Fun in the Sun, Part 2

Nick watched Sal as she spoke to the ground services agent and coordinated the arrival of the Gatwick passengers. She really knew what she was doing in that role, and for one insane moment, Nick actually wondered if she knew more than him. Could he do that job? He'd always just assumed he could do any airport job since he had worked as an airport rep for so many years. But he'd never actually been a supervisor. Maybe he should have.

What was this? Was he feeling envious of Sal? Maybe not, more likely he was feeling envious of that service agent at that precise moment as Sal giggled while she squeezed past him, on the way from the table to the office door via the narrow gap between the agent and the desk.

"Sorry, I just need to get past," she chuckled, gesturing to the door behind him. "Need to go sort out the reps before they run riot," she joked.

The guy wasnt listening to a word she was saying, he was far too distracted by finding himself suddenly squeezed between the wall and a giggly Sal.

"Did she realize what effect her actions had on men?" Nick wondered. The weird thing was that he really thought she didn't.

The guy made absolutely no effort to create more space for Sal to pass and just watched her shimmy past him with a grin.

He was enjoying the whole thing way too much.

"C'mon Sal," Nick said, suddenly striding across the office in two quick steps to pull out the desk, widening the gap and grabbing Sal by the arm, swiftly moving her away from the agent and out of the door.

Sal glanced up at Nick as he took hold of his suitcase and they headed down the corridoor. "What's wrong?" she asked, the flicker of a frown on her forehead.

Nick turned his head briefly. "Nothing. what d'ya mean?"

"You rushed us out of there a bit abruptly, didn't you?" she replied.

He thought for a moment before answering casually, "Yeah, you've got to sort out those reps, remember Sal, before they run riot," he quoted her.

Sal considered his comment with a small, uncertain smile before shrugging and turning to make her way down the stairs to the ground floor, but pausing after having second thoughts. She turned to glance back at Nick.

"Sorry," she said, "we can use the lift if you like. I forgot you have luggage."

"Nah, don't worry about it," he replied with a dismissive gesture, "I can carry it down."

The t shirt he was wearing allowed Sal a glimpse of the muscles in his arm at her eye level which flexed as he picked up the heavy suitcase. She remembered from before how strong he could be. He enjoyed working out in the gym. It was nice to have a big, strong guy as a friend to look out for her. She smiled at the thought.

Nick followed Sal down the stairs, noticing that energetic bounce of hers as she walked, the trademark 'Sal walk' that he'd come to know so well. Everything about Sal was energetic and enthusiastic. He'd sort of forgotten that in the six months that they had not seen eachother over the winter. He'd been back in the bleak, cold and rainy reality of the UK, with people who were usually less than positive and enthusiastic. The weather seemed to seep it out of them.

But Sal was different... actually, when he thought about it, he'd never met anyone quite like Sal before. He could hardly believe that she was there, right in front of him again. Sort of the same but in a way, even more confident and even more... he couldn't stop his gaze from moving over that snugly fitted, navy blue skirt as she walked. She certainly had curves in all the right places, and her choice of clothes, even when they were part of a simple uniform, always seemed to accentuate them. From what he could remember though, that uniform she was wearing was nothing compared to some of the outfits she had worn when out on the town.

Oh hell, he had to stop this train of thought, to stop remembering all those sexy dresses she had worn and how he'd tried so hard not to notice.

He chuckled to himself.

Not notice, who was he kidding? That was impossible for any red-blooded male!

"What's so funny?" a voice had cut into his thoughts.

His eyes collided with Sal's as she turned inquisitively.

Had he actually laughed then audibly?

His answer became trapped in his throat as he struggled guiltily to come up with a reply. He could hardly tell her what he had been thinking about!

She finally reached the end of the flight of stairs and turned to him for an answer.

His eyes did the last thing his common sense wanted them to do then and automatically dropped to assess the way that the lacy edge of her bra could just be seen from the 'V' of her shirt as she twisted around to face him.

"Oh, I was just..."

He dragged his wayward gaze back up again.

What the hell was wrong with him? This was getting worse than before. He'd have thought that six months apart would have dampened the sex appeal she exerted on him but, not at all, now it was ten times stronger!

She laughed. "Just what, Nick?"

"Just... thinking about..."

"Yes," she prompted with amusement.

He busrt out laughing suddenly, completely at a loss for what to say.

She laughed with him but with a little bewilderment.

"Ah Sal," he chuckled, throwing an arm around her shoulder as they both strode out though the sliding doors and into the sunshine. "Think I'm just glad to be back."

She looked up at his face just above hers, her expression also alight with the fun of the moment. "I'd forgotten how strange you are, Nick Elliot," she said, "But, nonetheless, I'm glad you're back too," she laughed.

XXXX

 

Outside the airport, the forecourt was coming alive again as both reps and tourists anticipated the arrival, and subsequent departure, of the delayed Gatwick flight.

"Tell you what, I'll order you a uniform tomorrow and you can start work next week Nick, if that's okay with you," Sal suggested as they headed for the company tour desk.

"Thanks, I need to save some cash as soon as I can. I can't wait to get myself a bike again," he enthused.

She smiled. "Of course. I kind of missed seeing you whizzing past on your bike. Are you going to get a really big, flashy one?"

He grinned down at her. "Would you like me to, Sal?"

She looked up at him with surprise. "It makes no difference to me. I just imagined you would go for one like that."

"Tell you what," he said, slipping his arm around her waist, "I'll get a really, big, flashy one just for you, Sal... as long as you promise to let me take you out on it for a ride," he added.

"What?" she laughed. "I'm not sure about that. Is it safe?"

"Of course," he answered, "I am the best motorbike rider in the universe."

"Really?" she replied suspiciously. "According to you, you are the best at everything."

"That's right," he replied, "Absolutely everything," he stressed with a grin.

She laughed out loud. "And so modest too."

Their smiles lingered on their faces for a while as they faced each other, lost in the fun of the moment for a second until Sal remembered that she needed to organize the reps.

"Ooops, I've got to go now Nick. The flight will be landing soon," she said suddenly, glancing at her watch.

"No problem," he replied, following her though as she turned and rushed towards the desk. "I just wanted to ask you one thing though, Sal," he went on. "It's a bit of a favour actually. Don't suppose I could get a lift back on a coach could I? A taxi is going to cost me a small fortune," he pointed out.

"Of course," she said over her shoulder. "Let me just sort out a few things first and then I'll organize it."

"Thanks Sal, you're a brick," he said, finally reaching the desk and dropping his heavy suitcase beside it.

"Okay, chop chop girls, plane's due to land any time now. You, you and you," Sal said pointing to three of the girls, "you three can meet and greet at the arrivals door and the rest of you can find the coaches for me."

The crowds of reps dispersed and went to their duties, leaving one girl standing by the desk looking lost and bewildered.

"Oh, hello," Sal smiled at her. "You must be new. Sally Fitzroy-Smith," she said, holding out her hand. The girl looked back blankly at Sal with terrified eyes. "And you are?" Sal prompted her.

"I'm here to do a transfer," the girl said in a small voice.

Sal's eyes swung to Nick's as he stood there smirking. He remembered speaking to that girl before when he was looking for the supervisor. She wasn't very helpful then.

"Yes, I had gathered that," Sal replied, dropping her hand that the girl had failed to shake, "but I was just wondering what your name was," she asked with a touch of impatience.

"Oh," the girl looked mortified. "My name is Freeda. My Dad is German," she added quickly, feeling that she should justify the name.

Nick chuckled to himself and Sal turned to him with a frown. He wasn't helping matters.

"Well Freeda, why don't you go to arrivals with the other girls and they'll show you how to greet the guests?" Sal suggested.

Freeda looked panic stricken and Sal pointed to the entrance doors, encouraging her to go.

"It's over there, don't worry."

Freeda left reluctantly and Nick burst into laughter as she went. "Good luck with her Sal!"

Sal groaned. "Do you really think she's capable of doing a transfer, Adam? What were you thinking?" she said to an invisible Adam.

"Err, Sal. I think you may have finally lost your mind. I'm Nick remember, not Adam," he teased.

"Shut up, silly, I wasn't talking to you," she came back. "Why don't you just go and sit over there somewhere until the coach is ready to leave," she suggested.

"Okay, okay! I get the message," he said over his shoulder as he moved away. "I know when I'm not wanted."

She rolled her eyes at him but smiled afterwards, she really was glad to see him again.

Several minutes later, the guests began to come trickling out of the arrivals door towards the desk and coaches. Sal directed the lost tourists to the correct coach numbers and filled in the forms for the people who had decided to make their own way to the hotels and apartments. Nick sat on a seat outside the airport, opposite desk eight, and watched Sal with amused interest.

Sal glanced at her watch and calculated that the next flight of guests from Manchester would be landing in ten minutes. She then had a difficult decision to make. Should she send the already half filled coaches from the Gatwick flight off to the resorts, or should she wait for the Manchester flight to land and finish filling the coaches with those passengers as well? It would be at least another fifteen minutes, maybe more, until the Manchester guests came out of the airport. Could she get away with making the Gatwick passengers wait? If so it would save Adam the extra expense of making the coaches return to the airport for a second time. As Sal stood there contemplating what to do next, one of the reps came running over to her from the coach park.

"Sal someone is sending the guests to the wrong coaches, it's chaos over there!" the girl said, trying to catch her breath.

Sal ran a hand through her hair. "Oh God, it's bound to be the new girl. Here, take this," she said, handing the rep a sheet of paper, "it shows you which coaches the guests should be on. Try to direct them as best you can and I'll go stop Freeda before she gets us all the sack!"

Sal grabbed her handbag and turned to run across the road to the arrivals doors but in her haste she failed to see the airport trolley behind her and stumbled on it, grasping the handle to steady herself. She grimaced and pulled herself up quickly, looking around her to see if anyone had noticed. Nick watched her and chuckled to himself before straightening his face and turning away when Sal noticed that he had seen her stumble. She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously and strolled towards the airport, past the chair he was sitting on. He looked up at her with a grin.

Did he have to watch her every move like that?

"Did you have a nice trip?" he called after her, laughing loudly.

She ignored him and disappeared behind the crowds of tourists, giggling to herself once out of Nick's sight.

"Ahh, there goes the entertainment," Nick thought to himself when she'd gone.

Sal rushed into over to the arrivals door and collected Freeda, deciding that it would be wiser to ask her to direct lost guests from the desk so that she could keep an eye on her. When she returned to the desk however, there were another two reps there who were confused and panicked by the extra guests who had been wrongly directed to their coaches. To make matters worse, Sal's phone rang in the midst of the chaos and the rep on the other end informed her that a guest who was departing soon had lost their ticket.

Damn! Not now! How the hell was she supposed to be in a million places at once?

"Listen, I have to pop off to departures," she said to the reps that were standing next to her. "Can you..." she began, but stopped when it hit her that she couldn't possibly leave the situation as it was at the desk and in the coach park.

She closed her eyes and tried to think amongst the noise and mayhem. An idea came to her then but she pushed it out of her mind, desperately striving to come up with an alternative solution to her dilemma. Finally, when a second phone call came in from departures again she was forced to resign herself to the only option that was left to her, she looked across to Nick and wondered how he would react to a plea for help from her. He knew the job well and would be able to straighten out the mess whilst she went to sort out a replacement ticket in departures.

Nick watched Sal put a hand to her head in frustration as the reps flapped and fussed around her. The phone call had obviously not helped, neither had the new rep who had clearly caused some kind of problem in the coach park. Observing Sal's look of panic, Nick began to feel sorry for her. Why didn't she just ask him for help? She knew he was well experienced. Why was it such a struggle for her to ask him? He supposed he could offer her help, but no, he'd wait a bit to see if she would finally ask him.

He grinned as she began to walk towards him, only to hesitate and look back towards the desk with second thoughts. She sighed deeply, reluctant to ask him for help and preparing herself for the jibes that were bound to follow. Before she could change her mind she strode across the gap and stopped in front of him with her arms crossed defensively.

"Look, they need me in departures," she said abruptly.

"Right..."

"And..." she faltered.

"And?" he questioned.

"Well it's really busy over there," she pointed out.

"I can see that," he said.

His eyes connected with hers making her edgy.

"Never mind," she said, her pride prompting her to turn and walk away.

"Hey Sal," he called out, "for what it's worth, I'm impressed. I think you're doing a great job."

She hesitated in mid step and turned around again, her expression changed. "You do?"

"Sure," he replied, "but I told you that the new girl would be a handful."

She contemplated him for a moment. "She is. I'm a bit stuck at the moment to be honest."

"Hmm, I can see that."

She tried to figure out what he was thinking.

"Nick," she began after a few seconds.

"Yes," he replied, smiling up at her.

She fiddled with her neck tie and averted her eyes. "You know how we used to be friends."

"Still are I thought," he corrected her.

"Yes. Anyway, you're about the only person here who has a lot of experience with this sort of stuff," she hinted.

"I guess I do."

She sighed. "So will you help me out or not?"

"Of course," he chuckled, rising off the chair, "you only had to ask."

Her face lit up. Thank goodness for that!

"On one condition though," he added.

Oh no, what now?

"What?" she asked, eyeing him warily.

"I was just thinking, could you tell me, if you could sum me up as rep in a few words, how would you describe me?"

"Smug," she said immediately. "Yes, that sums you up as a rep nicely...and I only needed one word too!"

"Hmm, wrong answer," he said, moving to sit back down.

"Okay, okay," she sighed, contemplating her next answer. "You're confident," she settled on.

"Not exactly the answer I was looking for. The reps are waiting and the guests look like they are ready to snap," he warned her.

She looked behind her nervously.

"Damn it Nick, sometimes I seriously hate you. Okay, you're the best rep in the world! Now get over there and sort it all out, I'm needed in departures," she said, rushing away.

He laughed and shouted after her," I love you too Sal. Oh and by the way, you could have withdrawn the offer of a bus ride home to get me to do it!"

Darn it! Why hadn't she thought of that?

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