Lie To Me

"What about Anton, has he ever..."

"Whoa, slow down. Yeah, he used to before he met you. I've never seen him do anything you have to worry about. He loves you. He would never screw that up."

I gave him a big hug and a kiss. "Thank you, Rueben. I do worry with some of those man-hungry bitches."

"You have nothing to sweat about. Anton's a different bloke. He's not into their shit."

The crowd arrived, the place overflowed with gorgeous sexy women. I stuck to my group of friends. Not all flight attendants were like that. I had made friends with some of the married ones, and among the singles, there were some really nice girls.

We enjoyed the day, lots of champagne, music and laughter.

Our little clique got busted by a couple of the girls I didn't like. Sally was drunk already, loud and obnoxious. The group broke up. There was just Sally and her entourage, and me.

"You must get jealous, aye? Seeing us travelling all over the world, Mixing with all sorts of celebrities."

Feeling spiteful, I said, "Oh, god no. I waited tables when I was younger. I decided way back then I had more respect for myself than waiting tables. I mean that's all you are really isn't it. Waitresses?"

Sally glared at me angrily. "Jealous bitch. We don't wait tables."

"No, your job is worse. You have to take their food to them, wait on them hand and foot. Screaming babies, kids vomiting. Yeah, you have a great job."

"Fuck you," they said, walking away. Maggie, one of the married flight attendants, came over and gave me a hug. "Don't worry about them. Their stupid club, it's childish."

As we hugged, I said, "I'm sorry I said that stuff. I didn't mean it, they just piss me off."

"Oh don't worry, love. I thought it was perfect. I didn't take offence."

"What did you mean when you said club?" I asked.

She glanced at Sally, then turned back to me. I could see her trying to figure out whether she should tell me. In the end she said. "They have this little club, and the reason for it is simple. Their objective is to sleep with as many pilots as they can."

Anton came over a little later, and we hung out. We danced a few songs, and shared a plate. Sally came over while we were talking to friends, and asked Anton for a dance.

He wandered off to dance with her. She tried to make it sexy, but he at least kept her at arms length. When he returned. I asked, "Why did you dance with that skank?"

"Babe, as pilots, those girls can make our job miserable. It was just a dance, it meant nothing."

I saw the look in her eyes, and for the first time, I felt real anxiety, yeah, 'LIE TO ME'.

Later, I was outside on the deck, clearing up. The deck was elevated, and there was a group of girls on the grassed area below, gossiping.

One of the girls asked about how many pilots Sally had slept with. "All of them, babes. Every single one of them have been in my cockpit."

There was some giggling before the same girl asked, "What about Anton. He doesn't seem to put out, but he's so cute."

"Oh darling, he's the best of them all. He really knows how to look after us. Don't worry, next week we're on the London flight. I'll set you up with him. We might even give him the two girl surprise."

There was some cheering and giggling. One of the other girls sniggered. "What about your cockpit. Who's going to keep that warm?"

"Oh don't worry, there's always some high fliers on the London flights. I won't be sleeping alone."

"Exactly how many pilots have you been with?" The girl asked.

"One more for a hundred." Sally said proudly. "One day I'm going to write a book. There'll be some celebs running for cover as well, if I include names. That fucking snobby bitch, Niki. She'd get a shock if she knew how many times her hubby had slept in my bed. God, my highlight was the night he and Rueben decided they wanted to share me..."

My whole world crashed right there. I stumbled inside, moving on auto pilot. Anton saw me staggering with the pile of plates and rushed over to take them out of my hands. "You all right, sweetheart?"

Looking up into his eyes, I couldn't hold back the tears. He looked exactly like he looked every other day. "I'm fine," I replied coldly. It wasn't just him. Fucking Rueben had lied to me as well. Fucking men, the dirty lying bastards.

The drive home was quiet. I leaned against the passenger door, wanting to be as far away from him as possible. I couldn't stop the angry bile bubbling away in my stomach.

"Is everything okay, babe? You look terrible."

"How many times have you slept with Sally?" I hissed through tightly gritted teeth.

"What, where the hell did that come from?" he asked anxiously.

"It came from me overhearing Sally and a group of her friends talking about who they'd slept with, and how many times. She was quite proud of the fact you were on the top of her list."

"Jesus, Niki. You can't believe those girls. They're mad as meat axes."

"Really, funny, because she wasn't the only one who admitted to sleeping with you."

"Please, Niki. Don't listen to them. Ask Rueben, or Allie. They will tell you the truth."

"I think I'll go for a ride tomorrow, clear my head." Staring at him I said, hopefully innocently, "Could I borrow your phone? I need to get Dad to check the battery on the KTM."

"What's wrong with yours?" he replied nervously.

"Flat battery. Shit, I only want to call Dad."

He dragged his phone from his pocket, entered his ID, and handed it over to me. I scrolled down until I found Sally's number, selected loudspeaker, and hit dial.

"Hey sexy gorgeous man," she said drunkenly. Before Anton could say anything, she said, "Lover, next week have we got a surprise for you. Mandy is dying to get you into her cockpit. You're gonna get some fresh pussy babeeeee."

I disconnected the call and threw the phone at him.

His face was white, and he couldn't look at me. "Take me to my parents' place, please," I snarled.

"Nah, come on, Niki. We need to talk about this. Don't do anything silly."

"Silly, what the fuck, Anton? You bang that skanky bitch. You lie to my face and have the audacity to call me silly? I said take me to my parents' house, and I mean now."

He looked shaky, but he shook his head. "No, we're going home. We have to sort this out."

We were in the car, and he took the turn off that led out to our home. "Fuck you, Anton," I snarled, ripping the handbrake on hard. His car slid to a halt in the middle of the intersection. Brakes screeched, tyres howled as chaos erupted around us. The horns started honking, and I jumped out and ran to the curb.

Anton had no alternative but to move his car through the intersection to find a park. By then I had walked down a narrow alley and had my phone out. "Dad, can you come and pick me up please?" I sniffled through the tears.

"Where are you, isn't Anton home?"

"Dad, just come and get me please. I'm on the corner of Blenheim and Marlboro in the city."

"Yeah, give me thirty minutes. I'll be there."

Anton's car was gone when I popped my head out of the alley. I walked around aimlessly. When Dad turned up, I jumped into his truck, and he immediately reached over for a hug. "Shit, what brought all this on? You and Anton have a fight?"

I saw the concern in his eyes, and I felt better. "Yeah, you could say that. I just found out he's been fucking a group of those slutty hosties when he flies long haul."

Dads face wilted, disbelief flooding his facial expression. "Anton.... No way. I don't believe that. Somebody's shit stirring sweetheart."

"Nah, Pop. He admitted it."

"Fuck me, what a dumb arse." He reached over to pat my arm as he pulled away from the curb. "Are you sure, I mean maybe it was a misunderstanding?"

I shook my head violently, embarrassed by the tears streaking my face. "No, Pop, there was no confusion." Glancing out the window, I asked, "Pop, I need to stay at home tonight if that's okay."

"Yeah, of course. No worries, sweetheart. It's all good. Your mother is going to be devastated. I think she loves him more than you do."

"Yeah, I know."

"What are you going to do Nik?"

"Dunno, Pop. Divorce I suppose."

"Aw fuck... Is there no chance?"

"Chance, what would you do, Pop?"

"That's different, sweetheart. You're young, in love. I know it's a kick in the teeth, but maybe you could find it in your heart to..."

"No, fuck that, Pop. He's not doing that to me. He can suck shit and die for all I care."

Dad knew me well enough to say nothing more about it. Once I got an idea in my head, there was no shifting it. When we pulled up at home, Anton's car was parked in the driveway. Dad pulled up beside his, and I hissed. "Fuck." He wasn't in the car, so he was obviously inside talking to Mum.

As Dad and I walked towards the door, Anton appeared from inside. "Niki, we need to go home," he stated loudly.

Dad pushed past him without speaking. "You can't stay here," Anton added as Mum walked out looking worried.

"Are you all right, my love?" she asked.

"I'll be fine. Dad said I could stay here tonight."

"Oh angel, do you think that's wise? Anton wants a chance to apologise and make things right."

"Mum, did he tell you what he's been up to?"

"Darling, you can't listen to gossip. Those girls will say anything."

"Mum, he's been banging them every time he travels overnight. Bet he didn't tell you that, did he."

Mum staggered back, flustered. "Anton... No, please tell me it's not true?"

He winced, turning to glare at me. "Niki, lets go home so we can talk about this in private. Your parents don't want to listen to us fighting."

"No they don't, so here's what you do, arsehole." I hissed, before screaming at the top of my lungs, with my face right in his. "Fuck off." I pushed past him, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Niki..." he yelled at my back. Dad pushed past me on his way back outside. "Anton, I suggest you leave. She said she doesn't want to talk to you, and if you try and walk in this door, I'm going to flatten your bloody nose. Got it?"

Anton turned without responding and walked away.

Mum rushed back inside to catch me. "Darling, what in heaven's name is going on?"

Seeing my anguish, she just hugged me and pushed me into the dining room where we all sat down and I spelt out the whole story.

"Oh heavens." Mum sighed sadly. "It seems inconceivable... Not Anton."

I helped Mum get dinner ready, and we talked a little about what to do. She was adamant we needed to get together and talk about it. See if there was some way back. Talking to the cheating bastard was the last thing I wanted or needed.

The next morning, I got up early, pulled the cover off my 1290 KTM Super Duke. It had been my own personal gift, after I was promoted to Logistics Manager. I hit the start button and let her idle to warm up. I left her here at Mum and Dad's place because our garage wasn't big enough. She lived here with my old GSXR race bike.

As I pulled on my leathers, Dad walked out. "I don't know about this, Niki. I know you, this isn't going to be a casual ride. For Christ's sake, be careful, aye?"

"Don't panic, Pop, I'll take it easy. I merely want to clear my head and get a fresh perspective."

"Just ride safe. Remember, the road isn't a race track. Traffic goes both ways."

"Thanks, Pop. I'll be careful, okay?"

I saw Mum standing in the doorway, her arms tight across her breasts, the anxiety there for all to see.

Once clear of the city traffic, I twisted the throttle a little tighter. The staccato bark of the Akrpovic exhaust singing brutally in my ears. She wasn't quiet, that's for sure.

Weaving in and out of traffic, I erased her up to a nice cruising speed, the traffic thinning as the City skyline disappeared behind us.

Once I hit the Rural road, I pushed a little harder, the needle on the speedo pushing towards the two hundred mark. The smile spread easily across my face. Shit, she was still only purring really.

What to do about Anton... That was the burning question. I ran images of our time together through my mind. We had always got on so well, and I thought he was the one. Sure, we didn't agree on everything. Especially the amount of time he spent in front of the bathroom mirror every morning when he was working the domestic routes.

He was worse than any of my girlfriends.

There were other things that irritated me. Like when we were invited out to my friends' places for barbecues, or parties. When we first got together, he was happy to pitch in and get his hands dirty. He loved hanging with the other guys in the pits.

He enjoyed hanging with my friends. Now, since he had been promoted and flew the international routes, he had developed a bit of an ego.

Funny, I had glossed over those emotions and pushed them aside until today. Now I saw his actions in a new light. It had been more than six months since he accompanied me to parties at my friends houses. Granted, they were mostly work colleagues: mechanics, truck drivers and storemen.

It didn't stop him sulking if I refused to go with him to parties at other pilots' functions...

I saw all of these things adding up now. Those parties were always filled with flight attendants, especially that skank Sally. She was like the CEO of her little 'Sluts Incorporated' club.

The road had tightened up now, and the corners flowed from one to another. The ride had changed from fun to exhilarating. I pushed her hard, my arse sliding off the seat as I leaned harder into the corners, the rear tyre howling as it lost traction and the arse slid out, the black rubber lines on the exit pleasing to the eye.

The road down through Wairau was one of my favourite haunts. I knew it well, knew where the farmers' gates I had to worry about were. The uneven surfaces, the deep gully's where the morning shadows lurked and the road surface got slippery.

Yeah, this was nice. Pulling back onto the northern motorway, I cruised into Kaikoura for lunch and fuel.

It was one of those special days; the sun was warm, the sky blue, and there was little wind. Blissful, I sat out on the pavement enjoying the sun, eating my salad roll, and sausage roll, the coffee warm and biting.

I peered at the KTM as she sat regally outside the cafe, a small audience of admirers crawling over her as the metal clinked and pinged, cooling down.

Most were surprised to see the only obvious rider was a woman, and a small one at that. Disbelief, yeah it was etched into their faces. A couple of older gentlemen did stop by my table for information about the bike. There weren't a lot of them on New Zealand roads.

Back on the bike and cruising south, I started to hum. I don't know about others, but when I'm cruising, I sing, or hum songs in my head. Today, the words of Jonny Lang seemed appropriate...

"Lie to me."

Yeah fucking appropriate. How long had the slimy fuck been lying to me?

Lie to me, and tell me everything is alright

Lie to me

And tell me that you're stayin' the night

Tell me that you'll never leave

Oh, and I'll just try to make believe

That everything, everything you're tellin' me is true

"Wrong... It wasn't all right, and there was no way we would be staying the night... Not together, anyway.

When I eased into Mum and Dad's driveway, Dad came out to check on me and the bike. As I slipped out of my leathers, I could see he was upset, the anxiety was eating him up. He looked pale and taut. "Anton came around to see you. He said he wants you to go home and talk to him tonight."

"Yeah, nah, not happening, Pop. It would be nice if I could stay here another couple of nights. He's back on the London flight Tuesday."

"Niki, I don't support what he did, but he was full of remorse today. He admitted he'd made a bad mistake. All he wants to do is apologise."

"Pop, I just need some time okay. Right now, the temptation is to put a pillow over his head and suffocate the slimy little fucker in his sleep."

"I know you're angry, sweetheart, but you do need to hear his side of the story. He said that the girl you mentioned set out to sleep with all of the pilots. It's a game to her."

"Pop, I understand that. I know what she's like. I also know she will be on the flight with him to London. Don't you see, if he couldn't say no before, he won't next time, either."

Mum came out and joined the fray, and that meant another lecture about going home... On and on it went, In the end, I rang my friend Diane she came and picked me up and I stayed at her place. She was one of my best friends. We got on great, and always had a few laughs together at work. She was my main scheduler.

That night we drank vodka sliders and gin. By two in the morning we were hammered, and I ended up sleeping with her. We must have looked a sight. Drunk, and passed out on her bed.

The morning was awful. We would have laughed, but it hurt too much. It was lunch time when Anton walked into the office. I was on a call with a distributor when he walked into my office and pulled the door shut behind him.

"Niki, we need to talk."

Putting my hand over the mouthpiece, I snarled bitterly. "No, we don't. I already know all I need to know."

"C'mon, babe. Don't be like this, Christ, there's no reason you can't come home."

"Yes there is, you're there. I'll be home Tuesday while you're banging your hot new hostie. It must be good, helping her on the road to one hundred notches on her headboard."

"For fuck sake. I won't be sleeping with anybody. It only happened a few times. Christ, it's not the end of the world, Niki, just some meaningless sex."

"It is for me, Anton. I just hope you're sensible enough to use protection." The way his eyes flicked down and he couldn't hold my glare told me everything I needed to know.

"Fucking idiot. I hope it gets infected and falls off. Bugger, I suppose that means I need to get tested as well. I don't want to give my next partner anything. You fucking moron, you've put both our lives at risk"

"You're being ridiculous and you know it. There's no need for any bloody testing. We get medicals at work every other month."

"Whatever you say, stud."

"Niki, come home tonight. I'll get in some Chinese takeaway and we can sit down and discuss this calmly and logically. I'm sorry, okay? I promise it will never happen again."

"Too late for that promise, stud. From now on you can bang whoever you want. I know there's a group of pilots who're every bit as bad as Sally. You can join their insidious little club."

My phone rang again and I picked up. As I talked to the client, I waved Anton away and he wandered off with his tail between his legs.

Diane, and I stopped and I brought the Chinese takeaways, but just for us. We sat together on the sofa, stuffing our faces. She asked about my plans, and we had a couple of drinks. At least she was on my side.

Mum phoned, and then Anton called. He was really pissed when I said I was eating my favourite Mongolian beef and black bean sauce.

"Fuck you, Niki, I already brought it for you. It's here on the table."

"Eat it yourself, stud. Or you could take it with you tomorrow, give it to Sally. You could dip your cock in it and get her to suck it off. Oh, wait. She prefers it in her cockpit, doesn't she... God, she'll have to be careful she doesn't get a yeast infection. She might get some stuck inside and you'd have to lick it out for her."

"God all bloody mighty, Niki, this is crazy. Just come home."

"Sorry, I had a better offer." I disconnected the call, and glanced sideways at Diane, who was trying not to laugh. "Wow, that was harsh.."

"Nah, fuck him."

"No, not till he washes his dick." She said with a sexy giggle.

I'm not sure when, but during the dark embracing night, I made up my mind. I didn't actually recall the exact moment. However, with the daylight shining through the dining room window of Diane's dining room and hot coffee in a mug. I realised the plan I was making in my head was final.