Up, Up, and Away

Katharine had already been in for an hour when her brother showed up, and their three other pilots were prepping for their first flights. They still had one vacancy to fill, and in spite of being booked solid, they could have made a lot more with one other pilot. Every balloon would be up in the air numerous times that day with the pilots on hand, and this one week would account for about a quarter of everything they'd earn that year.

The truth was they only needed one other pilot besides Zayn for most of the year, and it was going to be difficult to let two of the men he'd hired go after the festival. It wouldn't be a surprise to either of them, but actually telling them was something he wasn't looking forward to.

"Here's the passenger list for your first flight," Katharine said as she handed her brother the manifest.

He scanned the names then said, "Morgan. Is that male or female?"

"Seriously? That's a woman's first name. How can you not know that?" his sister asked with no small amount of incredulity.

Things went from bad to worse when her brother shook his head and said, "Who names their daughter 'Morgan'?"

"What's wrong with that? I think it's pretty," Katharine told him as she continued working.

"Sure. If you think naming your kid after a mortgage broker is sexy."

"What? That makes NO sense whatsoever," Katharine said with a shake of her own head, the firm of Morgan-Stanley not coming to mind.

"Maybe not, but it's still a ridiculous first name for...anyone."

"Maybe she's cute," his sister observed.

"Uh-huh. And maybe she'll max out the balloon's weight limit on her own."

Katharine grabbed an ink pen and threw it at her brother.

"Male chauvinist pig," she teased.

"Yes, but I'm YOUR male chauvinist pig," he reminded her.

"Yeah. Gee, lucky me," his sister replied with another shake of the head and a little smile. She knew her brother was a 'player', but he was no chauvinist pig. He was as decent and caring a man as she'd ever met.

Their morning banter out of the way, Zayn excused himself and headed to the flight line which wasn't a flight line in any real sense. It was really just a series of large concrete pads, one for each balloon. He still laughed at how balloonists tried to equate their zeppelins with real aircraft when they had very little in common other than flight. But the terms and rules had been decided long before he was born, and it wasn't like he had the power to change them.

As always, he began by doing a preflight check looking for any sign of tearing, ripping, or cuts in the balloon and the tie-down ropes. Satisfied, he then made sure there was enough propane onboard to fuel the burners that heated the air to provide lift.

All of the day's flights were going to be done at the most common altitude of 1,000 feet, and there was more than enough to get up to cruising altitude, gently float around the city for an hour, then get safety back down to earth. All for the low, low price of $500.

Normally, a ride was somewhere between $350 and $400, but during festival week, supply and demand dictated a higher fee; a fee many people from all over the world were happy to pay.

Zayn checked his watch and saw he still had 10 minutes remaining before his first flight, so he headed back to the hangar where he would meet his passengers. As he walked in, he heard his sister talking to a woman who was going to be on that flight and what she said caught his attention.

"So he was a pilot in the Air Force?" he heard the woman ask.

He winked at his sister who told the woman, "Not just a pilot. A fighter pilot."

He tried not to laugh when the woman, who was obviously nervous, asked another question.

"So does that mean he's going to make the balloon fly faster than normal?"

As always, Katharine answered every question, no matter how ridiculous it might be, with patience and a smile.

"Oh, no. He's the most careful person I know, and you have nothing to worry about."

"Ha! Easy for you to say!" the woman said as she turned away and saw Zayn.

"Good morning," he said to her. "I'm Zayn Webber, your pilot."

He extended a hand along with a warm smile and also said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The rather heavyset woman smiled back and told him her name was Dee-Dee. As she shook his hand, she turned and said over her shoulder, "You didn't tell me your brother was so handsome!"

Zayn laughed politely then told her, "Flattery will get you anywhere," as he secretly hoped she hadn't been drinking already.

The woman laughed then seemed to relax a little, but it didn't last long as she turned back around and started asking more questions.

"How many others will be with me? Will there be children? How about teenagers? I don't do well around noisy teenagers."

As Katharine patiently answered those questions, too, Zayn heard the door open and saw a very attractive couple come in. Since his sister had her hands full, he walked over and greeted them.

"Good morning and welcome to Beautiful Balloons. I'm Zayn Webber, and I'll be your pilot today."

"Nice to meet you," the man said as he extended his hand.

The woman, who was extremely attractive for someone who was clearly older than him, said hello as she smiled and let her husband do the talking.

"Is this your first time flying in a hot air balloon?" Zayn asked.

"Yes. For both of us," the man told him.

"Wonderful. Just come on over and my sister, Katharine, will get you all checked in. Once we have our other passenger, we'll get ready to lift off."

The man thanked him and the woman smiled at him again as he excused himself just as the fourth and final passenger, a man about his father's age, walked in.

"It's really good to see you again, Zayn," the man said as they shook hands.

"I'm sorry. Do we know each other?" Zayn asked as his brain searched its memory banks.

"We met several years ago. I'm Jeff Michaels. You father and I went to high school together, and I wanted to tell you how sorry I was when I learned of his passing, and to apologize for not being at the memorial service."

Zayn wasn't going to lie and tell him he remembered the man. He only told him he understood about missing the service and welcomed him before pointing him toward Katharine who recognized him and called him by name.

Once Jeff was checked in, Zayn checked his watch again then said, "Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention."

The four paying customers gathered around him who began by introducing himself again then said, "If you don't mind, maybe we could go around and have each of you introduce yourselves and tell us anything you'd care to about yourself."

Jeff started off and after sharing his name told the group that he'd gone to high school with 'this young man's father about a hundred years ago'.

"I'm here today in honor of his dad's passing, so...that's about it for me."

Zayn quickly and politely shared the news of his father's untimely death, then turned to Dee-Dee who was now visibly upset.

"I don't like talking about death. Especially not before doing something where I could die!" she said before launching into what would have been a lengthy speech had Zayn not found a way to politely get her to stop.

In spite of his best efforts, she appeared to be offended as she ended by saying, "Well, I suppose that means I'm done," which was spoken with a noticeable huff.

"And I believe we have a married couple here," Zayn said as he smiled at the attractive woman and her husband even though the only wedding ring he could see was on the woman's hand.

They looked at one another then laughed.

"Oh, um, we're...we're not married," the man said. "This is my little sister, Morgan Graham, and I'm Hank Thompson. We're from the Seattle area, and when my sister told me she wanted to come down here for your balloon festival, I agreed to tag along."

"My apologies for assuming," a mildly-embarrassed pilot said with an apologetic look to the woman he now knew was named Morgan who again smiled understandingly at him causing him to wonder if she somehow knew what he'd said about women named Morgan.

When she did, he smiled back, and for the first time in his life, he found himself attracted to an older woman. It was odd in the extreme, because he thought of 25-year olds as 'older women', and this woman was likely a good 10 years older than that.

But she was obviously married, just not to Hank, so whatever brief amount of attraction he may have felt was immediately shelved as he asked them to follow him outside for their preflight safety brief.

As they walked, Hank sidled up to him and said, "You looked a little surprised. I hope we didn't embarrass you."

"No. Not at all," Zayn told him before laughing quietly and saying, "you did surprise me, though."

He glanced around and saw that Morgan had been roped by Dee-Dee who was talking non-stop.

"My uh, my sister lost her husband and daughter in a car accident four years ago. She's just really gotten back to being her old self this last six months or so, and I do what I can to be there for her."

"That's...awful. I can't even imagine," Zayn said truthfully.

"It was. She was totally devastated. But she's really bounced back, and this is something she wanted to do. She just didn't want to do it alone so I told her I fly down here with her. And as I said, I've never done this myself, and I'm really looking forward to it."

"My sister and I are very close, too, and yours is lucky to have you," Zayn said as they continued walking.

"No. I'm the lucky one. Morgan isn't just my sister, she's one of the nicest people I've ever known."

Zayn smiled then said, "Don't tell her I said this, but she's a very attractive woman."

"You're not kidding, my friend," Hank told him as he clapped Zayn's far shoulder.

He moved a little closer then said, "And she's finally dating again, too."

He paused then said, "You're a little on the young side for her, but if you've got an older brother..."

Zayn chuckled as they walked onto the concrete pad then stopped at the door of the balloon and turned around and waited for the others to arrive then began the short safety brief.

"Oh. I have one more question," Dee-Dee said. "Do you have parachutes on board? You know, just in case?"

Zayn glanced at Morgan who covered her mouth to hide an understanding smile just before he assured the worried passenger they weren't needed. When she asked how he could be so sure, he saw Morgan cover her mouth again and turn away as Zayn explained how many thousand safe trips they'd had since the mid-1970s, and that they could easily float back down even if the burners went out.

"Does that mean they sometimes DO go out?" she asked, as she looked to the other passengers for support or to feed her fears.

There was a groan from Jeff which caused Dee-Dee to say, "Well, I'm just asking, okay?"

With that, Zayn opened the door to the basket, and let them file in and find their places before closing it and locking it, making sure Dee-Dee saw him do so.

For the next hour he was distantly aware of Dee-Dee's constant chatter, but unless she asked him something directly, he tuned it out. His interest was elsewhere, and the focus of it was a beautiful, older woman named Morgan who was clearly enjoying herself but doing so with a kind of silent dignity he found very appealing.

Occasionally, she would point something out or ask her brother a question, but for the most part she was reveling in the beauty of nature and the bustle of the city as well as the dozens of other balloons already in the air. It was almost like watching a child taking something in for the first time in wide-eyed amazement and yet it also somehow felt...refined.

When Zayn informed his passengers they would begin a slow, gradual descent, no one was surprised when Dee-Dee loudly said, "We may live to see another day after all!"

Her pilot laughed out of politeness, and to his chagrin, she glommed onto him the rest of the way back down never taking a break from her constant chatter, and even though the basket barely bounced at all, she still grabbed him for dear life.

On the positive side, she not only hadn't propositioned him, she didn't even try and kiss him when she had him in a bear hug, so Zayn had that to be thankful for as he opened the door for his passengers.

This time it was Morgan who was waiting for him when he stepped out.

"I just wanted to thank you for one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences of my life."

"You are too kind," Zayn replied with a friendly smile.

"No. I'm serious. That was absolutely breathtaking."

"Well, I'm very glad you enjoyed it so much."

"Do you think there's any chance I could possibly get another ride today?" she asked as they headed toward the hangar and caught up to Hank.

"Oh, wow. I don't know. My sister told me we're pretty much booked solid all week."

"Yes, I was afraid that was the case. I just had no idea how amazing it would be."

"Sorry, sis. I hate to say it, but I told you so."

"I know. You were right, Hank. I just thought it couldn't hurt to ask."

They walked a few more steps when Zayn said, "You know what? Let me ask for you, okay?"

Morgan looked his way, and the hopeful expression on her very pretty face told him how important this was to her.

"As it turns out, I know the owner, and we might just be able to make that happen."

"I...I'm not asking for any special favors," she told him.

"And that's just one more reason I'm going to try and make this happen for you," he said before asking Hank if that included him.

"Me? No. Definitely not. I enjoyed it, but the price tag is a little steep for me."

"Well, maybe we could help out with that, too," Zayn said as he opened the hangar door for Morgan who thanked him as she and then her brother stepped back inside.

Katharine had another group gathered around waiting for their pilot, but the moment she was free, Zayn asked her if there was any way to make that happen.

"Two people? Are you kidding me?" she replied without hesitation.

"No. Just the um...the beautiful woman."

Katharine looked at her brother and did a little head shake thing.

"Hold on there. Did you just call a woman over 30...beautiful? A woman whose first name is...Morgan?"

"Yes. What's wrong with that?" Zayn said rather defensively.

"Nothing. I guess. But did you notice the huge ring on her hand?"

Zayn moved closer then quietly explained.

"Oh, my goodness. I'm so sorry. That was so..."

"It's fine, Kat," he said, using a name only he could get away with and only occasionally.

"Let me see what I can do, okay?" she told him as she looked over at Morgan who really was a very attractive woman regardless of her age. She thought about ribbing her brother for what he'd said about the name earlier some more, but it no longer seemed quite so funny.

Zayn walked back over to his favorite new passenger and said, "No promises, but Katharine is working on it, and if anyone can make it happen, she can."

Morgan wanted to go back up so badly she could taste it, and without warning, she threw her arms around Zayn and thanked him as she hugged him. Unlike Dee-Dee or the tipsy woman, Zayn not only didn't mind this hug, he hugged her back.

He saw Hank smiling just before she pulled away and said very excitedly, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

A couple of minutes later, Katharine walked over and said, "Okay. I'm moving a woman with two small children to your 3 o'clock flight, and that means I can put one more adult onboard at 2 o'clock without going over the limit. So if that works for you...

Katharine got the same hug Zayn got, but it didn't do quite the same thing for her as it had for her brother. But when she saw the tears welling up in this widowed woman's eyes, it did something equally pleasant for her just the same.

"I'm glad we could make this happen," she told Morgan sincerely.

"Oh. Let me pay you now before I forget," Morgan said as she pulled her purse off of the arm it was slung over.

Zayn thought about the money but only for a second before catching up to them.

"Morgan? That's okay," he said.

She stopped and looked at him then said, "I don't understand."

He glanced at his sister who was already behind the counter, and she was giving him the 'are you crazy' stare.

"This one's on us," he said.

When he saw the way Katharine was still looking at him he changed that to, "This one's on me."

"No. Zayn, I can't let you do that. This is your business. You depend on fares for your livelihood. Please let me pay."

Once Katharine knew the money was coming out of her little brother's pocket, the look of annoyance became one of amusement.

Very quietly Zayn said, "I recently lost my father, and well, your brother mentioned how you lost your family, so...I'd be honored if you'd let me do this for you."

When she began to protest, he smiled and said, "Please?" as he gently touched her forearm.

He wasn't sure what was going on, but the look on her face and specifically in her eyes seemed to somehow soften. It was as though she was trying to peer into his soul in order to learn why someone would be so thoughtful, kind, and generous. At no point, however, did it so much as occur to her that he found her incredibly attractive and even more so after speaking to her.

"Are you sure? I can afford to pay," she quietly told him.

"It isn't the money. I...I want to do this," he replied.

Her eyes seemed to change again just before she said, "Well. Okay. If you're sure, then...thank you. Very much."

"My pleasure," Zayn replied with a smile as Katharine let him know it was time to get ready for his next flight.

Hank stopped Zayn as he went to walk by and stuck out his hand.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me, because my little sister means the world to me, and that was very nice of you."

Zayn shook it then assured him it was his pleasure as Morgan joined them.

"Listen. Why don't you have dinner tonight?" Hank said to Zayn as he looked at his sister for confirmation.

"Yes! Please do!" Morgan insisted immediately.

"I don't want to interrupt your plans," Zayn replied, hoping they would insist.

"Nonsense! It's the least we can do, right Hank?"

"What she said," Hank told Zayn with a smile as he nodded at his sister.

"If you're sure," Zayn said, using Morgan's words.

"We are. And feel free to bring a date if you like."

"Oh, I uh, I won't be bringing anyone, but maybe we could exchange numbers?" Zayn suggested as he pulled out his phone.

"Yes. Of course!" Morgan said with a very happy smile as she provided her number and entered his.

"I'll be here until about 7 o'clock. Is that too late?" Zayn asked.

"That's perfect. We eat late so if 8pm works for you..."

"Sure. I'll run home and change and meet you at..."

They agreed on where and Zayn told them he needed to run but said to Morgan, "And I'll see you again after lunch."

"Yes. Yes, you will!" a very happy and excited woman replied as she and her brother got ready to leave.

The flights in between Morgan's were non-eventful. There was the typical mix of passengers who were amazed to those who almost seemed bored.The best part was watching twin five-year old boys as they marveled at the balloon and then the view from a thousand feet in the air as their father held them one at at time to let them see the city from on high.

Zayn grabbed a quick bite in his office around one o'clock then made sure to brush his teeth as he got ready to see Morgan again. This time, when she walked into the hangar, she smiled immediately. She didn't know that Zayn had been standing there for 15 minutes watching and waiting for her. His sister noticed, though, and she only smiled as she wondered what was going on with her brother.