AIRE FORCED ONE

Don and Lania were on the outs. Twenty-five years of private “Wedded Bliss” was going down in flames publicly. There were whispers. Ever the dutiful wife, Lania was present at every Gala, convention speech, and hostile take-over, at the behest of Don, even if only to hold his coat or to catch his phony air kisses proving to the attendees that he really did have a wife. To add insult to injury, the couple had won the all-expense paid vacay at some posh private villa in Cancun for lovers, bought and paid for by his new acquisition. Lania would have bowed out gracefully were it not for the smiling faces, beaming with jealous envy. Don ate the attention up like it was a big-mac and he was starving. The “happy couple” had to pick up their tickets, travel and arrive together. An entire itinerary was set for the two to spend every moment together. Couples massage, couples kayaking, couples snorkeling, activities to make even Aphrodite say, “Enough is enough!” A slim and sexy Sesnar bolted like lightening from the tiny Texas airstrip.

“So, I guess this flight is supposed to last, what, three hours?” Don said, dropping two diamond shaped carats of ice into his crystal tumbler already tinted amber with congnac. The clinking sound it made reminded Lania of the bell that rings at the start of a boxing match.

“Yes dear, would you like me to tell the pilot to get us there now?” she retorted. As if she could just snap her fingers and make it so.

“That won’t be necessary, I have a few business calls I can knock out while I wait.”

Lania smiled a half-hearted and totally fake smile. Though she had been to Mexico a million times, she never thought she’d find herself thinking it was going to be torture. She loved the country, the people and their culture. Lania loved traveling but she hated traveling with him. Don was a pompous, self-centered, businessman. Because he was filthy rich, he felt entitled to treat the working class as his personal servants, and she hated that too.

“Tell Consuela, she better have my Christian Brothers chilled by the time we get there.” Don said. Lania pursed her lips and sharpened her Miss America posture.

“You jack ass, her name is Adeline.” Rolling her eyes.

Not Consuela, you racist pig. Uggh! He thinks he’s so clever. Whatever. As soon as we get back, this is going to be over. This is it. I can’t take anymore.

“Whatever the hell her name is. I don’t care. You just make sure it gets done!” He stood over her, pointing his finger menacingly.

The plane banked hard to the right and caused Don to hit the overhead compartment with his forehead, then banked to the left and he slammed the back of his head against the other side. Lania clamped her lips with her teeth so as not to let her smile of satisfaction dance across her face. Karma.

Lania found a small measure of peace in the steady hum of the airplane engines. Halfway into the flight, Don was rambling on and on about the business prospects he already had lined up upon their arrival. “Commerce waits for no man.” He often said.

Unable to stand it any longer, Lania made her way to the front of the cabin in effort to get away from his incessant chatter. A flash of bright light spilled beneath the captain’s door and caught Lania’s eye. She opened the door just in time to see the only pilot drop through the floor and fall away from the tiny aircraft. His parachute popping open like a puff of smoke. Her heart jumped like a jack rabbit in her chest.

Eyes wide as golf balls, she quietly closed the door behind her. She could see only endless pillows of clouds beneath her as she looked at the opened trap door. Wind whipping her hair. He said Brittany was his new intern…, She came highly recommended. What college did she go to? Why did she need unlimited access to the country house. Where was my Tiffany bracelet. And how did my Mercedes end up at The Waldorf…

“Guest of Cassa de Amour will have no problems finding that lost spark… Love Lives Here.” the last line of the brochure read. On top of that, she laid the itinerary and finally, at long last, the divorce papers. She grabbed the co-pilot’s parachute, snapped it on and into the blue she fell. Free.

Chanel Dennis is currently pursuing a BFA in creative writing at Full Sail University. She is an Army veteran who lives in Atlanta Georgia with her husband and three teenage children.