"Welcome aboard, Ms. King, I hope you enjoy your flight, and congratulations on your win" said Captain Emily Parish. She had stepped out of the cockpit, as was her habit before every flight to join the crew in greeting passengers at the door leaving the coat with her ranking draped over her seat.



"Thank you, ma'am. But if you really love me, could you fetch a cup of hot chocolate and a sandwich if you have it? Thanks, sweetheart," said Parker. The attendants around Emily put their hands to their mouths to hide the smiles and laughs that were about to come out at the young woman's assumptions. Emily was a great pilot but a perfectionist that made her a little hard to work for, so having someone bring her down a peg was amusing and more than a little entertaining.



"I'll see what I can do in between flying the plane and all," said Emily trying to control her temper. Her crew looked straight up and kept quite knowing what kind of effort it took on the small pilot's part not to tack on butthead to the end of her statement. Parker did have the decency to look apologetic at her mistake, but didn't offer a verbal one as she shrugged her shoulders and moved past the group to her seat.



"Way to go, champ, she'll probably send us back to coach just to prove a point. Now that we're alone, want to tell me what's up with Alicia?" Gary put his bag in the overhead compartment before moving into the window seat giving Parker the isle.



Both their smiles were in place as the other passengers started streaming in offering congratulations as they past like they were old friends. Parker nodded her head at each well-wisher ignoring her coach for the moment. "Come on, Parker, sitting next to me at one of these tournaments seems to be the kiss of death for any relationship you seem to be in. I want you to have a life outside of tennis and be happy, kid. Believe me it will instill the desire to win in you more than this bullshit you've been doing with these girls."



"I have the desire to win, Gary, so give it a rest. You aren't my mother. I just want to go home and take it easy for a while with no complications. Is that a crime? Alicia was fun but she's got her own gig to worry about without me screwing it up for her. Trust me, buddy, when I meet the one all the fairytales talk about you'll be the preverbal first to know." When the first edition copy of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' came out of her carryon, Gary knew the conversation was over for now. The shoulder length hair formed a curtain around her face from the outside world, as Parker got lost in another classic story. This is the Kong no one writes about, thought Gary. Parker was so much more than just tennis, but those other parts she kept hidden.



The bad girl of tennis was in reality a very private intelligent person that loved to read as many books as her schedule allowed for. But Gary knew that didn't make as interesting headline news as the crying Alicia would the minute she figured out she had been dumped. The frown of that thought changed quickly as he saw the captain walking down the short aisle of first class with a tray in her hand. Maybe the woman did have a sense of humor after all.



"Sorry it took so long, but we had to send out for the marshmallows. We wouldn't want it said that Virgin didn't go the extra mile to make our passengers happy," Emily said sarcastically as she put the tray down for Parker. The tirade stopped momentarily when the book in the woman's hands snapped quietly closed and the pilot was pinned by almost white colorless eyes. It was as if Parker's eyes were chameleons that had taken on the color of her shirt. "I hope Godiva is good enough?" Emily asked not straightening up back into the isle. The phrase 'the eyes are the windows to the soul' popped into her head as she was drawn into Parker's personal space. It was as if Emily could feel the power sitting so close to her as Parker exhaled and put her head down and looked at the offering the captain had brought.



"Actually, I'm more of a Hershey girl myself, Captain," said Parker without looking up again. Having been on the receiving end of scorned women before, the tennis player decided an apology was in order before this turned into the flight from hell. "Would it help if I apologized, Captain? I didn't mean to insult you in anyway. The fact that you are the captain of this aircraft never entered my head when I stepped on board, which I imagine makes me a chauvinist pig of the female variety. So I'm sorry and go forward with the knowledge from this day on that I learned a valuable lesson in not making unfounded assumptions. Thank you for the hot chocolate and the sandwich, chicken salad I see, and for helping me choose the book I'm going to read on the way home." Parker's own little sarcastic speech made Emily look down to Parker's lap wiping out her own assumptions of dumb jock.



Looking into those seemingly colorless eyes when they suddenly appeared again made Emily suddenly think her lover back home in New York. The color of Gail's eyes were on the opposite end of the spectrum from Parker's, and Emily couldn't help but compare. This would be her last transatlantic flight for a while and she would be back to a more normal schedule that would allow her to be home more. Gail was waiting in Tampa for her for a little vacation before they both headed back to the city. Hopefully the time alone would put the fire back into the relationship that seemed to be fizzling out with Emily's constant absence and Gail's constant complaints and possessiveness.



"It's all right, Miss King. You join a long list of others who've made the same assumption. I apologize for taking them all out on you." Emily walked back to the cockpit without another word leaving Parker leaning into the aisle watching the sway of her hips as she departed. The way the skirt fit told Parker that the Captain did more than just sit in the cockpit flying planes. She was a beauty in motion.



"Forget it, tennis pro," said one of the male attendants who had had the tray snatched out of his hands by the captain. "The ice queen is very much involved with a trader in the big apple so you got no chance there, big guy."



Looking at his nametag Parker smiled before answering the obviously gay man. "No worries, Willy, cold fish are not my type, or don't you read the rags?" Willy laughed along with her as Parker dropped her gaze and went back to her book. She dropped in a handful of marshmallows into the cup Emily had delivered before taking a sip.



Ten hours later Emily's voice came lilting out of the speakers informing everyone of their impending arrival into the Miami airport. She went down the list of connections so those continuing on would know what gate to head for once they deplaned. "So ladies and gentlemen, if you would bring your seats to their full upright position we should have you on the ground in about ten minutes. Again thank you for choosing Virgin for your flying needs and we hope to see you on board in the future."



"The Nike shoot is scheduled in three days so you are going to have to hit the gym starting today. If your naked ass is going up in Time Square we want it to look pumped up," said Gary. The schedule book had come out of his bag twenty minutes ago so that they could review upcoming events. Having Parker trapped in a plane helped him make it through the end of the month.



"Whose idea was this again?" The sponsor had approached her with the idea before Wimbledon to add her to the list of athletes that had appeared in the ads clad just in their shoes illustrating that the footwear and the body were all that were necessary to succeed in sports.



"It was Nick's idea, and I forbid you to give him a hard time about it. You know how sensitive he is and I'm the one that has to live with him. All the shots will be from the back and he got Annie and her all girl crew to do it, so quit complaining." Gary pointed his finger at her to make his point. The last thing he wanted was both of the people he cared most about giving him a hard time for weeks to come.



"I just asked a question, Gary, I hardly see how that could be construed as complaining. Are they coming to the house or will it be done in a studio?" She put away her book and stood to pull her jacket back on. The crew had been surprised that besides her initial hot chocolate and sandwich, Parker had stuck to bottled water. The fourteen she had consumed kept her hydrated and active with constant trips to the bathroom. No amount of free alcohol was worth jet lag in her opinion, so while most of the other passengers fought fatigue, Parker would be lifting weights for the rest of the afternoon.



"You get to stay home, kid. Annie thought the court at home that overlooks the gulf would make for good shots. Now let's hope we didn't miss our connection. You know how Nick hates waiting around in airports."



"Now who's complaining?" asked Parker. She was pulling her hair into a ponytail when they both felt the wheels of the plane hit the tarmac once followed by three hard bumps before the engines were thrust into reverse to kill their speed. Not expecting it, Parker came close to smashing her head into the seat in front of them despite having her seatbelt on the jolt of the landing was so rough. Aside from the earlier announcement it was the first time the blonde captain crossed Parker's mind.



Parker and Gary waited as everyone got off before standing up from their seats. Their patience was usually rewarded by an empty waiting area as passengers where claimed by family and friends or were running toward baggage claim.