Flight K109 (#1 ¬ Aiello Racing Series )

Elliot Ilves

Mia falls asleep on me halfway through the movie and I can't find it in me to wake her up, not until we land at least. She looked exhausted when I sat down next to her, and I feel kind of bad that I sat next to her because I feel like if I didn't she would have gotten the sleep she actually needed on the flight. But I had to sit next to her, I was just too curious.

So I let her sleep on my shoulder. Once I make sure she's properly asleep I pause the movie and put the laptop away, making sure I don't move my shoulder too much in the process. I take the headphone out of her ear and move the hair away from her face. 

I don't know Mia very well, hell, she's practically a stranger, but from the little we've talked I get the feeling that she would want me to wake her up immediately if she knew she fell asleep on me like this. I still wouldn't do it. Mia seems to never rest when she's awake, she looks like there are a million things running through her head, and it seems like she's trying to figure me out all the damn time. But she looks peaceful right now, and I kind of enjoy having the time to just study her without interruptions.

She left a book out next to her on the seat, I assume she intended to read it. I make sure she's still sleeping and I reach over with my unoccupied arm for the book. It looks cute from the outside, it's got a cartoon couple kissing on the front. They're dressed as scientists.

There are a few colored tabs further into the book, only two or three, and I wonder what they're supposed to mark. I decide to leave it a mystery for next time and I open the book where Mia left her bookmark and start reading.

"Mia," I whisper a while later when the plane's landed and people are starting to get up, "Mia wake up. We've landed."

Mia stirs and groans, like a child begging to sleep five more minutes. But then it appears she remembers where we are, her eyes fly open and she practically jumps off my shoulder.

"What- we're here already?!" she asks groggily, "How long have I been out?"

"Like two, maybe two and a half hours."

"Two and a- wait have I been asleep on you this entire time?" 

"Pretty much." I nod

Her cheeks go red and I try my best not to laugh at how predictable she is and how right I was.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry. You didn't have to do that at all, you should have woken me up." she apologizes, "God that must have been so uncomfortable for you." she says more to herself than to me

I get out of my seats and pull my bag and hers out of the overhead compartments, because the plane is starting to empty out and I don't want to get stuck here. I hand it over to her and let her walk out first, because chivalry isn't dead. 

She graciously let's me walk with her as we make our way out to the arrivals gate. We walk in silence up until we actually make it out of the arrivals gate, where she stops and turns to me.

"Thank you," she starts, "for letting me sleep on you for multiple hours at a time. That was very....nice....of you to do."

"No problem, I try my best." I say jokingly

"Well, I should go." she says, turning around, "Bye."

"Bye! I'll see you next.....week." I call, but she's already long gone

Great job Elliot. You embarrassed her idiot.

I shake my head at myself and walk out in search of a taxi. At least I managed to talk to her properly this time.

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It's late afternoon when I make it to the apartment. I put my bag down in my room and go out to find Alessandro eating plain pasta on the island. 

"Ciao Elliot. Good flight?"

I take a seat on one of the stools opposite him. "Yeah," I nod, "pretty good."

"You talked to that girl I take it." he says

My head snaps up from my phone, "What girl?". Could he possibly be talking about Mia, impossible, I never told him anything about her.

"The girl I can tell you've been thinking about ever since you came in here, probably before too. the same girl you were thinking about when you got here last week."

"How could you possibly know about that?" I ask in disbelief, "I never told you anything about that."

He shrugs and takes another bite of his pasta, "I'm good at reading into things."

"Yeah no shit." I scoff

We fall into silence as Alessandro finishes off his pasta and puts his dishes into the sink. He sits back down and I can feel him staring at me.

"So," he starts, "is she pretty?"

"Who?"

"The girl, sciocco."

"Oh, yeah....yeah she's pretty."

"Good." he nods

I walk over to the fridge and look through it, I need a drink because I'm pretty thirsty all of a sudden. "Did Guillaume say anything in particular about what we're doing this week?"

"Nah, just tests and stuff. But I thought I'd give you a heads up, your replacement is joining us on Wednesday. I heard Guillaume talking about it over the phone. Apparently he'll be shadowing you most of the week."

Shit, I knew this was coming, I didn't expect it to be so soon. I've done some research on this second choice for the seat. A German guy named Jan Mueller, he's pretty good, he won a couple German karting championships and came second in Asian formula 4 his second season. He's a good driver and a good choice for the F3 seat, and a pretty chill guy, but I've raced against him before, and I'm pretty confident when I say that I still think I'd beat him. Clearly the team thinks so too, since I'm their first choice for the seat, and he's the backup. 

Still, I wanted at least a couple weeks to settle into a rhythm before I had to worry about my possible replacement hovering over my shoulder.

"Great. Just what I wanted for the week." I say, even I cringe at the sarcasm

"Yeah, but I mean what did you want the team to do, leave this guy in the dark all summer with no preparation until you decide whether or not you want to race next season? You can't really blame them."

I sigh and get up from the stool, "No, I guess not."