What Nobody Knew

Part 30

Our flight was in an hour and we still had to make it to the boarding gate. There was however no way in hell that I was boarding the plane in my current state.

I insisted on first going to the bathroom to freshen up which earned me a frustrated sigh from Mr Knight. He was convinced that I was going to make us late for our flight. 

There was a packet of wet wipes which had to perform miracles at this point to improve my sweaty condition. I slipped on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Julie, bless her soul, tried her best when packing for me, but only packed in two work appropriate outfits. I thought it best to rather save those for when I'd need it during a business meeting or for whatever work related events that could arise.

I quickly redid my ponytail before exiting the bathroom. 

I walked in the direction where I left Mr Knight and found him within a few seconds talking on his phone. 

So much for being in a hurry.

I looked through the book selection at one of the kiosks while I waited for Mr Knight to finish his phone call.

Julie didn't pack in any of my books, but I couldn't really blame her for not thinking about that. She didn't really get my fascination with books and rarely read any herself unless my recommendation to do so was convincing enough. 

This would be totally fine, but another thing that was missing from my bag? My wallet. I was left without anything to read for who knows how long and unable to buy any new books. 

I stared at the cover of a book that I've wanted to buy since it was released. I've read only excellent reviews of it and even though it was supposed to be a tear-jerker, it was apparently one of the must-read books of the year. Even Reece Witherspoon has decided to support it by first recommending it on her book club and then signing on to produce and star in the movie herself. 

I sighed longingly, grazing my fingers over the cover of the book.

"Do you want to get it?" Mr Knight with all his intensity was standing next to me.

"Oh no, I'm fine." I quickly retracted my hand from the book and turned my back to the book stand.

Mr Knight simply reached past my head, taking a copy of the book and handing it to the cashier. His card was swiped before I had chance to protest any more.

He tossed the book towards me and started walking in the direction of our gate.

"Keep up Elizabeth, I don't need to remind you that we're in a hurry." He said over his shoulder.

I quickened my steps to catch up with him and clutched my book tightly to my chest.

"Of course." I said as I caught up with him, "Oh and thank you, you know, for the book."

Mr Knight glanced at me from the side, "You're welcome."

It was something so simple but this might have been the most pleasant interaction that we have had since I met him. I wouldn't exactly call it friendly, but it was somewhere near that zone.

...

We had already handed in our luggage and were now sitting and waiting for our boarding call. 

I started reading the first page of my book while we waited but quickly lost track of what I was reading because of Mr Knight's knees that kept bopping up and down in my peripherals. I tried to refocus but was unable to ignore his constant movement.

What was with him? Couldn't he just sit still like a normal person for a few minutes? Did he always have to be busy in some way or other?

Nothing about what he was doing was productive in any way. His impatience didn't speed up our boarding call. He was, however, very distracting. But, what else was new.

In the end I put down my book completely and just stared at him. He was looking off into the distance, deep in thought, still rhythmically moving his knees up and down.

"Stop staring at me like that. I'm trying to concentrate." He said without looking at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I answered sarcastically, "Was my staring bothering you. It must be really frustrating when someone does something as distracting as that when you're trying to focus." 

The movement of his legs stopped and he finally looked at me.

"Yes, in fact, it is."

He kept on staring at me, not breaking eye contact. He was doing it again, studying me, trying to figure something out.

I stared right back at him. I have been in his presence for long enough to not be intimidated by his stare and I wasn't about to start backing down now. 

A voice started coming through the intercom, breaking our staring competition.

"Good evening passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 89B to Berlin. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you."

We rose from our seats and followed the other passengers to the boarding gate. We showed our boarding passes and identification documents when prompted to do so. 

Mr Knight strode onto the plane like he owned the airline, which with Mr Knight was a real possibility.

I just followed his lead. I didn't even know what number seats we had. You would think that as Mr Knight's PA I would be the one handling this type of thing. But no, he kept me completely out of the loop with this trip. I could only assume that something unexpected turned up and necessitated the travel.

Why he had not phoned me to organise all of the travel arrangements still bothered me. Was it because he wanted to avoid me after yesterday? But why did he bring along for the trip then? He could've just gone by himself as he had done before.

Mr Knight stopped at a cocoon-like section of the plane which had two reclining chairs, two plush normal chairs, a TV and some curtains to separate your cocoon from the other first class passenger's.

I was standing there, mouth hanging open in disbelief.  I shut it abruptly once I realised that it looked like I wasn't used to anything. Well in all fairness, I wasn't used to anything like this. But still...

A flight attendant came by and put away our luggage. I hadn't moved, uncertain whether I was supposed to join him in the confines of the cacoon. 

Mr Knight went and took a seat in the chair next to the window. He took out his laptop from his bag and within minutes proceeded to type away furiously on it.

I was still standing uncertainly to the side when he spoke up, "Take a seat Elizabeth." 

With that, I made myself comfortable on the reclining chair furthest away from Mr Knight. After a few moments, I realised Mr Knight wasn't going to give me any work and decided to read my book. 

I had to reread my last page, as I had no idea what I read the first time around. Hopefully this time Mr Knight would be able to sit still.