Thomas & January by Fisher Amelie Read Free Book Online Page B

looking for something substantial by then, until she killed that dream for me by agreeing to marry someone else. Sure, I was over her and that still shocked me, but I realized something after Kelly, no one was worth feeling like shit for...not like that, ever. I’d resigned myself to loner-hood long before I’d met the kitten fiddling with the necklaces choking her throat. Damn January MacLochlainn and her intriguing face.
    “Loading zones ones and two,” I heard over the intercom. That was us. I stood and she followed suit, taking a long stride for each one of mine. We stood silently side by side but her carry-on carry-on was obviously too heavy for her because she kept struggling with trying to handle the awkward bag as well as her oversized oversized purse. God, what does she have in there? Every step forward was an overexerted effort, so I took the carry-on carry-on from her without asking. She held fast to it as the line moved, but I refused to let her have it back. We  stood  there, silently fighting over her ridiculous carry-on until the guy behind us cleared his throat. I yanked it from her hands. She huffed and straightened her clothing, puffing her disheveled hair from her face. We boarded the plane without a single word. People probably thought we were both crazy.
    Unfortunately, we were forced to sit coach because the label, although made of money, apparently didn’t like to spend it. Row eight, seat B, loomed ahead of me like a dentist’s chair. Seven hours of pure hell laid ahead of me.
    “You can have the window seat,” I said, gesturing to the inside seat. “I’ll take the aisle.” Try to keep the peace.
    “No, I’d rather sit in the aisle, thank you.”
    I stuffed her carry-on above us then took a deep breath to compose myself. “Seriously, I don’t mind giving up the window.”
    “And I told you, I don’t want it,” she gritted.
    My blood was beginning to boil now. “January, I’m trying to be cool with you.”
    “I realize that and I said thank you but no thank you.”
    “Fine,” I gritted back. I sat in the window seat, opened the plastic shade and watched the men below load our bags with the utmost care you’d expect those men to handle your bags. Yeah.
    By the time the plane, took off, I was asleep.
     
    January
              Tom fell asleep before we even left pavement, for which I was grateful because I didn’t want to have to explain to him my most inconvenient problem. I was allergic to traveling. Well, not allergic so much as just extremely susceptible to motion sickness. It didn’t matter what I was traveling in, be it plane, train, or automobile. I had a genetic predisposition of ralphing everything in my stomach each time I barely set foot on any form of transportation. It’s why I argued over keeping the aisle seat, I needed to have better access to the lavatory.
    As soon as Tom drifted off, I swallowed down the motion sickness pills my doctor prescribed me with my bottle of water. These I only took when I would be able to sleep for hours because they made me sleepy as hell.
    While I waited for the pills to take effect, I took out the tattered paperback I’d brought from home and settled into my seat but couldn’t bring myself to bend the barely-there cover. I worried that my motion sickness issue would become just that, an issue for Tom. Scouting involved an astronomical amount of traveling, and although I knew this going into it, I wasn’t going to let my little problem stop me from doing it. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and the job was made for me. There was nothing I loved more than music. Music kept my heart beating, my mind clear and my soul deep.
    Drowsiness took over and my head started to feel heavy on my neck. Before I knew it, my book had slipped from my fingers, tumbling to the floor at my feet.
     
    Thomas
              I vaguely remember falling asleep but I definitely remembered waking up. I was staring at the