Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
She turns and winces when she sees Leah stumbling over. She forgot her bag and purse at the bar.
“What up, party people?” she hollers, throwing her arms in the air.
In addition to being a little trashy, Leah is a very sloppy drunk.
She collapses onto the chair beside my dad and puts her arm around his neck. I can’t help but chuckle when I see him stiffen like a board.
“I’m so happy you’re coming, Uncle David,” she slurs about an inch from his cheek.
Her breasts are pressed against his arm and I can smell the alcohol on her breath from here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad so uncomfortable. It’s tragic, but also kind of hilarious.
“I made sure we all got seats on the plane together,” she says, slurring her words.
Dad’s eyes bug out wide as he watches the group approaching. Everyone’s eyes are on the groom and his friends as they take over the waiting area by the gate. They’re all loud and hammered and my dad’s worst nightmare.
“Babe, you forgot your bag,” Taint says, dropping her bag on the floor in front of her like it’s a piece of garbage.
“Oh shit,” she says, finally releasing my dad. He breathes for the first time since she arrived. “My wedding dress is in there.”
I stare at the frayed dirty backpack in shock. Her wedding dress is in there? All crumpled up?
But this is Leah we’re talking about. She’s getting married on the beach, so she might be wearing a white bikini down the aisle, complete with a G-string to give my dad a heart attack.
“Babe,” Taint says as he drops down into an empty seat beside a seven-year-old girl. The girl’s mom quickly moves her away. “I’m gonna sit with Stank.”
“The fuck you are,” Leah says, looking like she’s ready to slap someone. “It’s our wedding. You sit with me.”
They start going at it and I can feel my dad getting stiffer and more uncomfortable by the second.
That’s when I hear my name over the loud speakers: Maya Howard, please come to the boarding desk at gate 37.
“That’s you,” Mom says. “Want me to go with you?”
“I got it,” I say as I grab my bag and hurry away from this shitshow.
“Hello,” I say, smiling at the flight attendant at the desk. “I’m Maya Howard.”
“Oh,” she says, checking my ticket and passport. “There’s a problem with your seat.”
“Okay. What’s the problem?”
“The person on the plane before you was sick on your seat.”
My stomach drops. Disgusting. Just what I need to make this vacation a little bit worse.
“So, we’re upgrading you to first class.”
I perk up. “Oh?”
“Unless you want to stay with your group?”
I look over my shoulder at them. Leah is in the middle of the waiting area sobbing with cheap mascara running down her cheeks like she’s about to star in the next Crow movie, Taint and his buddies are arguing with a mother and father from another family, and my dad looks like he’s ready to jump through the window and escape on foot down the runway.
“No, I’ll take the first class ticket,” I say, nodding.
Dad is so jealous when I tell him. “Please take me with you,” he begs.
The boarding is chaotic and loud with these people, and Leah is crying the whole time. I should try to comfort her, this being her wedding and all, but she’s drunk and it’s too early and I’m not in the mood, so I just let them all go in first.
When I finally slip into the huge leather seat that feels like a cloud and the stewardess closes the curtain, locking out my embarrassing family, I’m in heaven.
I’ve never experienced first class before. I work at a non-profit, so extravagant indulgences like this don’t occur in my life. The non-profit I work for—a charity that pays for low income inner city kids to go to summer camp—barely has enough funds to pay me my meagre salary, so this isn’t even a question. I could barely scrounge together the four hundred and forty-nine dollars for the basic seat in the back of the plane.
“Hot towelette?” one of the flight attendants asks, offering me one with a pair of tongs.
“Yes, please,” I say as I take it, wiping my hands and face.
This is so nice. I’m next to the window and the seat beside me is empty. I’ll get good food and drinks and I won’t have to hear Taint and his buddies hollering like orangutans throughout the whole flight.
I sink into the comfy seat and gaze out the window, watching the ground crew working as everyone gets settled. Everyone is boarded, so I guess I have both seats to myself. I put my book on the seat when a gorgeous man turns the corner and catches my eye.
“Whoa…”
He moves down the aisle with the kind of quiet confidence that makes the air shift. I feel it in my bones. My breath catches in my throat as I duck down a little, peeking out behind the seats.