Hit'n Those Notes Ch. 13

"No way!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, way," he said, mocking the surprise in my voice.

"That's crazy... I would never have guessed that."

"It surprised me too when I first figured that out."

Okay, I saved myself from my stupidity a few moments ago! Keep it up. Questions, more questions.

"Could you fly to LA or San Diego?"

"I've flown to San Diego... I don't think my mom liked that, though. I don't think she trusts these little Cessna's to stay airborne or something," he said, gently banking the plane to the left.

Slowly, Vegas proper began to come into view as we began heading south. It was beautiful - the light shining through the top of the Luxor hotel, the various colored lights of the strip's main hotel properties, all so beautiful.

"How long did it take you to fly to San Diego? Did you have to stop for gas?"

"N4034V: Southwest 344 at twenty-thousand descending, two-eighteen knots, twenty-six miles south. Confirm..."

Blake held up a finger, then flipped the radio switch.

"LAS, Southwest 344, twenty-six miles from my position. Vector 1-8-3 in 5 Mike. Thank you..."

"N4034V: Copy, Vector 1-8-3, 5 Mike..."

Blake looked at me after flipping the radio switch again, "They're just letting us know about that Southwest jet coming in to land at McCarran, and if we stayed on this course, we'd be closer than they'd like us to be to them. There are restrictions around McCarran and heavy fines for violating those rules."

He chuckled like it was no big deal -- the contact from the McCarran air traffic controllers, "Told them we're going five more miles and then flying east over the strip. Very common call -- they pretty much know what I'm doing up here."

"So, everyone's happy; no issues," I asked.

"Yeah, we're good." He paused a moment and then decided he wasn't going to follow up his answer with some other comment or question.

"What? You were about to ask me something?"

"What happened at the hotel with you and that woman?"

I turned to look out the window and hoped he couldn't see my body stiffen. No way I was going to get into details of that.

"Pretty much she caught her boyfriend, no fiancé - Dana's brother no less, coming on to me. I have no idea what he said to her, but whatever it was, she blamed me. She was pissed and spewing a bunch of crap. The security people got there quickly and ordered her out of the area. That's pretty much it."

I took a breath, held it, and hoped that ended the conversation.

"Did he come on to you?"

"He did, but it wasn't meant to be... He is engaged, and that's drama I didn't need."

I didn't want to lie about what happened, but I wasn't going to tell him anything more. Tyler was a big mistake. I wasn't thinking clearly, and all that other shit was collateral damage. I was skirting the line between truths and outright lying, creatively choosing my words. He didn't need all the details to have an opinion; he had to know I wasn't a nun or something. Talking about Tyler or Jennifer wasn't something I really wanted to do right now.

"Wow, that sounds like it was a lot of drama for a whole lot of nothing," he said while moving a plunger-looking thing on the instrument panel. The engine sounded different after that, like we were slowing and no longer climbing.

"Are we slowing down?"

"We're at our cruising altitude, just trimming the fuel mixture so we're not overstressing the engine... Do you date much?"

I was dreading this line of questioning, but I guess the Tyler thing must have raised some questions in his mind.

"No, it's... No," I shook my head, "I'm not really doing that very much. I... I'm still working on becoming who I am."

Oh God! I don't want to explain or even say that I'm not 'complete' out loud - not that I would or it was any of his business. I really don't want to talk about this subject either - men and dating. I prayed he wasn't one of those types that wanted to know about my anatomy.

"I've dated a couple women since coming to Vegas, but I was on the rebound and working so much that those attempts to get back into dating fizzled quickly. Dating is tough these days."

The plane began banking gently to the left, and it looked like we were lined up just to the left of the main thoroughfare lined with casinos. I was happy the conversation was taking another path and wasn't focused on me. Curious though, he said 'rebound' and it made me wonder what that was about.

"So, you were in a relationship that ended? Was that before you moved to Vegas?" I wasn't sure I should be asking, but he offered up that nugget in his background on dating, so I was taking a stab at it - fair game I think.

"Yeah, she was a Jersey girl. We discussed my taking the job at the Grand Cayman, and she was cool about it, even agreeing to move out here after I got established."

"Oh... I'm sorry," I couldn't help but put a hand on his shoulder momentarily. "How long were you two together?"

"Just over three years. She broke it off as soon as I accepted the job," he shrugged. "Wasn't meant to be, I guess. Funny, I had bought a ring and was going to propose. I guess I dodged a bullet."

Oh shit... My heart dropped a little, and I felt a sorrowful pang. It didn't surprise me that he was moving in that direction, wanting to lock that woman up before he moved from the east coast to Vegas. How she could toss three years of being together out like that was kind of confusing.

"Well, she... Her loss." I hoped I sounded supportive. What do you say about a situation like the one he's been through?

"Yeah, I guess."

Friday, March 29th, 2:25 AM

Conversationally speaking, I definitely broke out my best wet blanket and draped it over what should have been a prime opportunity to get to know Blake better. My stupidity for implying his night flight thing was used a lot, and my dancing around the Tyler thing was my leading hunch about what set this cool evening into a tail spin. Augh, not funny; a plane joke, really? It might have been better if we crash-landed. Augh! Is a crashing considered landing? Focus!!

I wasn't sure the security report written up didn't include Jennifer's accusation that Tyler and I had slept together. If it had, then Blake knew I was dancing around the truth. And while I didn't lie - I did answer his questions with any glaring lies - he probably knew what really went down and I was stained, tainted.

Was I self-sabotaging? No! If he knew about Tyler, why pursue me? Tonight was a pursuit, right? This is so confusing! Are guys this confused normally?

After he'd talked about his ex, who was almost his fiancé, the mood changed in the cockpit of the little plane. Was that the moment this night crashed? It wasn't like we didn't talk about things; I mean, Blake talked about the strip as we were flying over it, and we even flew over the condominium he lived at, but the vibe was different after he brought up his ex.

I could feel it and sense it. And shortly after that, we were landing - much sooner than I expected or hoped. We weren't in the air for more than thirty-five minutes. We secured the plane, and he drove me back to the hotel. We even talked all the way back to the hotel, but I would classify it as him being polite, a sterile politeness. I pretty much knew I'd blown it.

I replayed everything I had said and just could not put my finger on the exact thing I said that turned him off - essentially. I was so close to just asking him if I'd crossed some line or if I could explain further something I had said that might have bothered him. But the evening ended at the door to my room with an awkward side hug and a thank you for the amazing night.

I kept thinking, 'Kiss me!' and 'Kiss me damn it!'. Let me make it up to you somehow, fix whatever I screwed up, but the evening was over after the hug. I felt completely deflated and wiped. If I could get to sleep, I would be sleeping deep tonight, for sure from multiple types of exhaustion!

I texted Mom that I was back in my room. Of course, that led to a few texts back and forth:

Me: "Home safe..."

Mom: "How was item?"

Me: ignoring her phone's auto-correct "Fine."

Mom: "Just fine?"

Me: "I'm tired; talk to you at breakfast, K?"

Mom: "Sure, honey. You're okay?"

Me: "Yeah. I love you, mom. G'night."

Mom: "Love you too. Good night."

Friday, March 29th, 2:47 AM

Showered, makeup removed, and nightly moisturizing routine complete. I had my super comfy oversize t-shirt on, set an alarm, and my single focus now was melting into this bed and trying to get five hours of sleep before needing to get up, get packed, and meet everyone downstairs for breakfast at 9:00 AM. It's been fun Vegas... I won't be back!

Of course nothing was easy about shutting down my mind and getting to sleep. The last time I looked at the alarm clock it said: 3:14 AM...

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Rachel M. Moore