Chapter Nine
Melissa looked around at the airstrip and realized she had no real idea as to where she was.
"Dr. Price, please come on board. Mr. Demovic will be meeting us at our final destination. He's taking his own plane there. He had some last minute business to attend to."
"But what about our…"
"Please Dr. Price, we've been cleared for take-off. We need to get you seated and strapped in."
Melissa decided to give in to the increasingly bizarre circumstances and go with the flow. 'Go with the flow' was yet another thing she didn't do but she was getting used to doing things that were way outside her comfort zone. Today wasn't any normal day, in fact it was unlike any other day in her life until now. Maybe she needed a new kind of logic to meet the challenges of totally new kinds of situation.
She climbed the air-stairs and then stopped in awe as she entered the cabin. This was totally over the top. The aircraft was more like a penthouse apartment with wings than a plane.
"You have got to be kidding me." She murmured.
The pretty flight attendant smiled and handed her a clipboard with some forms to fill out.
"Just some formalities." She said. "You can take a seat while you sign off on these. Would you like a drink while you take a look at the menu? Or if you prefer you can just tell me what you would like and the chef will do his best to fix it for you."
"I just ate." she said. "But thank you. Thank you very much."
The crew bustled around while signed on the dotted lines and then she strapped herself into the plush, ultra comfortable seat. The flight attendant reappeared, took the clipboard from her and then took a seat next her, ready for take-off.
"I'm right here if you need anything Dr. Price, unless you'd prefer some privacy."
"Not at all, no, in fact I think I'd prefer company even if it is a short flight."
"Well, it's not all that short, although Mr. Demovic will make much better time in his jet and he's a great pilot."
"Of course he is." Melissa rolled her eyes. Hobbies of the rich and famous, always trying to one-up each other with expensive past times.
The plane began building up speed for take-off.
"Have you ever been to Paris before Dr. Price?" The attendant asked.
"As a matter of fact I haven't. But I've always wanted to go there."
The attendant smiled.
"Why do you ask?" Melissa added.
"Didn’t Jason tell you?"
"Is that what you call your boss?"
"He isn't that kind of boss. Once you get to know him he's really nice. As long as you never question anything he does. Then he can really fly off the handle."
"He likes to be in control, I know that alright."
"But he didn't tell you about Paris?"
"What about Paris?"
"That's our destination. He's taking you to dinner in Paris tonight."
"You mean dinner in Canada."
"No. I mean in Paris. Paris, France."
Melissa's face blanched. Paris… She had wanted to go there her whole life but had never had either the time or the money to go. With all her financial worries and Suzy's medical issues a trip like that was firmly in the realm of impossible dreams, but now it seemed she was on her way there tonight via luxury private jet to have dinner with a billionaire.
A young, hot billionaire who was madly, insanely into her bones.
She shook her head and did a double take on reality. This couldn't be happening. This absolutely, positively shouldn't be happening.
"Turn the plane around." She said tightly.
The attendant smiled.
"I'm afraid that's not an option Dr. Price."
"Is being arrested for kidnapping an option?"
"But Dr. Price, you can't just change your mind and turn a Boeing 727 jet around after take-off, do you know how much fuel that takes? How much that costs? And we already have a landing slot booked in Charles de Gaul International Airport."
"I don't care. Demovic can afford it."
"He can, but can you? Mr. Demovic will be expecting you Dr. Price. He'll be flying his own jet all the way there, he's probably in the air already."
"Well then he can do whatever business it is he needs to do in Paris while we return to New York and then he can save the money from the missed flight on this plane. That money he can offset from whatever it is the turnaround costs are."
"You are his business in Paris Dr. Price. One way or the other this is going to cost him and you a lot of money if you back out now."
"But how can he just take me like this--"
"He didn't, you filled out and signed all of these waiver and agreement forms right in front of me."
Melissa's eyes darted to the clipboard. She hadn't even looked at them.
Bastard. She thought. Sneaky, manipulative damn bastard.
She sighed in resignation.
"How long will the flight be?" She asked, fearing the answer. Maybe she could still make it back to her dinner appointment with David.
"Well the captain says we have the wind behind us so if we don't encounter turbulence or have any problems landing at CDG then it should be another seven hours or so."
Melissa's stomach lurched.
"That's not an option. I have an appointment at 8pm, to discuss…"
The flight attendant waited.
To discuss my hearing with David. Oh shit.
"I have a very important appointment at 8pm this evening. It can't be rescheduled under any circumstances."
"I'm afraid that's just not the case Dr. Price." The attendant said as she handed her a telephone from the armrest in her seat. "Make the call and cancel whatever it is you had planned or if you want to, you can call Mr. Demovic and explain to him why you've wasted so much of his very valuable time."
"He can't do this to me."
"I'm sorry Dr. Price, truly, but I'm afraid it's you who can't do this. My understanding is that Mr. Demovic has absolutely prioritized his time with you for the whole day today. I don’t think you realize just how much that means. His time is extremely precious."
Melissa looked at the phone then back to the attendant, silently pleading with her.
"Melissa," the attendant softened her tone and leaned in closer to her passenger. "If I were you I'd make this call. A day with Jason is something a lot of… something that a lot of women, God a lot of people in the world would give anything for. Are you sure this appointment you have is really more important to you than this?"
Melissa didn't move. If she called then she would have to lie to David and she didn't do lies. All the lies she had told in the last ten years we're to be found squeezed into the one or two half truths she had told Jason Demovic during the brief time she had known him. Now here she was being forced to compromise her personal ethics yet again because of him.
The flight attendant leaned in closer and put her hand to Melissa's wrist.
"Dr. Price, there's really only one right decision here. I strongly urge you to make this call. If you don’t value your time with Jason then… ", she hesitated and looked around as though she feared being overheard, "just between you and me if you promise something to Jason Demovic and then you don't follow through he doesn't take it very well. He never breaks a promise himself. Ever. If he says he'll do something then he'll do it. Guaranteed. It's one of the reasons his business is so successful and that he's in such demand everywhere as a public speaker and as a philanthropist."
"So what will he do if I break my word?"
"You don't want to find out. But I'll give you a tip for free. If you can get him to promise you something then it's yours. No matter what. You have a whole day and probably an evening with this man that half the women in America would kill for. Don't waste it." She drew back and then resumed her professional demeanor like a shape shifter pulling itself back into recognizable form as a flight attendant.
"Would you like me to make the call for you Dr. Price?" She said.
"No, not at all. That won't be necessary. I'll do it myself."
The attendant left her and she sat for a minute deciding who to call; Jason with the thrill of her new life and her new self but with the shadow of being struck off hanging over her or play it safe with David, just like her old uptight self, go back to New York for dinner with her increasingly weird supervisor and, well frankly, still have the shadow of being struck off looming above her outstretched neck like a guillotine.
"God damn it." She muttered and then stabbed the number she had chosen into the phone, praying that nobody would pick up at the other end so that she could just leave a short message without too much explanation.
A male voice came to the phone instantly.
"Who is it?"
God damn it. She cursed the availability that was so typical of him.
"David. It's me, Melissa. How are you?"
"What is this Melissa? You're not calling to cancel are you?" He laughed at the idea. "I've got a table booked at the--"
"I can't make it."
"What?" Now he was deadly serious.
"Something's come up."
"Where are you calling from? Why aren't you using your regular line or your cell phone? What's going on?"
"I'm at a friend's house. She has an unlisted number."
"A friend? What friend?"
"That's none of your business David."
"Look. I'm trying to help you here. If we don't prepare for this hearing then it could go seriously wrong."
The captain's voice came over the PA system.
"I'm sorry Dr. Price but we'll be experiencing just a little bit of turbulence in the next few minutes." The loud ping of the seatbelt sign sounded. "Please remain seated for your own safety."
"Are you on a flight?" David was incredulous.
"David…" she came up blank.
"How does the pilot know your name?"
"David…" still blank.
"Why are you lying to me? You said you were at a friend's house. Are you with him?"
"With who?"
"You're with that billionaire sociopath who wants to ruin you because of his crazy transference issues. Melissa, for Christ's sake, what is happening to you? Are you determined to throw your career away? You have to get off that flight and come back down to earth. Literally. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I'll meet you tomorrow David. We can talk about the case then."
"There's nothing to talk about Melissa. You've gone too far now. I can't vouch for you anymore. I can't afford to put my professional reputation on the line for this kind of off the wall behavior."
"Please David, you don't know what he's like, he forced me into this."
"You mean he kidnapped you?"
"No… God, David, please don’t make this so hard. Look, I'll call you tomorrow."
"Melissa, be home, at your place by 8pm tonight or I can't help you. You'll lose your license to practice and I won't be able to do a thing."
"He just wants my help David. I'll see you tomorrow we can talk everything through face to face and then--"
"Did you fuck him?"
Melissa was speechless.
"Answer me Melissa. Tell me the truth. Did you… God damn it Melissa did you--"
"No. God no." Technically, it was the truth. "Look, he just won't take no for an answer. He insists that I help him."
"So you've taken him on as a client?"
Shit. That would have been the logical thing to do.
"David…"
"Please tell me that you are at least going to be professional to that degree. If you've signed an agreement with him then just put him off until next week, until after you've had the hearing and we can deal with this situation together when you're off the hook with the committee."
"We're… discussing the terms."
"Thank God for that. Look, just don’t sign anything drafted up by him or by his legal team."
She glanced at the seat where the attendant had put the clipboard with the documents but it was already gone.
Too late David.
"Don’t worry. I'll get him to agree to the usual terms by tonight and he will be an above board client, nothing that the board can find fault with. But I can't make our appointment tonight, I just can't physically make it there in time."
There was silence from the other end of the line.
"David? Are you there?"
"Melissa… okay. I'll wait until tomorrow. But that's it. No more bending of the rules."
"Thank you David, I appreciate this, I really do."
"And please, please, please don’t lay a finger on him."
"Of course not."
"I mean it Melissa, not one finger, anywhere. And don’t let him touch you either. Got it?"
"Got it."
David was silent again. His dissatisfaction was palpable as he searched for the words, the exact turn of phrase that would pacify his excruciating anxiety and make him believe her.
"Promise me that you won't fuck him."
The phone was shaking in Melissa's hand. This was nothing like David, he sounded a hell of a lot crazier than he was claiming Jason Demovic was.
"I promise David."
"No Melissa, I want you to say the words to me. Promise me you won't fuck him."
Her eyes darted around the cabin. It was too crazy. There were no crew members around. Hunching down in her seat she put her lips very close to the handset and closed her eyes.
"David, I promise I won't…"
"Say it Melissa, say the words. If you want to get through this hearing then say those words to me now."
He sounded totally insane.
"I promise I won't fuck him."
There was a sigh of relief from the other end of the phone and then the line went dead.
Still shaking from the conversation Melissa looked up and a pair of eyes met hers. It was her flight attendant looking as robotically professional as she had when she had greeted Melissa boarding the flight.
"Can I get you anything to drink now?" She asked.