The Pilot

Chapter Twenty Eight

ladies & gentlemen this is your Captain speaking...

30 minutes later they were cruising at 40,000 feet. The sky was blue and the air was calm. Although the atmosphere inside the cabin was not as calm. Stefania hadn't moved from her seat & had barely taken her eyes off the door to the flight deck. She decided to take matters in to her own hands. She stood up and walked towards the flight deck. She knocked on the door and said "Danielle it's me, can I come in please?" "It's your jet Stefania, I guess you can go wherever you want" came the voice from inside. Stefania let out a sigh before opening the door. She stepped through closing the door behind her, sitting down in the spare pilot chair. She didn't speak though. She just sat there watching the blonde concentrate on all the instruments the jet had to offer.

"Stefania, did you come in here just to stare at me?" Danielle asked not removing her eyes from the dials in front of her, although Stefania was sure she saw a hint of a smirk on the blonde's lips. "I uh... I wanted to talk" Stefania said, her voice a bit lower now. "I don't really want to right now. I can't afford to be distracted" Danielle replied. Stefania thought about this for a minute before she spoke again. "Ok, that's maybe a good thing then. So I'm going to do all the talking and you're going to listen. Ok?" Danielle nodded in response, not saying anything. "Grazie" Stefania let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "So, first off Danielle. I like you. I like you a lot! You need to know that. Secondly, I'm sorry about Cooper. I'm sorry that he trashed your bar, I'm sorry that he hurt you & Andrew and I'm sorry for what he said about me. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, there is absolutely nothing going on between myself and Caterina. Yes, there is a history there but that's exactly what it is... history. We had a sexual relationship for like 2 weeks. Years ago.  It was never emotional. We never even went on any dates. So whilst Cooper was right in that aspect. He was wrong about... uh... how do you say... em... uh... he was wrong about what he thinks he saw when he and I were together. I never cheated on him & I never would cheat! When I'm in a relationship, I'm all in that relationship - 100%. Caterina has been my PA and best friend for 15 years. We have a bond. She knows my thoughts before even I do & I love her... as a friend. Nothing more. She's in love with Kevin and, Danielle, I'm in l... well, like I said. I really like you!"

Silence fell between the two of them but Stefania could see tears falling down Danielle's cheeks. She reached her hand over, gently wiping the droplets away with her thumb. Danielle took a deep breath before speaking. "Stefania?" "Si, Bella?" "Thank you for saying that. I want you to know that I heard you but I need time. Let me process and we can have a conversation tonight yeah? I presume we'll be sharing a room again?" "Of course Bambina. I wasn't sure if you'd still want to share with me but we can." "I do" Danielle nodded. "Ok then" Stefania stood up placing a gentle kiss to Danielle's temple. She turned towards the door as Danielle caught her by the arm. "You don't need to leave" the blonde whispered. "You can stay in here. Just because I don't want to talk right now doesn't mean I don't want to be with you" Stefania couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips. She sat back down again running her hand down Danielle's muscular arm as she did.

Again a silence fell between them but it was a comfortable silence this time. Stefania watched in awe as Danielle studied the dials and gauges in front of them. She had no idea how Danielle had ever managed to learn to fly this thing. Danielle looked to her right and could see Stefania gazing in wonder at all the instrumentation in front of her. "Would you like to have a go at flying Stefania?" She asked. The brunette looked at her with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. "Danielle are you crazy!? I can't do that." "You can, it's easy. The main thing you need to worry about is keeping this dial here level and in the centre of the window. Put your hands on the control wheel in front of you like I'm doing with mine." Stefania hesitantly reached forward. "Ok now pull it up towards you. Good. Do you feel the resistance?" "Si, I do" Stefania replied nervously. Danielle reached forward flicking a switch that transferred control to Stefania. "Ok, you have complete control now. The entire jet is your responsibility. You're good here while I go relax with the guys yeah?!" Danielle grinned standing up from her seat. "DANIELLE SAVRE DON'T YOU DARE!" Stefania said clearly panicked.

Danielle burst out laughing "don't worry Baby, I'm only joking" she said as she ran her fingers through Stefania's hair gently scratching her scalp. She returned to her seat and studied Stefania. She was mesmerising. Her brown hair falling effortlessly over her shoulders. Dark Mediterranean features etched perfectly into her olive skin. Her jaw and neckline being that if an ethereal goddess. Danielle genuinely couldn't believe how lucky she was that a woman as beautiful and elegant as Stefania was interested in her. But interested, she was, and Danielle needed a way to push through her insecurities and trust Stefania. She was knocked from her daydream by a bump of turbulence though. Stefania instantly freaking out asking Danielle to take control back. "You're ok Baby, it's just a bit of turbulence but I've got you." She said as she took control of the jet again. There was that word again though and Stefania couldn't help the butterflies swarming in her stomach at being called Baby. She liked it. And she hoped that it meant Danielle was ok with the Caterina situation. A few more bumps of turbulence and they were once again cruising smoothly. After a few minutes Stefania spoke, "Danielle?" "Hmm?" "Thank you for listening to me earlier" Stefania said almost in a whisper. "Stef... we will have a proper conversation about this tonight but what I will say for now is, of course I was going to hear you out. I wasn't about to throw this, whatever this is, away so quickly. You deserved to be heard if nothing else." Stefania didn't know what to say so instead she stood up, leaned over the top of Danielle cupping her face with her hands. She leaned in connecting their lips together. Danielle reaching up behind Stefania's neck pulling her in as close as possible. The kiss started to deepen when Danielle pulled away. "We can't Stef" she whispered. "I can't get distracted when I'm flying" she laughed. "That is very wise Bambina" Stefania smirked. She sat back down but let out a yawn. "Baby, why don't you go lie down for a nap. You have a bed back there for a reason" Danielle said. "Hmmm, you know, maybe I should employ another pilot" Stefania said tapping her lips with her finger. "What!? WHY??" Danielle asked shocked by the statement. "Well, I would very much like to use that comfy bed of mine to join the mile high club with the pilot currently flying my jet but she can't afford to get distracted so the solution would be to bring two pilots on every trip no?" Stefania asked with a shrug of her shoulders. Daniele could only laugh now. "Vai via Stefania. Fai un pisolino e ci vediamo tra un'ora quando siamo atterrati" "Ha, Ok Bambina" she smiled standing up. "Oh Stef..." "yeah?" "You can tell Jason and Chandra about us if they ask by the way. Kevin and Cat... hmm," she took a breath "Caterina both know so I guess it's only fair. Although I'm not exactly sure what you should tell them. But I guess you can tell them everything until now." "Ok Bella" Stefania gave the blonde one last quick kiss and then exited the flight deck.

She sat down at the table with Chandra and Caterina. "I take it that went well then as you were in there for a while?" Caterina asked. "Si. I guess. Better than I had expected in fairness. She's agreed to have a proper conversation in our room tonight about it though. I think she believed me but she has such massive walls around her heart, they're going to be hard to get through." Stefania said with a sad sigh. "You'll get there Stef. I think she'll be worth it for you." Caterina said. "Ok, so I wasn't going to ask but now I have to. Is something going on with you and Danielle?" Chandra chipped in. "Uh, yes. Only since last night though and I'm not too sure what that something is exactly yet but Cooper and his big fat mouth may have just set me back a long way with her!" Stefania huffed. "Jason, sweetheart, you owe me 20 bucks" Chandra grinned. Stefania rolled her eyes and laughed whilst shaking her head before announcing. "I'm going for a nap. I'll be back out here in time for landing"

45 minutes later and they once again heard Danielle's voice on the speakers "hello again team. We'll soon be arriving at San Francisco International Airport. Please make sure you are buckled in for landing and if Stefania is still sleeping can someone please go wake her up." Danielle laughed. "See you back on the tarmac" Stefania, who was awake again couldn't help but smile at how goofy Danielle is before making her way back out of the bedroom and getting herself buckled into a seat by the window. She watched as the plane swiftly & smoothly touched down in San Francisco.