Reclaiming His Wife

CHAPTER FOUR - THE FLIGHT

Jessica felt more than a few moments of trepidation when she woke to the early morning light and remembered what she’d done. She’d actually handed Mark the divorce papers. She'd actually walked out on her marriage. The minute he signed them she would be out of his life and from the way last night ended, he had probably signed them already and had them couriered to his attorney. She tried to picture being apart from him for the rest of her life, but the thought brought unwanted tears to her eyes that she quickly blinked back. She was tired of crying over this.

Taking a shuddering breath, she tried to put all of this in perspective. She’d moved on before, hadn’t she? She'd ventured into the unknown before and made the best of it. It wasn’t so hard. Of course, leaving Guyana to travel to America to study for her master's degree had been an adventure as much as an escape. It would be a long time before she escaped wanting Mark Thomas.

Oh, God.

Hopefully, the task of getting her life back on track would distract her enough to not think about him.

Remembering the sizzle of Mark’s touch, she wondered if she really wanted to leave without giving them a chance. She'd noticed a spark of attraction in the rigid set of his face when he'd gotten into her personal space last night.

Perhaps he was attracted to her too. But no, Mark was a powerhouse...a highflyer...a go-getter. He went after what he wanted - without fail; be it in business or his personal life. So there was no way he would be attracted to her and not do anything about it.

But... but... there was a flare of lust in his eyes. She was inexperienced, but she'd been propositioned by enough guys to know when one lusted after her. And for that brief moment, she was sure Mark had wanted her in a s****l manner. However, she'd been too much of a chicken-s**t to do anything about it. Gawd! She was such a hot mess.

Uggh! She hated second-guessing herself.

"Get a bloody grip of yourself, Jessica! You are phenomenal! You are an over-comer and you will get through this like you have everything else in the past, and you will come out on top! You are bad-ass! Own that s**t!"

Pep talk restoring her confidence, Jessica tossed back the covers like she was tossing away her shackles, and jumped out of bed. She felt more lighthearted by the minute.

After her shower, Jessica figured it would be prudent to distance herself from Mark as soon as possible. While she'd spent the night at a hotel, she wanted to be on the next flight out to Guyana. Time waited on no man and all that crap. She needed to put on her big girl panties and get the hell out of this country.

First things first.

She needed to book the said flight. Grabbing her cellphone, she noticed three missed calls and one voice mail from Mark's PA.

"Why the f**k would this b***h be calling me?" she questioned out loud.

Pushing her feet into her pink fuzzy bedroom slippers, she played the voice mail as she made her way to the balcony of her suite.

"Hi, Jessica... Jess. Sorry for ringing you so early. But Mark wanted me to let you know the jet would be ready to take you to Guyana at 10:30 this morning. The pilot has been made aware of the schedule and all the relevant flight plans have been filed. A driver will pick you up at 9:30 and take you directly to the airport. I've emailed you the details. If you have any questions you know how to reach me. Bye."

For a minute, Jessica stood still, unsure of how to process or respond to that message. First of all, she wasn't going to dwell on that b***h's inability to acknowledge her marriage to Mark. She had never addressed her as Mrs Thomas. Even though Jessica had repeatedly requested the same. It was always Jessica or Jess.

"What made her think she could call me Jess like we are BFFs and she isn't screwing my husband," Jess thought viciously.

But that was neither here nor there. She was done with all that bullshit. To hell with all of them. She wasn't going to waste any more energy on someone who was only pretty skin deep.

Ignoring Veronica's subtle diss in addressing her, Jessica chose to focus on sorting her feelings on the actual message. On the one hand, she was hurt Mark hadn't put up more of a fight to keep her in his life and seems to be ready to send her packing.

That hurt.

A lot.

Although she knew he couldn't love her, she had thought he would have at least developed some sort of feelings for her over the years. But on the other hand, she was somewhat relieved he had respected her wishes. Jessica was not sure how she would have acted if he'd made a play to keep her, knowing he could never love her. She was weak when it came to him.

Deciding not to look a gift horse in its mouth, she made the decision to accept the offer of the jet. After all, she wouldn't have to go through the hassle of booking a commercial flight and best of all, she would be leaving the country today.

Looking at the time on her phone, Jessica realized she just had enough time for a shower before she had to pack her few belongings, leave the hotel and make it to the airport to catch her flight.

Exhaling, she made peace with her decision to leave her marriage and went about leaving her previous life behind her.

*****

Dressed in a pair of tight ripped dark blue jeans and a white tank top with beige wedge shoes, Jessica stepped into the hotel's lobby and was surprised to see not only Mark's personal driver but two of his elite bodyguards as well.

Striding towards them, she greeted each of them on her approach.

"Good morning guys," she chirped. "I was expecting you, Leonard." She remarked to the driver.

"But what are you two doing here?" She questioned the bodyguards. "I'm heading to the airport, so I don't need a security detail. You guys didn't need to come."

It was Rico, the senior of the two who responded.

"We've been here since last night Ma'am. We were instructed by Mr Thomas to ensure your safety and well being at all times."

"What? But that's unnecessary. He shouldn't have stuck you with babysitting duties."

"It was no hassle Mrs Thomas," remarked Mario, the other bodyguard.

"Yeah, but still. It was unnecessary. I'm not even going to be in the country. I'm actually travelling to Guyana for an indefinite period. So you will be off the hook in about an hour. No worries."

"Actually," responded Rico, hesitating a bit before continuing. "We will be travelling with you to Guyana. As of last night, we have been assigned as your personal security details."

Jessica was shocked speechless. She could not comprehend why Mark had made such a decision. She'd had bodyguards following her around before. It wasn't strange or unusual - it came with being married to a billionaire and was one of the things she'd had to get accustomed to quickly after marriage. However, she'd never had specific bodyguards assigned to her before and she pondered on the reasoning behind it. After all, she and Mark were getting divorced. Weren't they?

Before she could formulate a response, Leonard who'd been quiet up to this point, spoke up.

"Mrs Thomas, not to rush you," he began, "but we should get going. I was given strict instructions to get you to the airport on time. I'm sure when you arrive Mr Thomas will explain further the need for the security details."

"Yes, thank you, Leonard. I apologise for holding up our progress. My mind has been scattered this morning," Jessica admitted.

"No need to apologize Mrs Thomas. We are here to serve you. I would just rather not get stuck in traffic and hold up the flight crew."

"No, no. You're right," Jessica agreed.

All the while, she internally chastised herself for revealing what would surely appear to the staff as a lack of communication between herself and Mark. She could hear Mark's mother Elaine's voice in her head ridiculing her for her lack of decorum.

She made her way out of the hotel, not bothering to visit the front desk to check out as Mark had part shares in the hotel and a room was always kept for use at his convenience.

As the car glided through the busy streets of New York taking her to the private hanger of the airport where she would be taking off from, Jessica wondered what Leonard had meant by Mark explaining to her at the airport.

There was no reason for him to be there waiting to see her leave. She was sure he had a million different meetings to attend. So if he was there, what did he want?

In no time at all, she arrived at the airport, was processed and ushered into the luxurious jet.

Ironically, this was her first time on her husband's jet.

She was welcomed by a very polite air hostess who identified herself as Maggie and seated Jessica in a private cabin on the plane before offering her a beverage.

Jessica wondered for a minute why she'd been seated separately from her bodyguards but had her curiosity answered when Mark walked into the cabin shortly after.

"Hi, Jess," he greeted. "How are you this morning? I trust the staff was more than accommodating to all your needs."

Dressed in a brown suit that looked remarkable against his tanned complexion, Mark stood for a moment at the entrance to the cabin and Jessica couldn't help her momentary lapse to drool over him.

Her soon to be ex-husband was drop-dead gorgeous and knew it. But his cockiness and conceitedness only added to his s*x appeal.

Jessica shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her breasts became heavy with arousal and her s*x started contracting and self-lubricating.

"What are you doing here?" She breathlessly whispered.

"Well, I wanted to sit with my wife. Since this is a six-hour plus flight, I wanted the pleasure of your company. There isn't a better seat on the plane than right beside you."

With that, Mark made his way towards his wife and seated himself next to her.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Jessica snapped.

"What are you doing on the plane?"

"Last night you asked for a divorce and walked out on me. You walked out on us."

Buckling in his seat belt, Mark took his time composing his words. He was still pissed she'd just decided to leave rather than discuss whatever was wrong with him. So he had to tread carefully. He hadn't come to argue. He needed to persuade her to give them another chance, and unleashing his temper was not the way to go.

"It so happens, I don't want a divorce. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I intend to prove we can make this marriage work."

"Mark, look...I've told you -"

"No."

Turning in his seat to face her, Mark took Jessica's left hand in his right hand and rubbed her ring finger with his left index finger where her rings had only recently sat.

"Jessica, you are my best friend. The one person I could always count on. You may have mistakenly thought I accepted your decision last night. But you caught me off guard. So I needed a moment to process and plan. I'm not letting you go."

Jessica sat dumbfounded, half-listening to what he was saying, as her heart was valiantly trying to beat out of her chest. Most of her attention was focused on the physical contact between their hands.

Noticing her distraction, Mark decided to take advantage of the opportunity and began sucking her fingers into his mouth as he continued his speech.

"I plan to show you that we belong together."

His eyes closed at half-mask, his smouldering look melting her as he sucked her thumb.

"I plan to show you that there is an us. We can make our marriage work."

His wicked tongue circled her index finger sending chills up her spine.

"This is just the beginning. I'm coming with you to Guyana because you are my wife, whether or not you accept it, and besides, you shouldn't travel alone if you don't have to. Also, I was planning a surprise trip for you in a couple of months. So we are just bringing forward our schedule."

At this point, he was sucking her middle finger while moving his head up and down imitating the s****l act which had her biting the insides of her mouth to keep from moaning out loud.

"You can't just decide to come to Guyana with me. What about work? Don't you have that deal -"

"Shush. Stop thinking. Stop worrying. Just feel."

With that, Mark leaned towards Jessica, capturing her lips with his and proceeded to distract her from her thoughts with delicious kisses.

So oblivious to the rest of the world they were, they didn't hear when the pilot announced they were ready for take-off. Nor did they feel when the plane took to the skies.

The only thing that mattered at that moment was breathing each other in.