But even with the new information there was still a sense of the surreal to the whole thing. I felt like I couldn’t trust my reactions or impulses anymore. And I kept coming back to the question of which one of me was feeling – was it Lacey, or Alicia? Was the distinction even worth considering? Were we not one and the same? And if so, how to proceed from here? Now that I knew the truth…what now?
The sun was a glowing red ember sinking into the hills as we approached the Bangor airport. Jared parked near the private aviation terminal, and I used the bathroom to change my top. When I emerged from the restroom, he was over by the security scanner, and we passed through it and walked to where a stern-faced woman in a business suit was waiting with a clipboard. Jared nodded to her, and she came over to meet us.
“Welcome, Mr. Richards. Your plane is ready for departure whenever you are. Do you have any special requests for dining or beverages?”
“It’s a short hop, isn’t it? I’m sure whatever you have on board is fine,” Jared answered.
“Very well. This way, please,” she said, directing us to the tarmac.
Jared took my hand, and we followed the woman to an executive jet parked near the terminal. I leaned into him and spoke over the whine of the turbines.
“This is going to sound really stupid, but I’ve never been on a plane,” I said.
“There’s nothing stupid about that. And it’s not hard. You just sit and enjoy. The pilot does the rest.”
I tried not to appear nervous as Jared led me up the little stairway. When we stepped inside, a young woman in a blue skirt and blouse beamed at us and welcomed us aboard. Jared and I took seats across the narrow aisle from each other, and the pilot came back and introduced himself and announced we would be taking off momentarily. The flight attendant offered us beverages, which we declined, and soon the stairs were up and the plane was taxiing in preparation for takeoff.
The Citation X rocketed down the runway so fast my heart was in my throat. It lifted into the air, and then we were banking over Bangor and climbing into a plum-colored sky, the wings cutting vapor trails through the humidity. Jared held my hand across the aisle for reassurance, and I focused on breathing evenly as the unusual sensation of accelerating upward eased once we neared our cruising altitude.
The flight attendant returned to offer us snacks, and I opted for some mixed nuts and orange juice to tide me over until we could get dinner. I munched while peering out the window at the slate ocean below, and by the time I was through with the small bowl, we had begun our descent. The lights of the eastern seaboard glimmered in the dusk. Everything looks so peaceful from up here.
When the wheels touched down on the runway with only a small bump, I exhaled in relief. Jared offered a reassuring smile and glanced out the window before looking to me.
“You’re ruined forever,” he said. “If we’d flown commercial… Well, it’s like a flying bus, only worse.”
“Ridley’s as far as I’ve ever been from home. Never made it to New York,” I confessed, feeling inadequate as I considered that private jets and globe-trotting were commonplace for Jared. How will I know how to behave in a city like New York?
“It’s different from any other city in the world. In good ways and bad.” He rubbed my hand affectionately. “You’ll see.”
“Doesn’t look like much,” I observed, peering out the window at the ugly skyline. “Industrial.”
“That’s not New York.” He chuckled. “This is New Jersey. This is Teterboro Airport, not La Guardia or JFK.”
My cheeks colored at my gaffe. “How do we get to the city? How far is it?”
“Not very,” he said. “Trust me.”
A stretch limo was waiting for us by the charter terminal, and Jared guided me without hesitation to the car. I cocked an eyebrow at the gleaming white Mercedes, and Jared smirked before nodding to the driver, who was standing like a sentry holding a rear door open, his black suit and tie impeccable.
“I suppose I could get used to this,” I allowed from the back seat.
“That’s good to hear. This is your reality now,” Jared said.
I laughed. “Well, yours, anyway. I’m a broke student worried about her scholarship, remember?”
He shook his head. “That’s who you were yesterday. Not anymore.”
“I’m still trying to get my head around that, Jared. It isn’t easy going from zero to a hundred in a blink.”
“I appreciate that. Realizing that you’re back from…from the dead was quite a shock for me, too. But it’s the kind of surprise I can live with.” He paused. “Metaphorically, of course.”
I held his stare. “You made another funny, didn’t you?”
His smile brightened the interior. “Wait until you see the hotel.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why? Is it completely over the top?”
“The show is paying for it, so why not?”
The ride into the city actually took longer than the flight from Maine, and by the time we pulled up in front of the Plaza Hotel, my stomach was growling, much to my embarrassment. Jared didn’t seem to notice, for which I was grateful even though I was sure he could hear everything. He helped
