Let's Take a Trip

"Let's get a good night's rest tonight. Then we can head out tomorrow morning."

"That sounds like so much fun! Where is he?"

"Reno. Have you ever been to the west coast?"

"I can't believe you're asking me that."

"Why? Oh, riiiight. Mr. Rosa."

"Yeah. My dad fucking loves Nevada and you know why."

"Unfortunately, I do."

"Did you ever meet my dad?"

"Maybe once or twice."

"Did you ever have to boot him out?"

"I may have," Bram said with a grin.

"Well, I'm sure he deserved it."

"Maybe he did, but I didn't need to turn up the asshole level to one-hundred."

"It's okay because if I see you heading toward the fifty or sixty range, I'll make sure to use my succubus power and help you reach zen."

"That sounds like the perfect plan. From the perfect girl. You know, Vegas is only six hours away."

"I do know that. I've known that since I was eleven years old. I haven't been back since."

"Oh, right. But, what I was trying to say was, maybe we could get married there."

"That would be a reason to revisit!"

We both laid down and we did something that I never thought we would. We snuggled until we fell asleep.

***

We woke up at the same time the next morning and the sun was out. My body was already feeling much improved and I was looking forward to the meeting Bram's brother. Before we left, I made sure to pack a bunch of items in a suitcase. Bram came over to me and scrunched his face up in playful confusion.

"You don't need to pack. We have people who can do it for us."

"What do you mean?"

Bram picked up his phone and made a call. I wasn't sure if there were words spoken. It sounded like a couple of grunts and that was it. Within a few minutes people were knocking on the door. I raised my eyebrow to him as I walked answered. Two well-dressed people wearing black sunglasses, white button downs, headsets, and black dress pants.

I watched as one came upstairs to me and said, "Hi, I'm Rachel. I'll pack what you need."

"Well, okay then," I said with a smile. Bram laughed at me. "You're used to this, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am but it has been a while."

"You mean three years?"

"About that. But now, we get to live like it again and it won't be off Rusty's money."

"Good," I said. "So, when are we leaving?"

"Whenever we want." He pointed to Rachel.

"That's correct. We have your plane waiting whenever you are ready."

Once we were packed, we left behind Rachel and Len. I was in shock when they brought us on a golf cart over to the runway. They took our belongings and packed them in the back of the small plane. Bram and I climbed in.

We got buckled in and the plane took off. I was giggling. I'd never been in such a small well-designed plane. Bram put his sunglasses on and propped his feet up, resting his arms behind his head.

"Yes, yes. We all know you've done this a hundred times over." I rolled my eyes at him. He laughed at me. 

"Then get in on it with me. Relax. Put your feet up. Enjoy it." I did my best to relax but when we hit a little pocket of chop, my long legs dropped to the floor. I covered my mouth laughing but Bram was already asleep. 

I tried to relax but I was uneasy. From the description of Rhys, he sounded like he'd be interesting to talk to. It wasn't the fact that I was meeting someone new. It had to do with returning to my father's old stomping grounds.

I don't know if I could explain the disgusting smell of casino smoke and alcohol that would come home with my father after a ten hour binge. I'd be hanging out with the neighbor's since that was the only way for me to eat and then he'd come back with a stupid half grin of inebriation on his face along with guilt of losing every dime he had.

That walk of shame and the mask he'd perpetuate was awful and even being so young, I could tell his future was horribly bleak. I knew sooner or later, it would kill my father and I used to care whether he lived or died then. I guess I still did but he wouldn't ever change and the death of that hope that he would was harder to deal with than his corporeal death. 

I glanced over at Bram as he comfortably slept and hoped that he could be what I wanted him to be all along. A replacement for my father. I needed a real man who was going to be there with me, beside me. If we could have cooperative powers, we'd be unstoppable. Perhaps I could do what I'd wanted all along and be a soldier like my mom.

Up over our heads was a screen that showed our flight to and from. It also illustrated our time to get there. We had about four and a half hours to get there. I checked between me and Bram's gray padded leather seats where there was a console. Flipping it open, I pawed through the contents and found a couple of earbuds.

I placed them in my ears and checked out what I had for musical options. I closed my eyes, propped my feet up, and dropped my sunglasses on. Today, I was got to live like Bram did and it was awesome. 

***

About three hours into the trip, we woke up due to some turbulence. I thought I was overreacting when I slipped out of the seat but Bram was shaken awake as abruptly as I was. We pulled our sunglasses off and looked at one another with concern. The sky was filled with dark clouds and rain was hammering on the plane. 

I slipped closer to Bram and we both stared out the windows. The chop was making it hard to focus and we were suddenly turning. The captain said we were going to have to land before we got to Nevada. 

"Where are we?" I asked Bram. He glanced at the tracker on the screen and then down at his phone. 

"Near Boulder it looks like."

We felt the plane smoothly though rapidly descending. I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd been to Colorado but only from the view of a hotel room. I watched as the runway was approaching. Shakily we continued through the rain and fog until we finally touched down with a jolt. 

We sat closely together as the plane slowed down along the raggedy track. Once it was slower it immediately taxied off the runway. We waited until we were cleared to leave but we continued to stay put. After several minutes Bram knocked on the cockpit. 

"We're trying to get a car set up for you, sir," Len said, his voice sounding muffled. Bram and I exchanged another look.

"This isn't normal, right?" I whispered. He hesitated and then shook his head. 

"Don't panic, yet."

"How much of an opening do you need to teleport?"

"More than what we have here. We're sealed in."

As we stared out at the pounding rain I could see fog collecting. It was rolling along the taxi-way almost obscuring the bottom. Suddenly, we heard radio crackling. It was talking about a delay. Bram picked up the headset next to him and put it on. 

"It's Rhys. I'm here with a car for Bram and Alex. Please, wait there. Do not let them leave until I am there."

"Roger," we heard Len say. 

"Now what?" I asked. Bram rifled through the console and threw me some peanuts. "Seriously?" 

"Eat them. They're the best you've never had."

I opened them and ate some. It was true, they were very good. I ate some and then threw a few at him. He snapped his head in my direction and began chucking peanuts at me too. He came over to me and we put them in my mouth holding me still. I was laughing hysterically. 

"No, don't I'm going to choke."

"Oh, sorry. Hey, wanna see what's in this refrigerator?" he asked waving his hand behind us. Next to the bathroom was a silver built-in refrigerator. 

"Yeah!" I said excitedly. We popped it open and there was scotch in there with plenty of soda. "There you go, Bram." 

"Niiiiice." He pulled out the bottle. We threw some ice cubes in the glasses and began to drink. We only had a few minutes to drink before Rhys called to Len again. 

"Send them inside, but be careful. We have a contamination concern."