CORAL - Forever (A Romance Trilogy, Book 3) (34 page)

“
Hey,
”
Tristan turns me to face
him, and softly runs his knuckle against my cheek.
“
You know these are the safest kind of planes
to fly in, right?
”

“
They
are?
”
I squeak,
looking back at it – It has propellers for god
’
s
sake!

“
Yes,
”
Tristan chuckles.
“
This is a Bombardier Dash
8 Q400 Propeller Plane.
”
How
does he know that?

“
And
how does that make it safer than other planes?
”
I breathe.

“
Because
it has propellers,
”
he
says, smiling sweetly at me.

“
And
that makes a difference because....?
”

“
When
the engines fail in a jet, it
’
s
a dead stick in the sky. With propellers, the pilot can guide the plane down
and safely land.
”

“
Oh!
”
I whisper.

“
And
this has both, so we
’
ll
be safe,
”
he adds,
really smiling at me now. I can't help laughing nervously.
“
Come on, the sooner we
are on, the sooner you will see that there
’
s
nothing to fear.” Tristan claps my hand in his, and we follow the crowd of
people.

I hesitate slightly when it
’
s
our turn to take the small steps leading up into the plane. Tristan squeezes my
hand, making me feel safe, then gestures for me to go first. I take a deep
breath and walk up the steps, stopping when I step inside and see the air-hostess.

“
Good
afternoon. Welcome to flight 462 heading to Newquay.
”
A very pretty brunette says, then she gets
an eye full of Tristan walking in behind me, she instantly looks flustered –
Great!

Tristan passes our tickets to her.
“
Good afternoon...Mr Freeman, Miss Stevens.
You
’
re right down
the end, seats 15a and 15b.
”
She rips off the stubs and hands our tickets back to Tristan.

“
Thank
you.
”
He smiles
politely at her and I see her blush.
God damn it!

“
Come
on baby.
”
Tristan
says tugging on my hand. I try not to pout, and follow him down the aisle to
our seats.
“
Window
seat?
”
He asks,
looking amused.
Hmph!

“
She
likes you,
”
I
whisper.

“
Who?
”
Tristan asks, bemused.

“
The
air hostess.
”
I
whisper.

Tristan rolls his eyes at me.
“
Coral,
do you want the window seat or not, because we
’
ll
be taking off in the next five minutes?
”
Oh!

I quickly scramble into the window seat. Tristan places my
handbag in the overhead compartment, while I clip my seatbelt into place – My
right leg is already jigging up and down, my left foot is doing a dance all of it
s
own, and I'm biting down
so hard on my bottom lip, that it
’
s
becoming painful.

Tristan turns my head, pulls my lip from between my teeth
and settles his hand on my knee; it instantly stops bouncing up and down. The
other air-hostess gains everyone’s attention, and start’s going through the
pre-flight safety speech, but it’s just white noise to me, then she takes her
seat and a voice comes out over the tanner.

“
Ladies
and gentleman, welcome to flight 462 to Newquay. We hope you enjoy the flight
today. Once we have taken off, our air hostesses Julie and Cindy will be
handing out refreshments. We estimate our arrival to be on time, due to the
beautiful weather we are having today. Thank you for flying with Flybe.
”

I take a deep breath, the fear seems to have faded, and now
I'm feeling excited again. I look across at Tristan, he smiles widely at me.
The plane starts to turn, I can hear the propellers, feel the slight bump from
the wheels as it taxes to the runway.

Then we really start to move, we are racing down the runway;
holy hell that
’
s
fast – I squeeze Tristan
’
s
hand tighter. The next thing I know, the inertia is gone and we are lifting up
into the air...
Holy Fuck!
– I want to scream, it
’
s so exhilarating! This is so cool! I look
out the window and see the ground getting smaller, more minuscule as the
seconds tick by –
Oh wow!

Five minutes into the flight, and I’m still staring out the
window in amazement. England is so beautiful from up here; so green. Who knew!

“
Coral.
”
I turn and look at
Tristan, he is grinning so widely, literally from ear to ear.
“
Are you ok?
”
I smile widely at him
and frantically nod my head, unable to articulate anything yet.
“
Can I have my hand back
then?
”
He asks.
Oops!

“
Sorry,
”
I whisper, feeling shy
and release his hand from my grip. He opens and closes his hand a few times,
laughing as he does –
Jeez, I must have really squeezed it!

“
Tristan...that
was...wow!
”
I
breathlessly say.

“
See,
nothing to worry about,
”
he coos.

The same air hostess that greeted us comes over asking if we
want refreshments. I can tell she
’
s
trying really hard to be professional, and not ogle at Tristan. I turn away and
look out the window so she can’t see my smug smile, because he’s mine, and he
is hard to resist, and I find it very hard not to stare at him too – He really
is very handsome...

WE
HAVE ARRIVED AT NEWQUAY CORNWALL AIRPORT.
It
’
s very smart  and clean compared to
Heathrow. It only felt like we’d been on the plane twenty minutes; in-fact I didn't
want to get off. I even enjoyed the landing, actually I was quite fascinated by
it all, much to Tristan
’
s
amusement.

Tristan has our bags in one of those strollers. He locates a
rental car desk and starts casually walking over to it, keeping my hand in his.
I quickly pull out my mobile and send a text to Rob, Malcolm (Gladys has lost
another mobile) and Debs, letting them know we have arrived safely. But as I do
that I notice the number for the gym – Will! –
Crap!
I told him I was
going to call him. I call the gym, give them my number and ask them to get Will
to call me back, or let Rob know if he and his wife are coming to the wedding.

Tristan has one eyebrow cocked up when I look up at him.
“What?”

“Calling your admirer,” he teases.

I roll my eyes at him, and stuff my mobile back in my bag.
“
Tristan, do we really
need a car?
”
I ask, as
we stop and wait in line.

“
Of
course we need a car!” He scoffs.

“
Why?
Do you plan on driving us around for the next ten days?” I ask sarcastically.

“
No,
but’ –
“
You do know
the place we are staying at is only three miles away?
”
I say.

“
What,
you want to walk?
”
He chuckles sarcastically.

“
No,
I just don't get why you would want to waste money on paying for a car all
week, just for it to be sat in the driveway?
”

“
Coral
’
–
“
Why don't we just get a
taxi? The place we are staying at...what was it – Porth Beach? I'm sure there
are lots of places to eat and drink so we don't need to visit a supermarket.
”
Tristan doesn
’
t look convinced. I roll
my eyes at him.

“
Look
if we want to go to Watergate Bay for a meal for instance, I'm sure you
’
re not going to want to
drive. What if you want a glass of wine?
”
He
’
s not
having any of it, I can tell.
“
Ok,
get a car,
”
I say
waving my hand in the air.

He pulls me into him. I can feel the full length of his body
pressed against mine.
“
I
want a car, so if anything...
”
He frowns, then seems to shake it off and smiles.
“
If I need to get you somewhere, I have
access to a vehicle to be able to do that, ok?
”

“
Ok.
”
I say nodding several
times. He
’
s right –
again! Cornwall is remote, and if we did need a car for any reason – I stop
those thoughts in their tracks – We are on holiday! I am on holiday for the
first time ever. I will endeavour to smile the whole time we are here...

LANA
DEL RAY IS SINGING ABOUT VIDEO GAMES.
I like this song, so I sing
along to it, but as I glance across at Tristan, I can't help smiling at the
disgusted look on his face – It’s comical!

We are sat in a Nissan Juke, it’s a bright red, 4x4 thing,
not the prettiest car in the world, but does the job! Earlier, at the rental
car desk, I thought Tristan was going to expire when they said all they had
left was this or a Kia Picanto – Now that would have been funny to see, Tristan
squashed into the driver
’
s
seat of one of those!

The car isn’t sounding too healthy right now though, it’s
engine screaming as it struggles up one of Cornwall
’
s many winding, steep roads. Tristan looks
so funny as he sits in the driver seat, rolling his eyes at its lack of power.
We
should have bought his Jag!
Then I shake of that thought, if we had, I
wouldn’t have experienced my first flight – It was so cool! Although, there is
a part of me that doesn’t understand why Tristan didn’t order some kind of
posh, executive car? I mean, I know it was short notice, but still?

“
Do
you think we
’
ll ever
get there?
”
He
questions sarcastically. I can't help giggling. Tristan eventually joins in,
and chuckles along with me, finally seeing the funny side of it...
Honestly,
men and fast cars!!

“Tristan, can I ask you something?” I say.

“Anything,” he answers.

“Why didn’t you...well hire a better car in advance...you
know something posh like the Jag?”

He grins widely. “Posh like the Jag?”

“Well I think it’s a posh car!” I say cocking an eyebrow up
at him.

He chuckles at my response, then shrugs his shoulders. “I
just...I don't want you feeling overwhelmed by my wealth and....well, I want
you to want me for me, not what I can offer you.”

I swallow hard. “Tristan, I do want you for you. Not your
money.” I quietly say.

He smiles at me and clasps my hand in his. “I know Coral,
it’s just hard getting used to being with someone who thinks like that. You’re
so different to anyone I’ve ever dated.”

I lean across and kiss his flushed cheek. “Same here baby.”

Finally, we see the villa Tristan has rented. Tristan parks
the car and we both step out.

There’s a guy waiting for us. He’s all surfer looking with
bleached blonde hair, a wicked tan, no top on and surfer dude shorts, and bare
feet. I think he
’
s a
teenager, or maybe a guy in his twenties that still looks young?. I hear
seagulls, I can smell and see the sea, and there is sand along the edges of the
roads – It’s so cool!

You don’t get that in Brighton, but I guess that’s because
it’s a pebbled beach.
I can't believe I’m on holiday!
I feel like
jumping up and down.

“
Mr
Freeman?
”
The boy
says in a strong Cornish accent – I love it!

“
Yes.
”
Tristan walks over and
they shake hands.

“
Yeah...I
’
m Jake.
”
He says in the most laid
back way.
“
So...my
Mom said to tell you that the downstairs shower is on the brink, people before
busted it....she’s gonna send someone over to fix it, so just use the one
upstairs.
”
He says,
smiling broadly.

“
Ok,
”
Tristan chuckles as Jake
hands him the keys to the property. He continues to smile at Tristan, and as I take
a step closer, I notice his eyes look really blurry.
Is he stoned?

Jake continues.
“
Yeah...but the barbeque is awesome dude...want me to show you?
”

“
No,
that
’
s fine thanks,
”
Tristan says, I can tell
he
’
s trying not to
laugh.

“
Cool.
How long are you here for?
”
Jake asks, smiling cheekily at me. He seems harmless, and his grin is really
cute –for a boy – and I feel so happy right now, that I can't help smiling back
at him.

“
Ten
days,
”
Tristan says,
looking from me to Jake with a frown.

I stop smiling –
What
’
s his problem?

“
Cool,
weather is supposed to be awesome...you guys surf?
”
He really is a chatty young man.