Scandalous Desires

Chapter 15

When Micah reached the top floor she was glad to finally exit the elevator. It seemed like it took forever to get up there.

Unlike the lobby and the 23rd floor, this floor seemed very imposing. It was very quiet and dimly lit, with dark colored decor. The floors were made of a dark green marble, and so were the walls. Ahead of her was a frosted glass door that said "Executive Office of Dickson Publishings." Looking from left to right was a long, empty hallway with more of the same cold hard marble.

"Hello?" She called out as she approached the frosted glass. And gave it a tap. There was no door handle on it.

She gave it a harder tap, almost pressing the glass door and it slid open. "Whoa," she didn't expect that. Looking at what seemed to be an expansive front room themed in frosted glass and white furniture with an empty reception desk, it seemed no one was there. "Hello, anybody here?"

"I'm here," she texted Rick.

As soon as she clicked send she felt a hand on her shoulder, it made her flinch.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,"

Micah turned around to a smiling Rick. She shook her head, she really needed to stop letting people creep up on her like this.

"It's ok. Why are we here?" She asked.

"Come on, follow me," he said, leading her out of the office and down the long hallway. Micah looked skeptical and kept a mental note of the mace in her purse. They stopped at a door marked "Exit" which Rick had to use a security card to open.

It led them to a staircase, "This way," he said, pointing upwards. When they got to the top of the stairs he pushed open the door, and bright sunshine beamed into the staircase, causing Micah to shield her eyes a bit, they were on the roof. What are we doing up here? Thought Micah.

It wasn't until Micah stepped out onto the roof and her eyes adjusted to the daylight that her mouth dropped open at the site….

"A he...helicopter!?" she said with shock.

"Hope you're not afraid of heights!" He said with a wink as he walked quickly towards the helicopter door. Micah stood watching him.

She was motionless staring at the metal machine. Rick walked back towards her and grabbed her hand. "Come on, rookie, it's now or never," he said as he pulled her along to the door and helped her get in.

"Dickson, But I haven't…"

"There's a first time for everything, sweetheart. You can't let your little fears get in the way of getting the job done," he said with a smirk, strapping her into her seat. He put headphones on her head with a microphone extending from it and closed her door.

The comment sounded condescending to Micah, but she was too concerned about being strapped into a flying piece of metal and glass.

He then entered the copter from the other side, shut the door, and strapped himself in. He put the same type of headphones on his head. Then he gave a signal to the pilot that they were ready to go. Micah closed her eyes and prayed to the goddess that she'd; one, get her feet back on solid ground safely, and two, not throw up or faint during the ride.

"This is going to take us 30 minutes tops, instead of two hours," he explained, as the propellers started up. Micah could hear him through the earphones. "I figured with all the traffic we could get there faster this way. The old man's not in town but he approved it. Plus, I hate driving in traffic, it gives me road rage."

Even in her nervousness she had to laugh at that last part about road rage. She could only imagine what his road rage looked like, considering his temper with the delays waiting for just coffee.

When the helicopter finally started moving, Micah couldn't help but grab Rick's hand.

Her hands were already sweaty out of nervousness but she didn't care. She'd never been in any type of airplane before and the upward movement made her stomach do flips, it was worse than the elevator. His hand was warm and large around hers. He gave it a squeeze that made her body tingle. "Oh God!" Her eyes remained closed shut as they began moving over the city.

Two minutes into the ride Micah felt a tap on her shoulder. "Rae, you've got to take at least one look,"

Micah shook her head and shut her eyes tighter, "I can't,".

"You know, Most women have that sour sickly look on their face when they can't be with me, not when they are," He chuckled.

Micah pulled back her clammy hand from his broad warm one, "Well, there's a first time for everything," she balked with eyes still shut.

Next thing she felt was a flash and she heard the click of his phone camera. "Rae…" Dickson said with another tap. She could tell he was grinning at her even with her eyes closed. He was totally amused at her suffering and she hated him for it. "I just took a picture of you looking like a scaredy cat, and I'm going to post it to my i********: if you don't open those pretty eyes of yours," he warned.

Did he just say my eyes were pretty? Micah thought, An actual compliment coming from him… Nah it was a ploy to get her to open her eyes. She kept them shut.

"And I'm kind of popular," he laughed, knowing that that was an understatement, "in 30 seconds the whole world will know you as, 'Micah Rae, the first woman who's too afraid to hang with Rick Dickson.'

That made Micah open her eyes, "you can't be serious!" She said, looking at him with a scowl.

"Ah ha… looks like I got sleeping beauty to open her eyes, without the kiss...what a shame," while the tone of his voice reeked of sarcasm, his lips formed a smirk and his green eyes glinted at her.

And indeed her eyes were looking back, first at him and then, as the realization hit her, she viewed the sight below. She could see water… they were flying over the East River! The sight of the water and the city below her was beautiful and still frightening at the same time. She could see the N&S, aka the North & South Highway. It was the major highway that went both ways from South City to North, cutting through Central City. Had they taken it they would have been delayed, it was definitely moving along very slowly.

"Whew," whistled the pilot, "Looks like a tractor trailer turn-over ahead, southbound, on the highway. That's some major delays."

Rick nudged her, giving her that 'See, I told you so' look that she really didn't care for at the moment.

"How much longer?" She asked.

"I'd say another 10 to 12 minutes, give or take,"

Micah felt her stomach churn at the thought of being in the air that much longer, even though it would be only minutes from now.

"Here," he said, holding a small white bottle in his hand.

"What's this?"

"Ginger capsules. Good for motion sickness and stomach stuff. "

"Great. Thanks." She said as she took the bottle and read the label before popping a capsule in her mouth. "Why'd you even bring this along? You seem like you're in your element up here,"

"You're not the only person who's been in the copter with stomach problems. I figured, just in case… you know," he shrugged and turned to look out his sidevof the helicopter.

Wow, he's actually being thoughtful? Micah couldn't help but look at him sideways. He's pulling another Jekyll and Hyde move again. It left her more unnerved than the helicopter ride.

When the helicopter finally landed it was on top of a smaller building in downtown South City that belonged to Dickson Publishings. It wasn't far from the South City Conference Center, where the press were instructed to convene. Micah was so relieved to have her feet on solid ground again she could have kissed it. She had to admit that Rick's annoying behavior actually distracted her.

When they got to street level there was a car waiting to take them to the press conference, which was only a ten minute ride.

"Just spent the last 20 minutes in a helicopter!" texted Micah to Alex with a popped eyed emoji. "Will tell you more at lunch."

Lexi sent a shocked emoji, "You're kidding right!? You in a helicopter? Call me asap!"

"Heading to the conference now. We'll talk later"

Micah looked out of the window. She'd been to South City a few times before. South City seemed blah compared to Center City. Everything had a dreary tinge of gray to it, even the trees and plants, which there hardly any of here.

"Is this what the contaminated water is doing to the city? It seems dreary," she asked out loud.

"I don't know, but don't drink the water," he passed her a bottle of water that was stored in the car.

"Touche!" she said, taking the water. She skimmed through her phone at her notes and questions for the conference.

"Dickson, I saw Hearte yesterday. She said you discussed the article idea with her."

"Uh," he said, clearing his throat, "I did."

"On my behalf?"

"I told you that if I talked to her she'd do it. Be glad for the CEO connection," he said while looking pensively at his notes. "And, uh… I suggest you do the same today at the conference,"

"What do you mean?" she said with a frown.

"Just let me do the talking, rookie," he answered with a stern look that she didn't like.

"Right… as long as you delete that picture you took of me in the helicopter," she challenged.

"But you look so cute when you're scared…" he cooed, teasingly. Micah rolled her eyes.

"Delete it," she said.

"Yes, ma'am." He did a few maneuvers of his fingers across his iphone. "Done."

"So, if we're not using my questions, What questions did you come up with for the conference?" Micah asked, her eyebrows knitted together.

He looked nervous and straightened his tie a little before answering her.

"Don't worry about it rookie," he said after clearing his throat. His eyes remained fixed on his phone, avoiding eye contact. She suspected that she wouldn't like what he was planning, but how bad could his questions be, right? Worst case scenario she was ready with hers.