The Pilot

Chapter Twenty One

Before Danielle could tell Stefania what was happening, they arrived at their destination.

They were greeted at the entrance of the Space Needle by a red haired woman dressed in a smart black suit paired with a purple shirt. "Good afternoon Ms. Spampinato. My name is Nicole and I'll be your personal tour guide for your time with us today here at the visitor centre." She smiled as she shook hands with the Italian. She held on to Stefania's hand a little too long for Danielle's liking though. Stefania couldn't help but smirk as she spotted the frown on Danielle's face. "Thank you Nicole, and this here is Danielle" she said pulling the blonde into her side. "Hello Danielle, I hope you'll both enjoy the tour today" Nicole said as she shook Danielle's hand but was still looking at Stefania. This also did not go unnoticed by the little blonde. "Alright then ladies, let's get you signed in and then we can head upstairs" Nicole smiled.

The 3 women made their way to the front desk where Danielle and Stefania both signed the entry forms. "Ok, so as this is the VIP tour, you have access to everything. You have the option for me to join you for the whole tour. Or I can give you a guided visit of the Loupe and take you to the tilting glass walls and then let you go out to the Skyriser benches on the open- air deck on your own. Or I can accompany you for it all" - she repeated the first option again. "The choice is completely up to you." Once again she was directing her attention solely to Stefania and Danielle really didn't like it. "Oh, I think we'll..." Stefania started to say but was cut off by Danielle, "we'll manage Skyriser on our own, thank you" she said whilst grabbing hold of Stefania's hand. The redhead gave her a tight lipped smile in return "ok sure, let's get started then shall we?"

Nicole led Stefania and Danielle to the glass elevator and just a few seconds later they had reached the bottom floor of the observation deck. "Alright then" Nicole said. "Welcome to the Loupe. This is the world's first and only revolving glass floor. From here you can see stunning and unique views of the Space Needle and the city below. A full rotation of The Loupe takes about 45 minutes but as we go, I'll be able to point out places of interest and share some interesting facts with you."  During the next 45 minutes they talked about Mt. Rainer to the South, the Cascade range to East and the Olympics to the West. Next, they moved up to the top floor where Nicole took the 2 women to the tilting glass walls. She instructed them to stand with their feet shoulder width apart and there hands palm down on the glass at shoulder level. She flicked the switch that started the windows tilting and they eventually came to a stop at 45°. Danielle and Stefania were awestruck at the views of the city below them. It started to make Stefania feel dizzy though so Nicole brought them back in again. "Ok so I'll get you settled on the Skyrise benches and then I'll leave you to it for a while." Nicole said. She guided the women to their designated bench and said she would be back downstairs when they were ready.

"This is amazing Stefania, thank you for bringing me here." Danielle said taking Stefania's hand in her own as she continued "I always wanted to come as a kid" "You're welcome Bambina" Stefania said as she wrapped her arm around Danielle's shoulders, pulling her in for a hug and kissing her forehead. "I've spent a lot of time in this city too you know. In fact, I lived here very briefly and always wanted to visit this place too but never did." "You lived here?" Danielle asked. "Si, I did. I was engaged at the time. My fiancé, Cooper, grew up here and for a few months we lived here to be closer to his parents. But we broke up and I left. I've not been back to Seattle since, I just walked away. I left behind all the friends I'd made here and his parents..." Stefania could feel her eyes start to sting with tears. "His parents treated me like their own daughter and I just walked away from them. I should go see them when I'm here but I feel so guilty, I don't know what I'd say to them."