In Flight (Up in the Air #1)(24)

I didn’t answer, not even sure if it was directed at me, or James.

I looked out the window hastily, blushing from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. Yes, I thought to myself, a little stunned. He is worlds out of my league, but I’m going to go through with this anyways.

Somehow, over the course of the flight, I had managed to forget all about the near brawl that had almost happened over me. Stephan’s announcement as we taxied to our gate was what reminded me of the tense event.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m going to need everyone to remain seated when we arrive at the gate. Our plane is being met by law enforcement, so we’re going to need everyone to remain patient for just a few minutes. I will make an announcement when it is okay to deplane. Again, please stay in your seats when we pull up to the gate.”

Oh shit, I thought, stunned.

I gave Stephan wide eyes. “What did they do to get the royal treatment?” I asked him. It seemed a little excessive to get the police involved over the little I had actually heard.

He shook his head. “I’ll explain it all later. James and I will have to talk to the police for their report, and perhaps anyone else in first class that’ll admit to hearing anything. The flight paperwork is going to be a bitch, too. But the stuff they were talking about was illegal, and I just think they need a report filed on them, in case they were really considering doing some of the stuff they were talking about. It might have all just been some particularly huge jerks talking shit, but I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t do all that I could to make sure they were discouraged from acting like that. And worse-case scenario, if they really end up doing something horrible to some poor girl, this incident could help prosecute them later on.”

I just stared at him. I really had been out of the loop. “You are sooo gonna tell me what all happened back there.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I will. Later.”

It was a curiously drama-free deplaning after that. Stephan consulted with the police while I answered the call buttons that started lighting up a few seconds before we arrived at the gate.

After a brief exchange, the men were escorted off, seeming to cooperate sedately with the two police officers who led them off. James followed immediately behind them. To give his side of the story, I assumed. The couple seated directly behind him followed as well, and the two men who had been across the aisle from the first couple that departed. For the same reason, I assumed.

I got caught in the back galley when passengers were allowed to deplane scant seconds later.

Brenda and Melissa, who used the jump seats in the back galley, bombarded me with questions while I waited a little impatiently for the plane to empty.

“What happened up there?” Brenda asked me, her eyes wide.

“Was that James Cavendish I saw following the police off with those men?” Melissa asked, her expression nearly predatory. She had that laser sharp look she got in her eye when she was into a guy. I had seen it in her eyes way too often, considering how short a time I’d known her.

So she found out his name, I thought, a little uneasily. She probably knew more about him than I did now. I actively avoided all social networking, and I didn’t even own a television. I only knew he came from a wealthy family with a massive hotel chain around the world. I had never even searched his name online to find out anything. I was guessing that by now Melissa couldn’t say the same.

“Yes, that was him,” I answered her question first, curious to see her reaction.

She gave me a considering look. “I didn’t even know he was on this flight. You’ve gotta tell me when you see the hot, rich ones, Bianca. I thought we were friends.” Her voice was all offended sweetness, a strange new affectation for her.

I just stared at her, not knowing what to say for a long moment.

“I know you two ladies aren’t on the market, but I’m gonna say it anyways. I call dibs on that one.” She giggled as she said it, so I honestly couldn’t tell if she was joking. Either way, though, it was at that moment that I knew she was crazy.

I shook my head, startled to feel a hostility towards her that I didn’t want to investigate.

“That’s not how it works,” I told her.

She giggled again. “Whatever. I wasn’t really worried about it. Men want who they want, and I can tell I’m just his type. I’ll have his number before we get to headquarters.”

Brenda and I shared a look. Brenda went straight back to her own line of questioning. “Why were the cops called? I saw a commotion when we took off, but I couldn’t tell what happened, and there didn’t seem to be a problem after that.”

Brenda seemed to have adopted the skill of just ignoring Melissa when she got crazy. I made a note to emulate her methods.

I told them what I knew, leaving out James’s specific involvement. Melissa zeroed in on the oversight immediately. “Why did James follow them off?”

Was she really on a first name basis after one short conversation with him? Was I missing something here?

“He and some of the other people in first class heard a lot of what they were saying, I suppose.”

I was saved from having to answer anything else when Stephan strode into the galley.

He looked at the other two women. “Last passenger is off, ladies. Bianca and I need to speak to the police and write incident reports, but you guys are good to go, since you weren’t involved. We’ll see you first thing in the morning.”