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“I can take that.” Wendy bridged the gap between the flight attendant and the passenger by taking the hot plate directly from underneath. Arianna was simultaneously concerned and impressed. The way Wendy gently set the plate on her girlfriend’s tray and cheerily announced that dinner had arrived went completely against her snotty heiress demeanor. “That will be all.”
Summarily dismissed, Arianna returned to the galley and checked on the next orders. Only when she thought of the way Wendy took care of her girlfriend did she allow a ridiculous grin to penetrate her professional demeanor. So. Cute. Rarely did Arianna come across such unapologetic displays of same-sex adoration out in the wild. When she did see it, some primitive part of her brain unleashed a wave of endorphins that reminded her that was exactly what she wanted in her life. The very thing she was destined to pursue from the moment she woke up and realized she would probably never have a husband – because no man made her feel the way a coy look from a woman made her melt into a puddle of unproductive filth.
If only…
She was so distracted that she automatically entered muscle memory mode, where she went through the motions without thinking about the details. Even in First Class, that still took her far. But it also meant she was blindsided when she rolled the cart past the celebrities in the first row and served a prime rib to the woman two rows behind them.
“Forgetting something?”
Arianna jerked back to reality, where she stood at her cart with her hand stoically wrapped around a bottle of red wine. By now, she should have poured a glass and left it with the prime rib, but she was so lost in girlish thoughts that she was lucky it was Elle sitting next to her.
Although “lucky” was not the word immediately coming to Arianna’s mind as she looked down into that amused face.
“Oh, my goodness, please forgive me.” She poured the wine and placed it with a small napkin atop Elle’s tray. “I don’t know what came over me.”
Elle waited for Arianna to finish handling food and drink before gesturing for her to lower her head. “Are you blindsided by fame, Ms. Aria?”
Was she blushing? Arianna was blushing, wasn’t she? “I would never admit to such things. But…” She looked around her, ensuring that Boss Tan was distracted by passengers on the other side of the First Class cabin. “You know who they are?” she hissed, grateful for the loud rumble of the plane. “I used to listen to Yi Wei Fan when I was a kid. Actually, everyone did. She was a big deal in Malaysia.”
“From what I understand, she was a big deal everywhere.”
“And Ms. Ahn is a Singaporean legend. One of the only out lesbians in that entire social sphere. She can do whatever she wants. And gets away with it. It’s amazing. It’s like her family doesn’t even care.”
“Why, Ms. Song,” Elle chided. “Are you gossiping with me?”
Arianna stood up straight, brushing lint off her kebaya and pretending that she had dropped something when Boss Tan happened to look over at her.
“Absolutely not,” she lightly said when placing an extra hot roll on Elle’s tray.
“Is this bribery?” Elle reached for the roll before Arianna had the chance to pull her hand away. Their skin made contact, but only for a second. Long enough to startle Arianna. But not long enough for me. “A piece of bread?”
Arianna slammed both hands against her cart. “Absolutely not,” she squeaked again. “I’ve got better bribes up my sleeve.”
It wasn’t until she pulled the cart back toward the galley she realized how that came out. Almost immediately, she snapped her head in Elle’s direction. Much to her chagrin, the frequent flyer was looking back at her, one brow arched and a piece of bread between her fingertips.
“Need any help?”
She nearly leaped out of her skin when Charmaine appeared behind her. When Arianna insisted that she was fine, Charmaine peeked out of the galley curtains and ducked back inside with a snicker on her lips.
“Can you believe we’ve got that level of celebrity in our cabin?” She allowed one jump of excitement before composing herself. “We haven’t had a bona fide famous person on our flight since we were at Singapura. The former Prime Minister. Remember?”
“Of course I remember.”
“But these are way cooler. Yi Wei Fan… and I always read about Wendy Ahn in the papers. She’s so cool. You know, I have a friend who once dated…”
“Miss Huang,” Arianna interrupted. “You really shouldn’t gossip. Especially not on board.” She cleared her throat, remembering she still had three more orders to fulfill. “You can do that when we get to our hotel and nobody can overhear us.”
Grinning, Charmaine grabbed more rolls to put into the oven. “I understand.”
Arianna made it through the rest of dinner service without another hiccup or any argument from Boss Tan, who had been a bit more up her own nostrils about everyone’s behavior that day. Was she making up for lost time while convalescing? Or did she think they all had something to prove with two celebrities on board? Either way, Arianna didn’t need gruff, and she was about to go on break, anyway.
She did one last round of the cabin while Boss Tan used the latrine and the lights turned off. As her eyes adjusted, she made out the figure of Elle fast asleep in her pod, the curtain still open and her bare arms wrapped across her torso.
Arianna slinked up beside her, delicately closing the curtain to give Elle some privacy. Before latching it shut, however, she thought to grab the blanket from its pocket and pull it over Elle, careful not to touch her face or otherwise disturb her rest during quiet hours.
She slightly stirred but did not awaken.
Arianna announced to her coworkers she was taking her four-hour break. As she ascended the ladder, changed into her shift dress, and locked herself in her sleeping pod, she wished someone would come by and put a blanket over her.
