Minnie Chase Makes a Mistake Read online

  ‘Pleased to meet you, um, Jackson. I’m…’ she then stumbled over her own name. She could hear A.A Jones’s voice bellowing across the ocean: Responsible grown-ups who want to be taken seriously in life do not use frivolous retracted versions of their names. ‘…it’s… er,’ continued Minnie, another pause, ‘Um, Miranda. I’m Miranda Chase.’

  Jackson’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Fake passport?’

  ‘What…? Oh… I really am a Miranda but…’ She continued, flustered, lowering her voice just in case Jackson’s last remark was whispered around the cabin and she was arrested by a flight marshal. ‘I just… oh never mind.’

  She seized the moment to defy her boss. ‘No! Call me Minnie.’

  Jackson nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching. Minnie blushed. Not exactly a textbook introduction, thought Minnie as she quickly directed her attention to the back of seat 18B.

  The flight departed on time at 11:45 and was scheduled to arrive in San Francisco at 14:35. Around two hours thirty five minutes once Minnie reset her watch. It was a reassuring compression of time because she didn’t have a moment to lose. She was determined to find Greene and try to contain the disaster.

  Minnie quickly did the maths in her head. She had to endure 5,369 miles in a confined space. She did a quick mental calculation based on 497 mph or 432 knots and concluded she would be strapped into her seat for 11 hours and 14 minutes with re-conditioned air constantly circulating through the cabin. Even a change of seat couldn’t control Minnie’s mounting panic. Multiple numbers but just one word: interminable.

  ‘I could be wrong but you don’t strike me as someone who’s going on vacation,’ said Jackson once the plane levelled out above the clouds. The seatbelt sign was off.

  ‘It’s complicated,’ said Minnie, waiting for her ears to pop.

  ‘Running away from home?’

  ‘I’m 32 years old,’ replied Minnie tartly.

  Jackson shrugged, he appeared happy to do the talking. He told Minnie he was a professional surfer returning home to San Francisco after fulfilling some promotional work in London for one of the latest surfer movies.

  Occasionally Minnie would sneak a peek at him. He had a deep Californian tan, longish sun-bleached hair and a polished photogenic smile. She noted hands the size of car wheels. He was broad, too, and constantly rubbed shoulders with her. So much for personal space, thought Minnie. She worried that transatlantic sleep would strike her down and she would wake up draped over on his shoulder, a Minnie epaulette. He seemed unrelentingly cheerful and this seemed to further highlight the dark cloud hanging over Minnie.

  Jackson continued to talk – effortlessly relaxed chatter, perhaps as a result of picking up on her nervousness; a knee jerk reaction to keep her mind off the situation. Fear of flying.

  Minnie tuned in and out of the conversation. She heard all about the surfers at Mavericks, apparently a world-renowned big wave break. It was half a mile off the coast of Half Moon Bay in California. He talked a lot about breaks and waves. A Lot. Gnarly ones, reef breaks, point breaks. She listened as he chatted about putting in countless hours in critical surf.

  Perhaps this was like learning a foreign language in one’s sleep, thought Minnie, drowsily. The powers of passive listening knew no limits. Jackson was like one of those learning CDs that promised success within 12 hours. She would arrive in San Francisco none the wiser about Greene’s whereabouts but would be an overnight expert on surfing; able to describe and assess weather conditions, consider the relative merits of off-shore and on-shore winds and discuss pro-tour updates, waxing boards, wipeouts and catching a barrel.

  The man in the window seat was radiating heat like a freshly boiled egg. Minnie began to feel a little squeamish and rustled around until she found an official motion sickness paper bag.

  ‘Are you gonna be sick?’ asked Jackson, pulling his shoulders back slightly.

  ‘No. Just breathing control,’ replied Minnie in a muffled voice. She practically had her head inside the bag. ‘I’m a little anxious.’

  ‘Looks like you’re gonna be sick.’

  ‘I’m not going to be sick,’ shouted Minnie, coming up for air.

  Jackson raised his hands as way of apology.

  When Minnie’s nausea attack appeared to have settled, Jackson picked up the conversation again.

  ‘I am a professional surfer,’ he repeated, laughing. Minnie had shown no interest when he had first told her and she was no more impressed when he listed his achievements to date.

  ‘Sorry, I’ve never heard of you,’ said Minnie from behind her paw-print eye mask. She had been using this in an unsuccessful bid to indicate sleep and attempting to use the powers of darkness to shut out her immediate environment. ‘I wouldn’t take it personally; I’m more a bath-water person.’

  ‘I have sponsors. Rip Curl?’

  Minnie shrugged. ‘I’m drawing a blank.’

  ‘Is everything okay?’

  ‘I’m still here,’ said Minnie. This was Angie’s favourite soundbite. The eternal optimist.

  ‘Let’s get a proper drink,’ suggested Jackson.

  Minnie agreed to this on the assumption that people are more likely to fall asleep on a plane after an alcoholic beverage. Something to do with restricted oxygen and high altitude. Crew were summoned, drinks were requested. Minnie was sure that Jackson hadn’t stopped talking since take off.

  ‘Hey, it’s never as bad as you think,’ he said, raising a glass of Scotch.

  Minnie whipped off her eye mask and glowered at him.

  He looked momentarily scared. ‘I mean…’

  Minnie cut him off. ‘Actually,’ she checked her watch, ‘within the last 24 hours I have publicly humiliated a world-famous businessman. I scared off his fiancée, probably, like forever. In so doing I managed to sabotage a major business deal, and get myself fired as a result. As a bonus, not a financial one I hasten to add, I caught my husband-to-be in bed with another woman. It’s like a Jack Bauer movie but not even Kiefer Sutherland can save me. It’s as bad as you can imagine, in fact it’s probably worse.’

  There was a stunned quietness within the cocoon of 19B and 19C. Then Jackson let out a whistle like he was rounding up livestock. ‘Hell, that sounds bad. I’m really sorry,’ he said.

  When Minnie didn’t answer, Jackson reached over and rested an enormous hand on her arm. Minnie reacted by shaking him off violently as though his handprint was about to leave a scorch mark on her skin.

  He raised his hands. ‘Hey, I’m not trespassing. I have a girlfriend.’

  ‘She is probably cheating on you, too,’ snapped Minnie. The last 24 hours and cabin fever were definitely getting to her.

  ‘No,’ Jackson laughed with the confidence of an attractive man who possessed a great smile and a high sperm count, ‘she probably isn’t.’

  ‘Yes, she probably is.’

  Jackson laughed some more, which irritated Minnie enormously.

  ‘Do you want me to hack into your girlfriend’s smartphone and access her cheating text messages?’

  ‘Yeah, right.’ But Jackson looked instantly curious. ‘You could do that?’

  ‘Yes. It is completely illegal and highly unethical but, hey, I’m down on cheaters at the moment.’

  ‘She’s not cheating on me.’

  ‘Lucky you,’ snapped Minnie.

  ‘Check if you like,’ encouraged Jackson.

  ‘No need. She’s faithful, like you said.’

  ‘It’s okay to get it wrong sometimes,’ teased Jackson.

  Minnie sighed. She wished she’d never opened her mouth. No surprise there.

  ‘I need your cell phone number and hers. And, for the record, I would NEVER normally do this,’ said Minnie, ‘in a personal situation like this.’

  It made Minnie realise how much she had loved and trusted James George. She had never once thought about snooping on his phone.

  ‘You’re a hacker?’

  ‘You make me sound like a digital criminal,
’ responded Minnie reprimanding him. ‘Hacking is all about building, exploring, testing, prototypes…oh, never mind.’ She could see that Jackson wasn’t interested in coding. He wanted to get to the heart of his girlfriend’s phone.

  ‘How does it work?’ he pestered. ‘Show me how it’s done.’

  ‘You don’t need to know how it’s done,’ snapped Minnie. ‘I’m protecting you from the authorities because I know someone like you would crack under interrogation.’

  Jackson took this as a personal slight on his manliness. ‘I would not!’

  ‘Give me the number. I don’t need a signal transmission.’

  As she tapped in numbers, face frowning in concentration, she set Jackson straight: ‘Your problem is that you know you’re attractive, which isn’t a very attractive quality in a person.’

  Jackson chuckled. ‘You’re hilarious. I love it.’

  Exactly 27 seconds later the smile was wiped off his face.

  Jackson looked shell-shocked. The revelation was a real blow. Minnie instantly regretted her actions. ‘Technically, I didn’t hack into your girlfriend’s phone. I hacked into her deleted messages using an algorithm between two correlating numbers. I didn’t go near her inbox. Most adulterers delete messages because no one wants to get caught. I just happen to know how to retrieve them.’

  ‘Is this how you finally caught your boyfriend at it?’

  ‘No. I just opened the bedroom door,’ said Minnie dryly.

  ‘My girlfriend has been seeing my coach for all this time and I didn’t know about it? How the hell?’ exclaimed Jackson. This was about the third time he had said this.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Minnie cringed. The messages had been pretty explicit and stretched back over the last six months. With no satisfaction at all she realised that Jackson was no longer a Nothing In Common person. Unfortunately, their common denominator wasn’t a feel-good one.

  Jackson sat up straight in his seat and bashed the side of his head with the heel of his hand. ‘This is the reason I’ve been dropped from the team.’

  ‘You’ve been dropped? You didn’t mention this a moment ago when you were telling me about sponsors, medals and trophies,’ said Minnie, puzzled.

  Jackson’s signature sunshine smile was replaced with a frown. ‘Well, not officially, but it’s on the cards and if I don’t go on tournaments with the team, the sponsors will turn their attention to the next best thing.’

  ‘I don’t think the coach sleeping with your girlfriend is the reason you got dropped,’ reasoned Minnie thoughtfully. She was trying to make him feel better.

  ‘It has to be.’

  ‘No, it doesn’t.’

  ‘There is no other reason. You’ve seen the text messages.’ He motioned to the flight attendant for another Scotch.

  ‘Well, there is an obvious reason,’ said Minnie, ‘like perhaps you’re not good enough?’ She delivered this in her signature no-frills style. ‘People who want to be taken seriously as a professional athlete need to live like one.’ She eyed Jackson’s drink and continued. ‘You need to train and commit to the cause. We haven’t even touched on the fact that you just might not have enough natural talent or fearlessness, which, I imagine, is a prerequisite for a profession that can smash you against rocks, or even drown you on a bad day.’

  Jackson looked genuinely crestfallen even though there was no edge to Minnie’s tone.

  There was an awkward silence. Window Seat Man snored on.

  Minnie realised she had said too much and reached out for his arm. ‘I’m sorry about hacking into your girlfriend’s phone. I really am. I was feeling hurt and under the misguided impression that it helps when you spread this hurt around but it is not true. I just feel worse. I’ve made you miserable.’

  As Jackson lapsed into a brooding silence, Minnie thought about a dog Angie had once rescued. The animal’s vocal chords had been deliberately perforated to stop it barking.

  Instead of a debarking procedure, Minnie fantasised about having a similar operation herself whereby she could talk as much as she liked but no sound would come out.

  Minnie took an analytical approach to the problem. In order to make Jackson feel better about this cutting revelation she needed to show him that his situation could be much worse. It was her turn to do the talking.

  She began to understand the strangers-on-a-plane syndrome. Unburden yourself on a person you’ve never met before secure in the knowledge that you will never set eyes on them again.

  Minnie had sipped a little wine earlier and it loosened her further, helping her to relive the details of her own nightmare. In fact she’d almost forgotten Jackson was listening as she talked out loud about Greene; how to find him and what to do when she did find him.

  ‘What should I do?’ Minnie asked herself. She was getting very nervous about landing in San Francisco.

  She jumped a little as Jackson cleared his throat. She could see he was beginning to look a little more like his usual self. ‘Would it help if I told you how I’d react – me in Greene’s shoes?’ he asked. ‘Y’know, perspective. It might give you an idea of what you’re dealing with when you roll up to his house in San Francisco and surprise him.’

  Minnie sighed. ‘I’m open to suggestions.’

  Jackson didn’t miss a beat. ‘If you did that to me, I’d probably want to kill you.’

  As the colour drained out of Minnie’s face, Jackson realised he had gone too far, ‘Hey, look, I was making a joke. I’m talking, like in the heat of the moment. I’m sure he’s calmed down now.’

  An hour of relatively quiet air travel passed.

  ‘We could go on a date,’ said Jackson out of the blue. ‘You and me.’

  Minnie tutted. She explained to Jackson that the combination of alcohol and lack of oxygen to the brain was to blame. No one should ever make key decisions on a plane.

  He grinned, recent heartbreak forgotten. ‘At least let me show you San Francisco. We could get you into a wetsuit.’

  Minnie immediately blanched at the thought of squeezing legs, arms and the rest into a neoprene body stocking.

  ‘I have a husband-to-be,’ she replied, stiffly. ‘It wouldn’t be appropriate.’

  Jackson laughed. ‘Isn’t your husband-to-be now the husband-that-isn’t-going-to-be?’

  Minnie’s shoulders sagged.

  ‘He’s a fool,’ said Jackson.

  ‘He’s a man.’

  Now it was Jackson’s turn to tut. ‘I know it’s hard to believe that someone as attractive as me could resist the charms of beautiful women but I have never cheated on my two-faced cheatin’ girlfriend.’

  Minnie responded tartly. ‘I am wearing compression stockings to prevent DVT. I could be predisposed to blood clots at any given moment. Dating anyone is the last thing on my mind.’

  He persisted. ‘You might need me to drive you around. It’s not a good idea to hire a car. And parking sucks in the city.’ He paused, ‘Anyway, how would you find your way around even with a car? I could be your guide.’

  ‘Thank you for the tourist tip but I have no aversion to walking. I am also perfectly capable of reading a map on my smartphone.’

  Minnie filled the uncomfortable silence with an explanation. ‘With everything that has happened, I’m way past nervous and my stress levels are up to here.’ She raised a hand above her head to emphasise the point. ‘I’m sorry, this isn’t the real me.’

  ‘I see,’ said Jackson, smiling companionably. ‘Well, that’s good to know.’

  5

  San Francisco, California

  The plane landed in a series of violent bounces accompanied with a head-splitting screech of rubber – definitely not a textbook landing. Minnie took this as an ominous sign of things to come.

  What’s more, as they taxied towards their gate, she realised that her fingers weren’t digging fiercely into the armrest – she had locked onto Jackson’s solid forearm by mistake. She snatched back her hand and muttered an embarrassed apology but he was quick
to reassure her that no apology was necessary.

  Minnie experienced a rush of inseparable emotions when the plane finally stopped moving. She was ecstatic to be back on the ground again but also felt utterly terrified about what was ahead of her. Then there was the feeling of complete helplessness as it hit home that she was about to try to find someone who clearly didn’t want to be found.

  Once off the plane she found that she stuck close to Jackson. She observed that he reclaimed his smile along with his luggage at the airport carousel. Minnie suspected the man had record high serotonin levels. He discovers his girlfriend has been cheating on him and his career could be on the rocks but those shoulders seemed able to bear the weight of the world.

  Minnie began to feel panic mounting inside her. It was the middle of the afternoon and she was in San Francisco airport with nowhere to go. This was a worst-case scenario in her mind: no plan, no structure, and no idea what she was going to do or what was going to happen next.

  Luggage collected, Jackson steered Minnie towards the exit where bright yellow taxis waited for a fare. She had turned down his offer of a ride into town. Much as she could use a little help right now, particularly from the happy-go-lucky Jackson, it just seemed too much to ask. She reasoned it might also complicate things. She was certainly feeling fragile but the irrepressible Jackson appeared to be settling into rebound mode.

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want to take a look at my Dodge Ram?’ Jackson asked, with a picture-of-innocence smile. ‘You might change your mind.’

  Minnie responded with an ‘act your age, not your shoe size’ look.

  Jackson grinned and placed his hand over his heart. ‘Genuine no-strings-attached offer. I’ll drop you wherever you want to go.’

  Minnie could feel the blood drain down to her feet and panic rise up in her throat. She was on the other side of the world with nowhere to go.

  Jackson’s eyes narrowed as he appeared to read her mind.‘You do have somewhere to go, don’t you?’