She laughed, her similar dark blue eyes sparkling. "Did you finally come to take me to coffee and catch up?"
Charlie grinned, started to speak, and then glanced back up the stairs. Christine had disappeared. He stood still, hoping she'd somehow come back. But what would happen? What did he want her to say? As Alyssa chattered, it hit him like a punch to the gut. Christine was gone.
"Hey, Charlie. Elizabeth paged me and said you were here again." Harry joined them and nudged Alyssa. "Apparently, your brother and some gorgeous blonde put on quite the kissing show outside Starbucks yesterday. I'd like to meet her."
"Who is she?" Alyssa brushed back a long strand of black hair. "I want to meet the woman who can make you forget all about convention and do a PDA. Where is she?"
"Lysa, back off." Harry shook his head and grinned. "If Charlie wants to tell you about her, he will after he tells his best friend. Me. Though I doubt he'll tell you, since he doesn't talk his sex life with his kid sister."
Alyssa punched his arm. "Charlie can always tell me anything. He's my big brother. We tell each other everything."
Harry crossed his arms. "So you told him about the pilot you're dating?"
"We weren't dating." Alyssa scoffed. "We had drinks after a flight."
"He got plastered and you ended up spending the night in his hotel room." Harry pushed his glasses up. "The whole airport is talking about it."
"Damn you, big mouth." Alyssa shoved her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. "Just because you're the boss here doesn't mean you're the boss over me. And that's not what happened."
Charlie held up a hand, Christine momentarily forgotten. "You and some drunken pilot in a hotel room all night, alone?"
Alyssa glared at Harry. "Before you get your big bro boxers in a twist, nothing happened. The pilot got carried away with shots, I helped him up to his room, and he passed out in a five star hotel. I took advantage of him being asleep and enjoyed the perks of a tub big enough to swim in. Nothing wrong with that."
Charlie shook his head. "The hell there isn't. You could have been raped or molested. Jesus, I taught you better than to go with some drunk to a hotel room."
"Charles Jergens, I can take care of myself. Had the pilot, who is old enough to be my father by the way, tried anything, he'd be out cold from the defense judo you taught me. I'm not an idiot, and I'm not helpless. Harry Big Mouth here"—she glared at Harry—"should learn to keep his trap shut about gossip if he has no idea if it's true or false. Now, I guess this explains where you were last night, why you didn't answer my texts, and why your cell went right to voicemail."
"Gorgeous blonde from the mainland crash landed here on the jumbo from Australia." Harry nodded and his glasses slid down. "I bet he had his cell turned off so they could celebrate her narrow escape."
Alyssa grabbed his arm. "Crash land? I didn't hear about that. Why am I always the last to hear things? There's no damage outside. What happened?"
Harry shook off her grip. "Maybe you're the last to hear things because you're too busy playing sexy mermaid in some pilot's fancy hotel room."
"Shut up. Why do I bother to even talk to you anyway?" Alyssa turned to Charlie, her expression concerned. "Is your friend all right?"
Charlie nodded. "Yes, she's fine, just as all the passengers were. Sorry about last night. We were occupied."
"I knew it." Harry chuckled and filled Alyssa in on what happened with the plane. "It caused us some ruckus all those unexpected people in our little terminal. But we got them all re-routed and back on their merry ways. Some even spoke of coming back after this glimpse of our fair state. So the plane's engine trouble may have been a blessing in disguise."
A blessing all right, at least for a while. But will it become a curse? Charlie shoved his hands in his pockets and searched the upper floor one last time for a glimpse of Christine.
"It sounds like they were all really lucky." Alyssa took her brother's hand. "So, who is this friend? Her name?"
"Christine." Charlie smiled at his sister when she gasped.
Mouth open, features holding shock, she didn't disappoint. "Oh my God. The Christine landed here? Where is she now? You promised I could meet her."
"She's boarding her flight." Charlie shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Maybe next time."
"She's coming back?" Alyssa grinned and bounced a bit. "I can't wait. And you, brother dear, are a slick customer. I have to go for my own flight now so no time for coffee."
"The overseas to Hong Kong doesn't leave for hours." Harry pushed at his glasses and glanced at the scheduling board.