Sick Like Me (Sick Like #1)

Chapter 38

THIRTY-EIGHT

Just over two hours felt like the blink of an eye. Olivia tried her best to keep Gwen occupied, and I could only silently thank her for it. Half of the time, Olivia would turn to Kota midway through the conversation with Olivia, who had taken home on the free seat across the aisle from us. Each time she did, he paused his typing to shoot her a look and either nodded with half arsed effort, or he would mumble one word answers before going back to his typing.

I had to stop the smirk from forming on my lips. It felt like a change from their loving behaviour at the start of the flight. But then again, it was she who was acting all touchy and loving to him.

Maybe I had misunderstood their relationship, I considered.

A part of me still didn’t like her. It was bitchy and territorial of me, but I didn’t care.

The light for the seat belts dinged above our heads, and then the captain spoke over the tannoy that we were getting close to landing and the plane was going to begin losing altitude.

I watched as Olivia stood from the seat, wished Gwen a brief goodbye, then she skipped her way back to Stefan with a wide and triumphant like smile on her face.

Kota closed the tray on the back of the seat in front of him, then he locked his tablet as he slipped it into his bag between his feet. He rolled his neck, trying to stretch it. I had no doubt his muscles felt tense from all the hunching over and typing he had done.

As he moved his neck, wafts of his perfume filled my senses and I pursed my lips. I tried not to watch for fear of being caught by Gwen, but my eyes couldn’t help but noticed the top of his beige polo shirt move around to expose the top of his chest he leant his head back.

I finally rushed to look away when he rolled his head ever so slightly in my direction. He must have caught me staring from the corner of his eye. I swear I saw his lips turn up into a smirk, but I kept my eyes forward as I closed my eyes and tried to let out calming deep breaths through pursed lips.

As the plane began to lower, we hit waves of turbulence again. I rushed to grab the seat rest between us, and in mere seconds, I felt a larger warm hand cover my own in a gentle squeeze.

“Just breathe through your nose and pretend you’re in the car, driving over a bumpy road,” I only just heard his voice over the sound of the rest of the plane goers. He spoke quiet so as not to be caught by Gwen for knowing me.

The fact he was trying to hide the fact we knew each other from her made a bitter taste fill my mouth, and helped ease the tension I was feeling. I opened my eyes, daring to stare out of the window.

Surprisingly, the view helped, despite my fear of heights. The beauty that met my eyes seemed to trump it.

As the plane descended toward Nice C?te d'Azur Airport, the view from the window was noting short of breathtaking. The first thing that caught my eye was the stunning and sparkling appearing blue of the Mediterranean Sea stretching out endlessly beneath me.

For the briefest of moments, I a fear crawled into the back of my mind and showed me images of the plane submerged in the lush water, but I tried my best to shake the thought away as instead, I imagined how it would feel swimming in the waters.

Would the water be icy cold like back home, or would it be slightly warmer, more comforting to enter? I loved swimming, save for when the water was cold.

As we flew through the sky, getting closer to our destination, I noticed the water below seemed to glisten under the warm sun as if it were filled with glitter, with sailboats and yachts dotting the surface like tiny white specks.

As we get closer to the ground, the coastline of the French Riviera came into clearer view. The landscape was a mix of lush green hills and rocky cliffs that plunge dramatically into the sea.

Whatever demon was cursing my brain tried to drown me in feelings of fear. What if I went for a walk and fell off those cliffs? Or what if the plane crashed into them? Would Kota hold me one final time before our ultimate demise?

The thoughts were pushed back when a squeeze came on top of my hand, and I had to press my lips hard together to stop the smile from forming.

I watched out the window as the shoreline curved gently, with sandy beaches lining the edge of the water, and palm trees swaying in the breeze. The city of Nice itself appeared like a jewel on the coast, with its pastel-coloured buildings and red-tiled roofs clustered together, creating a mosaic of colour.

If Nice was that beautiful, then I wondered if Monaco could top it. I had heard from my father is was one of his favourite places in the world, but Nice shone bright all on it’s own, in it’s own glory and of it’s own right.

I watched as we got closer and closer to the ground. Finally, as the runway came into view, the plane flew just above the water, giving the illusion that we might land in the sea. My breathing sped up at that and I went to screw my eyes shut, but the comforting squeeze of my hand once again eased my tensions as I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I had been holding.

Then, with a gentle thud, we touch down on the tarmac, and the stunning Riviera landscape started to slip away as we taxied toward the terminal.

Some people unclipped themselves and began to stand and grab their bags before prompted, and I wanted to shout at them to sit back down. But they, or the flight crew, didn’t seem to care. But it didn’t take long for us to reach the terminal anyway. Once the plane stopped moving, I rushed to stand myself.

Kota took his sweet, sweet time to stand and crouch down to grab his bag. Once he had, he turned his back to me. Gwen stood waiting for other passengers to move out of the way, and the steady stream seemed never ending.

Kota’s strong back made me wish I could reach out and hug him, to feel his body close to mine once again. I wanted him in my bed again, sure, but I wanted to get to know the man and all his little dark secrets. I wanted to know everything that made him tick and made him… Well, him .

I was cursing myself. I was meant to be caring for Owen, focusing on the man back home who wanted a future with me. It was hard to focus on him with Dakota Vernon before me, though.

The line of passengers began to fizzle out in the aisle, and I realised Stefan had waited in his seat for me. I smiled at him around Kota.

Gwen finally moved out of the row, Kota close in tow. I saved some space between us, allowing Stefan to be the wall to separate us. Not because I wanted to add space between us, but because I feared if I walked too close to him I may have tried to reach out and wrap my fingers around his hand. I was missing his touch already .

We climbed off the plane and followed the stream of passengers heading toward the baggage claim area.

As I looked around, walking side by side with Stefan, I noticed that the airport was modern and airy, with large windows that allowed the natural light to flood in. I could still catch glimpses of the blue sea outside, a constant reminder of the paradise I had just flown into.

The same paradise that almost gave me a mild panic attack before Kota and his magic hands soothed me.

The walk to baggage claim was smooth and efficient, with signs clearly directing me where to go. I was thankful they seemed to reach in all kinds of languages. I couldn’t speak or read French, and neither could Stefan. It would be our luck to get lost.

We joined other passengers from our flight at our next destination, the baggage carousel. Other times I had gone away, the airports sometimes even took up to twenty minutes before they began shipping out bags out on the belt. But before we had even got to the belt, it seemed to be rotating with a large load of suitcases of all shapes, sizes and colours.

I stood back as Stefan claimed he wanted to be on baggage watch. I was in a great mood and decided not to question nor argue him against it. So I leant back against a nearby wall and watched.

We had only been waiting for barely a few minutes before Stefan spotted my suitcase sliding down the chute. He grabbed it, and just a few bags behind it, he found his own.

Stefan turned and walked through the dwindling crowd of passenger that had been on our flight, a look of relief on his face that the fact that everything had arrived safely.

As we began our walk to try to exit the building, I noted that the airport was busy but not overwhelming, and soon I was following the signs toward the exit.

“So, how was the flight with Mr Finance Manager and his dirty little mistress?” Stefan asked, which earned a laugh in the form of an almost-snort from myself.

“Never call her that again,” I replied as I dug my sunglasses out of my travel bag and placed them on the end of my nose before pushing them more securely closer to my eyes. “If anything, I feel more like the dirty mistress. Did you see the way he looked at her?”

Stefan shot me a sideways glance, his eyebrow raised over his sunglasses in dramatic fashion. I let out a laugh, to which he grinned but then it dropped slightly as he spoke, almost sounding serious.

“Do you know how you looked at him?” Stefan asked as we got to the exit doors.

Stepping outside, we were greeted by a rush of warm air, a welcome change to the bitter cold of the air conditioning that the plane had gifted us through the last two hours.

The sun was shining brightly, and I could see trees swaying gently in the breeze. The atmosphere was vibrant and lively, with taxis and shuttles coming and going, and travellers milling about, some clearly as eager as I was to leave the place and start whatever plans they had conjured up for their time away from home.

“No,” I finally replied.

“You look at him as if he brought light back into the world after all you had known was eternal darkness,” Stefan began. He was sounding oddly poetic, which was unlike his usual self. “You look at him like you want him to ruin your life, and fix it all in one.”

“I do not,” I weakly defended myself, which was met with a warning look from Stefan.

We fell into silence as we focused on following signs to the nearby train station. If we didn’t focus on where we were going, I had no doubt we would end up lost and miss our train. And I refused to let that happen.

Thankfully, the station ended up being just a short walk from the terminal. As we got there, we found that the station was small but bustling, with a mix of tourists and locals waiting for their trains.

Some people I had noticed from the airport back home gathered in small groups along the platform, wearing their cringey F1 merch. I smiled to myself, but then it dropped as I considered the idea that Kota may have been on the same train as us if he was going to the same location.

I looked around on high alert, trying to keep an eye out for anyone as freakishly tall as him with his magnetising eyes. But he never came.

The train arrived shortly after, and for some reason I felt slightly deflated at the idea of not being on the train with him. I pushed the degrading through aside as beneath me as I stepped closer to the edge of the platform in hopes of boarding first.

The doors opened, and I grabbed my suitcase from Stefan before rushing through the open doors. He followed after me, almost tripping as he rushed to try to keep up with me.

I found a seat by the window, eager to use the scenery to distract me form the reminder that no matter where I went over the coming days, there was a chance that Dakota fucking Vernon may be but an arms length away no matter where I went.

The thought was both daunting yet exhilarating. I knew there was an open offer for a hook up, and I knew he would welcome me to his hotel room most likely any given night. The thought made a swirl of pride from inside me. It made me feel cockier, more confident in myself. If he was willing to hook up with me on a trip where Gwen was nearby, then she clearly didn’t mean much to him.

Once the platform emptied and all the passengers had seats and secured their luggage, the train pulled out of the station and I couldn’t help but want to text Kota to ask where he was, and what hotel he would be staying in .

But I kept my phone screen locked and my eyes trained in on the passing scenery.

Stefan seemed bored by the silence, and finally spoke up at long last.

“Do you know how he looks at you?” He asked, almost as if he were trying to stir a pot. I snapped my head to him and narrowed my eyes. I was unsure if I wanted to know the answer, but I finally gave a single nod of my head.

“He looks at you like some kind of art piece—as if he is trying to figure out what you’re all about,” He began, turning his head to watch the passing scenery.

I tilted my head to the side at his comparison. No, surely not. He likely looked at me as nothing more than a piece of meat he could fuck and abuse, then leave on the floor when he was ready to embark onto the next.

But Stefan continued before I could question him.

“But you never let him see the whole you. You can’t blame him for that, Ash. You’re an amazing woman who deserves love,” Stefan was getting all sentimental on me all of a sudden, and I wondered if it was partially due to the reason behind his partying behaviour as of recent.

“Stefan?” I spoke up after a few beats of silence.

“Yeah?” He asked, his jaw sharp as he kept his eyes on the outside world.

“I love you. You’re the brother I never had, and you deserve only the best. I’m sorry if you’re hurting right now, but I want you to know you can come to me at any time about anything.”

I watched as he swallowed. He closed his eyes for a brief second, then he turned his head back to me, his bleached buzz cut shining in the sun. “I know,” He smiled, gravel behind his voice.

I smiled back softly, then we both turned our heads to watch the passing view together in silence.