Burned (Hate at First Flight #2) ✔️

7. Goodbyes and Surprises

I smiled at her and ran into her arms. Despite the fact that I hadn't let the debacle with the interview let me down for the past day, seeing Nancy trying to comfort me broke me down.

"It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay." She rubbed my back soothingly as she let me release my pent up sadness.

After minutes of crying on her shoulder and seeing that her grey blouse was soaked through, I pulled back and wiped away the tears. "I'm fine now," I forced on a smile. "I guess I just had to do that."

She nodded, sympathizing with me. "Well, c'mon then. I've got a surprise for you. And you are gonna love me for it."

"What type of surprise?" I asked as I led her drag my suitcase behind her.

"A Fiorella type of surprise," she threw out before she disappeared out of the airport, leaving me to rush out after her.

When we reached her 2012 Edition Mercedes Benz, she said she would take me out to a Sunday dinner the next day at Fiorellas to cheer me up.

I told her that she didn't need to, but she insisted, knowing how much I loved the place and had gone to it with my parents a lot.

But it was too expensive for my taste now. Back then, I had my parents. We hadn't been rich, but we were well off enough to dine there every now and then.

I tried to reason with her again, bringing up the cost of it and that I didn't need cheering up.

"I'm paying for it out of my pocket and you will be ready tomorrow for dinner," she told me in a tone that told me she wasn't taking no for an answer.

So with more than the average amount of complaining involved, I put on the black Claudia Schiffer dress dad had gotten me for my first opera show where we all went together as a family.

Since it was more than four years old now, it was a little snug in areas it hadn't been before, and showed more amount of leg than it did four years ago, although it still maintained my modesty.

"There?" I asked Nancy before we left home.

She was putting on small studs to complement the pale floral dress mom had gotten her the week before their fatal trip.

She turned around and gasped. "You look divine, my dearest," she answered, looking at me with pride in her eyes.

I guessed she remembered the dress.

"I hope this isn't too much," I said as I tucked a straying lock of her dark hair back into its place.

She smiled reassuringly. "It's perfect."

We arrived at Fiorellas twenty minutes later. I was still not happy that she was wasting her money on something so mundane but held it back.

As soon as we were seated, a server brought over the wine menu. Nancy chose Chauvignon for herself while I order good old orange juice.

As the waiter waited to take down our orders, I tried to hold back my protest as I saw the prices.

Fifteen dollars for chicken soup. Forty two dollars for a piece of steak!

I didn't say a word as the waiter waited for me to order something.

Nancy turned to him and said, "Can you please come back later? It seems we have yet to decided."

He smiled back at her politely before he took his leave.

"Why are you taking too long to decide?" She turned to me. "Just order what you usually order."

"Did you not see the price for a veal steak?"

She nodded. "And?"

"And?" I try to maintain my calm composure. "Nancy this is ridiculous! We could be having dinner at Dominos for one third the price of that steak and have enough left over for breakfast tomorrow!"

She nodded. "Maybe. But I didn't think you'd want to discuss about a prospective summer job in Dominos."

"Maybe? We would have save enough- Wait..." Her last words finally registered. "What summer job?"

She smiled slightly. "This dinner is not really entirely to cheer you up. We're meeting with someone."

"Someone?" I asked, as I looked around the five star restaurant for our mysterious guest. "Who?"

"You know him by name, but you haven't really met him before," she replied, sounding nervous. "He's the one who kept sending us the cheques in the mail every month."

My eyes widened. Dad's former boss?

As if she knew I'd guessed it, she nodded. "He's on his way here to meet us."

"Now?" I tried to wrap my mind around it.

What did dad's former boss want to offer me a job? And why had he always sent the cheques over every month for the past three years without fail, despite me sending it back every time he sent it?

Her phone vibrated on the table. She answered it immediately. "Yes, sir. Yes..." A century of yeses later!, she hung up. "He's here."

I nodded. Maybe I can get the answer to the question I've always wondered about.

Why did my dad's former boss worry about me so much?

"I'll go meet them outside," Nancy said as she got up and left.

Them?

I had been under the impression that I was meeting only dad's former boss tonight.

Who else was with him?

"Right this way, sir," I heard Nancy's voice despite her being quite some distance from me.

Turning around, I recognize the man on many billboards in the city walking behind her.

Graying dark hair, sturdy built, and a serious face that meant business. He was undeniably dressed in a designer tux that accentuated his steady built. Despite him middle aged, he still looked like a showstopper. I pictured the radiant blue eyes that always seemed to hypnotize the passersby, although I couldn't see from where I sat.

I internally held back my scared girl image, intimidated by the man that had a billion dollar empire to his name. As they neared our table, I finally got a look at the third party that I hadn't been aware of.

Walking twenty feet behind the intimidating tycoon, his dark hair styled to perfection, also wearing a suit similar to the person before him but a shade darker, with amusement in his eyes was someone I didn't expect to run into again, in this life or in the next.

Douglas Burns.