SNAP: The World Unfolds

CHAPTER ELEVEN

This was going to be a hard trip.

I’d never spent much time alone with Jean-Louis.  Well, there was that dance during our hunting trip, but we were still surrounded by several hundred of L.A.’s finest partiers.

“No, I didn’t expect you.” I managed not to stumble over my tongue.  “Do you know what this invitation or summons is all about?  And how come you got asked?  You’re lower on the hiring ladder than I am.”

Chrissy came over to us. “I have to have you seated with seatbelts on as we take off.  Once we’re up you can just move around except for landings.”

“What landings?” I asked.

“The first leg is to Newark,” she said.  “We’ll refuel and you can stretch.  We’ll be in the hangar for about an hour.”

In the hangar?  I didn’t want to show my ignorance of private plane travel so I just nodded.  Why would we stay in a hangar?   Don’t most planes take on fuel outside?  I can just watch and listen with the best of them when I need to, and I’d have to do this for the trip to be a learning experience instead of a freak-out.

“Which chair do you want?”  Jean-Louis’ voice brought me back.

“”I don’t care.  Does it matter?  I’ll take this one,”  I pointed at the black number next to me.

Jean-Louis nodded and buckled himself into one across the table from me.  Chrissy disappeared into the cockpit area, the pilot started taxing out to the runway and the engine’s roar shook us.

Ten minutes later we were out over the Pacific, making the big turn that would take us east and five minutes after that Chrissy reappeared.

“Have you eaten?  We have several meals I can get you.  There’s a duck confit salad, Chilean sea bass, pork tenderloin with nectarines and, of course, steak tartre.  Can I get you something to drink while you’re deciding?”

“I’d like a white wine, a Sauvignon Blanc, please,” I ordered.  “And no, I haven’t eaten.  I’ll take the sea bass.”

Chrissy turned to Jean-Louis and I could see she was taking his looks in stride.  No fluttery eyelashes, no shy-sexy smile, just business with an ease that made me wonder what was going on.  Did she know him?  Did they have a past?  Would I wrestle up the courage to ask him?  We were pretty captive in an enclosed space for several hours.

“I’ll have Bull’s Blood,” he said and Chrissy headed off to get our orders.

He unbuckled his seat belt and moved over to the couch, patting a spot next to him.  “We can have our drinks and eat here.”

Wait a minute, who died and put him in charge?  “Why do you know so much about this?  I’m senior to you and I’ve never been asked to Hungary.  I haven’t even been invited to use the company plane.” 

I hadn’t had much hardship so far at SNAP, though.  All my travel had been first class, and I didn’t arrive looking like a sardine packed in oil.

He smiled.  “I know.  We’ve heard about your incident this morning.  That’s why the Baron asked us both.  I’m going to explain some things before we get to Budapest.”

Chrissy came back in with our drinks and set the glasses down on the table in front of us.  “Your dinner will be done in a second,” she looked at me.  I looked up at her and suddenly realized the dim lighting.  As I looked around, I also realized all of the shades were drawn over the windows.  I didn’t really matter to me, I’d been doing so much traveling that I didn’t even bother to look out the windows and besides, we were flying at night.  We’d land in Newark before dawn.

After I finished dinner and after Jean-Louis had another glass of Bull’s Blood, the deep red wine leaving faint pink dregs in the glass, Chrissy came back and handed me a remote control.

“We have a DVD of tonight’s SNAP, as well as one from Munich and one from Rio,” she said.  “I’ll go turn the beds down if you want to sleep.  As I said, we’ll be in Newark only about an hour, and the flight to Budapest is another eight hours.  I imagine you’d like a few hours’ sleep.  The Baron usually expects his guests to be available as soon as they reach the castle.”

We watched the U.S. show and part of the Rio one.  The adrenaline I’d generated from waiting for Jean-Louis’ secret was sapping all my energy and I was going to have to lie down for awhile.  Even after Newark, we still had a long flight.  I was asleep in minutes, not even spending the usual time reading over stuff for future issues or other planning papers.