Chapter 10: Airplane
Tom’s Jet
9:53 a.m.
“I’m bored,” Gia declared to Tom in the neighboring seat. The plane ride had seemed to go on much longer as Tom had described. She looked out of the window, pensively. From the pattern of blue waves, it was obvious that they were still passing the deep Atlantic.
“Sing a song,” he said bluntly, not making any effort to look up from the newspaper.
“Are you kidding? My voice doesn’t measure up to anything without a kareoke machine.”
“For some reason I find that difficult to believe.” Tom groaned.
“Your no help.” Gia flew her hand up, exasperatingly and slanted her head back on the seat.
“Sorry.” Tom cleared his throat. “I’ve just had allot on my mind lately.”
“Don’t we all,” Gia said subtly.
“I’ll be right back,” Tom said, getting himself into a standing position. “If you feel really bored, there’s a parachute near the back, feel free to go sky diving.”
“Okay, would you stop staring?”
“What?” Brady affirmed to Courtney like an innocent child.
“I’m trying to do my work,” Courtney gesticulated towards the laptop on her lap, “And you keep staring at me.”
“So its wrong to stare at a beautiful woman?”
“Yes.” Courtney shook her head. “I mean no. I mean—ugh,” she threw up her hands in the air gallingly. “You frustrate me Brady.”
“No need for compliments.”
Courtney attached a frown and tried to focus her attention on the laptop but it was easier said than done as Brady kept charming her with a smile and a wink. “All right,” she sighed and shut the screen blank, “You want to talk?”
“Well, I always found words too much of a necessity.” Brady ogled her entire body out.
“Get used to it,” Courtney confirmed, discounting his gaze. “Besides, I hardly know you, and I’d like to get to know you.”
“I want to get to know you too, so how do we do that?”
“First of all, you can tell me why you’re going on this trip?” She asked with a look of inquisitiveness.
But Brady kept his slipshod style. “I told you. Tom’s my friend, he invited me to tag along to Europe. And since I wasn’t doing much but watching reruns, I thought what the hell.”
“Okay.” Courtney nodded, not quite sure whether to believe him or not. She had configurations of men lying to her. “So, where are you from? I’ve never seen you around Port Charles, until a few days ago.”
“You seem busy.” Tom beamed at Alexis, who was nearly asleep.
Alexis looked up but didn’t bother taking her lazy hand away from her cheek. “Remind me again, why I’m an essential for this trip?”
“If everything goes smoothly, then your not.”
“Great so there’s a likely chance, I’m wasting my time of day meandering around with you when I could be at home with my husband.”
“Captain Kangaroo? He’ll be fine. Think of it this as an easy way to rip me off, financially that is. If you want to do that otherwise than be my guest,” Tom clutched his hands together and disregarded her grimace.
“Just how exactly do you intend to find Luke?” She whispered and looked around swiftly to make sure no one was listening. “All you’re aware of is that he is located somewhere in France.”
“Ever heard of search parties?” Tom glanced around. “I’ve been trying to get in contact with him. Needless to say, it hasn’t been very successful. But it shouldn’t be that hard.” He lied. “All I have to do is break down the number of places Luke might possibly hide in.” Alexis exhaled noisily, indicating to Tom that she wasn’t believing a word that came out of his lips. She turned around at the sound of a man throwing up on a paper bag on the back. Once she identified him as Tom’s chauffeur, she threw him a probing glance.
“That’s Gill. He gets air-sick.” Tom explained to the obvious. “But I couldn’t just leave him in Port Charles. For one thing who’d be carrying my bags?”
“So enjoying the plane ride?” Tom asked involuntarily.
She shut her eyes for a swift minute. “We’re hovering thousands of feet up in the air, in a rather slow pace may I add. Not to mention the fact that Carly, who just happens to be a few seats behind me has been throwing me possibly the most irrational yet violent looks a woman can create.”
Tom took the empty seat next to her. “How do you know that?”
Alexis yawned. “Lets just say when you know someone like Carly, you don’t need enemies.”
“I don’t know,” Tom shrugged, “I’m kind of getting used to her.”
Alexis opened her eyes and faced him, “You wouldn’t by any chance be having a momentary relapse would you?”
Tom threw her a remised expression. “You despise her because she’s a person who’s hardly anything like you, and there’s hardly ever a time where you can relate to her.”
Alexis looked partly shocked. “Since when did you become the voice of wisdom?”
“I always was.” Tom’s grin reappeared. “You just weren’t wise enough to listen.”
“I seriously think your ingenuity gets to you,” she said dryly, waving a hand in his face like she was dismissing him.
Tom took the hint that she wanted to be alone and stood up. “I didn’t even know you thought I have ingenuity. Go figure.”
“What?” Gia groaned into her cell phone.
“Sorry did I catch you in a bad time?” Lucky asked on the other line.
“Oh no.” Gia sat up. “I just didn’t expect you to call.”
“I called earlier,” Lucky informed, “Your line was busy.”
“Oh yeah. I was talking to Dillon.” Gia remembered, making a mental note to kill Dillon if she came back and found her house in chaos. “And making sure that he hasn’t trashed the beach house. But now is a good time for a phone call, considering the fact that I am so utterly bored.”
“Aww, poor thing,” Lucky said with a tone of sarcasm.
“Oh shut up,” she spat, “You’re just not feeling my pain because you’re already in Paris with Daisy having a fantastic time.”
“Actually Daisy went sight-seeing with my mom, while I was stuck roaming the streets, doing nothing but looking at Parisian women.”
“Were you?” Gia asked hastily with a frown.
She heard Lucky laugh on the other end. “Jealous?”
“Don’t be ridiculous Spencer, we’re divorced now and if you want to have some Parisian slut all up on you, that’s all your business.” Noticing his voice grow softer, she realized that mentioning their divorce was the wrong thing to say, but it wasn’t something to conceal. “Why did you invite me anyway Lucky? Your mom and I don’t even get along. Or was that never obvious to you?”
“Do you want to spend time with Daisy or not?” Lucky waited until she heard Gia say yes on the other line before he continued, “Then don’t worry about it. Besides, I’ve discussed this with my mom, and she doesn’t mind.” He heard Gia mumble a little but finally resulted into an understanding. “Okay, so when will you be in Paris?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Gia answered.
“Okay then tell me what airport and flight will you be coming in so I can pick you up?”
“Well actually,” Gia coughed, “Um, you know what can I call you back, I’m kind of hungry right now.” She lied, but uncertain of his reaction and the commencement of another argument, she didn’t want to tell him that she was coming in Tom’s jet.
“Uh, okay.” Lucky detected that she was omitting something.
“So you’ll be sure not to go anywhere with Daisy until I get there. I mean you’ll wait for me right?” She heard the pleasantness in his voice.
“How could I not wait for one of the most beautiful women in the world?”
“Aw, that’s so sw--. Wait a minute, what do you mean one of?”
Brady let out a relenting sigh as he excused himself from Courtney’s presence. He went over to the small stool attached to the back hem of the plane, where Tom kept a mini-bar. Inside was coffee, club soda, and four bottles of sparkling wine. He was enticed to take a few mouthfuls but then decided to yield the offer and poured himself a cup of coffee.
He was heading back down the aisle to sit next to Courtney, but realized that she was frenzied with work. Without hesitation he turned around, “Mind if I join you?” He sat down before Carly could respond. Carly was about to protest but shrugged it off. He noticed that she wasn’t about to make any motion to talk, but decided to challenge her anyway. “So how do you know Courtney?”
Carly turned her head from the window to Brady. “What? She hasn’t told you all the juicy details yet?” When he shook his head no, Carly put her attention back towards the view of the sky. “She was my sister-in-law. And my ex-husband was married to her.”
Brady’s eyes flew up yet with his record, he wasn’t quite surprised. “I guess great minds think alike,” he grunted.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Carly inserted.
“What about Alexis?”
“Are you always this nosy?” Carly clipped.
“No. But I am persistent though,” Brady added and kept silent for a minute while observing Carly’s distressed appearance. “Are you okay?”
Carly turned her head heatedly. “Yes. I’m f**kin fine. And even if it was it wouldn’t be any of your damn business!”
Brady looked around and noticed the pairs of eyes staring at them. “What?” He shrugged. “Nervous breakdowns happen to be very common with woman.” Alexis, Courtney, Tom, and Gia slowly bowed their heads and began to continue what they were doing.
“Nervous breakdown?” Carly sheared as she striked him on the arm. “I am not having a nervous breakdown. I’m fine,” she entrenched.
Brady stood there, glaring at her coldly. “Okay. I just wanted to know though, are you always such a bitch when you’re fine?”
“As a matter of fact I am,” she said wryly. “Gotta problem with that?” Carly waited for Brady to snap back, but instead he simply smiled. She muttered another curse before sloping her head back and gazing at the wall. “Look, thanks for caring or pretending to, at least. But I recommend you save your breath for someone who’s worth it.”
Brady nodded in relinquish. “If you insist.” He stood up and headed back in the direction of his seat.
Two Hours Later
“Mr. Hardy, I just wanted to inform you that we will be landing in a matter of minutes,” the pilot informed through the intercom.
Gia pinched Tom in the center of his arm, making him get up. “What?” He snored. She nudged towards the intercom.
Tom groaned as he pressed the button. “Are we there yet?”
“Mr. Hardy, I’ve nearly run out of fuel, therefor, we couldn’t reach Paris. We’ll be stopping in Crest, France. I can refill and get back on the air in an hour.”
“That’s fine,” Tom yawned, taking a momentary glance at the pale faces.
Once the plane came to a landing, Brady moved aside and waved his hands forward. “Bonjour Madamoiselle, oh and of course ladies first,” he said waving his hand aside the door. Courtney smiled and shook her head as she went past him down the stairway and off the plane, Alexis and Gill, with a blue facade, were right behind her. The pilot wouldn’t have been ready for another hour, so they had all decided to wait in the lobby of the airport. Carly stretched her arms as she got closer to the exit. She turned to face him just before getting out. “I’m not sure why you’re here, Mr. Black, but I seriously think there’s a good reason for it.”
“How’d you know my last name?”
Carly gave a smile that spoke ‘in your face.’ “You’re not the only one with connections.”
Brady observed her with intrigue. Something about Carly Corinthos was just plain interesting to him. Shrugging his thoughts off his mind, he moved aside and waved the seat for her, “After you.”
“Is it?”
As soon as they all got out, everyone walked towards the airport.
“I need to make a phone call,” Gia reminisced as she and Tom continued walking, “I left my phone on the plane. Do you have yours?”
Tom searched the pockets of his jackets. “Nah, I must’ve left it on the plane, too. I’m sure you can go back for a quick second to get it,” he said, walking her back. Tom waited for Gia on the stairway as she went inside to retrieve her phone, he glanced at his watch, noting that it was a quarter to one and warily enough, the plane had gone slowly off schedule.
Inside, Gia continued to search her bag. “Splashing Raspberry Lipstick, no. Bubblicious Bubble Gum, no. Pocket book…Here it is,” she smiled, holding up the portable phone elatedly in her hand. She pulled her purse over her arm and headed towards the exit. The cry of pain made her turn around. She observed around the entire plane and found it deserted, as it should be, yet a certain faltering noise had exceeded into a slight echo. “Anyone here?” She asked in a loud tone. She followed the snivel, noticing that it was leading her towards the pilots navigation system. Her hand squirmed as she reached for the white curtain. Gia slowly unsealed the curtain and began to shriek deafeningly. “Oh my god!” She began to back away, and shouted once more.
“Gia, Gia,” Tom called as he got inside. The sound of her screaming, had piercingly startled him and he quickly ran up. He looked at her and noticed her traumatized movements. “Gia,” he said again, making his way down the aisle towards her. And when Tom’s arms came up around hers she didn’t look up at him. His eyes plummeted to the pilot, who was lying on his seat, dead to the core with crimson blood flowing down his head like a river. “Oh my—oh my god,” she recaped on and on.
“Gia, look at me,” Tom pleaded as her face became discolored. “Gia, your in shock. You need to--”
Gia didn’t hear a word he said, but merely gripped his hand with hers as everything had began to go dark.