Chapter 72 - An Unexpected Encounter

"...landing in twenty minutes. Please remain seated and..."

Dane slowly rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. Passengers in first class were gradually shuffling about in the plane. It had been one hell of a day and a half as there were multiple delays. By now, Dane was feeling groggy and jet lagged.

He shuffled from the large queen sized bed atop white sheets covering his groggy laden body. The first class plane was slathered in hues of checkered blue on the seats and white among the ceilings.

It was comprised of a medium sized sony television screen before him, a personal bed, and one's own mini closet. If he were to request it, champagne or the like could be brought by will. And right now, Dane needed spirits that could stir awake his anxiety that gnawed at his bones.

He pressed the call button for a flight attendant.

"I'd like the strongest whiskey you have. Or rather, if you could make it the strongest whiskey you have."

The flight attendant was different from the elderly one he had yesterday. She was the classic tall, blond, and hourglass shaped into the perfect body all fitted into what should be a scantily short flight attendant dress. Dane didn't care that she was obviously fluttering her fake lashes too long too be sincere. Nor her attempts to lure him in with her breasts.

Of course, Dane would never boast about being devilishly handsome like Leo. At most, he was ruggedly decent looking. It was just that he had wealth which was something most women saw as more than enough to flaunt themselves over.

It was a pain. He dealt with these women more often than he wished to.

"Anything for you, sir," she unprofessionally leaned in to make him absurdly uncomfortable. "I could also get something else that's strong...A little bit of me."

Dane could choke any moment now from secondhand embarrassment.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm. Look Ms..." he looked to her name tag. "Devonshire, you're a beautiful girl and I'm sure any other man would want you. Any other man but me."

"Psh, and why don't you want me?"

He casually crept up his hand with the ring on his finger, to his chin so that she could clearly see the evidence. "As you can see, I'm a married man."

God, never had he thought that in his entire life, he would be shooing away a beautiful woman in a flight attendant costume. Surely it was in one man's fantasy to engage in an affair with a beautiful attendant. But that was because she wasn't Prisana.

The beast only wanted his lynx, for now and forever more.

A silly thought then popped into his mind. Prisana in a flight attendant outfit would rock his world.

Literally.

"So?"

Dane nearly did a double take because this woman was irking him to his limits. "So...Pardon me for being rude but I don't want you. I'm loyal to my wife."

She just stared at him like he were this undiscovered creature. As if, she had never once been rejected by a man and today was the first time she had ever witnessed such a thing.

"Your wife must be a lucky woman," as she said this, he could see the displeased look in her eyes from being rejected.

"No," Dane smiled foolishly as he thought to her endearing petite form and then began to miss her terribly. "That's where you've got it wrong. I'm the lucky man."

"Oh god, it's love isn't it? I was in love once but love is fleeting. You'll soon grow tired of her and then, look for another. Or she will grow tired of you and leave you. It's this vicious cycle of love that we live in, which is why I don't dabble in it."

Who was this ignorant flight attendant? He immediately propped open his newspaper as a sign for her to leave him be. Thankfully, she left him.

The attendant only returned to set down his drink and quietly this time around. He almost choked to death upon the first sip. It's scent carried into his nose yet he continued finishing it in one gulp, the bitter taste washing down his throat like the strongest acid. Dane did say strong but he didn't bloody mean enought to kill him.

He leveled the newspaper down to his chin. There was no time to glare at the attendant as she already disappeared off somewhere into the back.

The plane began to soar downwards. His phone kept vibrating all at once when the plane shook and landed. Dane scrolled through his phone, finding that Bailey called him at least twenty times.

He looked at Cleo's texts and calls, completely disregarding it. God knows it was for real work.

Twenty calls meant it must have been something urgent. Bailey was an old yet still perfectly capable woman. Perhaps, it was an emmergency no one could have forseen. He hesitated but eventually dialed in her number.

"Bailey," he waited on a baited breath as he shuffled out among the other passengers.

"Dane."

"What's wrong? It's not everyday I recieve twenty calls from you."

The tone of her voice indicated she wasn't too happy. That couldn't ever be a good sign. When Bailey wasn't happy, the whole world turned upside down with her.

"Why didn't you tell me such joyous news! That you got married? Why is it that I had to find out from your secretary and wife themselves? It wouldn't kill you to give a call to give notice to your sole family member."

"Don't tell me," he groaned under his breath as the realization dawned on him. "You're there right now?"

"Yes, your new wife and I are getting along quite nicely. I told her I would embarrass you and bring over baby pictures the next time I came to visit."

"Please refrain from doing such things. Could you...let me talk to her for one moment?"

There was a moment of silence and then her breathing filled his ears, already enough to turn him into a puddle of regret as he was countries away from her.

"My grandmother isn't treating you too harsh, is she?"

"It's the exact opposite. She's so lovely, just like you Dane."

"I suppose I'm the lovlier one?" he joked.

"Pfft. She might've beaten you in that regards. You're too much of a beast to be considered lovely."

"Lovely always looks good on you."

He could hear her little surprised gasp but he meant every word. Prisana was the embodiment of lovely because he had a hard time keeping his hands off.

"Got that right!" Bailey interjected without concern that he dearly missed his lynx's voice. "The moment you become lovlier than me is when you start calling me Nana again. Hmph, I'll be monopolizing all her time while you wallow yourself in work. Goodbye now!"

This left him standing there, wondering if he should just abandon this mission altogether. Yet when he slid his phone into his pocket, it crunched against the paper. The piece of paper which began his journey to shed the truths.

He fumbled for the paper and read the devil's delivery once again,

Jake Devonshire,

XXX

Parker Lane.

Devonshire...Where had he heard that name again?

The ignorant attendant!

Dane walked back into the plane, trying to squeeze through the throng of people at the airport. He found another woman standing where he had gotten off from earlier. She flashed him her bright wide smile.

"Sir. Is something the matter?"

"Is there a flight attendant woman with the last name of Devonshire inside that plane?"

She placed her hands onto her hips. "I'm sorry but we can't just give out personal information like that."

"Could I at least, have a word with her?"

"At the moment, all of our flight attendants are scheduled to board other passengers and require them to be inside the plane at all times so we can't have anyone leave their post. Please step back as we are getting ready to make the announcements. Thank you."

Dane stepped back from the robotic red haired attendant standing at the entrance.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence. That's right. A coincidence that implored him to believe she may be a family member or a relative. Many people had the same last names and beared no relation to one another.

Dane turned on his heels.

With or without that ignorant woman who beared a striking last name resemblence, he would find Jake even if he had to drag him from the depths of hell.