Chapter Two
"What?" Louis exclaimed. "And what kind of name is Orlando anyway?"
The old lady sitting next to him removed her sleep mask and glared. "Young man," she said. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
Louis dropped his voice to just above a whisper. "Since when, Harry?"
"I dunno," Harry said. "But I don't like his name any more than I like him."
"I can't blame you." Louis scoffed. "Orlando."
"Turn off your cell phone," the woman said. "It's the rules of the airline."
He covered the mouthpiece with his hand, both to save Harry from being subjected to her venom and to save his phone from being showered in a spray of her saliva. Uh. Gross. "During take-off or landing. Near as I can tell we are thirty thousand feet above the Atlantic," he told her, turning his attention back to the phone. "Sorry, Harry."
"What should I do?"
"You have to tell her," Louis advised. "You talk about her all the time."
"What if she says..." his voice trailed off.
It was as though the words were too painful for him to speak. "She won't," Louis said assuredly. "Trust me."
The woman tapped his shoulder and pointed to her sleep mask.
Goodness! Could she be any more irritating? Louis gave a tight, forced smile. "What is the matter? Is your mask broken, dear?"
"The mask is fine. Your talking is interrupting my sleep."
"I'll only be a minute more," he said, angling his body away from hers. "Trust me," he continued his earlier thought. "Jessica would be right mad not to feel the same way."
The woman audibly huffed. Weren't the elderly supposed to be sweet? Louis widened his eyes. "Have you something against a love story?" he asked her. "You're a bit nippy."
She grunted something virtually incoherent and pulled the mask down to cover her eyes.
"Worse part is," Harry continued, "she wants me to meet him."
"So meet him and then tell her," Louis said.
"You think?"
"Yes Harry, I do think."
The woman cleared her throat and he couldn't take the implications anymore. "Listen, Miss whatever your name is. I'm sorry if my hushed whisper is disturbing you but I can assure you I won't be much longer."
"Good," she grumbled.
If he could have growled, he probably would have. "Listen Harry," Louis said. "I have to go but do tell her how you feel. The worst two words to put together in life are 'what' and 'if.' Take it from someone who knows."
Harry's voice had notes of hesitation. "Okay," he said. "Thanks Lou."
"Anytime," Louis replied. He turned his head in the direction of the miserable woman and fought an intense urge to stick out his tongue at her. What a vile creature she was. After hanging up with Harry, he found himself nervous for his friend and angry at the woman. Truly, he could not wait to get off the plane.
A few hours later, he wondered what on earth he'd been thinking. Bloody hell it was cold! He reminded himself it was Christmastime, a worthy cause to be so out of sorts about the weather but as he stood in line at the car rental, he folded his arms around himself and his teeth chattered relentlessly.
