The Future is in the Air Ch. 01

She was a tiny thing at maybe five feet in height, which made me feel tall at only five-five. Her blonde hair was draped in front of her shoulder in a side ponytail. Her bubbly personality still exuded from every pore.

I guess working in a control tower doesn't require any more than a casual dress code, because she was wearing simple white slacks and a University of Oklahoma sweatshirt. The sweatshirt was bulky enough to hide her shape, but her pants hinted she was fit. Of course, the gold band on her finger reminded me she was very married. I knew, somehow, I was going to have to break out of my infatuation.

"Hey, eight lima mike!"

"It's Lance, okay? Please? Just Lance."

"Um, okay, sorry. Nice flying today," she offered, a little more timidly.

I realized my words had been thin and abrupt, and I kicked myself internally for being so terse.

"Well, I've done better, but thanks. And … shouldn't you be up there?" I asked, pointing in the direction of the tower on the other side of the parking lot.

"We do get breaks, you know," she said. "Brad is covering both stations. What's it like trying to land in wind like this?"

"Steady crosswinds are one thing. But with those gusts, it's akin to hanging wallpaper with only one hand," I said, which made her laugh lightly.

"I can't imagine," she responded. "You made it look like everything was easy-peasy until I saw you heading off the side of the runway. I held my breath because I thought you were going to hit an edge light."

"It wasn't that bad, I only drifted about fifty feet," I calmly lied.

"It must be a lot different seeing it from your perspective. All I ever see is the view out the tower."

"Never been in the front seat of a plane, huh?"

"Front seat? I've never been in any seat," she said with a chuckle as she twiddled the tip of her ponytail around her finger.

I laughed. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"That's surprising. I've flown all over the world. And I put in about ten or twenty hours a month flying my plane."

"Well, I was born in Oklahoma, and graduated at OU, as you can tell. My first station was at Wiley Post there in the city, then I moved here a couple of years ago. Never needed to fly."

"Is it something that'd interest you?"

"Sure!" she said with some excitement in her voice.

I realized I'd worded my question poorly. I imagined she was expecting me to invite her along for a ride, which I decided wouldn't be appropriate given the circumstances.

"Well, you know the flight school here does introductory rides for something like $99. They'll take you up in a 172 and let you fly it for about a half hour."

"Oh," she said, a little subdued.

"Well, I've gotta get out of here. Nice talking to you again."

"Uh, okay. Sure. See you around." Her voice was still soft, and her brows were cinched a little as I walked past her to the door.

I returned home in twenty minutes, plopped myself on my couch, and turned on the TV to watch the news the DVR had recorded a few hours earlier.

I couldn't pay attention to it, though, because I sat there thinking about my conversation with Leah. Or, rather, Mrs. Reynolds.

I replayed the interaction in my mind and sunk under the realization I'd acted like a tool. I also noted the shift in her tone and bearing as a result. I felt horrible.

I'd enjoyed my interactions with her. Pilot to controller and back. Then I met her face to face and soaked in her infectious personality. Yeah, I was smitten, but I decided I'd be happy to be in her friend-zone, if she'd permit it after my rude behavior.

There was absolutely no reason I couldn't offer her and her husband an aerial tour of Dallas. After all, they might even become the first friends I'd make since I'd started working in the area. I figured I might as well not let my awkward conversation with her in the FBO impact the professional relationship we had, because I enjoyed her humor and style.

I changed into casual clothes and headed back to the airport a couple of hours later with the aim of being there when the tower closed. I listened in on my portable radio as I drove to ensure she was still working. I smiled when I heard her voice when I was a few miles away. Doofus was handling the ground frequency.

I sat in my car until I heard the announcement of the tower's closure, then stood outside, waiting for her. It required a few minutes before she stepped out on the catwalk to do her exterior walk-around.

"Hey!" I called up to her after she'd completed her lap.

"Lance?" she said, peering over the rail.

"Done for the night?" I asked.

Another guy joined her on the catwalk, maybe to see what was happening below.

"Yeah," she answered. "What are you doing back here? You going up again?"

"No, I came to chat about what we were discussing earlier."

"Um, can you give us maybe ten minutes to finish the duty logs? I'll be down as soon as I'm done," she said from the shadows.

"Sure."

I idly walked back and forth on the sidewalk until I saw them approaching across the parking lot.

"I'd like to introduce you to my mentee, Brad Hart. Brad, this is Skylane three four eight lima mike's pilot."

It didn't bother me at all how she, again, employed my tail number as the introduction because I knew the man would have no other frame of reference.

"Nice to meet you."

"Howdy. Name's Lance Marlin," I said, shaking his offered hand.

Two words instantly changed my impression of him. "My mentee." It meant he was a greenhorn, and immediately explained why he seemed, well, a bit unskilled.

"I previously worked in the DFW TRACON. I requested a rotation to a tower. It's a whole new experience."

"I'll bet. It's a pleasure meeting you. It's always nice to see when the disembodied voices actually come from someone real."

Brad laughed. "Leah, I'm out of here. You're off tomorrow, right?"

"Yep. Steve will be coaching you for a few days."

"See you next week," he said over his shoulder as he continued to the parking lot.

"Now. What were you saying?" Leah asked after her co-worker had walked out of earshot.

"First, I want to apologize to you. I was in a funk in the lounge earlier and I acted rudely. I'm sorry for my behavior."

She smiled cautiously. "Yeah, I noticed. It's okay, we all have off days. But … thank you. I was afraid maybe I'd said something."

"No. It wasn't you, just … circumstances. I also wanted to tell you I'd be happy to give you and your husband an aerial tour if you'd be interested."

"My husband?" she asked, her brows cinched and furrowed.

"Sure, if he'd like. I certainly wouldn't want to exclude him."

"Uh, I don't understand."

She looked confused. I'm certain I did, too. I supposed it was possible that husband was the wrong word, so I rephrased.

"Your spouse? Significant other?" I chuckled, raising my left hand, tapping my bare ring finger with my thumb.

"Oh, this?" she said, holding up hers. "I'm not married. This is kind of like a shield, you know? A woman who's like a sister to me gave me the idea when one of the guys I worked with was hounding me relentlessly to go out with him, even though he knew I was already involved.

"I went on a vacation, and when I came back, I told him I'd been on my honeymoon. That stopped him in his tracks. He wasn't even bright enough to notice I'd never worn an engagement ring."

She pulled the band from her finger and put it in her pocket.

"I sort of got into the habit of wearing it at work, though, because … well, it keeps the bad actors at bay."

"Hold up. Wouldn't the worse actors be the ones who keep hitting on you thinking you're married?"

"Well, yeah, but … you know what I mean."

"And what does your boyfriend think about that arrangement?" I probed.

"That was before this. It turns out he was also seeing someone else. So …"

"Oh. Oh! Okay." I smiled despite myself. I was suddenly elated but didn't want to behave that way.

"Was he the person you bought RMX stock through?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"What was his name?"

"Tim Reese. Why?"

I pulled out my phone, opened the HR Tools application, and began to enter it.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Firing him," I joked.

She laughed. "Lance, come on. Don't. Yeah, he was an asshole, but it was years ago."

"Huh. I can't. He was already shown the door last year. Want to know why?" I asked after I'd checked the severance notes.

She nodded curiously.

"Says here he made inappropriate and unwelcome physical contact with a colleague."

"Pfff ," she scoffed. "Serves him right."

"So. Back to the subject. Would you like to go for a flight with me some time?"

"Are you kidding me? I'd love to!" She grinned widely.

"You told your coworker you're off for a few days, so, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing I can't reschedule."

I used my phone to check the weather forecast.

"Looks like low clouds before about noon. How's two o'clock work for you?"

"Perfect. What should I bring?"

"If you want to take pictures, bring your phone or camera or whatever."

"Thank you so much! I'm excited! Can I pay for the expenses?"

"Absolutely not. My treat. I might even benefit from you experiencing what it's like to be on the other end of your radio calls."

"Awesome!" she said, clapping her hands giddily. "Two o'clock, right?"

"Let's meet in the FBO lounge."

"Excellent. See you tomorrow!"

I think I grinned the entire drive home. The adorable little pixie's effervescence simply made my day.