Soon. Soon. Not long now. Richard Monesta, creator, owner, and CEO of Monesta Inc., a multi-million dollar computer corporation, thought as he waited for the commercial plane to start boarding and resisted the urge to run his fingers impatiently through his auburn hair. Richard knew he'd shocked his assistants with his decision to fly commercial instead of using the company jet. He had his reasons for doing so, however, they were reasons that he felt no urge to share with his assistants. Reasons that would shock them even more than his decision to fly commercial, reasons that were too personal to share, and reasons that would anger them when they found out about their seating arrangements.
//Damn// he thought as he looked down impatiently at his watch, //would time never speed up?// He felt like he'd been waiting for four hours instead of the ten minutes that had oozed by since he'd last glanced at his watch.
"Mr. Monesta, sir. We can go ahead and board now," Gregor Style's voice informed him from his left.
It was all Richard could do not to howl in delight at the news. //Howling was not something a CEO did// he told himself. //At least not in public and not if he wanted to stay CEO for long// his subconscious added. Nodding his reply, Richard hurried toward the entrance ramp, his entourage scurrying to keep up.
"Good day, Mr. Monesta. My name's Irene, I'm the head flight attendant on this trip," said the pretty stewardess standing at the entryway in greeting as he neared the door. "If you'll follow me I'll help you get settled while Tina and Rayanne here help the rest of your group get settled in second class."
"What? What do you mean we'll be in second class? There's been a mis-" Gregor began while the other three women sputtered from behind them.
"No there is no mistake," Richard said without turning around. "I've had a few changes made to the seating schedule, Gregor. You, Ms. Dannor, Mrs. Forester, and Mrs. Talmont will be in second class this trip. I have arranged for you to receive all the amenities of first class, however. If I have need of you, I'll send for you. Have a good trip."
With those words, Richard left his sputtering staff to deal with their new seating. He'd learned long ago that the best way to deal with staff members was by stating the facts and not leaving room for argument. If his staff didn't like how he ran things, he'd told them when he'd hired them, then he'd be happy to give them a recommendation for the next job they had. Over time they'd learned he'd meant what he'd said and had come to accept that in most cases when he'd made up his mind, he'd made up his mind. So their sputtering and spouting now didn't even register in his mind as he followed Irene to first class.
He felt his stomach give a little fluttering motion as giddiness and anticipation warred within him while he waited to see what was on the other side of the dark blue curtain that separated the two classes on the plane. //Would he be behind there? What if he was not? Oh god, please don't be so cruel as to make him have changed his mind.// These thoughts tumbled around in his mind, as the first class cabin was revealed to him.
//Thank you god// He prayed silently as he spotted the familiar dark hair of Jayden Ashley, his lover, sitting in one of the seats.
"Here you go Mr. Monesta," Irene said, moving to let him sit. Only to be surprised as he went and sat, not in the seat he had reserved, but in the one next to the man sitting across the isle. Although he couldn't see her, he could picture the amazement as she watched him lean over to Jayden, who'd smiled up at him as he sat down, and proceeded to kiss him.
"Hello love," Richard said several minutes later, after he'd finally realized he would have to either stop kissing Jayden and breathe, or die before they got to the really good stuff. And while he didn't think dying while he kissed his beloved was a bad way for a man to go, he also really wanted to get to the good stuff. So he reluctantly let go of Jayden's lips and smiled at him, looking into the green eyes that had entranced him from the first moment they'd met. Both men ignored Irene, who was standing nearby.
"Hello yourself, handsome," Jay's deep voice poured over him, soothing nerves and bringing desire to life. "You ready for this?"
"Yeah, are you? Are you sure?" Richard asked, letting that little bit of doubt creep into his tone. The doubt that kept screaming at him that Jay would have a change of heart. He would decide he really didn't want to give up the wealth and fame of being the world-renowned artist Jayden Ashley and run away to Hawaii and spend the rest his life as a rich beach bum with Richard Monesta. "I told you I'd understand if you said no."
"And I told you, where you go, I go. We're in this together. Now sit back, shut up, let this lovely lady serve us, and tell me how your father took your news?"
And so, as the plane boarded, his assistants silently fumed at his highhandedness, and the shocked stewardess got them the drinks they requested, the two men talked quietly while holding hands and occasionally leaning over to give each other a kiss. Neither man noticed the plane starting down the runway forty-five minutes later. When the wheels left the cement track, Richard stared into the eyes of his beloved and eagerly anticipated the years of love ahead of them.