Sick Like Me (Sick Like #1)

Chapter 37

THIRTY-SEVEN

For twenty minutes I sat with my earphones secured into place, trying my best to ignore the giggles of the beautiful woman on the other side of the trio of seats we sat at. I closed my eyes, as if that would shut off my senses.

I swore I felt the brush of fingers against the side of my hand, but I decided I had to have been imagining it. Why would Dakota Vernon risk touching me in front of the woman who seemed to be his girlfriend, or at least a prospective love interest.

He wouldn’t.

He kept our public and private lives very separate.

I felt my phone vibrate and opened my eyes to roll my eyes downwards. I read the words on the screen and resisted the urge to shoot a look in Stefan’s direction.

Stefan: I have his assistant with me. She said they’re not a couple

Stefan: Not to defend him

Stefan: Sill hate him.

I felt my lips twitch up a little at the edges. I went to lock my screen, when Stefan sent me the link to our ‘Ashton and Stefan’s Road Trip Playlist’—the one we always played when in the car, and the same one he wanted to listen to together during the plane ride.

I clicked the playlist, the heavy rock coming from my earphones changing to upbeat dance music which I would have listened to when I was 14 and thought it was a good idea to wear coloured tights under denim shorts with mis-match coloured high stop shoes.

I watched as the flight attendants walked up and down the cabin, ensuring everyone’s seatbelts were secured when the plane began to move from the terminal. We were beginning to taxi, and I felt mild fear creep in.

I was fully prepared to be holding Stefan’s hand in a death grip to ease the tension I felt, only for me to end up sat with the man who had quite literally fingered me with the very same hand that was barely ghosting into my personal space as it lazed on the arm rest between us.

I tore my eyes away from his hand and held my phone tight, keeping my eyes straight ahead. When I had gone on the many trips over the years with both my parents (separately) to foreign countries, they ensured they got the window seat so I had less of a visual as to how high we were, and how vast the ocean was.

I didn’t dare to ask anyone else in my row to swap seats. Mostly because I didn’t want Gwen to know who I was, or that I knew who Dakota Vernon was.

I dared a glance sideways to check out what the loving not-couple were doing, and I found they had ceased whatever conversation they had been having previously. The blonde held a book in her hand, while Dakota had a tablet held on his lap, awaiting for us to be in the air so he could pull the table down, I assumed.

I felt a sense of mild accomplishment at how awkward they looked when not in conversation. When it came to Kota and I, we could sit in silence and not feel the need to fill it. It was comfortable without mindless and boring small talk .

I looked the other side, watching as the plane moved throughout the tarmac and made way to the end of the long runway. The plane stopped, and that signalled it was almost time to take off.

The usual announcements about safety and duty free items filled the cabin, and the cabin crew found their seats before the plane turned and face down the runway. Within seconds, the engines kicked into light and we began to pull along the surface.

I leant back into my seat and closed my eyes, my free hand daring to try and grip the small space left on the arm rest between Kota and I. I swallowed, and remembered Stefan had my water and gum. For fuck sake, I could have used the gum to stress-chew my way through the take off without the moral support I was expecting.

I felt warm and strong fingers wrap around mine, and my eyes shot open to shoot a look at Kota. But the back of his head was to me as he talked animatedly at Gwen about some topic I couldn’t hear.

As I felt my stomach drop due to the plane finally leaving ground, I looked down at our connected hands and felt a little bubble of happiness burst in my chest. I still felt annoyed at the fact he was with another blonde acting all cosy, but I could forgive him for that.

I was unsure if Kota even meant to hold my hand, or if he knew I had a secret fear of flying, but the warmth of his skin eased my tensions more than I cared to admit. The fact I allowed a man to have such an effect of me was criminal. I was a failure to the ‘strong single woman’ image my mother tried to raise me with.

While heights were considered one of my least favourite things in the world, as I dared to spare a glance down at the window beside me, I almost felt a sense of awe a all the fields and tiny little sheep coming into view only to grow smaller and smaller the higher up we got .

The plane take off seemed to move faster than I expected as it felt within no time, the seat belt light turned off on the overhead boards, and I felt the warmth of Kota’s hand let go of mine at long last.

I looked down at my abandoned hand, then back at him. He looked prepared to pull out the table from the back of the seat before him, so not to no disturb him, I unclipped my seatbelt and stood.

“Can I get past, sorry,” I spoke in a quiet voice, but Kota seemed to hear my loud and clear as he unclipped and stood to give me more access to move past his long legs. Gwen didn’t have to move for me to get past her.

She was as thin as a stick, and it was a look that suited her. She was petite and fragile and probably everything the strong and tall Dakota Vernon desired in a woman to be his ‘one for life’.

I made it out of my row without delay and then turned to the back of the plane. I walked past Stefan’s row and shot him a look, to which he stood and hurried out of his own row.

I had noticed the beautiful dark skinned girl I had seen Kota with several times before had been wedged between Stefan and another man, and I had remembered her name to be Olivia.

I got to the back of the plane and stood in the small space, ignoring people rushing past me to take the toilet cubicle before me. I hadn’t gone there for the loo, I had gone there for privacy to gossip.

Stefan reached me in record time, and I rushed to flap my hands in front of me as a way to try and cool the heat rushing up my neck. “What are the fucking chances It’s just my luck,” I spat out, sounding angry.

“Is everything okay?” Stefan asked, looking down at me with concern laced in his features. His eyebrows were knitted together, and the corners of his lips tilted downwards which pushed his lower lip out into a slight plump. “Did he say or do anything to you?”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” I began, letting out a sigh. “Just…” I began, my words fading out as I debated how to express how I was feeling. “What are the chances that while we’re away for the work trip, he’s on some private little friend group getaway?”

Stefan nodded his head slowly, seeming to be in full understanding of my predicament. “You’re right, it’s mad that he’s here.”

“Did you see the girl he’s sat with?” I asked, looking around him to shoot a look in their direction. I found them back to doing their own tasks, and I nodded to myself with mild pride.

That’s right, little vixen, he doesn’t want to even entertain you with conversation, I thought as I tilted my chin higher to force a faux sense of confidence about me.

“Yeah, she’s totally my type,” Stefan smirked and wagged his eyebrows.

My face dead panned as I crossed my arms over my chest. I even jutted out my high for effect. “Fuck her and her perfect self,” I began.

I wasn’t wrong. She was perfect. From her face to her body, from her smile to even how her hair hung flawlessly. “Her perfect hair, and her perfect body, and her perfect face,” I mumbled, the sour feeling from earlier returning.

“You sound like you’re jealous,” Stefan smirked.

I glared up at him, wondering if Mrs Moore would praise me or arrest me for throwing her son out of the fucking plane door.

“And you sound like you need a fucking punch in the face.”

Stefan opened his mouth to argue his defence, but before he could, a woman around my height with dark hair and dark skin entered the area. Her hair was tied back in a neat bun, and her beautiful face remained untouched by makeup .

She smiled brightly at me, showing off teeth that looked perfectly straight and white. The woman before me was Olivia.

“Ashton, it’s nice to finally get some alone time with you,” She stated, and it sounded as if she had known me all her life. Her tone was light and casual, friendly and inviting. Her voice was melodic and I half suspected she could talk the angriest men down from a full blown war.

“Olivia?” I breathed out, my voice slightly hesitant as I wasn’t entirely sure she was who I thought she was. When she smiled and failed to correct me, I let out a breath of air. “Hi, nice to meet you.”

“I’m so sorry you got sat with those miserable pair,” She waved her thumb behind her in the direction of our seats. “You got stuck with a book nerd and a workaholic. At least Stefan and I plan to down some Pinot Grigio’s before we land.”

Olivia Carol, as personal assistant to potentially soon-to-be senior manager Dakota Vernon at FinOptix Solutions, was nothing how I had imagined her to be.

Kota was uptight and followed his work strictly. He did everything by the book, and I half suspected he worked double the time he was meant to as he kept a laptop at home to ensure any work left over from the office could be done before the night broke with the view of the moon.

Olivia Carol on the other hand did not seem so disciplined. I had no doubts she was a professional and goo at her job, but at how care free and casual she was being after just meeting my best friend, I realised she was a carefree and light hearted spirit that could never be contained.

She was nothing like me, and that meant she was nothing like Kota’s tastes. I suspected she was too relaxed and laid back for his liking. She looked to be waving off any concerns, ready to party her way through the flight.

I, on the other hand, was much more reserved and quiet. I kept to myself and I remained demure in my exposition .

And I got the odd sense Gwen was the same. Which meant Gwen was his type, too.

“Anyway,” Olivia waved her hand to try and call for my attention. She spoke quickly, but her South English accent was more than easy to understand despite it. “Gwen is not Kota’s girlfriend no matter what she says. She’s some niece of a man his father is friends with, or something.” Olivia began.

“Kota and I go way back, and I mean waaaay back,” She emphasised the word. “As in, wearing nappies way back.” She continued, as if she felt the need to go into as much detail was possible to stop my jealousy from ripping her hair from her scalp. “That’s not the point though.” She caught herself.

I had the feeling Olivia was a yapper, someone who talked and talked until all their energy was gone. She was, in all tense and purposes, Kota’s version of a Stefan.

“Right, so the point is…” She began, her words seeming to fail her for the first time since she had interrupted our conversation. “I don’t know what the point is, quite frankly. I just know that you shouldn’t feel threatened by her.”

For some reason, I got the sense she was trying to be a wingman to Kota at that moment. That meant she knew about me, and she knew that I was something with him. What or how much she knew was a mystery—one I was in no mood to dig around and find out.

“I don’t care what they are, it means nothing me,” I said with a stern voice, trying to act all cavalier about the man and his mere presence when really I felt like falling to his knees and begging for his undivided attention.

Olivia shot Stefan and knowing look. She then reached out and patted my shoulder with a wide grin. “Nice to finally meet you, sister in law.”

I blinked in confusion at her words, while my eyes remained locked in on her retreating back as she bounced her way back down the aisle to her seat .

I turned to Stefan who shrugged one shoulder. “I think I can safely say Olivia is not one of your love rivals. Gwen, to be determined.”

I smiled slightly, a weight I hadn’t known was wighting me down feeling as if it had been lifted and dragged along behind the friendly and very emotionally draining Olivia Carol.

“We should go back to our seats,” I stated, people starting to get irritated at us taking up the small waiting space for the loo. So we gave each other a ‘good luck’ high five and then made our way back to our seats.

I stood at the end of the row, and Gwen was either was purposely ignoring me or was so absorbed into whatever book she was reading, she had failed to notice the outside world.

However, as if a magnet pulled our eyes to one another, Kota looked from his tablet which rested on the table before him. His forrest eyes locked in on mine, and they looked impossibly brighter in the light of the plane. He noticed I looked as if I wanted to sit down, and so he stood, swatting his hand at Gwen’s thighs.

“Move, she wants to get in,” He stated, to which Gwen looked up at me.

I thought I almost saw an expression of irritation cover her delicate features, but the look was gone as fast as it came, and she raised her arms from the slouching position for me to move past her freely.

I moved past the pair, cringing when my back brushed against Kota’s front when a bit of turbulence hit. I swore I felt his free hand try to go and steady me, but I was in my seat before any other waves of wind hit the plane risking me falling on top of him.

I smiled at the pair and mumbled a small thanks before I looked down at my phone, still held tight in my hand. I wanted to talk to him, demand to know what he was doing and where he was going. But a part of me had an idea exactly where he was going.

The same fucking place as me.

I also wanted to know who was staying in what rooms. Had he got a room to himself? Or a small apartment like room where each of them had a bed to themselves? Or was he sharing a room? And if so, was it with Olivia, Gwen, or the unnamed other male they came with?

“I like your phone case,” I heard a delicate feminine voice speak. I looked up and in the direction of the voice, getting hit by a wave of his perfume. A mix of oud and spices. It smelt new, but it suited him.

I tried my best to ignore the suffocating reminder at his presence beside me and looked around him to the woman. I smiled at her, then looked down at my phone case. It was a mostly clear case, with what looked like white melting and dripping smiley faces in outlines. I looked back at her. “Thank you.”

She nodded her head at me, and I watched her cheeks flush the faintest of pinks.

I went to turn away, but my eyes caught Kota. He looked right at me. No, not at me. Through me. I swore I saw his eye twitch, something that I had noticed happened that one time I tried to sass him in his car all those months ago.

I felt my phone buzz in my hand, looking down with surprise.

Stefan: Incoming

I frowned.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

But my question was answered shortly after before I could type back.

“Gwen, I need your help up back. I think the zipper for my dress is broke,” Olivia sounded exasperated. I frowned and looked over at the pair, wondering why she hadn’t asked me for help earlier when she was with Stefan and I .

She shot me a quick look and winked, then she went back to acting as if her whole world was going to crumble if Gwen, and only Gwen, didn’t help her.

I watched as the other blonde closed her book and placed it on her seat, then she rose and walked down the aisle to the back of the plane where Stefan, Olivia and I had just had our little private meeting.

“What are you wearing?” I heard Kota’s deep voice finally fill the space, and I felt as if all the air was sucked from my lungs. I hated the affect he had on me, even from just the sound of his voice.

I looked down at my outfit. A long white skirt, and a white vest top tucked in with a pale blue denim cropped jacket. I looked back at him, my eyebrows knitted together. “Clothes.”

He looked unimpressed by my response.

“Why are you asking that? It’s not like you have the right to dictate what I wear,” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Because you look good,” He replied, his voice turning ever so slightly softer. I felt my eyebrows intense, my lips parted slightly, and my cheeks flushed hot.

“Thank you,” I whispered back, smiling slightly. I watched as his lips twitched in the briefest of moments.

“How about we spend tonight together. You can come to my hotel room, and then tomorrow you can go wherever it is you need to,” He sounded calm and collected for the most part, however, I swore there was the faintest hint of begging behind his words.

“I can’t just ditch Stefan. Plus, what if I was travelling to the Alps, or something?” I asked, laughing slightly at the suggestion.

“You’re going to Monaco to scope out the Kings’ apartment,” He countered, and I cursed myself for being so transparent with him all the time.

“Fine, I am. But I don’t know where you are going,” I replied, subtly pointing out how much he lacked at replying to me with the same level of openness.

“I’m going to Monaco too, for the F1 races. You know that I like motorsports,” He spoke matter of factly, his words almost slicing me as if he sounded disappointed that I wasn’t positive of his plans.

“Yeah, I know that. But you never talk about it and so how else am I supposed to know you were going to be watching it, huh?” I shot back, to which he looked to be in though for a second before he raised a shoulder.

“You’re right,” He replied, allowing me to win the war against him for the first time in my life. “So, is that a no?” He pushed, moving closer to me. He was beginning to invade my space, and I felt the urge to push him away. What if Gwen saw? It seemed as if he liked her. Surely seeing the man who you liked and who supposedly liked you back was all over another woman would be a major turn off.

I would know, because I fucking hated seeing the way he looked at her.

“We’ll see,” I stated before I crossed my arms over my chest, moved my body to face forward, then I closed my eyes and leant my head against the wall of the plane.

Despite the fact my eyes were closed to show the ‘end’ of the conversation, my lips raised into a smile. I thought I heard a faint chuckle from the man beside me, but he said nothing more before I heard the sound of a typing keyboard.

Damn workaholic wouldn’t even allow himself a flight in peace.

But I could respect that.