“I'm already so hungry!” she complained. “I'm trying to lose, but I feel like I'm starving!”
“Maybe you need to take up smoking,” Linda said. “It does wonders for your appetite, dear.”
She moved her gaze to me and crinkled her nose. “My goodness, Patty. Your eyes are so puffy!”
“I know,” I said, staring straight ahead and not meeting her stare. “When I got home yesterday, I found my neighbor murdered. It was quite upsetting.”
All the girls gasped and turned to me.
“My word!” Linda said, holding her hand over her heart. “What a horrible thing.”
“Yes, it was. So, please forgive me. Hopefully, I won't be discovering any further dead bodies in the future and you won't see my puffy eyes.”
“Of course, dear,” Linda said, placing her hands on my waist, then patting me. The gesture probably looked as if she consoled me, yet I knew she was only doing a sly girdle check.
At no time was there a question of if I was okay to fly, and I was fine with that. I needed to be working, to get my mind off the horrid sight of Charles' body. If Linda had sent me home, I wouldn’t have known what to do.
She turned to the group. “Ladies, you have your assignments for the day. Remember, Friday is weigh-in, and some of you are coming close to that number where I have to fire you, so please watch your snacking. Smile and be kind and generous to everyone on the plane. You never know, girls... your future husband may be flying with you today!”
This was one of the things the airline advertised in their hiring. A few of the girls squealed, but Beth and I exchanged glances that indicated neither of us had any desire to meet a husband. However, I did have a three-hour layover in Dallas, and hoped to sneak away and see some of the sights.
We all picked up our bags and moved along to our planes. “Looks like I'm with you,” Beth said, walking next to me.
“Very cool!” I said, excited to work with her. We got along famously.
“Do you think I'm getting fat?”
I glimpsed over at her as we crossed the tarmac. On second glance, the buttons on her blouse did appear to be a little strained, but no more than usual. “That’s silly,” I said. “I think you look great.”
“You're always so sweet, Patty,” she replied with a sigh. “Thank you.”
Once we'd put away our bags and done a quick inspection of the plane, we waited for our passengers. Beth greeted them as they embarked while I stood at the back and helped people put their luggage up and get settled. Our head stew, the one in charge of the flight, had yet to make an appearance and Beth and I whispered a bet that it was Penny. Party Penny. She'd been with the airline a few years and was an even worse party girl than Donna. Penny had her sights on a captain and she wasn't shy about letting everyone know.
“Can I get a gin and tonic before we take off, sweetheart?” a man asked as he sat down and I pushed his briefcase into the luggage rack above him.
“Of course, sir. Just give me a moment.”
As I raced to help people into their seats, fetch cocktails, and have friendly chats with those boarding, men lit up cigarettes all around me. As a fairly new stew, I was forced to work in the back of the plane where the smoke seemed to be the worst, which I didn't mind most of the time. However, Mr. Gin and Tonic was a chain-smoker, so the air became quite polluted fairly quickly.
After gathering the empty glasses and getting ready for takeoff, I walked the aisle for one last inspection of my passengers to ensure they all wore seatbelts and I hadn't missed picking up a glass. I found an unruly little boy, about four years old, who simply didn't want to sit down. His mother also seemed to be at her wits’ end with him. I did note she wore a lovely shade of coral lipstick that I’d never seen before.
“Good morning,” I said, squatting down so I was eye-level with the little terror. “Is everything okay here?”
The mother shook her head, and I noted her eye bags were worse than mine. “He won't sit down.”
I smiled and looked at the boy. “What's your name?”
“Mikey,” he said, still refusing to sit and jumping up and down.
Monster Mikey.
“Well, Mikey, my name's Patty. I'm a stewardess on this flight, which means I have special access to parts of the plane where the passengers can't go.”
His eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yes. Would you like to see some of those areas?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
I laughed and shook my head. “Well, here's the thing. I need you to be a big boy and sit down with your seatbelt on and mind your mom. If you can do that, then I’ll take you up to see the captain.”
He thought about my offer for a brief moment, and I worried he wouldn't take me up on it. Finally, he nodded and sat down. “Okay. I'll be good and listen to my mommy.”
“Excellent,” I said, standing. “I'll let the captain know he's going to have a very special visitor once we get in the air.”
“Thank you,” the mother said. “I appreciate your help.”
“Of course,” I replied, laying my hand on her shoulder. “Glad I could assist. If you don’t mind, I love your lipstick. Is that Mary Quant?”
“Thank you! No, it’s a new shade just released by Yardley.”
“It looks lovely with your complexion. Excellent choice.”
I
