The lady in Red (REWRITTEN!)

Chapter 8

"Come on." Reece stands. I want to ask why but still, nothing comes out of my mouth. I stand and when I do he pushes his hand out for me to grab. I look at his hand and him and then back at his hand. His touch...it does things to me. But my body, it has a mind of its own and it does what it really wants. I grab his hand and he possessively intertwines his fingers through mine and lightly squeezes. It's as if my brain has reprogrammed itself because all that can be felt is his skin touching mine, screw motion sickness. My brain supplies me with nothing else to think about—only him and his touch.

"What are we doing?" I rasp out, my voice failing me. I cough to recover, nervously. Reece looks back at me and the corner of his lips lifts.

"Keeping your mind off of things." He pulls me towards the first curtain that blocks the other side.

"Why?" I ask as he draws the grey curtains apart. He doesn't answer me, instead, he continues to pull and I follow. There's a beautiful sight in front of me that renders me speechless again. Only this time the layout of the plane is different. There are numerous first-class seats layered out evenly and next to every double seat, there are small beds placed close to it. The single seats all face the window but the double seats come with a conjoined bed. It's small but there's room for two and sheets are all pastel grey. The urge to run my fingers on the sheets of the first bed I come across is strong but I refrain from doing so. I smile, instead, mesmerized. For the first part, it's all the same. We then get to the second curtains. I bite my lower lip and wait, impatiently.

"What do you think is on the other side?" he asks, squeezing me tighter. My toes curl in my shoes and I suppress a moan that fights to slip out. I clear my throat.

"More first-class, high-end seats with conjoined beds that all look enticing?" I smile, cheeky. Reece chuckles at my response and without a word, draws the curtains apart. I gasp, this time unable to hold any sounds in. I don't see seats or beds but instead, a big sofa sits in the center of the plane. There's nothing around it, just a long white cushiony sofa sitting in the center. I turn around and it's then I realize that we're standing in a theater room. A long flat-screen TV sits in the front.

"A theater room," I say out loud. My God. One more curtain awaits me and I turn to face Reece.

"More seats, more beds, more luxury," he finishes, smiling down at me. It's the first time I've seen him give me a full smile. His smile is charming with full white pearly teeth flashing at me. It's contagious and mesmerizing. I stand there gawking at him, unable to move or say anything. Without a word, he pulls at me again and we walk off. Amazing how certain things hold a strong power to minimize or get rid of the negativity that flows in someone. My brain has stopped telling my body I need to throw up for a moment.

"Your touch distracts me," I blurt, barely over a whisper. My eyes widen when he stops walking. I almost collide with him if it wasn't for my foot digging into the plush runner rug beneath me. My heart skips a beat as he turns his head to look at me. I swallow. Oh, God, did I say that out loud? I must have and if I could turn around to fix my mouth before the slip then everything would feel a lot normal. But this wasn't normal and going a few seconds back wasn't happening. The plane starts to bounce again. The pretty hostess from earlier pops up out of nowhere in front of us, as Reece pulls me away to continue walking without a word.

"What's the situation with the weather?" Reece asks, with a slightly clipped tone.

"There's severe thunderstorm and rain in the forecast, sir. We're flying through some tough clouds. The caption suggests we take our seats and buckle up. There's going to be turbulence again." Reece slightly nods.

"Get buckled up, Mara." Mara. Mara slips past us with a slight pink tint to her cheeks without another word. Reece pulls me away again and I can't help but think...did I say something completely out of proportion? We get to our original seats within seconds and I sit down first and buckle up. I chance a quick glance out of the window. The clouds around us have turned a dark shade of grey again and within a second, something flashes before me. I close my eyes tightly and wish and hope nothing hits any part of the plane. My brain is no longer distracted from the previous bouts of sensations and nausea erupts in my belly again. My throat constricts, and my saliva dries.