Aurora(18)

Marques, seeing his boss’s face, turned to his apparent spouse, said something quiet and reassuring, stroked the little girl’s hair with a smile and a wink, and walked toward Thom.

Thom met him halfway. “What the fuck, Marques?”

“Got an issue, boss.”

“You’re married?”

“Her name’s Beth. Been together two years now. You sent us a housewarming present last July.”

Thom nodded, thinking. Important not to come off like an asshole here. He needed this guy. “OK. Well, good. Uh, congratulations. But you’re not, you know, married?”

Marques took off his sunglasses. “Like I said. We’ve been together two years.” It was a strong delivery, particularly with the removal of the sunglasses and the steady eye contact.

Thom straightened. He couldn’t match Marques’s height, the deepness of his voice, or the moral authority of the uniform, even if it bore no relation to the military or any official air service or airline. Still, it had epaulets, and they tend to square one’s shoulders rather impressively.

“The thing is,” Thom started, and Marques lifted his chin, as if to say, “Yeah, motherfucker? What is the thing? Tell me the thing.”

Thom cleared his throat and started again, from a different angle. His eyes fell on the little girl, and he pulled his lips back from his teeth in an approximation of a smile. “Who’s that cutie?” He waved, and the girl buried her head in her mother’s thigh.

“Her name’s Kearie. She’s four.”

“I see. And you and—” Shit. Lost it already.

“Beth.”

“Yes, I was about to say, you and Beth, you guys have been together for—”

“Two years. Kearie’s father passed away not long after she was born. I’m her daddy now. Boss, I know this is not what you had in mind, and it is not something we ever discussed, but it is the reality of the situation. I’m not leaving without them. You are welcome to get another pilot if you can, because if they don’t go, I don’t fly.”

“You know I can’t get another fucking pilot at two minutes to fucking midnight in a goddamn societal meltdown, Marques.”

Whoops. That one got away from him. But it was a valid point, and, well, it was out there now.

Marques took off his hat and wiped his brow. He looked back at Beth and Kearie and forced a smile, made a tiny gesture to say hang on, I still got this. He looked back at Thom. “Right. You can’t get a pilot. So that’s it? They’re coming?”

Thom played for time, thinking as fast as he could. “Hang on, hang on, can we please just—you know, it’s a twist. You’ve thrown me a curve here.”

“I know that. And I apologize.”

“We had an agreement. Anywhere, anytime, if the shit hits the fan, that’s what we said. And in exchange, you’re with me, taken care of, all the way, right down the line. You’re safe. That was the deal.”

“I know. And I have always appreciated that.”

“As long as you get me there. That’s what we said.”

“And I intend to.”

“But I thought there was just one of you. That you’re single, Marques. You see? I hired you because you’re single.”

Marques just looked at him. “I thought you hired me because I embodied excellence as a professional pilot.”

“That too. But—I don’t know, I just thought you were single, that’s all.”

“I was. And then I wasn’t. And you knew that.”

“I didn’t fucking know that!” Again, Thom caught himself. Now it was his turn to look back, over his shoulder. Ann-Sophie was staring at him, her arms crossed over her chest. Lisa had her head down, hands clasped in front of her, waiting this out. Thom gestured to both of them—don’t worry, I got this—and turned back to Marques.

“It was a set of patio furniture,” Marques said.

“What?”

“Your housewarming present, when Beth and I moved in together, a year ago. Teakwood patio furniture. It’s beautiful. Thank you again. That was very thoughtful.” He steadied his gaze, his point proven. You knew about us. Or you don’t remember that you knew and just had your assistant send an expensive present, which then makes it your own damn fault for being a jerk.

Thom tried one last tack. “How about this? They can wait here, in my car. You fly us to Provo, then you fly back here, and Brady drives all three of you wherever you want. Anywhere.”

Marques furrowed his brow, trying to figure that one out. “Like where?”

“Anywhere.”

“You’re offering—what are you offering, exactly?”

“I’m offering to release you from your commitment to stay with me and my family for the duration of whatever is about to happen. I’m offering to leave my plane wildly out of position, should I need to move again. I’m offering to strand myself at—actually, no. Never mind. I’m not offering that at all. That offer is no longer operative. It is not on the table.”

Marques tried hard not to roll his eyes. He looked at his watch. “Boss. Clock’s ticking.”

“There isn’t room.”

“Of course there is,” said a voice from behind him. Thom turned. Ann-Sophie looked at Marques and nodded. “There’s plenty of room. We’ll figure it out.”