Independence - Ch 7

“Problem is not really what I like hearing from my pilot Jeff, what's going on?”

“We can file a flight plan but not to Jersey, according to the FAA we can't fly that many hours in a day, so you get a choice if you want out of town tonight or first thing in the morning.”

“Fuck, get us out of town Jeff. That’s what I pay you for.” Jon hung up the phone and turned to Kylee.

“We won’t be getting back to NJ tonight after all.” He really hated when things didn’t go his way, he wasn’t used to it and wasn’t that good at dealing with it.

“What? Jon seriously this is ridiculous, just because you have me on retainer doesn’t mean you can kidnap me to parts unknown of our country.”

Running a hand through his hair he barked, “I didn’t kidnap you; you’re paid to be here besides it’s not my fault. FAA says they can’t fly all the way back, something about hour limits.”

“Oh ok, that makes sense then, I’d rather the pilots not fly when they are tired. Can’t you just put me on a commercial flight?”

“I could if there was one leaving right now I guess but you’re paying for it then because I’m providing you transportation.”

Kylee couldn’t stay the night with him, it would be highly unprofessional. “And what about my appointments tomorrow?”

“I’d have hoped you would have had Kelly cancel them when I told you we were going to California.” He challenged her. Why was she trying to make his life even more difficult?

“Fine, where are we staying anyway?” Exasperated and annoyed were two words that fit her well.

“I don’t even know what city we’re going to, let’s as Jeff and I’ll call before we take off for reservations.”

Once on the plane Jon let his displeasure fade, it’s not like the pilot did this on purpose. Once he was informed they’d be spending the night in Phoenix, Jon made the call to reserve the Presidential Suite at the Phoenician. The hour and twenty minute flight proceeded with no issues, each of them handling the day’s events in their own minds, with no immediate desire to rehash everything. The plane landed and Jon informed the crew where they were staying, he got a big enough suite so everyone could stay there. He would leave instructions at the front desk to give them keys. Jon walked over offering his hand to Kylee as she stood to leave the plane.

Walking into the Phoenician, Kylee had to breathe extra deep to remain calm, Jon walked her to a lobby chair and briskly moved to the counter to check in. Putting the room on his American Express Black card he was given two keys and the other three were left at the front desk. Confirming there was still the underground shopping at the resort he smiled walking over to pick up Kylee.

“We’re all set, the room has a word processor in it if you’d like to work on anything and I got some discs from the front desk so you can store the documents.” Reaching his arm out to hold the elevator door open he continued. “I also checked there’s still the shopping underground, I set it up that you can just charge whatever to the room so you’re all set to go get more clothes for tomorrow. If you’d like to shop somewhere else I can have a car take you where you’d like to go.”

“As long as I can get everything I need here in the hotel I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll have the car ready.” He laughed opening the door to the suite. Checking the time on her watch she smiled, “Wow this place is amazing, but before I can get comfortable I need clothes. Will I need to be a lawyer anyplace public tomorrow; I need to know what to buy?”

“Not at all, we’re getting up and getting on the plane and going home unless there’s something in Phoenix you want to see. Its only 7pm local time remember, we’re in Mountain time now so go have fun. I’ll call down to the front desk to make sure they have a car available for you. If you buy anything at a store away from the hotel just keep the receipts and I’ll reimburse you.”

“Thanks Jon. Do you need me to pick you up some clothes or are you going to do that?”

“If you could that’d be great, I think I need to reach out to the band.” The horror in his eyes told her that he had no idea what to expect from them.