Rita Ch. 02.1: Angels of Mercy

"He is very charming, my daughter. You must shun him or break Tony's heart. You have him on his way to the 'Mile High Club' at this moment." (Voice fades laughing.)

* * * * *

After a dinner from the wildest vending machines outside of Japan, Rita and Phillipe walked and talked. They window shopped their way to the far end of the terminal, where the theater was. They saw "Escape Room" dubbed in French, Conversations about logic problems and escape techniques accompanied a pair of whiskey cocktails for each. They chatted in a terminal lounge until time to move near their gate.

* * * * *

Phillipe had been yawning for an hour when their plane finally boarded. Rita noted that he was taking deep breaths and looking tired but nervous. She stayed close to him during boarding, holding his arm or hand most of the time. She had never been so aware of her small breast bumping into a companion.

"This plane is huge. This is crazy." Phillipe was in awe.

"What a nice-looking couple!" An attendant said as she showed their seats. "Can I get you anything before we take off?"

"Some water for both will be fine." Rita said.

"Go ahead and strap in. We never have to wait very long for clearance on these night flights. I will come around after we level off."

They settled into their seats. "Let me see your watch. No, silly. Take it off and hand it to me." Rita took the watch and worked on resetting the time. "We will set your watch to United States Eastern time. When we land, your watch will be right."

"That is what Tony meant about my watch helping me orient myself to America."

"Yes. This is a Seiko Solar. Very nice. I have my watch set to Central time. That is where we are going." Rita said and handed Phillipe his watch.

"Florida has two times?!"

"Yes, Pip. The states are very big. Now relax. I heard the door seal. We will leave very soon."

They held hands during the long climb-out of the trans-Atlantic flight. Rita estimated that they were over the Channel when they finally achieved level flight. They watched a safety film and a short video about moving during long flights to help with blood circulation. The attendants moved through the aisles distributing snacks and drinks.

"How high is thirty-four thousand feet?"

"Ten K's... a little more. Ten and a quarter kilometers."

"Mama Maria!" Phillipe shook his head.

"There will be a nice view out of your window. The moon will light up the clouds down below." Rita said grinning. "Clouds far down below." A little needling would do Phillipe good.

"Hello guys." The attendant walked up with a cart. "Here are a couple of blankets. They help if you want to sleep. Do you need anything? Would you like an adult beverage?"

"Thank you, but we were quite drunk when we boarded this train." Phillipe said.

When it registered what he had said, the attendant giggled and smiled at Phillipe.

In mock annoyance, Rita said, "Yes, he can be very charming."

The attendant spoke quietly to Rita. "We will be turning down the lights in a few minutes. If you feel the need to go to the bathroom together later, let me know and I'll give you a clear path," The attendant smiled and winked.

"Thank you, it would not be proper with my little brother."

After the attendant snickered and moved away, "Is that my cover on this mission? Little brother?" Phillipe asked.

"It suits you well and people will not throw us in bed together." Rita smiled.

"Yes. That would some level of Hell, I am sure." He said, drawing a stern look from Rita. "I want an American name. I will make my name American. I am 'Phillip Gas-ton', like the English say. Gas-ton, Phillip Gas-ton, stirred, not shaken."

Rita smiled at his antics. They got comfortable and quiet. The cabin lights dimmed, and things got quiet in the plane. Rita was warm and comfortable. She pondered the idea of Phillipe as a brother figure. That seemed like the type of relationship that she needed from him.

Rita's mother's face appeared before her. "Sara-Dina. I should take control of your body and fuck this boy for you."

"Mother!" Rita said. Her body had twitched awake from the dream.

"Rita, are you OK?"

"Yes, I went right into a dream about my mother scolding me." Rita adjusted her blanket and took a sip of water. "You need to sleep so you will feel good tomorrow."

"I don't see how you even get on an airplane, the way you lost your parents."

"Come to me." Phillipe leaned to her. Rita hugged him tightly around the neck. She pressed her head to his. "My parents did not die in a crash, it's a cover story. I will tell you one day, little brother. I promise." She kissed him on the cheek and returned to her quest for sleep.

'Little brother, she says.' Phillipe rested his head against the bulkhead. He found that he could hear hums and tones traveling through the airliner. It was a hypnotic drone that gently pulled young Phillipe into a deep sleep.

* * * * *

Phillipe awoke an hour later with the drone sound now ringing in his skull. He looked around. Rita was covered and sleeping. He slipped past her and made his way back to the facilities.

The attendant for his section was sitting in the seat next to the little galley. She let Phillipe pass unimpeded to the loo. When he finished and freshened and came out, she was standing. "Can I get you anything?"

"I am OK. My sister is right. If I can get some sleep, I can feel better tomorrow."

"We have meals for this flight. Not many people eat on the over-night. When you wake up hungry later, we can help. I will check on you."

"Merci." Phillipe nodded and smiled. He found his seat. Rita had not moved but stirred when he scooted past her. She got still again having not awakened fully. Phillipe shaded the window with his hand. The view was other-worldly. A carpet of blue-white clouds lay several kilometers below. The moon was little more than half and the brightest stars were visible. It was beautiful, but he wanted to sleep. It had been a long day. Phillipe looked at his watch. "That's a crazy time for it to be! Oh..." remembering that his watch was set to destination time.

Phillipe rolled up his blanket for a pillow to insulate his skull from the humming airframe. 'Brother-sister.' He thought. Could she be feeling the attraction that he had? A sibling relationship could lessen that and be fun. 'She is fucking brilliant.' He thought. 'I will still look at her with lust.' Phillipe chuckled softly and sank back into sleep.

* * * * *

Rita awoke to a full bladder and an empty seat next to her. 'Man-whore', she thought, then snickered. When she got to the last row before the mid-ship galley, she heard a voice to her left.

"Good morning, Sis."

Rita looked to see Phillipe sitting with the flight attendant. They were looking at a map program on the info-tainment screen. "How is the coffee, Pip?"

"They have good coffee in a bad cup." He smiled.

"I've had so much that I miss the paper cup taste when I drink coffee at home. I will bring the cart to you." The attendant smiled.

Rita thought of a few sarcastic things to say but held her tongue. She stepped into the restroom. While in there, Rita thought about curbing her sarcasm. It suddenly occurred to her that she needed to treat Phillipe more like an equal. "I must stop talking down to him." She whispered to herself. Rita saw in the mirror that she had dozens of hairs astray from her braid. She thought about a hot shower with a good conditioner and handsome Tony working on her... hair. Rita smiled broadly when she realized that her fantasy was of the muscled, Tony and not 'little brother'. She patted the crotch of her jeans before leaving privacy.

* * * * *

"She is pretty. Is she really your sister? You don't look very much alike."

"Yes. But she is Spanish, and I am Italian. And that thing about having different parents." Phillipe paused for her giggle. "She is my bosses girlfriend, that makes her my boss too. They are my best friends lately."

"That's nice working together and having fun together. I'll bring the cart forward in a minute." She said as Rita came out and swept Phillipe back up to their seats.

Phillipe had just enough view through his port side window, to see the sky was turning metallic gray behind them and the stars disappearing into blackness ahead. Suddenly there was a flash in the clouds far to the south. "Rita, I saw lightening." He said with fascination.

Rita lay across his lap and watched until she had seen a flash. "A storm three or four hundred kilometers south of us."

"That was Alysha with the weather. Now back to the news." Phillipe quipped.

Rita laughed at his improvisation and attacked him tickling his sides. They giggled and tickled each other into a warm hug.

"Am I going to have to separate you two?" The attendant asked, smiling.

"Hi Mandy, could I get another coffee?" Phillip asked.

"I need some, also. Thank you for looking after him while I slept." Rita said.

Attendant Mandy didn't miss a beat. "He was no trouble at all. I only had to change him once. We have some fruit and yogurt, bagels and muffins. There are breakfast plates if you want eggs cooked yesterday. If you want some protein, there are chicken and rice dinners that look like rubbish but are pretty good."

"I am hungry. It's almost eight o'clock in Paris. I would take any of it but the eggs." Phillipe said.

"You should be hungry. You can eat everything I have if you want."

Phillipe blushed deep red and held his breath to keep from laughing.

Rita slapped him on the upper arm. "Don't encourage him."

* * * * *

Our travelers were welcomed to Florida by a silky-smooth landing and a shortage of rental cars. Rita had not reserved one.

"I kept changing our plans. There are American football games here today and tomorrow, All I can find is a giant bloody truck. I do not want that." Rita was shouldering the minor crisis.

"I'm going to call my mother while you work on that." Phillipe stepped to a quiet corner of the terminal. He assured his mom that they were safe on the ground and everything was wonderful. When he went back to where Rita was sitting, she was talking to some other travelers.

"Phillip, I think we are going to fly to Pensacola after all. The connector flight boards in an hour. We'll be in Pensacola before lunch."

"This sounds like a good plan. We can walk around and get our legs working again."

"I'm sorry, Pip. I was trying to cut out a flight."

"I know, but I am getting used to the flying." Phillip said.

Rita got on her phone and bought two seats on the puddle jumper to Pensacola. They rigged their bags for backpacking and went for a hike around the terminal. The early orange rays of the sun were quickly turning white. Phillipe was fascinated by the vegetation he could see. He had expected a tropical jungle, but this was more temperate with tall pines. The only palm trees were planted in the landscaping. He could tell that they were near the ocean, sand everywhere.

Rita called Tony and talked for a while. Phillipe moved away for her privacy. He felt as though Rita was emotional for a few minutes and then started laughing. He heard "No" a couple of times and more laughing. Hearing Rita laugh made him smile.

"OK, little brother, we will get an eRide to Ft. Walton Beach and get rooms. Tony is leaving Atlanta soon. We will see him this afternoon."

"How far will Tony have to drive?"

"I don't know the K's or miles. It will take six hours or more to drive." Rita said.

"Wow! America is huge. Tony would not tell me about his car. He said, "Wait and be surprised." What kind of car does he have?"

"Then I will not tell you either, you could never hope to guess."

"Is it a Ferrari?"

"No."

"Is it American?"

"Yes."

"Is it a Corvette?"

"No. You will never guess?"

"Is it a Ford Mustang?"

"No. Just wait, little brother."

"Is it a...?"

* * * * *

The airplane was a turboprop and surprised Phillipe by having noisy propellers. There were enough empty seats that Phillipe could check the view from either side. There was not much to see for the first half of the trip. Then the Gulf of Mexico gave him something to look at. The plane flew low enough that Phillipe could make out water from land separated by white sand beaches.

The eRide application on Rita's phone hooked them up with a funny little lady with short gray hair and a big smile. It was a big help that she also had a hatchback and knew the area well. The lady said she would drive them from the airport to Ft. Walton for fifty dollars. After she drove them to the condo and then to a variety store, Rita gladly gave her one hundred and asked her to keep all of it.

"Rita, this place is crazy. Will Monsieur Robert be angry?"

"No, baby. This one is on me. We need to adjust to the travel and rest. I wanted us all to be together." Rita had found a two-bedroom condo on Santa Rosa Island they could get for two nights, beach front of course.

"Then you must let me pay my part when I can."

"Nonsense, little brother. I have nuts squirreled away. We can crack one open now and have a nice weekend. I bet you want to check out the beach."

"Yes, the little boy in me wants to go running into the waves, but I would like to lie down for a little while. This hopping around the planet has me feeling tired."

"Of course, you are tired. I feel it too. How about a nap until Tony gets here then a late lunch?"

Phillipe lay back on his bed thankful to be horizontal on a stationary object.

* * * * *

"Phillipe, Tony is here. He is parking his car. Come we will talk about lunch."

"I thought he was two hours away."

"He was, two hours ago. I told you we need to rest before we start working Monday."

Once Phillipe's eyes adjusted to the sun-drenched parking lot, he saw Rita and Tony in an embarrassingly passionate kiss. "Hey, save some for me."

Rita chuckled and released Tony.

"Hi, Tony. You look good. Short pants, good for you." Phillipe gave Tony a big bear-hug.

"Hey kid. Thanks for bringing my girl to me."

"No. It was Rita that brought me. I don't know where I am. Where is this mystery car of yours?"

"You are standing in front of it, Phillipe."

"This big touring car?! Rita was right. I would never guess in a hundred years. I can't believe the big secret was this giant touring."

"Here, we call it a station wagon. I present, the 1995 Buick Estate Roadmaster."

"I see fancy wheels and Clark Griswold heading for Wally World." Phillipe laughed openly.

Rita laughed loudly also. She liked to tease Tony about his car. "Let's eat something. I promised to take 'Little Brother' to the beach. You can talk car-nerd stuff later."

* * * * *

"Tony, behave yourself!" Rita barked as he let off the accelerator. They had just covered the short straight to the bridge in ten seconds or less.

Tony chuckled and looked for other vehicles with lights on the roof. "How's that, kid?"

"It has much acceleration. The exhaust is too loud to have stealth."

Rita looked at Tony and laughed. "That's what I told him. He can't sneak around."

"I was going for 'shock and awe. This car came from the factory with a Corvette engine. This one has been tuned up. What do you feel like eating?"

Across the bridge, in Ft. Walton proper, our trio found a casual dining restaurant that Tony had heard good things about in the past. They ordered dishes that featured fish. Tony had a grouper sandwich and his companions had salads with grilled fish and shrimp in them. Tony snickered listening to Rita explaining "Ranch" salad dressing. Phillipe got his first glass of southern "sweet tea".

"Oh wow! That is sweet."

"Leading cause of diabetes in Mississippi." Tony commented.

"Tony, how is your father?" Rita asked.

"He's really well. And get this... He finally went to an ophthalmologist. He had just conceded that he was going blind. He's got cataracts. He is having lens replacement in a couple of weeks. He will see like a young man again. He will be able to drive again."

"That is wonderful. I bet he is happy." Rita said.

"When he starts driving again, I hope we are back in Europe. He is dangerous." Tony addressed Phillipe directly. "I postponed the new security system going in at Villa Benoit. We need to be there for that. I want you to learn camera angles and how to run wired and wireless systems. It will be an important part of your work for us in the future."

"Hey, guys, if I buy things here, how should I take them home? My bag was stuffed coming over."

"We always shop when we travel. The best way is just to mail it to yourself in France." Rita said.

"I shipped a box of dirty clothes to Isabella one time. I told her not to open it, which just made her want to open it." Tony chuckled. "She washed them for me."

"Rita rented us a beautiful condominium from her own money. I think she should let me go in on it. She does not think this way." Some diners at a nearby table seemed to enjoy Phillipe's accent.

"Just let it slide. Rita can afford it. We are two of the most under worked and over paid people in the world. You should have a nice little roll yourself by now, 'little brother'. Hmm, that does kind of work!"

"Not so much, Tony. I give almost all of my money to my mother. I am glad I can give her more now."

"Did you also give her your bonuses? It's fine if you did." Rita asked trying not to be nosy.

"I gave her the money that Andre gave me for her. I have my salary and it is fine." Phillipe felt uncomfortable speaking of his affairs, but he was in their world now.

Tony turned the dessert menu around. "Here is the wi-fi password. Log on and check your bank account."

"OK, in now. Looks like we got paid. I have six hundred twenty Euros." Phillipe whispered.

"Click on the other account, savings." Rita pointed to a button on his phone screen.

"Quoi! I have thirteen thousand Euros in this account. Tres magnifique, but I don't understand."

"Lydia should have told you; the bonuses go into your savings account. It's an old system from when bonuses weren't taxed. They are now." Rita said, but Phillipe still looked bewildered.

Tony spoke softly. "Andre gave you ten grand for saving the day at Club Phantom. Robert used your report to go after the shipping company for lack of security in La Rochelle. He got a big kick out of that and gave you two grand. I signed off on that one. He must have spotted you a grand for coming on this trip. Boom! Thirteen grand, over fifteen thousand in dollars."

Phillipe smiled. "So, lunch is on me... Wait... Dollars?"

"I have expense money for you in dollars. While we are elbow deep in your business, I thought your mother was moving to Villa Benoit." Tony said asking.

"She wants to know Papa Andre better first. She has been working for him. He has let her drive our ugly Fiat. She said that when I am home safe, she will decide."

"I understand. Living at your job can have many complications. I like your mother. She is strong and smart." Rita said trying to decide on dessert. "Tony, split a piece of pie with me."

"Of course, you like her. You are like her. Very much when you are in 'big sister' mode." Phillipe smiled.

"If your mother is more comfortable away from the villa, you could buy her a car. You are a good son, Phillipe."

* * * * *

"I missed you, big meat-head." Rita kissed Tony warmly. They were standing in waist deep warm water off the beach with the small waves breaking on their bodies. "Was traveling alone, OK?"

"I'm used to it, but I missed you, Baby." He kissed Rita again. "How was the kid?"

"He did fine and caught on fast. He may have even drilled a cute flight attendant, but she was married. She tried to get me to escort Phillipe into the-mile-high club. I told her he was my brother."

"So that's where that came from. Where is he?"