Call My Name

CHAPTER 6. Fox-ape

I have never been a fan of take-offs. That small tugging feeling inside the pit of your stomach has never really resonated well with me. It makes me want to close my eyes, clench my fists, and just stop breathing.

“Scared?” Alexei asked with that usual drawl from across me, his eyes fixed on the book that he was holding.

I wanted to answer, but the sensation was still there. Just a few more seconds now and we’ll be in the air. The engines roared once more and the wind buffeted, and then that’s it.

There was a complete silence.

“Good morning passengers. This is your captain speaking,” the pilot announced through the intercom. “First I'd like to welcome everyone on the Gulfstream G650ER. We are currently cruising at an altitude of 33,000 feet at an airspeed of 400 miles per hour. The time is 7:46 am. We’re expecting to land in Paris in 5 hours and 59 minutes. The weather is . . . ”

“Hey, Al,” I called, clearing my throat as I did and fixed myself up on the chair.

The sign that says we should stay on our seat were now off, and the four attendants that were with us are now roaming the aisles, checking on the other passengers.

Ezekiel, with his feet propped up on his seat, was fast asleep, beside him was Hiro who was chewing on a gummy bear while her mother read a magazine. Natalie and Henry is with us, too, and Alexei’s former Head of Security, Sebastian Wallace.

I don’t know what Sebastian’s here for, but I sure do know that I’m the one keeping Alexei safe now. So, he can go and back off.

I wasn’t even allowed to let my team fly with us and this giraffe is here enjoying dark chocolate while watching Moana?

And who the hell watches Moana at his age?

“Yeah?”

“Do you wanna watch a movie?” I asked, trying to browse through the hundreds of movies available and gave him a nudge with my foot. “I’m asking you. The proper response is to answer, you Italian Neanderthal.”

“I’m surprised you even know that word,” he retorted and flipped a page on his book.

“Oh, I’ll blow your mind.”

He just smirked and never said anything again.

Well this is boring.

“Good morning, sir. Would you like a glass of champagne?” one of the flight attendants asked, and I smiled.

“A white wine would do.”

The attendant nodded and gave me a glass then moved on to where Alexei sat who only gave her a glance.

“The usual, sir?” the attendant asked and when he didn’t answer, she walked away.

What the hell is the usual?

After a while, the attendant came back with a bowl of chocolate ice cream topped with chocolate fudge and sprinkles. I heard Hiro call out to his mom from behind me and I think I have a fairly good idea on what he’s onto about.

“Does he want an ice cream, too?”

I heard Hiro giggle and applaud when the attendant stalked away to get some more ice cream.

Great. Alexei has the mind of a six year old kid. Just great.

“An ice cream? Really? Surely, you can’t be serious.”

“I am. And don’t call me Shirley.”

Okay, he’s a joker now. But how the hell does he manage saying things like that and not even bother putting up an expression? Is he alexythemic?

Well, that probably explains where his parents got the name.

“Hey, can I ask a question?” I asked after a minutes and he looked up at me.

“You already are.”

Oh, hell no. I’m not gonna play this dumb game with him.

“Are you a vampire?”

“Why? Because I’m pale?” he asked nonchalantly, raising an antagonizing eyebrow at me as he took a bite on the ice cream.

“No, because you suck.” I laughed. “I have another question.”

He didn’t answer so I just continued.

“What’s the capital of Belgium?”

He gave me a bored look and took another bite from his ice cream. “Waffles.”

I laughed again. He just sat there staring at me as though I just lost my mind. How he manages to stay straight faced is beyond me.

He’s probably born without the tiniest bit of a sense of humor.

“You’re no fun,” I said after I’ve regained my usual composure and sighed, resuming my browsing on the screen for a movie.

He’s got a really fancy private plane. I couldn’t say I’ve never been in one of these but the way he chose the color scheme made me pretty sure he personally owns this.

I like modern style.

Which leads me to think, does he have a really modern penthouse, too? I heard he has one but I’ve never really been there. Ever since this whole ‘assassin out to get him’ montage happened, he was forced to move back to The Eve which was really fancy, too, but just doesn’t feel like everything else he owns, you know?

He really is that modern prince. Locked up in a mansion and in a life that he didn’t choose.

If he had a choice, would he be the top leader of a monopoly? To be fair, even though I completely hate his guts, I’ve seen him make anonymous donations to various charities and eat up all the hate for being one of the youngest billionaire.

He’s a prick. But I think he’s a little bit of a good prick.

“Uncle?” Hiro called and tugged on the sleeves of my jacket.

“Uncle?” I asked back.

“Yes. You are Uncle Alex’s friend. So you are uncle, too.”

I just blinked, silently chuckling at him. “Why? Do you need something?”

He nodded so I lifted him up and let him sit on my lap.

“What is a fox-ape?”

“A fox-ape?” I asked, my eyebrows furrowed. “Why? Did someone call you that?”

He shook his head. “I heard Uncle Alex call you a fox-ape once. What’s a fox-ape?”

Oh, it’s on. How dare he call me names behind my back. If he wants to call me a fox-ape, he better say it to my face.

“A fox-ape’s a really cool animal.”

“Are you a cool animal?”

“I’m obviously not an animal, but yeah, I’m cool,” I said and flashed Alexei a forced smile that has the words I’ll kill you in your sleep later written on it.

“Ooh,” he responded, his lips stretched in an ‘o’. “So, what is Uncle Alexei?”

I smiled in the most angelic way I can muster, and pointed at his Devil sent uncle. “He’s a fire monkey.”

Samantha, Hiro’s mother, called him and he jumped off my lap, running back to his mom. Alexei was just looking at me with that half-amused look on his face, his lips slightly upturned in a lopsided smirk.

“You’re cute when you’re angry.”

I paused.

What the hell did he just say? Am I just hearing things or did he actually say what I thought he said? Is he . . . no way. I mean, he’s straight. No, I’m straight. Straighter than he is, certainly. Very. Straight. He just smirked at me and then said that stupid line. There’s nothing to get worked up about. Plus, it’s cliché. So, what on earth is wrong with me?

Why is it hot?

“You’re even cuter when you’re flustered.”

I scoffed, slightly aghast at all the words that’s been coming out of his mouth. Can’t he see that there are other people around us? Damn. Doesn’t he care?

Oh, right. I’m talking about this muppet.

“Who said I’m flustered? You’re too full of yourself.”

“You’re blushing.”

Oh s**t. Am I?

No, no, no. He’s just bluffing. He just wanted me to take my mind off of what he called me behind my back. But, no. I’m better than that. He can’t just make me do what he wants just because he’s using his nonexistent charms on me.

If anything, I’m better at this game than he is.

“You sound sexy,” I said and shifted on my seat, looking at him straight for added effect, “especially when you’re not talking.”

He chuckled. “Feisty.”

What does he think he’s doing? Is he flirting with me? Yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and pretend that this exchange didn’t just happen.

“You’re just making things up.”

”Now, why would I do that? Your head’s already as big as the couch.”

I glared at him. Okay, I want that weird Alexei back. Doesn’t matter if he’s flirty as hell, I think I can live better with him.