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“There’s only one problem with you catching less heat from Ma,” Kaylinn mused as Arianna continued to eat while hunched over her tiny table. “If she gives up on you ever getting married, then she’ll…” Kaylinn gasped. “Get on me! Oh, God, she’s gonna start setting me up on dates with friends’ nephews and the grocer’s son who is a lawyer.”

Arianna swallowed. “God willing.”

“Hey! I’ve covered your ass more times than I can count.”

“And I will cover yours.”

Kaylinn held up her soda bottle. “That’s what sisters are for.”

After their toast, Arianna asked, “What kind of man would you marry?”

“I’m not looking to get married anytime soon… for different reasons than you.”

“I mean, you are still establishing your career, but…”

“Aria,” Kaylinn interrupted, “I’m not looking for a husband, but a boyfriend.”

Arianna grinned. “Then what kind of man do you want for a boyfriend?”

“A pilot, duh.”

“Oh, they make great boyfriends.”

“How would you know!”

“Lots and lots of observation.” Arianna wagged her wooden chopsticks at her sister. “You wouldn’t know how many heartbreaks I’ve seen unfold in a hotel hallway or the galley behind the captain’s cabin. It’s the first thing you find out once your feet are on the ground. Or in the air, I guess. Just don’t date the pilots. Especially not the copilots! They’re even less reliable. Hotshots, all of them.”

“Who said I wanted reliable? Hellloooo, I said boyfriend. Am I the only one actually talking in here?”

With laughter seasoning her food, Arianna had never been happier to have her sister drop by after work.

Elle finally arrived at her Capitol Hill condo sometime after midnight. It wasn’t that the commuter plane between Los Angeles and SeaTac took forever, or that the drive from Tacoma to Seattle was killer that time of the evening. Elle had taken her time, foregoing the rush in favor of having some extra oxygen in her lungs.

When she turned on the lights in her foyer and rolled her suitcase toward the living room, she let out a deep sigh. Everything was exactly how she had left it almost a week ago when she departed for Singapore and survived the layover in Los Angeles. For the foreseeable future, that was Elle’s future as a board member of a brand-new airline attempting to take over the Pacific.

No wonder she left.

More like no wonder her ex had dropped by while Elle was gone. For while everything was exactly how she left it, there were traces of Pamela’s presence, like the card folded atop the island counter in Elle’s kitchen.

“Threw out those dead flowers and opened your windows to air out the place for a couple of hours – Pam.” That was all Elle’s ex had to say for herself. And Elle didn’t question it, because their breakup had been amicable, and Pamela still dropped by from time to time to get something out of the home office. It’s tax time, isn’t it? That would explain it.

The relationship ended five months ago. Officially. In truth, it had been dead a lot longer before that, mostly due to Elle’s incessant traveling between America and Asia. When she wasn’t in Singapore, she was recruiting crew in Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong. Elle was behind many of the promotions once the final candidates entered her email inbox. Like everyone else in Royal Asia, she was determined to start everything on the right foot. Even if it meant telling certain new hires that they weren’t quite at the level necessary for the bigger promotions.

Now, Elle rarely remembered who got what position. Yet when she was on that flight from Singapore to Los Angeles, someone had caught her eye. What was her name? Arianna? What a lovely name. How was someone as fastidious and elegantly Royal Asia as her not the cabin manager? Whoever was in charge of First Class must have been perfection incarnate.

Elle dressed down to her pajamas and flung a hoodie over her torso. She checked every room of her condo, not that she needed to. Pam was trustworthy, even if she had moved on with a stock trader who may have been in the news for insider trading. Elle told herself that wasn’t any of her business. Once she and Pam realized their relationship was over, everything was fair game. Even if it meant Pam had already lined up a new girlfriend with a penthouse and Elle hadn’t gotten laid since a rebound with someone on Royal Asia’s payroll.

To be fair to Elle… she hadn’t tried to date. She didn’t have the time. The only way she was courting a one-night stand was if she got lucky in a hotel bar or fooled around with someone from work. Which was 100% against the rules.

The condo was so quiet without Pamela around.

Netflix blared from the living room TV. A comfort show that Elle automatically turned on when she didn’t know what else to watch, or she had so many preparations for her next trip that she didn’t want to be distracted. She was home so rarely now that her kitchen and bathroom rarely had the chance to get dirty, but she still hired someone to drop by once a month to dust and vacuum. It’s not that I’m too good to do it… When would she fit that in?

Like how would she ever get that cat she wanted to adopt? Or even move?

She sat at the island counter eating a premade meal she picked up on the way home. Netflix was loud enough to deafen her, but her eyes were glued to her phone, scrolling through the nonsense on her undercover social media profile. Sometimes, a woman needs to zone out. No work. No politics. Definitely no religion. She wanted to watch cute animal videos and follow minor celebrities she remembered from her youth.

And she used that same account to snoop on some of the Royal Asia employees, not only to get a feel for their decorum when offline, but for what they really thought about their jobs.