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“Suppose so. Do you like my pictures of Seattle?”

“Oh, yes. I’d love to see it for myself, but I doubt I’ll be reassigned anytime soon. Even with the crew integration about to happen, I’ve been informed I’m keeping my current position. Finally, something my seniority is handy for. A bunch of the attendants in Economy are getting sent to other flights.”

“Does that happen a lot?”

“Not with Royal Asia so far, but this is not your usual airline with regards to how routes and standby work.”

“So I’ve heard. Don’t they pride themselves on that?”

This was the tricky part of their budding relationship. I can’t let her know I work for Royal Asia. While Elle wasn’t part of the structural decision-making process or in marketing – hell, she had never even been a flight attendant – she knew every in and out including some of the people soon transferring over to the Singapore-LAX route. People she had handpicked for other things, too.

The truth could come later, though. Right now, Elle wanted to focus on Arianna the person and new fun girlfriend, not someone technically down the pay scale totem pole from her.

“They do. It was a major selling point for those of us who had seniority in other airlines,” Arianna mused. “Having a set schedule is major, but it also angered some people. They accepted the job because of the higher pay, but you have to understand, many cabin crew have been working toward seniority for decades and were finally seeing the fruits of their labor. Now we work somewhere that gives those lower than us some of those same benefits. Like a steady schedule and repeat routes. Granted, the lowest ranking attendants have to be floaters who live the standby life, but it’s nothing like when I worked for Singapura, for example.”

“I bet your social life thanks you for it.”

“Not working weekends is huge for me. I can finally confidently say yes to social functions like weddings and banquets. And my seniority still means I get first dibs on holidays off. It’s give and take, as they say. Wait… have we been speaking Mandarin this whole time?”

“Since about the time you started talking about fruits of labor.”

Arianna grinned. “I didn’t even realize.”

Elle switched back to English. “I realize how beautiful you are right now.”

“Oh, please. I barely had time to rinse off in the shower and put on fresh makeup.”

“Yet you’re gorgeous. Will I see you with your hair down tonight?”

“Absolutely not.”

“When do I get to see that?”

Arianna had to think for five of Elle’s heartbeats. “When you’ve met my mother.”

“Ouch.”

“Familiar enough with Asian culture to know what that means, huh?”

“Especially Chinese culture. Sounds like your family navigates in that direction.”

“We do.”

“So, when I meet your mother, she has to face the truth of who she’s raised, huh?”

“Don’t even joke about that.”

“What? Meeting your mother?”

Arianna looked away. “Her knowing the real me.”

Perhaps Elle had pushed the conversation too far. She had wanted Arianna to enjoy a carefree evening in the Lion Orchard, where they could do whatever they pleased. The shower was big enough for three people, let alone two. And the tub…! Elle could drown in it.

That didn’t include the plush couch in front of the TV, never mind the bed… I’m still thinking about the way she tastes. No matter how good the pasta was here, nothing compared to a woman’s decadent flavor. Better than chocolate. So happened that was one of Elle’s favorite movies, too.

“What company do you work for?”

Elle hadn’t expected that question. “One that doesn’t matter.”