After flying for 4 years, I packed my bags and moved from one coast to the other. Like most major decisions in my life, I hadn't thought through all the details. I knew I loved San Francisco and I knew that I had become somewhat stagnant in Orlando. So, as far as I could tell, it was time to move.
I don't regret my eighteen-month adventure in perhaps the quirkiest city on earth. Although I ended up someplace vastly different (never thought I'd buy a house in the Lone Star State, yet here I am, typing these words from the living room of my Dallas home), I'm so thankful for my time in NorCal. Everyone there was from someplace far away, it seemed. They all had wild dreams that they'd chosen to pursue in spite of the daunting statistics, and/or parental advice, and/or basic logic & reasoning.
Callie Schnieder, the heroine of my 13th novel, is a hopeless daydreamer who loves SF as much as I do. This starry-eyed flight attendant has a passion for writing and a tendency to make friends everywhere she goes. The excerpt below describes her transcontinental flight with a coworker destined to become one of her favorite people at SkyLine.
Xoxo,
Lisa
Chapter 2: OCTOBER 29
“You’ve been doing this
three years, right?” Zack asked. He leaned against the galley sink, his thick
black hair nearly grazing the airplane’s ceiling.
I pulled the remaining
pretzels from the cabinet. “Three years and three months. You?”
“Five,” he said. A
yawn escaped his lips, and I fought the impulse to join him.
“Isn’t it addicting?” I
asked as I peeked down the aisle. Shawna, the girl flying in the back of the
plane, hadn’t even begun her trek toward the front galley. Which was
fine; we had plenty of time to complete our service. The flight from San
Francisco to West Palm Beach was blocked at nearly six hours, thanks to a
massive headwind.
“Girl, you’re not kidding.”
Zack grabbed my elbow, pulling my face toward his. His eyelashes were long and
thick, framed by black-rimmed Prada glasses.
“It’s unbelievable,”
I agreed. “They pay us to jet across the country. And spend 24 hours in fun cities like West Palm.”
“Mm-hmm,” Zack agreed.
“We’re spoiled…”
“Spoiled rotten,” I mused.
Zack smiled and reached for
his apron. “I fell into this career by accident, but I plan to stay as long as
possible.”
Shawna nudged my shoulder,
startling me. I hadn’t even noticed her approaching the galley. Her wavy hair
tumbled over her shoulders, every strand perfectly in place. Her lips were a
bold red shade that matched her scarf.
“Hey y’all,”
Shawna said in a thick Texas accent. She placed a hand on my
shoulder, her bracelets jingling as they collided with each other. “Shoot, it’s
only day one and I’m already tired.”
“Me too,” I
reflected. “I should’ve come home earlier last night. But the neighbors were
having a housewarming party. Stayed up way past my bedtime.”
Zack shook his
head. “You did the right thing, girlfriend. You live in San Francisco. Might as
well enjoy it.”
“I agree,” Shawna
said with a laugh. “Ok, let’s get this done quick so we can relax. There’s an
empty row in the back of the plane. And I found a few trashy magazines in the
cubby.”
I grabbed the drink cart
and headed into the aisle.
***
“You coming to the back
with me, honey?” Shawna asked once we finished our beverage service.
I glanced at the galley,
where Zack had scattered liquor minis and half-empty soda cans. “In a couple
minutes. I’ll help Zack clean up first.”
“Alright,” Shawna said as
she headed toward the back of the plane. “I’ll be in the last row.”
While Zack was reorganizing
the liquor kit, I grabbed a few soda cans and emptied them in the garbage.
“Thanks for helping,” he
said, rearranging the minis so they lined up in neat little rows.
I nodded. “No problem.
We’ve got three more hours to kill anyway.”
“True. Hey, I think we’ve
flown together before,” Zack commented, shuffling two bottles of Bombay Sapphire. “You
look familiar.”
“Yep. I flew with
you when I was brand new at the airline,” I informed him. “Shoot, I was so
nervous that I almost threw up. You told filthy jokes until I cracked a
smile. Truly disgusting. One was about a Dirty Sanchez, which I had to look
up online.”
Zack chuckled.
“Sounds like something I would do. Where did we fly?”
“I think we had
double JFK layovers. They were short but fun.”
Zack zipped up the
liquor kit and returned it to the proper cabinet. “Good. So, tell me about
yourself, Miss Callie.”
“What would you like to know?”
I asked while emptying a Sprite can. A tiny spray of soda shot out of the
garbage bin, splattering across the floor. I threw down a few paper towels to
soak up the spill.
“Everything. Have you been
in San Francisco a long time?” he asked.
I tilted my head to the
side. “Coming up on three years, actually. I was living in Central Florida but
I came to SF after I got this job, and never really looked back.”
“So you like it in
California?”
“Love it. Where do you
live?”
“Portland,” Zack said with
a frown. “I plan to move soon, though. Maybe Los Angeles? I’m tired of
commuting.”
“I bet. Commuting
is for the birds,” I noted, scrunching up my face. “I commuted for a couple months
when I first started at SkyLine, and then I swore I would never do it
again.”
“Do you miss Florida?”
“Sometimes. But
I’m much happier now. I seriously love the Bay Area. There’s this artistic,
daydreamer side to the city that I’ll never get sick of. San Francisco is
so...alive.”
“I can see that,” Zack agreed.
“So you’re from Florida?”
“Boston, actually. That’s
where I grew up. But I went to the University of Florida and then basically
hopped all over the country. I tried everything, Zack. Taught high school for a
year in Austin. Wrote poetry and short stories in Trinidad. Worked for a bank
in Phoenix. Ended up back in Florida, in Jacksonville and then Orlando. I was bartending and trying to get my books published...which never
happened, obviously. And then I got hired here.”
“You have such a gypsy
heart, Cal,” Zack said, his eyes shining brightly. “I love that.”
He plopped down on
the jumpseat and crossed his legs.
“Mmm. Maybe I’m just
impulsive! Or indecisive.”
“More like brave,
Callie,” Zack told me, sitting up a little straighter. “Most people don’t have
the balls to uproot their whole lives and try something new. So they stay in
the same town, working the same job, surrounded by the same people. And they become more miserable every day.”
“There’s probably some
truth to that,” I reflected. “You know, people have always told me I’m a
dreamer. I couldn’t figure out if it was a compliment or not! But you make
it sound like a good thing.”
“Are you dating anyone?”
Zack asked, shifting gears rather abruptly.
“Nope,” I said.
“To be honest, I’m glad I’m not tied down…most of my friends are getting
married and it feels like a torture chamber. Or a pressure cooker, maybe?
They’re excited about toaster ovens and curtains. It’s the stupidest shit,
Zack. I couldn’t care less.”
“But being in love
is the best…” Zack murmured. “My ex and I were together for four years. I was
so sure I’d marry him.”
“Shoot. What happened?” I
asked. The airplane took a sudden dip, and the seatbelt sign came on. I grabbed
a seat beside Zack in anticipation of turbulence.
“Oh, you know. Life
happened,” Zack said. He buckled his seatbelt.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok. I love
him like crazy. But it’s a big world. And there’s lots of other boys out
there,” Zack said with a half-smile. “I’ll find one. Maybe in West Palm Beach
tonight. Who knows? Anything’s possible.“
“Hmm. Guess so.”
“You’re coming
downtown with me, right? Don’t be a slam-clicker! I might need a wing-woman,”
Zack told me.
I nodded. “Sure.
I’ll go downtown with you. Why not? What do we have to lose?”
Zack grinned. “That’s
the spirit.”
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