It had been a hard week for Melanie, a hard month even, and she was feeling it more than ever on this particular morning. Since the breakup with Mitch, she hadn't been herself. Normally she would have been up at 3:30 on a day like this one in order to look her best for the morning flights. But today she had barely made it out of bed by 6:00. Her personal routine was coming apart at the seams.
She put on her best smile as the well-dressed man in his early thirties approached her to check in. Her smile disappeared when she saw who it was.
She had spent the return flight yesterday from Columbus, Ohio yesterday avoiding him. She even asked Richard if she could switch to economy in order to stay far away from him. Strangely enough, the normally unhelpful cabin crew manager was happy to oblige. Normally he wouldn't be that accommodating
Alex stood in front of her smiling lecherously and staring brazenly right at her. He was as good-looking as the impression he had made on the plane. In fact, he was insanely good-looking with a square jaw, tanned skin, perfectly manicured dark hair, and intense brown eyes. But the stupid grin was a total turn-off. Whatever kudos he had originally gained with her had disappeared when he tried to pressure her into a date and then arrogantly offered her charity to pay her mother's medical bills. How dare he use her financial situation to force her into a date with him!
Now with that disgusting grin on his face, he was into definite negative territory.
"Can I help you, sir?" She said as professionally as she could muster.
He continued to stare at her and although he was tall, he stood up a little higher on his toes to peer over the desk, arrogantly looking down at her, taking it all in. Melanie felt exposed. She positively didn't like this man and dreaded having to serve him later on the plane. If there was any funny stuff this time, she would have no hesitation in having him hauled away by the Air Marshal in a heartbeat. His dark eyes seemed to undress her as he took a good long look, just helping himself as though she were the breakfast buffet at a five-star hotel.
She repeated, "Can I help you, sir?"
"Nah." He said. "Just came over to see what eye candy at the Drummond desk is like today."
Very little shocked Melanie at this point. She'd had crazy people, drunks, and even suspected terrorists on flights. All in all, this guy was small change. Just an asshole. Good-looking as hell, but still just a jackass.