“And it’s always good to know your bags are definitely on board the right plane too,” I add, trying not to stare at her. The sunlight is slanting in through the window, turning her hair gold and her eyes into twin blue fires.
“And we have blue skies,” she says cheerfully, peering out of the window. She seems surprisingly laid back, and I feel as if I’m getting to know the real Cindy, the one behind the customer service face.
We’re interrupted briefly when the air stewardess comes over to see that all is well. Then she closes the main cabin door. It gives a quiet hiss as the seal engages. She comes back over to us once the door is sealed and smiles at me.
“The captain is ready for take off. We’re expecting a smooth and comfortable flight with around a three-hour flight time. I’ll return once we’re air bound to see if either of you need anything. Have a great flight.”
“Don’t worry about coming back, Gloria,” I say. “Just chill out and enjoy the flight. We can grab our own drinks.”
Gloria nods at me and moves away to the staff area of the plane.
“That was totally for my benefit, wasn’t it?” Cindy asks with laughs.
“Totally.”
The engines roar into life, the seat vibrates slightly beneath me, and we start moving.
Alex
“So … what exactly is it that you do?” Cindy asks. Her tone is light and conversational but the question is not.
“You could say I’m a businessman although I don’t really like the word. It always makes me think of a middle-aged, slightly obese man selling things nobody wants to buy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s hardly me, is it?”
“No, because the middle-aged man wouldn’t be so secretive about what he does,” she says seriously.
“I’m not being secretive. Or at least not intentionally. I just don’t want to bore you with the details. But you’ve asked for it now. I’ve acquired The Macau, obviously. I also have three others in Vegas, two in Madrid and one in France. I have hotels all across the world, and I have several clubs in London, New York and Moscow and I dabble in the property market quite a bit. Does that answer your question?”
“In a way.” She gives me a teasing smile. “You’re a jack of all trades.”
I frown. “No, I wouldn’t say that. I only know two things. How to recognize a good deal, and I know how to read people. It means I can negotiate deals most people wouldn’t imagine possible. But once I sign on the dotted line, I rely on people like you who know how the business runs to keep it profitable.”
“And The Macau is a good deal?”
“Yes. At a certain point other things become far more important than money. I can always earn more money, but this might be my last chance to make my great aunt happy.”
Cindy mulls this over for a while. “Do you ever get lonely?”
I am a little surprised by her question and I frown.
“Sorry, was that too personal?”
“No. I never get lonely. Do you?” I ask curiously.
She shifts uncomfortably. “I have my job and my friends. So … no. I don’t get lonely.”
“Do you travel a lot on business?”
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
“But London’s your base.”
“You could say that.”
“So when your aunt asks, we live in London?” she asks.
“Yes, but not together. My great aunt’s predictably old fashioned and she won’t approve of the idea of us living together before marriage, anyway, so you can just tell her the truth about having your own place.”
She smiles and looks relieved. She doesn’t want to have to lie to my aunt any more than she has to. I don’t much like the idea of lying to my aunt either.
“She sounds a lot like my grandmother.” Cindy smiles. “She always wanted me to find a good husband and settle down and be happy. I don’t think she ever accepted that I am happy as I am. She would have felt exactly the same about the idea of me living with a guy before marriage. Living in sin she used to call it. She was a great romantic, she believed love was worth waiting for.”
“It sounds like my great aunt and your grandmother would have gotten along really well,” I say.
“Yes, I imagine they would. I can imagine them now sitting side by side plotting our wedding,” Cindy says with an uncomfortable laugh.
“Speaking of weddings … if my aunt asks, we haven’t picked a date yet. We’re taking things slowly.” I lean to the side and dig into my pocket and then pull out a little box and I hand it to Cindy. “But you will need this though.”
She takes the box from me and opens it. She gasps when she sees the gold ring with a large, sparkling emerald sitting in a bed of diamonds.