He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 01

He Promised Me Every Flight, Gave Her Every One Chapter 01

After I threatened to call off the wedding, my pilot fiancé finally agreed to let me join him on one of his transatlantic flights.

“Be at the Delta Sky Club at 5:30 AM sharp. Don’t blame me for leaving you behind if you’re late.”

Afraid I’d miss my chance, I went to his place at 3 in the morning, carrying a homemade breakfast I wanted to give him.

Then I saw Lydia Vance walk out of his apartment wearing his white uniform shirt.

“Grant, what if Ellie actually shows up at the airport?” she murmured softly.

Grant gave a soft laugh. “Don’t worry. I hid her passport wallet, so she won’t even make it past security.”

I reached into the empty compartment of my bag, and my hands just went cold.

Grant carefully wrapped a cashmere scarf around Lydia’s neck. “I promised to spend these seven days flying with you, and I won’t miss a single day.”

At 5:30 AM, I stood behind the terminal glass and watched his plane taxi toward the runway. Grant never once glanced toward the terminal.

I tore up my boarding pass, threw it away, and walked off.

I wasn’t getting on a plane that wouldn’t wait for me.

***

The breakfast bag was still warm in my hand when I left the airport. I’d started the steel-cut oatmeal with honey at two and made his favorite handmade mini spinach and shrimp quiches.

Three years ago, Grant had taken me to see the planes for the first time. Outside the control tower, he bit into one of my homemade quiches and smiled.

“I’ll bring you on every important flight of mine from now on,” he promised me back then.

His uniform was crisp and his four-stripe captain epaulets shone in the sun.

After he became a captain, he flew with his parents, his colleagues, and Lydia. I was the only one he never took.

My phone buzzed in my palm with a text from Grant.

[You don’t even have your ID, so stop making a scene. Have you had enough?]

Another message followed quickly.

[Go home and wait for me. We have a bridal gown fitting in seven days, so stop threatening to call off the wedding.]

His words cut deep. Then an unknown number called me.

Lydia’s voice sounded thick with sleep when I answered.

“Grant just took off. He told me to tell you not to make a scene before he switched to flight mode.”

The wind howled in my ears while she giggled softly. “He’s mine for the next few days. If you really want to marry him, you’d better behave.”

The bag shook in my hand and hot oatmeal spilled out, scalding my fingers. The pain didn’t reach my heart until a few seconds later.

The flight status on the board changed to Departed. Grant was officially in the air.

He’d been flying on my birthday the year before, too.

He sent a photo of the clouds at midnight and texted: [Ellie, I’ll make it up to you when I get back.]

Lydia posted that same photo later that day.

Her caption read: [Ringing in the New Year above the clouds with someone special.]

When I confronted him, Grant just frowned. “It was her first long-haul flight, and she was scared. I was just looking after a passenger. Ellie, stop being so petty!”

The automatic doors hissed open and shut behind me while the sound of rolling suitcases rumbled past. Someone bumped into my shoulder, causing the breakfast bag to hit the ground.

The quiches scattered across the dirty tiles. A janitor leaned down to help, but I crouched down first and pulled the paper bag tight.

My phone lit up again. It was Grant’s mother, Emily Sterling. “Ellie, did you upset Grant again? He’s under enough pressure flying a transatlantic route today. Can’t you act like a proper fiancée?”

Another voice memo popped up immediately. “Lydia is thoughtful and knows how to take care of Grant. Stop assuming there’s something dirty going on between them.”

I stared at the message for a long time. The airport intercom announced that another flight was beginning to board.

In that moment, I suddenly didn’t want to explain anything anymore.

A taxi pulled up to the curb.

“Where to, lady?” the driver asked.

I gave him the address of the Miller family estate.

Nobody had lived there for years. I moved into the Penthouse at Grandview after my parents died to take care of Grant, but the property was in his name.

Our engagement portraits hung in the most prominent spot in the living room. I always believed that if I staed patient, devoted, and willing to wait, he would eventually see me.

Outside the window, a plane cut a white line through the clouds. I unpinned the contact I’d kept at the top for seven years.

Grant’s name dropped down from the first row.

As the taxi sped down the airport overpass, I threw the bag of cold breakfast into a roadside trash can.