CHAPTER 16

The flight was painfully awkward. Olivia wasn't even fazed when we took off. She simply looked out the window and didn't utter a single word to me. After the pilot told us we were free to move about, both of us hung around the main cabin. But there was nothing but silence inside the private jet. I thought I was used to the silence since I usually flew alone, but this was a different kind of silence. It was haunting, it was overwhelming, and I would do anything to just get out of it. I didn't want to stay in this awkwardness for the whole seven-hour flight to Norway.

I honestly thought letting Olivia join in my flight was a good idea. I even made that ingenious reason to Eric that it was for her security, since she had become very popular in the span of a couple of days. I just didn't think that what we did was going to happen so easily again.

"Hey, I—" I tried to speak, but suddenly, the door from the kitchen opened and the flight attendants walked in with some food.

"Mr. Oviatt, Ms. Taylor. Please enjoy your lunch, cooked especially by our team of world-class chefs," the flight attendant said, preparing to lift the lid from the plate she set on the tray table. Once she did, she introduced a gourmet three-course meal. "For your appetizers, we prepared seared scallops and fried prosciutto tortellini, and for your—"

The flight attendant went into great detail about the food that they prepared for us, but all I could really focus on was Olivia's eyes gazing upon the array of food on the cart. It was the first sign of emotion that I had seen from her ever since we took off, and I was just glad to see that she hadn't been completely discouraged this whole time. Eventually, the flight attendants left us to have our lunch, but Olivia didn't seem to want to make the first move.

"We can eat, you know," I said to her. "Just because we almost fucked when we shouldn't have doesn't mean we need to starve."

Honestly, I didn't know where that cheeky statement came from. I cleared my throat to distract from it as I laid out my napkin on my lap.

Strangely, it earned a small chuckle from Olivia.

"I've never seen you so blunt before," she said as she poured herself a glass of water, obviously avoiding any more alcohol. "I meanI have, but… not like that. Like, you don't usually cuss. You're usually so eloquent."

I smiled sincerely as I felt the awkwardness slowly dissipating.

"Well, you'd better savor it, because that would be the first and last time I'll ever say that out loud," I replied as I grabbed myself a couple of the prosciutto tortellinis.

Olivia chuckled again, shaking her head. "I was literally about to tell you to not say what we almost did out loud when your staff are literally behind those doors," she told me, pointing at the way to the kitchen.

I let out a breath in response, then simply proceeded to eat with Olivia. It was weird, eating with Olivia. To be honest, I was a little surprised that she hadn't quit or gotten fired by now. I guess I was wrong sometimes. But, I was happy to be wrong this time. Because even though I knew she was an employee, at that moment, as we enjoyed our lunch together forty thousand feet in the air, she just made me feel like a regular person.

I hadn't felt like a regular person in forever.

Olivia

These rich people are absolutely insane.

I had never seen such fine food in my life before, and everything tasted divine.

What made me call rich people insane, however, was that Ben behaved like this was all a regular thing to him. Who in the hell had a routine that got them used to private jets that had its own private kitchen and own private bar and own private office? He was definitely in a different tax bracket. Like, maybe millions or even light years away from the one where I belonged to.

But I wasn't going to act all high and mighty about it. It was definitely a nice experience—the flight and the food, not the… not the part where I almost had sex with my boss again. I mean, it probably would have been nice too… I was finally able to claim, "The Mile High Club", in my next drinking game with my friends.

Focus, Olivia! I couldn't let myself be tempted like that again. I said what I said, and I should stand by it, even though he was irresistibly sexy while he was explaining to me why the whiskey he was drinking was his favorite of all time.

"My father gifted it to me on my twenty-first birthday, and I have found nothing better since." Ben finished his story with the brightest smile on his handsome face. If I could melt like butter then, I would have been a puddle on warm toast.

"Pretty cool story, but have you ever tried boxed wine?" I teased, taking another bite of the absolutely deliciously soft steak.

Ben's eyes simply squinted in disgust at what I described.

"People put wine in boxes? Why?"

I was beginning to think that this person in front of me was significantly wealthier than I pegged him to be. I mean, there were estimates of his net worth online, but none of those were actually verified, ever. I wasn't naive to think that he didn't live comfortably… but how comfortable was the true question.

"Oh, yes they do, Mr. Oviatt. You should try grocery store sushi—" Might as well keep pushing the boundaries.

"Ben," he interjected, shooting me a grin that showed his perfect smile. He might be this magnate and iconic president, but he still behaved much like any other man. His green eyes drifted to my lips for a split second before continuing. "Call me Ben. Please."

I smiled while dramatically raising my eyebrows. He chuckled, and it was the most beautiful sound in my life.

"This is quite the day at work, with my boss."

"No. This is simply a flight to Norway between two…friends."

"Oh really," I said, dragging out each syllable, teasing him. It only earned me a wider grin on his stupidly gorgeous face, and there I went, butter on hot toast. The way his sharp jaw clenched when he was deep in thought, highlighting the subtle shadow of facial hair, was magnificent.

"So, we're friends now, are we, Ben? I was literally just trying to save my job last week. That seems like a pretty big development."

"Well, a lot can happen in one week, can't it?" Ben grilled, eyes piercing right through me as he took another sip of his drink.

I reached for my water, letting the cool glass provide relief for my overheated skin. I felt a blush creep up my neck, but I masked it with an epic eye roll.

"Very much so…Ben," I answered, taking a slow sip of water. I closed my eyes as the cool liquid slid down my parched throat.

The rest of the flight was like that: just two people hanging out with a few moments of delicious banter. There wasn't much to do when you were forty thousand feet in the air, so all we did was… talk. He told me a little about himself, how he met Eric back in college and dreamed of working together in a news company. But really, we talked about the most mundane things, like convenience store food and that really cool Michelin-star restaurant in Manhattan that I couldn't pronounce the name of. I could very much see the obvious difference in our lifestyles, especially since he had lived his life slightly longer than I had, but strangely, it didn't put a damper on our conversations. He really knew how to listen even when he had no idea what I was talking about, and I would like to think that I did the same.

And before we even realized, our seven-hour flight was about to end, and we were already in Norway. Upon descending from the clouds, I was greeted by the most stunning landscape ever. The greenery was a welcome sight for my eyes, and the harmonious blending of towns with the breathtaking nature was something that I would never be able to forget even if I wanted to.

I was definitely away from the bright city lights of New York. Goodbye city smog, hello fresh air. I needed this.

While being driven to the ski resort, I reveled in the sights of Norway. It was absolutely mind-blowing to see such a magnificent mountain behind an equally magnificent city-scape. It was messing with my head a little bit. I never would have imagined that the two can co-exist at once. I sat in stunned speechlessness the whole time while Ben simply smiled at my reactions.