport, please.”
“Yes, of course,” Crispin said, handing over his documents,placing his suitcase on the scale. As he watched the attractiveyoung woman hurry to enter his information, he didn’t miss thefurtive glances she cast him. Well, howopportune a situation. “Pardon me, miss,your name?”
“It’s Anne, sir,” she answered readily.
“Aw, what a lovely name,” he practically purred. “Now, Anne,would it be too late to ask a favour?” He leaned in close andflashed her his most charming panty-peeling smile. “Is it possibleto be seated alone? You see, I’m a songwriter and I’m looking for abit of solitude on the flight for… inspiration.”
“A songwriter? Wow, I knew it. I could tell you were someone ofnote,” she said, starstruck. “Sure, let me check, although thislate in the game, I can’t make any promises. This is a fully bookedflight, Mr. Clover.”
“Please, call me Crispin.” He winked. “If you could just have alook, I would be most appreciative.” Again, he gave her his mostpersuasive smile.
“You’re in luck! We just had a cancellation. Here, I’verearranged your seat. You’ll be situated a little further forwardbut you’ll have two seats to yourself. Now, you’ll have to hurrythrough security. Just show them your boarding pass and they’llrush you through.” Once again, she grazed her eyes over him. “Iwouldn’t want you to miss your flight.”
“Me neither. That would be most tragic,” he said with a wink.“Thank you, for your help.”
“Anytime… enjoy your flight, sir!”
***
Gwen didn’tunderstand how she had made it this far, but there she was, sittingin her aisle seat near the back of the plane. So far, Stacy’sprediction had been correct. She had gotten to the airport withplenty of time to deal with any unforeseen hitches. In fact, sincethings had gone so smoothly, Gwen had made it to her seat with timeto spare. But with almost too much time on her hands, it only madeit easier to worry about the inevitable moment when Crispindiscovered her sitting next to him on the plane.
Speaking ofCrispin, she hadn’t yet seen him. She was sure she would have seenhim by now. She had been on the lookout, ready to hide from him theentire time she waited to board the plane. Now, she was actuallystarting to panic. What if he’d changed his mind? What if he wasn’tcoming? The very real possibility of having to fly on her own wasbecoming an unbearable reality.
Not only wouldshe not have his company, she would not have her detaileditinerary. Yes, she had a simplified version, put together byStacy, but it was nowhere near as well planned and detailed ashers. How in the world would she survive this? As it was, her heartwas racing in her chest. She was starting to perspire and she washaving trouble sitting still.
Taking a fewdeep calming breaths, she focused on the fact that people werestill boarding. She convinced herself that she was merelyoverreacting and that at any minute, Crispin would appear. Then, ofcourse, she would have to explain herself. But she was sure shecould handle that part. This waiting, on the other hand, waskilling her.
Moments later,she felt a presence at her side. Finally, Crispin, she thought witha sigh. Looking up from her white knuckles, she frowned,discovering a middle-aged man in a business suit checking histicket and looking at the numbers above her head. He must bemistaken. Stacy had seated her and Crispin together. This man wasobviously not Crispin!
“Excuse me, miss.” He showed her his boarding pass. “I believeyou are in my seat.”
“Your seat? There must be some mistake.” She quickly checkedher pass and sure enough, she was in the right row but to herdismay discovered that her actual number was for the window seat.The horror! She could not sit at the window. No way could she bearthe idea of being trapped in such a small space. She hadspecifically requested the aisle seat figuring she would feelbetter to get up and move around at will. Suddenly, she recalledStacy saying that when she’d booked her flight, she had put her inthe window since Crispin had already claimed the aisle. At thetime, Stacy hadn’t been too concerned since she figured she andCrispin would work it out.
“Oh, but… but I can’t sit at the window!”
“Lady, I need the aisle. This is my seat. I specificallyrequested an aisle. I only booked it minutes ago.”
All Gwen coulddo was shake her head. This could not be happening. Where wasCrispin? Who was this man wanting her seat? Too overwhelmed tocope, she closed her eyes and delved into herself. It was all shecould do to keep from screaming. She should have known better thanto have done this, taken such a chance. This is exactly the reasonshe avoided going outside of her comfort zone. There were too manyunknown factors to deal with. She hadn’t even left Toronto, andhere it was, the first of many unforeseen hitches to come.
“Excuse me, is there a problem?” asked the passing flightattendant.
***
“Everything to your liking, sir?” asked the flight attendantwho just happened to be the same young lady from the check-incounter.
“Awesome, thanks, you’re a lifesaver, Anne,” Crispin said,quite pleased with his seating arrangement. In fact, things wereworking out beautifully. Being late had its advantages. For onething, having been whisked through security and then driven byairport shuttle to his gate, he hadn’t had to wait around amongstthe multitudes of mundanes. Thank goodness since patience was nothis forte.
“Wonderful, sir, we’re moments from taking off. Please, fastenyour seatbelt and turn off all electronic devices.”
“Yes, of course.” He took one last covert look at his phone andfound a text from Kell. The poor bastard was wondering where he’drun off to, leaving Becky in such a distraught state. For a second,Crispin started to
