Nervous Flier by Chloe Glint Page A

my life until a month ago when I decided to do this."
    "Sometimes you got to do what you got to do." Dawson shrugged.
    That was when the plane hit the ground with a loud thud. Even though the plane only jostled a little, Noel jumped in fear, reached out, and seized Dawson's hand. Noel dug her nails into fine golden skin, but Dawson did not pull his hand away. The plane began to brake and the sound of loud squealing filled her ears as it slowed down. Noel let out a sigh of relief after several minutes had passed and the plane did not  combust. Beside her, Dawson chuckled again. Noel glanced down, saw that she held Dawson's—a stranger's—hand, and gasped in horror. She snatched her hand back and shot Dawson a scandalized look as if it was he who had grabbed her hand instead of the other way around.
    "So we survived." Dawson whistled. "If you flew all the way from Sydney, this wouldn't be your first flight because this plane took off from Denver. Why were you so scared?"
    "It was my third flight, actually. I had a lot of layovers." Noel blew out a sigh. "I guess I'm not destined to be a bird in a future life. I loathe flying."
    "Don't know about that. It's just something you get used to. I bet you'd make a cute bird." Dawson winked. "So, I'll tell you what, Noel from Sydney. If you run into any trouble here, I want you to give me a call. America is different from Australia. It might be a difficult transition."
    To Noel's shock, Dawson drew out a business card and handed it to her. She clutched it within sweaty fingers.
    "T, thank you." Noel put the card in her pant pocket. "Why are you being so nice to me, anyway?"
    After shrugging, Dawson leaned back. "I had a lot of friends help me when I first started traveling and writing. Ever since I got successful, I vowed that I would always do the same. And I mean it, you know. If you have any trouble, please don't hesitate to call me."
    That meant a lot, but Noel doubted she would need his number. After all, she had Peter. Peter would take care of her. It may have been six months since they had seen each other, but he still wrote her a sweet, romantic email every night before she went to bed. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she arrived at his front door.
    ****
    Noel stood at the front door of Peter's condo and gazed into his face. Peter was shirtless, shamelessly flaunting his perfect golden chest dusted with black hair. His fly was open, revealing black boxer shorts. His mouth was open wide and his dark brown eyes bulged out. His expression was not happy but horrified. It shocked her that Peter would open the door appearing like that. When the two of them had met in Australia while he was on a business trip, he had been so proper the entire time. Every consecutive visit after that had been the same. It was as if the world had taken one version of her Peter and had replaced him with another.
    After Peter recovered enough to shut his mouth, he stole a nervous glance at his empty driveway as if searching for a car to escape in. Noel shuffled her feet, feeling as though she had been kicked in the stomach. Where was the romantic and passionate doorstep kiss? Where was being pulled upstairs where they would make love and he would ask what had taken her so long to come to him? Heck, at this point, she would have settled for a simple "hello."
    "What are you doing here?" Peter asked, his voice developing an icy edge.
    "I thought I would surprise you," Noel said, suddenly feeling shaky and nervous. Her hands trembled at her sides. "I thought you would be happy to see me. I'm your girlfriend, after all."
    For a second Peter didn't say anything. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, an expensive silver car pulled into the driveway. A tall blonde woman in a purple silk top and black slacks climbed out of the car and headed for the stoop. Noel's stomach sunk with each step the woman took up the stairs. The woman paused when she reached the stoop where Noel stood and surveyed