Point Of View 2 [*Do not read until you've read the same chapter of ATW]

Chapter 11 Come Fly With Me

Trisha picks out a movie for me and then starts  chatting away with Rachel. But as I try to watch the movie, the pain in my head gets stronger. The cabin lights make it worse. I close my eyes and try to fall asleep.

After a good half hour I can't take any more. I'm gonna have to let someone know. Maggie being Maggie senses something is wrong and begins to bark at me.

"No, Mags. Shhh." I whisper to my dog and pet her. "I'm good."  But my dog knows and she will keep barking until someone comes over.

"Maggie... stop.. C'mon now.." I sit up in my recliner and try to calm the dog down. But it's too late. Julia comes out of the other room to investigate.

"Mags, it's ok." I pet her and she finally calms down when Julia comes over.

"James, what's wrong??" Julia quickly kneels next to my recliner and takes my hand.

"I'm fine. I think... I think I'm getting a migraine? I don't know. My head is killing me." I stutter and close my eyes tightly. Maggie lays down by my feet and is no longer barking. Nate must have went and told Jonah for me while Julia helps me drink a little water.

"What's going on, bud?" Jonah kneels down and studies my face.

"I think it's a migraine. I'm not sure." 

 Jonah closes the shade on my window and checks my blood pressure.

"BP is normal. But I can tell you're in pain by the dilation of your eyes. Here..." Jonah rummages through the black bag of medications and I can see Julia tense up. She sits down completely and pets Maggie instead but seeing all the prescription meds, knowing her addiction is in there somewhere, has put her on edge. Jonah pulls out a bottle of Excedrin Migraine and gives me two pills to swallow. The nurse looks back at Rachel.

"Do you have coffee here? Or some kind of caffeine?"

"Sure do. Let me go get that for you, sir." Rachel goes to the kitchen area. I stare at Julia who is staring at the black bag. She knows exactly what is in that bag and it's driving her crazy.  

The flight attendant  comes back with my coffee but my hands are too shaky.

"Here. I've got it. Take a sip." Julia takes over while Jonah nods.

"Definitely a migraine but the med and caffeine should do the trick. You don't usually get them though, do you James?" Jonah asks and I shake my head.

"What would cause him to suddenly have one now?" Julia asks but whether she realizes it or not, her eyes are focused back on the black bag. Jonah stands up and zips the bag closed. There is a small combination lock attached to the case and he locks the bag, handing it to Nate for a moment. 

"Flying can trigger migraines in some people. Changes in air pressure can most certainly do it. Lets make sure you're drinking plenty of water so you're not dehydrated and keep it dark and quiet over here." Jonah explains and Rachel pulls the tie to the privacy curtain.

"Try and sleep it off, ok pal?" Jonah pulls the privacy curtain closed.

Is this gonna happen every time we fly?? 

Julia leaves for a few minutes and comes back with an ice pack to hold behind my neck. She lays down in the recliner with me and holds the pack for me.

"These recliners are huge." She whispers, knowing I can't handle sound right now. I continue to talk to her but keep my eyes closed.

Julia combs her fingers through my hair and it relaxes me. Within twenty minutes I feel the pain reliever begin to work.

"I think the pain reliever is starting to kick in a little. My head doesn't hurt as bad."

"Oh good. We will have to remember that for next time. Maybe Jonah can give you something as a preventative." Julia watches me take the ice pack away and put it on the table before laying on my side to face her. I tuck her hair behind her ear and look at her sympathetically.

"I saw the way you looked at that bag."

Julia closes her eyes and nods. I knew she was struggling with that. I put my hand on her heart, feeling how fast it's beating.

"Your heart is beating so hard, babe."

"I know. I felt my heart kick in double time the second I saw Jonah open the bag. I don't want it. But I do. It's so hard."

"I know, sweetie. You're doing a great job. You're aware it will always be an issue. You just gotta keep reminding yourself it's not worth it. You're stronger than your addiction, Julia."

"You should be a motivations speaker."

 I  laugh a little while her eyes are still closed. And then.. I kiss her..

******

*Trisha*

James kisses Julia.

I'm such an idiot. I thought it was over between the two of them. I frown and look away. I really like James and am starting to have real feelings for him, so watching him kiss her is a stab in my heart. He will never be over Julia, will he? Julia takes every single thing I want right out of my hands. First Nate. Now James.

Granted no one knows how me and James flirt around a little but obviously he's not as into me as I am him if he has the urge to kiss Julia like that. So what...she gets to have Nate AND James to herself?

"You good, Banks?" Paul plops down next to me and then follows my eyes to the opening of the partition. "Do you still have a thing for Gallo???"

"What? No.  I mean. I don't know. Don't you have an old newspaper to go read or something old man?" I can feel the heat rising to my cheeks.

"She's not in love with him." He says under his breath while looking at his phone. "She doesn't know what the hell she wants but she's not in love with James. It'll always be Nate."

"And how are YOU so sure of this?"

"I'm a bodyguard. I see and hear everything. I'm alert and aware all the time. Moretti gets confused easily but she always ends up back with Nate."

"Yeah well right now she's sucking face with James so.." I cross my arms in defeat. "She's forty fucking years old. She shouldn't be this confused."

"Trish." Paul looks up from his phone to me. "She may be forty but she's more like.... twelve." He laughs a little. "She's naïve and is just starting to live life now after years of walking around in a fog. Cut her some slack."

"The minute we cut her slack she tears up bathrooms." I huff and earn another quiet laugh from the bodyguard.

"She's a mess." He agrees and looks back down at his phone. "But she's not into James Not the way he wants her to be."

"Isn't talking about this shit with me weird to you, Paulie? We were once...into each other.."

I watch Paul's face lose all emotion and harden up like I said something wrong.

"We were boring together, remember?"

In that split second I realized something. I realized maybe Paul still has feelings for me. He'll never admit it now and will always play it cool but I thought we were on the same page. Now I'm wondering if we're not.

It doesn't change anything for me. My feelings for James are getting stronger the more time I spend with him. How can they not? He's such a nice guy all around. Even to his enemies he's nice. Kill em with kindness nice. I could see me and James being a thing. We have a lot of fun when we're together. We are opposite but so isn't Nate and Julia and they love each other...

 When she's not making out with James.

*****