One Night With The Grump Next Door

Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Cheryl Lux All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact [email protected]. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. Book Cover by Getcovers.com First edition 2023 Table of Contents 1. Chapter 1 2. Chapter 2 3. Chapter 3 4. Chapter 4 5. Chapter 5 6. Chapter 6 7. Chapter 7 8. Chapter 8 9. Chapter 9 10. Chapter 10 11. Chapter 11 12. Chapter 12 13. Chapter 13 14. Chapter 14 15. Chapter 15 16. Chapter 16 17. Chapter 17 18. Chapter 18 19. Chapter 19 20. Chapter 20 21. Chapter 21 22. Chapter 22 23. Chapter 23 24. Chapter 24 25. Chapter 25 26. Epilogue Chapter 1 Alicia “You can’t go on like this anymore. We’ve gotta do something.” I groaned and burrowed a little more into the couch as if, somewhere within my fluffy cotton blanket, I’d be able to get away from the truth of what my brother was saying. On the TV, Josie Maran was busy cheerily endorsing a new kind of cream that promised to make the wearer look up to fifteen years younger. “Seriously, Alicia. I mean it.” I always missed my brother Sam when he was away, but as soon as he was home, I was reminded of just how annoying he could be. It had been two weeks since I’d been laid off from my last airline, a budget operation that had announced to all its employees via email that the company was bankrupt and we were out of a job. As I pondered this unfortunate turn of events, my brother marched over to the sofa, grabbed hold of the remote, and switched the TV off. “Sam, come on!” I said. “I was watching that!” “I mean it. You’re going for that interview.” This wasn’t exactly how I’d imagined things would play out. Since we were young, my brother and I had loved flying. We’d grown up with our imaginations captured by my dad’s career. He’d been a test pilot for Boeing, and the family had been dragged across the states for years, finally settling in Chicago. My brother Sam had joined the Air Force. Unfortunately, my 20/300 [ML1] vision meant that I was never going to be a pilot, but I was still determined to spend every minute of my life on a plane if I could. After graduating high school, I’d become a flight attendant and had just celebrated my tenth anniversary working for Bolar Air. I had a job, a pension program, and a great salary. All gone now. I sat up, rubbing my eyes before replacing my glasses, balancing them on my nose, and fixing Sam with a quizzical expression. I’ve never minded wearing glasses. Sure, they’re not part of the supermodel look if that’s what you’re looking for. But I’d never exactly been short of boyfriends, not with my gently curled auburn hair and a naturally curvy waist. Even if I was famously unlucky in love, I’d had no shortage of opportunities over the years. “Who is this guy, anyway? You say he’s your best friend, but I’ve never met him. And why can’t I find a job at a normal airline where I won’t be working for some crazy billionaire with a death wish …” Sam chuckled and sat on the arm of the couch. “You’d love working for Jake. And, for your information, you guys have never met because it took two years of training before he ever said a word to me. Jake’s not exactly the social type. You don’t end up owning your own airline unless you take life pretty seriously.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” I said, lobbing one of the sofa cushions at Sam casually. My brother might not have been a fighter pilot for almost ten years now, but his reflexes were still sharp. He caught the cushion in his left hand before it even got close, and reached over to bop me on the head with it. “You,” he said, bopping, “Will. Go. To. The. Interview. That’s it. End of conversation.” I huffed and folded my arms, but I knew Sam was right. It wasn’t exactly like things were going swimmingly without his help. Try as I might, the thought of getting off my ass and looking through the job pages was too much to bear. Airline executives weren’t exactly jumping out of their seats to hire personnel right now. And as much as I tried to ridicule it, there was something pretty exciting about the idea of working for Jake Ryder. Not only was he a great boss and friend to Sam, but his airline was pretty legendary. Central American Airlines was one of those old-fashioned businesses which still hangs onto all its customer loyalty programs. Actually, I knew about it because just last year, its first-class and business-class sections had been rated the best in the country in a trade magazine I’d been reading aboard a redeye back home to Chicago. CAA also ran a private charter service, where it wined and dined some of the wealthiest clients in the northeast on private trips as far out as the Caribbean. “Fine,” I said grumpily, but secretly pleased about the prospect of getting off the couch and doing something with my life. “Where’s the interview?” “At his house,” said Sam. “Jake’s home for the weekend and he lives just up the road from us. He’s got a place near the park.” “What?” I asked. “Lincoln Park? Jeez, I wonder how much that cost.” “You can ask him when he calls,” said Sam, laughing. “I gave him your phone number.”