Chapter 3 Miserable Flight

Lucky for August, the “family” dinner was as pleasant as meals with Hanleys went. It was the usual passive-aggressiveness from Julia and her two younger children that went over his father’s head. Grandma Carilla and Nathan’s silence as they try to appease both sides. And Owen’s lack of awareness as head of the family.

"Sir, are you sure you don’t want to use the private plane? It would be more comfortable and faster for you,” August’s assistant informed him. Having no patience to stay there any longer, he decided to book a flight to Alaska. It was Carilla who suggested that he go to their unused winter home if he needed somewhere to let off some steam.

“I’m sure, Ezra. And you don’t have to come with me. Just take this time off, alright?”

And that’s where he was now, sitting on one of the hard chairs in the airport waiting space. Instead of scrutinizing a joint venture contract, August found himself watching a woman a few seats away. More specifically, he was fascinated with what and how she was drawing.

They were simple and less refined pencil strokes. Still, they formed a terrific sketch of what appeared to be a woman dressed in a delicate evening gown. It amazed August how detailed the dress was from the draped off-shoulder sleeves down to the flowy skirt. The woman even added details on the side of the paper for possible accessories to go with it.

He thought, “I should check if we need more artists. We could use her.”

>>>

Evangeline was grumpy and miserable at the moment. Not only was she suddenly woken up by Damien so early in the morning, but now she had to travel to Valdez. The snowiest place in Alaska, in January of all time! Just because His Highness August without thought decided to go there.

They haven’t met yet but she was already beyond pissed with him. “Just wait till he’s in front of me. I’ll make him regret ever having thoughts in his head,” she muttered, the weight of the pencil becoming heavier that it almost poked a hole in the paper.

“You’ve got to calm yourself down, Eve. Just do this so you could finish quickly,” she soothed herself and continued to add more elements to her drawing.

It always calmed her down. Coming up with disguises that she and her team could use, then making them come to life through drawing.

She thought, “He better have used a private jet. I’ll make sure I get to ride that when I get home.”

But as always, the universe hated her.

Her phone pinged to show a message from Hugh, “Hey, turns out he’s taking the same flight as you. If you happen to meet him, keep it minimal. Good luck.”

Evangeline scoffed, “When was luck ever on my side?”

But that snide comment only hid the increasing panic. It was a comfort that her friend would be there, but the plan was for her and August to “accidentally” meet in Alaska, not on the plane. Evangeline wasn’t mentally prepared to do this yet. And she was still sleepy, for fuck’s sake!

At the same time, the devil’s advocate also sent her a text. Damien typed, “Heard he’ll be on the same plane. Make sure he notices you right away. You’ve just been given a chance to accelerate this job, don’t waste it.”

Evangeline sighed. Seemed like she had to listen to Damien instead of Hugh this time.  But before she could turn around to look for her target, the speaker began announcing, “Regular boarding call for Flight 75A to Valdez…”

Evangeline had no choice but to move along with the other passengers. Evangeline thought to herself, “Meh, might as well go along. If I see him in there, then I’ll make a move. If not, then more sleep time for me.” She then put her hood over her head, keeping a low profile.

There wasn’t a lot since the plane had a 2-2 seat configuration. On the way to the plane, Evangeline together with the other passengers had to suffer through the noise made by an arguing couple.

“It’s your fault!”

“It’s always mine, isn’t it? Why don’t you just admit that you’re wrong this time?”

She couldn’t make much out of it what with the woman’s screeching hisses and her husband’s deep grumbling. And boy, oh boy did it make perfect timing.

As she got inside the mid-sized aircraft, she discovered that she’ll have to sit beside the husband while the wife was escorted to a different cabin by a steward. Evangeline lamented, “Why did they have to put him beside me?”

The man didn’t care anyway because as soon as his bottom hit the padded chair, he went completely limp and asleep. She took her seat by the aisle and was thankful she didn’t have to entertain him complaining about his wife.

After all the boarding procedures, they were finally in the air. Evangeline sat back with her sleep mask on and began to drift into a tranquil state.

But not even an hour had passed when she awoke to a massive weight squeezing her. The man was indeed a heavy sleeper as he leaned on Evangeline with saliva rolling down his chin.

In disgust, Evangeline tried to push him away and wake him up to no avail. “Hey, wake up,” she grunted. “This must be why you’re wife hates you,” she quietly added.

In her struggle, she didn’t notice someone getting her attention until she felt a soft tap on her back. With a scowl, she turned and said quite roughly, “What?”

The pictures didn’t do justice as she came face to face with August Hanley. Her tight frown had dropped after seeing his boyish smile.

August scratched the back of his head and said, “Oh, you’re the girl.”

“Oh shit, does he know who I am?” Evangeline internalized. The level with which her face didn’t show any trace of panic or shock was Oscar-worthy. 

She cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Excuse me?”

August, who was likewise enamored with her, stammered with his response, “U-uh, you’re the girl from the airport."

Evangeline furrowed her brows. “Yes? That’s how I got into this plane.”

The heir shuddered at how stupid he must sound right now. “Of course. I mean I saw you back at the waiting lounge.”

Evangeline almost smirked as she thought, “Here it comes, a pick-up line. He must be the flirty type then, the easiest to deal with.”

But August continued, “Your sketch was really nice. I was watching and you made it look so easy to create such an art piece. But I know that not a lot could draw like that.”

Oh. That came out of the left field. Evangeline didn’t expect that he’d be the first to notice her instead of the other way around. Plus his comment was the kind that could make her blush instead of people complimenting her beauty.

She stayed quiet that August felt the need to defend himself, “I-I wasn’t being a creep or anything. It’s just that your style was good and I couldn’t help but stare at your drawing. I’m sorry if that was weird.”

Evangeline blinked several times, pulling herself out of that trance August put her in. Her snoring seatmate already forgotten. “It’s not... thanks,” she breathed out.

August then remembered why he tapped her in the first place. He motioned at the empty, except for his laptop bag, window seat beside him. “Would you like to transfer?”

“What?”

“Would you like to sit here instead? No one’s using it anyway. And don’t worry, I won’t drool on you like him right now.” August sneakily nodded his head to point at the sleeping form behind Evangeline.

She didn’t let him insist further. “Oh, thank God. I was wondering why his wife didn’t switch seats with me. You just saved the next 20 hours of my life. Thank you.”

August adjusted himself to let her pass, the scent of dark dahlia flowers lingering around him. He quickly cleared his throat and tried to come up with a distraction while Evangeline settled into her new placement.

“No problem. I heard them fighting earlier. I figure they need this time apart,” he told her.

Evangeline sighed, looking out the window, “I think everyone heard them. Maybe it was better this way. Or else, they’d have found a way to make this a miserable flight for all of us.” As if it wasn’t already for her.

She faced him again as they chuckled together. Wanting to keep the rapport going, Evangeline joked, “You know what’s funny? I thought they were brother and sister before I heard them fighting about their ruined honeymoon.”

August gave her an amused grin. “Well did you know that oftentimes, long-term couples most often start to look and sound alike?”

Evangeline slightly turned her body towards him as if wanting to hear more. “Really?” She asked with an inquisitive tone.

Encouraged by her actions, August began to explain, “Yes, sort of like an emotional contagion. They spend so much time together that the way they move their body and how they speak would become so similar. They become their unique but shared identity.”

Evangeline was impressed. Not only was this guy well-mannered but also well-read. From her experience, these kinds of people prefer it if you don’t show too much interest or very little. But just enough to keep the conversation flowing.

Wanting to add some humor, she said, “Woah, so the game ‘guess if they’re siblings or lovers’ would be much, much more difficult to play then.”

This cracked August up and he finally laughed. “If you play those types of games, then yes.”

Evangeline had to fight the urge to stare. She asked as if she hadn’t studied him for many nights already, “How’d you know that kind of fact anyway?”

“My line of work dictates I have to learn everything about modifying the human body.”

Evangeline assumed, “So you’re either a plastic surgeon or mortician.”

Her last guess again got a laugh out of August. “Close enough. I work with special effects, the ones they use in movies and shows. That’s why I was interested in your drawing in the first place.”

Finding an opening to reveal her cover story a bit, Evangeline replied, “Lucky you. I’ve been told several times that getting an art degree was useless but I never listened. Now here I am, taking odd jobs and traveling to Alaska.”

This was who she was at the moment. A broke artist flying hundreds of miles to work.

“What are you doing in Alaska?” Great, he took it at face value.

“I’ve been hired to look over a rental house and make sure it doesn’t burn to the ground. What about you? On vacation?”

August looked up at the plane ceiling. “You could say that. Los Angeles is…”

In her mind, Evangeline made a wish, “Please make him an asshole. Make him say that he wanted to get a good time with the Alaskan local women. Please…”

August went on, “LA can be quite a handful. So I thought it was best to step back for a bit before I lose my mind. I understand that I'm one of the fortunate few able to do this that's why I always take some of my work with me wherever I go.” He patted his laptop bag.

Evangeline still refused this to be his true self. “But it’s your vacation. You have to admit we all deserve a break.”

“Yes, but I can't imagine another colleague being burdened after they're handed a load of work just because I wanted to breathe in some fresh air. Being mindful of others goes a long way.” August’s tone wasn’t preachy. Instead, it sounded like it came from someone who went through those hardships himself.

Evangeline cursed at herself after realizing that August was being truthful. “Damn it! He’s also a considerate fuck aside from all those things? Just my luck.”

She calmly said, “Good for you and your coworkers then.”

Once the lull in their conversation set, August realized he hadn’t introduced himself first. Conflicted about whether he should reveal his identity, he simply said, “I’m August, by the way.” He held out his hand.

Evangeline stared at it for a second before smiling back at him.

“Eve. Eve Randall.”