Her body hit mine, knocking me back a couple of steps. “I love you too.”
“Taylor, he’ll only be gone a couple of days. You’re starting to look desperate,” Meagan said as she pulled on Taylor’s arm.
With a chuckle, I kissed her quickly on the lips and quickly headed to where Nate would be waiting for me. I looked back to see Taylor watching me. She quickly wiped her tears away and smiled a brilliant smile. Lifting my hand, I waved while she waved back.
“Jase, how’s it going?” Nate asked as he gave me a slap on the back.
“It’s going good.”
“We’re out of Gate Two; let’s head on down.”
Thirty minutes later I was sitting in a jet with a flight attendant taking my drink order. I took a picture and texted it to Taylor, hoping it would calm her worrying down if she saw it was a bigger plane.
Me: Look. I have my own personal flight attendant.
Less than a minute later, she responded.
Taylor: Wow! That’s bigger than I thought. Are you sure Nate can fly it?
Me: Yes, and if not William the fighter jet pilot is co-piloting. Stop worrying, baby. I’ll call you when we land. Nate said it will be about a three hour flight.
“Mr. Morris, we’re getting ready to take off.”
“Thanks!”
Me: Got to go, getting ready to take off. Love you!
Taylor: I love you too!
Tess, my overly-attentive flight attendant, offered me another drink.
Lifting my hand, I politely said, “No thanks. How much longer?”
“We’re almost into Wyoming, so not too much longer.”
We hit turbulence and Tess went flying up and off the floor. “Shit!” I shouted as I unbuckled to help her.
“I’m okay, Mr. Morris, I need you to buckle back up. Please! Now, sir.”
Doing as she asked, I watched as she quickly made her way to the front of the plane.
We hit more turbulence, but this time I swore the plane rocked from side to side.
A feeling of dread washed over me as Taylor’s words replayed in my mind about how worried she was. “Oh God. Please don’t do this to me. Please don’t do this to us.”
Tess came rushing out. “A storm just developed in our flight path and William is now at the controls. We’re going to try and . . .”
The plane jerked and Tess went flying again; this time she hit even harder against the ceiling of the plane.
“Tess!” I yelled out as the plane shook harder.
“Don’t. Get. Out. Of. Your. Seat,” she said as she crawled along the floor to her seat and buckled in.
Nate’s voice came over the intercom. I could barely hear him as he shouted, “Jase, we’ve hit a storm that came out of—”
A loud bang rang out as the plane bounced again and Nate’s voice disappeared. My heart was pounding so loudly it was drowning out the sound of the plane. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I pulled up the picture I took of Taylor and Bella this morning.
The plane rocked again and this time felt like it did a free fall for a few seconds. Tess gripped her seat, but still tried to give me a reassuring smile. There is no way this is good. No way at all.
Closing my eyes, I attempted to breathe normally while picturing Taylor’s beautiful smile and her soft skin. What I wouldn’t do to have her in my arms right this second.
Another bang caused me to jump and Tess to scream.
When I saw the tears streaming down her face, I had to keep from throwing up. The fear in her eyes was evident.
We were going to crash.
Tess covered her mouth and cried harder as she leaned forward and took the position for a crash landing.
Where in the fuck is he going to land the plane?
I looked around the plane as if searching for answers somehow. In that moment I closed my eyes and thanked God Taylor hadn’t come with me. My heart had never ached like it did right then. The thought of never seeing her again tore me apart, but the idea of her never living out her dreams killed me.
The plane felt as if it was in a nose dive as my chest tightened and I pulled up my message to Taylor and typed out a quick text.
Me: I’ll love you forever, Taylor.
The noise grew louder and the oxygen masked dropped from the ceiling. Tess yelled for me to put it on while she did the same. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nate trying to make his way over to me.
“We’ve been hit by lightning and we’ve lost all power.”
“Holy fuck,” I mumbled under my breath.
“The plane is equipped with a drag chute. William is having to glide it in and also find a flat area to land!” Nate shouted.
Jesus. Taylor.
Tess lifted her oxygen mask and yelled, “Mr. Montgomery! Please sit down and buckle up! Put your oxygen mask on right away!”
I couldn’t think straight as the plane dropped again, causing my heart to accelerate even faster.
Nate quickly did what he was told as he took the seat across from me. Grabbing the oxygen mask, he fought to get it on as the plane bounced all over the damn place.