I hate to fly. Well not hate really but more of being apprehensive having once been shot down when flying over Viet Nam. I was only there on behalf of my newspaper, me being a journalist, looking for some inside stories from some of the men fighting out there. I had boarded a Grumman OV-1 Mohawk that was going out on a photographic mission along with two other journalists plus the crew. We had taken off from Da Nang and flew north. We were not that far really over North Viet Nam when we were hit by ground fire that took out our starboard engine.
As soon as we had been hit, the pilot sheared off to the right taking us very quickly out over the sea, losing height at the same time. A crewman shouted to us above the noise that it would be better that if we had to ditch, the sea was the best place as there were quite a few friendlies out there to pick us up. As it happened, the pilot managed to keep the plane flying until we could turn back towards land now being below the demarcation line.
It was a harrowing experience that I wouldn't have liked to go through again for we also had to crash land as some of the ground fire had disabled our landing gear. We were lucky to survive that pancake as we bounced several times before coming to a sliding stop with us all still alive and not injured. This memory has stayed with me though I still get a touch of the jitters every time I fly, thinking of what had happened nearly twenty years ago.
I was now a free lance journalist, not tied to any newspaper and I had just spent the last two weeks here in the Bahamas for a rest and the boring part now other than my dislike of flying was that many a day was wasted by spending so much time waiting after checking in to the actually time that the flight was to take off.
We had been called to our departure lounge where we had another long waiting time and I eyed a sweet young thing there and wondered if she would be seated next to me. But alas, no, my luck was out for when we did finally get to board our plane, I found that next me was sat a mid-fortyish woman who was, well, Junoesque I think is the polite word.
She told me her name was Sherry as we chatted and she seemed very nice. I told her that my name was Jerry and I commented on her tan and she confided that she was returning from a vacation at a clothing optional resort in the Bahamas.
Blow My Mind.
Suddenly she looked a lot less matronly and I felt my interest rising and had to wriggle about a bit against the seat belt to make myself more comfortable. I felt the plane begin to taxi as I asked her more about her vacation. She told me that she was a widow and had spent the last two years caring for her husband who finally died of cancer. This was her first vacation in many years due to his illness and on the recommendation of a friend, had chosen Lyon Airlines.
We were interrupted by the Pilot on the intercom where instead of his usual announcement of flight altitude and ETA, he informed us that there was a mechanical problem and that we would be returning to the gate. This made my heart flutter but at least we were still on the ground with this being noticed. By the time we were back at our departure gate, he had told us that the repair would take overnight and that an Airline Representative would meet us at the head of the gateway to arrange transfers or hotel accommodation.
'I hate to fly,' I said to Sherry. 'I am going to ask for a hotel and take a much needed night off and eat a good meal.' She looked at me for a moment as I vented then said. 'That sounds like a good idea. Want company?'
I now took more notice of her, taking in her face first, without a blemish, a cute button nose, a generous mouth with kissable lips, eyes, two of them thank God, light blue with maybe a shade of green and how they twinkled! She had a fairly slim figure and guessed about five eight weighing in around a hundred pounds, fine looking legs that were as sun tanned as her face. All this I took in at a glance and only took a second or two and with my eyes now coming back up to her face, saw that she had a lovely smile too and the eyes twinkled again as she guessed that I had given her a good looking over.
'Sure,' I replied. 'I hate eating alone and to sit opposite such a lovely looking lady would please me no end.'
'Flatterer,' she said still smiling as she unclipped her seat belt and moving out into the aisle. I quickly followed her as we joined the other passengers as we all trooped back off the aircraft and into the departure lounge to take our turn in speaking to the Airline Representative, an attractive young woman that I would have chatted up if it hadn't been for Sherry next to me. I'm damn sure she was a mind reader for she put her arm into mine as if to say to the rep. that this man is mine.
'Yes sir, ma-am? An alternative flight or an hotel for the night?' she asked, noting the look in my eye and the arm of Sherry almost hugging me.
'Hotel please, for the two of us. I'm fed up with this airport already, and would rather have a daylight flight than a night one.'
'Certainly sir,' she said as she wrote of a card and handed it to me. 'The Hilton. There is a bus waiting for those that choose the hotel. Have a pleasant evening.'
'We intend to,' said Sherry, surprising me with her choice of words. We left the terminal and found the hotel's bus waiting in a no parking zone. There were four other people aboard and a few minutes later another two joined us followed by the rep.
'That's it,' she said to the driver and gave us all a wave as she got off and the door was closed with the bus then taking us to the hotel. It didn't take but a few minutes before we were there and were greeted by the hotel staff where we signed in and were given our keys and found that we had adjacent rooms. We took the elevator with the others and found that we were all on the fourth floor.
We stopped by the door of her room.
'Well I'm for a shower though I'll still have to wear what I'm wearing now with my suitcase still on the plane,' she said.
'Meet you down in the bar in, say, twenty minutes?' I said.
'Good idea, I could do with a drink,' she said with a smile as she opened the door and went in. A shower was a good idea for I needed one as well to cool myself down.
I got down to the bar just before Sherry and asked her what she would like to drink. 'A gin and tonic please Jerry.'
'A gin and tonic and a bourbon with ice,' I said to the barman. I took the drinks and led her to a vacant table and sat down, handing her the gin glass.
'Cheers,' she said as we clinked glasses. 'Now tell me something about yourself.'
'Not much to tell,' I began after taking a sip of my drink as she did too. 'I'm a free lance journalist, travelling wherever there might be a story that a newspaper would buy.'
'There can't be much news out here in the Bahamas,' she said.
'There isn't,' I said with a laugh. 'I'm just taking a vacation.'
'Why aren't you home with your wife?' was the question and a look on her face that I couldn't fathom.
'I'm not married. I was once but we got divorced,' I said, hearing a slight bitterness in my voice.
'Why? Any children?' her eyes now showing some sympathy.