Frequent Flyer

Chapter 3

Jake sat back in his First Class pod and was enjoying the perfectly chilled glass of champagne, along with the bowl of warn nuts, as he scrolled through the movie options on his personal screen. He knew that getting any work done in the first couple of hours on the flight would be futile since the flight attendants would be coming up and down the aisles with drinks, meal orders and making sure that their clients were well taken care of. If he needed to get some work done, he would take advantage of the quiet time, when the lights would be turned off and those who wanted, could sleep for a few hours before being awoken for breakfast prior to their arrival in Zurich.

As he scrolled through his movie options and enjoyed his champagne, one of the flight attendants caught his eye. For some reason he didn't see her before, but now she was headed straight for him. A beautiful smile and the way she carried herself, Jake was instantly attracted to her. He could feel the excitement as he realized that she had locked on to him and seemed to be on her way over.

"Good evening Mr. Otero and welcome back. How are you this evening? I am Fabienne Glauser, the Service Director on board."

"Hello Fabienne, pleased to meet you. I have been on this route many times and don't ever remember seeing you before."

"Yes. Correct Mr. Otero. I was working mostly domestic European flights when this opportunity came up. Maybe you knew Mr. Schmid? He decided to retire recently after many years service. Wanted to enjoy his grandchildren and spend more time with his wife. So I now have the pleasure of working his routes."

"Yes, I knew Mr. Schmid. I was on many of his flights. He did a great job and I am sure the company will miss him as well as many regular passengers. But I too, am pleased that you are the one to replace him." That comment made Fabienne blush slightly and Jake noticed it with great pleasure. He now knew he had a chance, and with no ring on her finger, in his mind, it was good as done.

"Well thank you Mr. Otero, I hope that I will meet your expectations. On that note, we will be serving dinner in an hour after cocktails and was wondering, for your main course, if you would prefer the Seared veal tenderloin and braised veal cheek in Pinot Noir with the purple potato puree and green beans; The roasted Guinea fowl, red wine sauce with juniper spätzle and braised red cabbage; The seared sea bass with beurre blanc sauce served with pilaff rice and Mediterranean vegetables; Or, the gratinated polenta slice with mushroom ragout and Marsala wine sauce served with Chanterelles, porcini mushrooms and datterini tomato?"

"A great selection as always Fabienne. I will have the seared tenderloin and braised cheek please.". "Very good Mr. Otero. My colleagues will be by shortly with the cocktail cart. Enjoy your flight."

Jake reclined his seat, selected a murder mystery movie, finished off his champagne but couldn't take his eyes off of Fabienne as she walked up and down the aisles making sure everything was in order and everyone was attended to. He was already planning their evening together. He was only in Zurich for one night before having to fly to Paris the next day so he was already thinking of where they would dine, where they would take a walk, so that he could get closer to her, and how they would finish the night at her place.

Jake would normally get a couple of hours work in and then sleep on the flight so that he would be better adjusted to the time zone and reduce jet lag, but he knew that in order to convince Fabienne to go out with him on short notice, he would have to stay up working so that he could get every opportunity to request a beverage or amenity and have her get to know him. So after dinner, when the lights went out for the evening, and most passengers turned in, Jake took out his laptop and began to get a head start on his upcoming meetings and begin his plan to talk with Fabienne as much as possible.

Throughout the evening Jake would regularly get up to stretch and walk to the front where the First Class stand-up bar was located, and where Fabienne could be found, in order to get a refill to his wine or a snack. Any excuse to see her. Every time he did so, Fabienne would politely take the time to chat with him; since he always was ready with a question that would get them talking for a while. She wasn't too busy, with all the other passengers fast asleep, and she wasn't at all bothered by his questions. She started to get the picture and was more than happy to play along.

What Jake didn't know was that Fabienne had noticed Jake before he noticed her. She had seen him being greeted at the limo drop off area by one of her airline's local concierges and escorted down the airport terminal towards the VIP area. She was already praying that he would be on her flight and would be lying if she didn't admit he peaked her interest. He was tall, handsome and in great shape. Plus he was a sharp dresser who always turned heads. So even if her head almost snapped off as she turned to look at him, he wouldn't have noticed it. Little did he know that as soon as she saw him board the plane, her wheels were already spinning thoughts of how she was going to get this man interested in her. As a service director she normally would be up front to serve her First Class passengers but since she was the boss, she could have easily worked the business cabin, or come up with an excuse to bump him up to First Class, so she wasn't worried about making sure she would get to know him.

They spent most of that night talking and getting to know each other and if it wasn't because Fabienne was working, and coworkers were continuously coming in and out of the area, she would have dragged him into the First Class washroom fitted with a shower and taken advantage of him right there and then. It was taking all of her willpower, as he smoothed talked her, to not throw in the towel and have her way with him. She could feel the warmth in her body and was certain that he was well aware that she wanted him bad because she was having a hard time hiding it. As the engines provided a soothing constant hum in the bar area, Fabienne couldn't keep thoughts of being with him out of her head. She drifted off to a point where she was no longer listening to him but just picturing herself in his muscular arms. Just then he brushed his hand over hers and it took everything to not jump over the counter in that instance. With the look in her face, Jake knew at that moment he had won her over.

The lights slowly came on and it was time for the flight attendants to start preparing the cabin for breakfast. The crew started to show up in the front so Jake headed back to his seat. As he waited for breakfast to be served, Jake settled back in and quickly finished off some of the work that needed to be done before his upcoming meeting. He gathered his overnight kit and headed to the washroom to brush his teeth and freshen up a bit. He was feeling the lack of sleep so a cold splash of water on the face was a welcome eye opener. He would be in meetings all morning and have the rest of the afternoon and evening free, but after a long flight like this a splash on the face wouldn't do it. He would need a shower in the arrivals lounge as soon as they touched down. No time to use the First Class shower this time. He dried off grabbed his things and headed back to his seat to have breakfast. Soon after, they were landing in Zurich. He could see the ground as the plane came in for a landing. Zurich Airport was one of his favourite airports since it was small and easy to get in and out of without long treks through the terminals like other major airports.

The plane landed and Jake gathered his belongings. As he walked off the airplane he turned his head and smiled at Fabienne as he gripped the piece of paper in his pocket that had her address and phone number on it