Danger Zone

Chapter 13: "Everywhere"

Her time in South Africa was almost up. It had been a total blast for Jules, and if anything, she had grown all the closer to Tom. It was obviously way too early to talk about serious feelings from her part, but there had been some affections every now and then. She had just finished packing, when someone knocked on her door.
"Come in!"
Tom. "Before you leave me again, I ...have a bit of a surprise for you."
"And what would that be?"
"I thought of a skydiving date?"
"Skydiving?"
He nodded. "I remember you said you skydive, too, so I thought that could be a fun thing to do before we say goodbye."
"Has anyone ever told you that you're absolutely nuts?" she laughed.
"Got to hear that a couple of times, yes." He looked at her. "So – you in?"
"Is that a rhetorical question? Let's fucking GO!"
"That's my girl!"

She took her phone and texted Nora: "Shit's about to go down, sweetie. I am going to hurl myself out of a plane ...with Tom."
Nora hooted out of excitement. "Love is in the aiiiiiiiiir! So much also for you no longer dating your clients."
Jules grinned and shook her head. "He's nuts. Definitely. But I love it."
"Correction: you love him."
"Negative."

Tom already was waiting for her when she waltzed out of her room, ready to throw herself into a new adventure with him. "Honestly, I ...don't date my clients, and yet I am going on a skydiving date with you. What is this?" she said with a chuckle.
He looked deep into her eyes. "I don't care what this is. I want you. I want to have fun with you, and since you're a daredevil, I decided to ask you out on this one."

When they reached the drop zone, Jules could hardly contain the excitement. Skydiving! And as a bonus with Tom. "Someone pinch me, please", she mumbled. With them was also someone from the film crew, as Jules had asked for some photos of her and Tom on the plane, as well as one when she jumped out. "For Nora?" Tom asked.
"Yep. And the family album", she replied with a chuckle.
"Do you skydive often?"
"Somewhat. I need to feel the thrill of a freefall at 200 kph with my hair on fire every once and a while. Wheeeee!"
"Nice."
They got ready, Jules was wearing a skydiving overall for the occasion, Tom had decided to just go for all black. "Have fun, guys!" Nora had texted her, after Jules had showed her a photo of them preparing. "Not in love already my ass", Nora chuckled. "She skydives with him, but tells me she has no feelings for him."
They had reached the plane, and Jules stopped for a second. "Wait, time for some famous last words ..." She took out her phone again and filmed a short video: "Nora, if I don't see you again after this, it's been great to know you, you absolute bish. And at least, I died doing something I love."
"I'll keep an eye on her!" Tom blurted out. He looked at her: "Ready?"
"Bring it the fuck on!"

As the plane was gaining altitude, they couldn't stop goofing around again. Jules felt strangely calm and happy around Tom, and at some point, unnoticed from the crew member, she moved her hand closer to his again. Their fingers met, and for a short moment, they were holding hands again. "Okay, you two, we've reached the requested altitude, 15,000 feet. You ready?"
"Absolutely!" Jules hollered. She quickly recapped what she wanted to have filmed before she jumped out of the plane, and of course was met with a raised eyebrow. Tom said: "It's something between her and her best friend ..." He looked at Jules. "You first?"
"Aye aye, Captain!" She moved to the exit and was crouching in the opening. "I'll see you down there!" she said with a grin, flipped the bird with both hands and yelled "BYEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" while she was tumbling out of the plane in a back flip.
"She always like that?"
Tom nodded and grinned. "Guess why I like her?!" He followed Jules out of the plane.

Once they had ground under their feet again, they hugged tightly. "Thanks for that, Tom. What a blast!"
He smiled at her. "Anytime, Jules. I just wanted to see you all happy, and I guess I managed."
"You totally did." She returned the smile. What is that thing with us?
"I hate to have to say goodbye to you again in a couple of hours", he said.
"Yeah, sucks. But not much we can do about it for now." She looked down for a moment. "Just ...hold me for a while, okay?"
He wrapped her in his arms again. Feels good to have you this close ...