"When we will be in the air, Captain?"
"In fifteen minutes, Mr Geon."
"Alright. Miss Alice, did you bring everything I asked you?"
Sit attentive in the class. If you doze off for a second, the rest of the topic would go on the top of your head. That was what teachers used to say to the high school students. Alice had always been an attentive student of the class, ears perked up, jotting down minute details. Just for a minute, her mind drifted off the discussion in the meeting and here she was sitting across Junho in the plane. One minute of negligence cost her a trip to the states alone.
"Three satin dress suits, two tracksuits, a pair of black leather shoes and sneakers, blue Rolex, and two bottles of your banana milk." Considering the time she had been given to prepare for the trip, the girl did quite a good job. In the last two days, her world had flipped upside down. Since the meeting was crucial for The Geon Corporations, there was no letting off the hook. No space for mistakes. That was what Bingwen told her. It would not be wrong to say that she was running on one foot from the company to CEO's penthouse back and forth to get everything perfect. Convincing Feng was another milestone.
"Enjoy the flight." The captain bowed to Junho and walked off to the control room.
"Have you informed The Green Bay about the timing of our arrival?" Inquired the CEO from his assistant who was peering out of the window.
"Yes, I have. Since it will be the night when we arrive there, they are looking for the meeting over a business dinner." Alice had been in touch with the secretary of The Green Bay for the last two days.
"Who made the reservation?" The details of meetings would be sent to Junho by his assistant before he would fly out of the country but as Alice was new and swamped in looking after other preparations, the CEO did not make a fuss out of it this time.
"We insisted them to have it under The Geon Corporations but they affirmed that they would host it since we are their guests."
Junho nodded and turned on his laptop. Alice, on the other hand, was looking at her hands which started sweating. She did not know how did she got agreed to this but it was not a good idea.
"Dear passengers, It is to inform you that we are going to take-off. Please remain seated and have your seatbelts fastened." Junho closed the lid of the laptop and leaned back in his seat but his assistant's troubled face captured his attention.
"What happened? Are you feeling sick, Miss Alice?" Anybody could tell that the girl was not alright by seeing her pale coloured, frightened facial expressions.
"I have acrophobia." This was the main reason she was devastated over agreeing to the trip. Not that she was travelling with her mom that would do everything to make her daughter feel at comfort. Well, correction, not her mom but Feng. As if the woman ever cared about her daughter.
"You shouldn't have sat by the window side." As soon as the words were out in the air, Alice, absentmindedly, unfastened her seatbelt and sprung to her feet. Stupid of her for choosing the seat but she did not have a choice. There was Junho's bag on the aisle-side seat and she would not dare to sit next to her boss.
"Hey, no, wait---", Xiu had aviophobia so Junho had quite of an experience on how to deal with it. The couple would travel out of the city many times in a month, sometimes Junho joining the model in photoshoots if he happened to have meetings in the same city. If Alice had fear of heights, she should not have left her seat when they were taking off. But what was he expecting from the quick-witted, well, dumb-witted, if he said.
When Alice stood up on her feet, the dizziness hit her like a meteorite. She did not have a crash landing though. Safely she fell on the lap of the CEO who caught her subconsciously. It was the second time that Junho got to notice the beautiful features of the girl. Her eyes were squeezed shut, lips pressed in a thin line. The hands were balled into tight fists and the hammering of the heart against the ribcage was so loud that it could be heard by the CEO without an effort. But there was a problem; it was not her heart beating loudly in his eardrums, but Junho's itself.
"Take a deep breath and try to relax." If Alice was not fighting her fear, the sweet like honey undertone voice of the CEO would not go unnoticed by her because she had grown used to hearing a high pitched one. However, at the very moment, all she could think about was not to break down in front of her boss. Oh, only if it was that easy. Trying to hold it back, her body started shaking. Junho hesitated for a moment before taking her rolled-up hands into his and giving them a light squeeze, he whispered, "It's okay. Nothing is going to happen to you. You're safe."
A throbbing pain rose in his head when he uttered the last words, a muffled voice resonating, "You are safe and sound in my arms, princess."
But it went away as soon as it came, leaving the CEO put his entire focus on the girl. Her fisted hands had started loosening as she relaxed in his arms.
"Dear passengers, we are in the air. You can remove the seatbelts as you desire. Please enjoy your trip to America."
It had not been a minute passed for her to get over her panicked state when she started feeling a headache. A foggy scene flashed into her closed eyes. A boy and girl were dressed in some weird clothes, the same she saw the other day when she had that accidental kiss with the CEO. The girl was sitting next to the boy in a garden under a redbud tree, her head rested over his chest as she said, "Liang, I am afraid." The boy closed his eyes as if he was also scared but he did not make it visible. "You are safe and sound in my arms, princess."
What was with these memories? She never remembered to watch a movie from an old dynasty. The other day she thought her sickened mind was playing tricks on her but today she was fit, well, at least not crashing down over hi---wait, did she just crash on the man again! It was not until the flight attendant appeared before them had she realized where she was sitting.
"Mr Geon, would you like a dri--", she stopped when she looked that the assistant of Junho was sitting on his lap, her small hands resting peacefully in his muscular veiny ones.
Right when Alice realized the position she was in, she quickly got on her feet, tripping and falling on the floor as quick as she rose.
"F*ck." Junho bit back a snicker, looking at the girl. After serving them drinks, the flight attendant went back to their seat. The air was still tight between the two.
"Are you feeling okay now, Miss Alice?" Well, the air was tense but only from Alice's side.
"As if you c---I mean...yes, I'm fine, Mr Geon." Gritting her teeth, she faced the other side.
'How come I landed on his lap! It would've been f*cking better to land on the floor.' Embarrassing this trip was going to be for the girl in every possible way.
Junho had put his bag on the seat opposite to his, making his assistant sit next to him claiming he did not want another ruckus for the rest of the flight. But the truth was he wanted the girl to be near to him so that if anything happened, he would deal with it. Why? He also did not. Perhaps reasoning out with 'She's my personal assistant. If anything happens to her, who will look after my needs?' was enough convincing for him. Perhaps.