Young Retribution

VIII

After I had finally snapped and made sure Dominick knew exactly how I was feeling about him, the road trip to the private airport remained quiet. I had kept my gaze focused on everything outside of my window, and luckily for the both of us, he had kept his hands on the steering wheel. From the reflection of the window, I had seen him look my way multiple times, and even open his mouth like he was going to say something, but he had been smart enough in the moment to realize that speaking to me wasn't going to be a smart move on his part. The mood for talking had vanished the moment I had told him that I hated him.

The silence remained between us even as the car pulled onto a side road, and then moved onto the property of a private residence. It whipped around the back end of a large building, and stopped a few feet away from a small jet.

I'd just taken off my seat belt when my car door opened. I stepped out and ignored the man holding onto the door. Dominick got out on his own, and barked a few orders for the bags in the trunk to be grabbed. He then walked to my side, grabbed my hand with his, and pulled me towards the steps of the jet. Like the stupid gentleman he was, he allowed me to go first. I rolled my eyes and stomped my way into the tiny compartment.

It was hard to keep my amazement to myself. Every movie I'd seen with a fancy, privately owned jet had been pretty dead on with its description of what the real thing looked like. This one was lined with cream colored carpets. All of the seats were leather and a slightly darker color, with their seams and divots a dark burgundy. On the left hand side, there was a three cushioned couch, a table, and a single chair. On the right, there were two of the chairs, facing each other, a second table, and a loveseat. The sides were set up opposite of each other, with the tables and couches at different ends of the cabin. At the back, there was a single, wooden door. It was closed, but I had a pretty good feeling of what was behind it.

As I felt Dominick's presence grow closer behind me, I broke myself free from the trance of the beauty of the jet, and quickly took my seat in the single chair on the left side. There was a smirk playing at his lips, something I noticed when I made the mistake of looking up at him. My eyes slightly squinting, I pulled my phone from my back pocket, grabbed my headphones from my purse, turned on my music, and then turned my chair so that I was facing the window. I had agreed to play the part of the loving girlfriend in order to keep Paisley safe, but when he told me his conditions, he said specifically to play the role once we stepped foot into his home. This was a jet, not a home, therefore I was going to continue with the truth, an annoyed ex-girlfriend that wished he was still locked up behind bars.

At first, ignoring him had been easy. The sky above the clouds was a beautiful sight, and during the first half of the flight, the sky was almost completely clear. Plans of green rolled beneath us, with spots of darkened blue scattered randomly as we passed over lakes and rivers. I'd only ever flown a few times in my life, but every single one of them left me in a peaceful state of mind afterwards. It was something I didn't even realize that I needed, and for the first time since Dominick took me away from Paisley and Tanner, I felt my lips forming a slight smile.

As the jet moved me farther away from my safe and happy life, the clouds began to slowly gather, until I was no longer able to see ground. I couldn't stop myself from chuckling as it hit me that in a way, the gathered clouds represented exactly what I was going through. The peacefulness that I had found in Paisley, Tanner, Holly, and everyone else in Virginia was slowly being clouded over as I moved closer to my life with Dominick. The things that had put a true smile back onto my face after all the darkness I had faced back in California, were slipping through my fingers.

As darkening thoughts start to form in my head, I feel one of my earbuds pulled from my ear. Forcing my gaze away from my small window of peace, I find Dominick standing over me, his phone pressed up against his ear, "What size dress do you wear now?"