Compass by Jeanne McDonald Read Free Book Online

examining it closely. It was worn with age, the plastic soft to the touch. As he held the tiny toy in his hand, a huge smile exploded over his face. This couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. But the evidence was real. Alexis was there. On his flight.
    “What’s that she gave you?” Kix inquired.
    “It’s a compass,” Ryan murmured, his own voice sounding soft and distant to his ears.
    “Well, no shit, Sherlock. I mean what’s it for?”
    Ryan flashed Makenna a cocky smirk and turned to Kix. “A compass,” he began, with sarcasm dripping from his tongue, “is a device used to determine geographic location. If you didn’t learn that much in flight school, maybe I should be the one flying this bird.”
    Kix’s mouth dropped to his chest. “Smart ass.”
    Ryan laughed as he removed his headset. “Maybe, but I have a passenger to speak with.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, without haste, and stood up, moving around Makenna.
    “Passenger in D2,” she called out.
    Ryan straightened his tie and took a deep breath, making his way out to the main cabin. He looked around the curtain separating the gully from the cabin, and his heart skipped a beat.
    Sitting in seat D2 was his Alexis. She was looking in a mirror, applying lip gloss. This was the woman he’d seen in the pictures on Facebook. Poised, sophisticated, and beautiful. Her thick brown hair hung straight down her back. Her lips plump and pink, and her big brown eyes were accentuated with the right amount of eye makeup to make them standout. She was everything Ryan remembered her to be.
    He took a deep breath, stepped around the curtain, and walked over to the row of seats she was sitting in. Next to her sat an older woman with hair white as snow. He heard the woman say something to Alexis as he approached, but couldn’t quite make it out.
    “Excuse me, Miss, but I do believe this is yours,” he greeted, a playful hint to his tone. He flashed his best smile as she looked up at him from the mirror. His hand shook, just slightly, as he opened his palm to reveal the toy compass.
    The moment their eyes met, time stood still.
     

 
    For a moment Alexis thought she was dreaming. She’d been on edge from the moment she sat down on the plane. Her palms were sweaty and her heart raced in her chest. The anxiety she felt intensified as the force of the plane lifting off the ground pushed her back into her seat. How the older woman she’d seen in line at security, who was now seated beside her on the plane, slept so peacefully was a mystery to her.
    Alexis felt everything from the nose of the plane rising off the ground to the tail that followed. Her ears muffled the higher they went until finally they popped. She looked out the window, enamored with how the city began to look smaller from her vantage point, which only added to her terror.
    The plane took them over Manhattan and then turned, heading west. She swallowed back her panic long enough to whisper a sweet goodbye to her home and friends. Anxiety mixed with anticipation gripped her as the reality of it all started to sink in. She was really doing this. After all her hard work, dedication, and sacrifices, her dreams were finally coming true.
    A pleasant smile settled on her face as she watched New York disappear under a blanket of clouds. And while her fingers dug into the armrest, there was a peace in her soul about the decision she’d made.
    That was until his voice came over the speaker. Gone was the peace, and in its exchange was a full blown panic attack. After all this time, with no contact and nothing more than a silly friend request on Facebook to give her insight into his life, she’d managed to find herself on the same plane with the boy who was once her everything.
    The fasten seatbelt signs went dark, but Alexis couldn’t move an inch. She was in a state of shock. Everything inside of her told her that she was hearing things. It had to be her imagination playing tricks on her. She was not hearing