Page 49 of The Consequence of You (Heathley Academy #2)
CALLIE
Two Months After That
“ W hat the hell have you got in this suitcase?” Asher yanks my very full case onto the conveyor belt at the airport check in, and grimaces when the scales declare it to be eight kilos over the permitted weight allowance. “You do know we are only going for a week?”
I open my purse to pay for the extra weight but Rossi leans over my shoulder and swipes his card before I get a chance.
“I’ve put it on your father’s account,” he tells me gruffly.
My bodyguard loads the rest of our cases onto the conveyor belt while I stand up on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on Asher’s pouting mouth.
Linking my hand in his, I collect our passports and drag my grumpy boyfriend around duty free to kill time while we wait for our flights.
We are going to see his sister in Paris.
The last few weeks it had become obvious Asher’s favourite Pennington is Aurelia and I can’t wait to meet her.
An hour later, and we’re in the air. Our seats are the best money can buy and I’d love nothing more than to enjoy the experience, but Asher is making it more than a little difficult.
“Can I get either of you a drink?” This is the second time the air hostess has passed with her trolley and I’m desperate to try a glass of Buck’s Fizz.
“No,” Asher practically growls at her, and she flinches at his tone. We’ll be getting thrown off this flight if he carries on with his rudeness. She scuttles off as Asher continues bouncing his knee next to me. Turns out there are two things Asher is afraid of.
My father and flying.
No amount of explaining the science behind flight safety has helped, and he’s refusing to take the diazepam I had his GP prescribe for him.
Asher said he needs to keep all his wits about him in case the pilot has a heart attack, and he’s required to fly the plane .
Rossi had almost choked when he’d overheard Asher say that earlier.
He keeps looking over from the other side of the plane and mouthing ‘big baby’ at him, and I’m struggling to keep it together. Who knew my adventurous, adrenaline junkie boyfriend would be scared of something as mundane as flying.
As soon as the seatbelt light goes out, I grab Asher’s hand and drag him past the couple of rows of seats in front of us.
Checking no one is watching, I pull us into the cramped toilet and flick the lock on the door behind us.
Spinning around to face him, I’m pleased to see the look of fear in his eyes has been replaced with something else entirely.
He pins me with one of his kilowatt smiles, and for a change, I rescue him.
The End