The Perfect Situation

[Wendy Ann Beckett-Jolina]

It seemed like boy meets girl, a classic.

Well... um, maybe not so much.

Oh, wait. Just make boy a killer, and make girl a pretentious bitch.

Yeah, there we go. Now it fits.

The girl is Charlotte Liana McLeod, the famed lawyer hailing from Pike County, Kentucky. Although she no longer lives there and has lost the accent, the damage that she got from living there is still alive and roaring.

The boy is Logan Benjamin Andrews, better known as Ben. He's chill, attractive, seemingly perfect. Only he has a secret. A deadly one...

Charlotte and Ben are boarding a plane, and starting then, their lives will forever change and mesh into one another, if only for brief moments leading up to a final leap of faith that could cost them everything...


---------

Charlotte scowled, shakily boarding the final leg of her flight to Rome.'These airlines really need to learn how to accommodate this plane for people with heels...' she muttered in her own head, and just the look on her face showed her utter displeasure.Of course, she wasn't dressed for a long plane ride, nor for a vacation. Rather, she looked like she was about to walk into a courtroom, complete with a matching pencil skirt and blazer, white silk blouse, and her unforgettably painful, patent leather heels. Along with the slight hint of makeup dusted over her face and tightly wound bun, the pretty  22 year old looked more like a businessman's fantasy rather than a woman about to take vacation.

In the time it took Charlotte to get to her seat, three men had whistled at her, four had slipped their numbers into her pocketbook, one had spilled coffee all over himself in shock, and the steward (who she'd completely pegged as homosexual, thank you,) had grabbed her in an... inconvenient location. The old woman behind her had been making sounds of disapproval the entire time, and as Charlotte reached her destination, the lady grabbed her shoulder and spoke in a weary, motherly voice, "Dear, if you didn't dress like such a floosie and tried to be more modest, you wouldn't get so much attention like that."
 
Charlotte merely gave her an icy glare, sending the elderly woman away quickly before settling into her chair, letting out an annoyed huff.
 
Now, people don't often catch Charlotte eye, but two men did so quite quickly. One was a guy that didn't look a day older than herself, who eyed her peculiarly while pushing a hand casually through his messy, coffee-colored hair. Even after she looked away, she felt his gaze burning into her, which set the woman on edge as she wondered why exactly he was looking at her. To take her mind off it, she merely turned her attention to the other man. This one was a sweating, obese man in a novelty Hawaiian floral shirt, and was not eyeing her, but the seat to her left.
 
'No...' she groaned inwardly, 'Not next to me. Anyone, just not me.'
ll 
But, of course he did. And he smelled.
 
The first man, who'd turned away for a second, shoved his carryon in the compartment above his seat, which was but one aisle to the left and a row back, before seating himself. His gaze met once more with the back of her head before flitting to the occupied seat beside her, almost as if he was trying to figure out how to get beside her. It set her on edge, and with tensed shoulders, she turned her head slightly, giving him a partly creeped out, part annoyed look with tight lips. It seemed, though, that he thought she was relating her frustration about the obese man rather than about himself, as he gave her a smile that spoke of a plan before tapping the fattie on the shoulder and speaking in a low tone. Negotiating, she guessed.
 
"Crap." Charlotte muttered under her breath, "I can't decide which idiot I want less..."
 

[Aubs]

After seconds in conversation, the larger man stood up from his seat next to the beautiful blonde and casually escorted himself into a seat a few rows behind her. She turned, slightly confused of what had been going on around her. Turning to her left she saw the younger man once more, smiling as he then took the now unoccupied seat next to her. He unzipped his jacket and soon slipped his arms out of the sleeves to make himself much more comfortable, having figured on a flight like theirs you needed to be as welcomed as possible. And Ben, being as free as he was, let himself descended a bit in his chair before turning to the very attractive woman to his right. Perking up, he admired the beauty.

“Hi,” He confidently spoke. “I’m Ben.” The man introduced, only to receive the cold shoulder from the woman as she just glanced over and turned back to her own space.

Wow, pretty and frigid. I think she looks like a perfect match, Benji ol’ boy! He thought to himself, placing a hand to gently comb through his hair once more as he watched her pretend to read pages in a magazine. She could at least try to blow me off more enthusiastically though! She doesn’t show emotions at all and I don’t know if I should be impressed or worried. Ben joked to himself, continuing to scan the woman’s movements. “You know,” he began attempting to start up something between the two. “I assume you probably don't want to sit with me, but I want to assure you that this ride'll go by quickly. I'm not all that bad now.” He played some. “Just think though, you could be marinating in the aroma of sweat, Chinese food, and horse manure right about now. Hell, I think that guy might’ve been suffering from his own stench. Looks like he wants to run from himself.” Ben chuckled lightly with himself. “I could go rearrange the seating arrangements with him if you wanted to sit next to him?”

Thought I might’ve been doing the both of us a favor.. Damn, sucks to think I could be wrong with this one.

[Wendy Ann Beckett-Jolina]

Charlotte glanced back over to see the man that'd originally been sitting next to her gone, replaced by the younger man who seemed way too confident for her liking. Rolling her eyes with no intent of being discreet, she merely pulled her phone out from her purse, fingers flitting across the keyboard in an attempt to reply to an email. Hearing the man introduce himself, she frowned, giving him a quick glance before turning back to her phone.

Even though she'd completely shut him out with the cold shoulder, he just wouldn't shut up. That was really the type of people that annoyed her the most: the ones who refused to shut their mouths. Only half-listening, the blonde was quite content with just letting him blather on without a response. That is, until he calmly threatened to let her former partner return.

Twitching slightly, Charlotte looked over at Ben, or whatever his name was, and merely frowned at him, trying to decide how to word the thoughts of him that were running a track in her head. Finally, she spoke softly, yet with a detachment that some would find frightening."Thanks, but no thanks." The business magazine she'd been idly flipping through sat on top of neatly crossed legs, nearly forgotten as she continued, "But besides, threatening me will do absolutely nothing for you. If you must know, I'm not impressed."

[Aubs]

“Oh, I wasn’t threatening you,” Ben started as he kept his eyes focused on the woman, who’s name he still hadn’t gotten by the way. “I was just saying that if you were more comfortable around the other guy, it won’t take but a second to get him back over here.” Ben rotated around to search for the large man from earlier. “There he is, I’ll just go and get him for you.”

Despite her continuing to push him away, her persistence was something that kept him in tune. He was quite curious to pick her brain more. Or.. annoy her so much that she had to, just had to talk to him. No matter how much of a snob she is and no matter how much my dick is influencing whether I wanna keep sitting next to her, this just seems like too great of a chance to pass by! Hmm.. maybe I should try another route instead! He thought to himself, silently humming along the theme of the in flight movie starting to play a few lanes down as he slowly stood up.

“It was nice having a chat with you ma’am, I would have hoped it wouldn’t had turned out like this, but-” he grabbed on to his coat and things as he paused. “Well, I didn’t really have anything witty to say so I’ll just leave you with goodbye instead.” Ben smiled. “Have a nice flight!”

He took his bags out of his compartment and made his way back down the aisle. There’s no way she’ll be able to resist that charm! No way at all!

[Yolanda]

Charlotte frowned, looking at Ben with as much of a surprised look as she could muster. He was walking away from her? He was walking away from her? Gritting her teeth, she turned back around, ready to let him go.

Nobody walked away from her. She walked away from them. Why this guy thought that he was so amazing was beyond her. If he was just going to blow her off, then she might as well give him whatever he was asking for in the first place. Luckily, he hadn't taken more than two steps during her inner monologue, so she didn't have to chase him down or anything.

Clearing her throat to get his attention, she glanced over her shoulder at him, lips pursed but eyes less cold than originally. After a moment of silence, she spoke softly, voice as welcoming as she could muster (which really wasn't that much, anyhow.)

"My name is... I'm Charlotte." Seeing him grin, she scowled at his amusement, gesturing at the empty seat beside her with a snap of the head. "Are you going to sit down or what. Mr. Enthusiastic?"

[Aubs]

Ben simply smiled. Turning around, he brought himself back over to the seat and sat down. So maybe this girl was playing hard to get from the get-go. Can’t say I blame her, I mean look at me! He joked in his head, looking over at the girl.

“Charlotte? Nice name! Sounds very- uh.. distinguished.” He nearly slapped himself over how stupid he was sounding, but he needed to keep his cool, for now at least. “So, where you from? I know that’s kind of the clichéd kind of question to ask and all, I’m just curious.. Nice to meet people from all around the world, you know.” He combed his hair back behind his ears. “I’m from Texas, Houston to be exact-“

[Wendy Ann Beckett-Jolina]

"Montgomery." Charlotte replied simply, looking anywhere but at Ben."But I left that behind awhile ago. I live around Manhattan, now." Finally, she managed to glance at him quickly, thinking that she seemed aloof.

Of course, he could see nervousness more than anything. And nervous she was.

Charlotte felt trapped, both literally and figuratively. Not only was she completely blocked in by the larger man, but there was just something about him that made her think that he was good at lying. A voice in the back of her mind told her not to trust him, that something was fishy. But for once, she didn't listen to her mind. Even though she was on edge, she also felt strangely secure, and enjoying the feeling, she loosened up more, even cracking him a small smile.

"Well, what do you do down in Texas? Surely someone as smooth as you must have worked himself up the food chain." Her voice gained some inflection, and the coy spark in her eyes told him she was flirting.

[Aubs]

“I uh-” Ben felt his eyes wandering around the plane. He couldn’t keep his mind on one thing at all, as he attempted to contain himself long enough to answer the question. Thing was, he wasn’t completely sure as to whether or not there would have been a right or wrong answer with this Charlotte woman. She was much too condescending for his liking, that he feared saying the wrong thing to her would cause her to judge him immediately. Not that she was doing already, which he was almost positive that she was anyway. He just couldn’t ruin the moment. He had to keep his composure. At least until she settled down and stopped being so cautious for a few minutes.

“I own a construction company,” Ben spoke out after giving himself some time to breathe. “Well, it was my father’s company, but when he passed I inherited it.” He moved his eyes over at her, seeing a different expression in her face and a twinkle in her eye. Was she silently flirting with him?

Whoa, who knew smiling made people more prettier?! Not that she wasn't already prettier before, but yeah.. Oh fuck, I know what I'm saying! Either way, she looks good! REAL GOOD! He quickly thought to himself, as he causally smiled back at her.

“I don’t do much, but I make a solid living out of it. I’m sure your check blows mine out of the water though, huh?” He bit his lip. “Your clothes alone make me-” want to take them off and show you what it’s really like to be in the mile high club! “They’re really nice, which means you can’t be working some regular nine to five.. am I right?”

[Wendy Ann Beckett-Jolina]

Chuckling lowly, Charlotte's smile grew in amusement, straightening her skirt in conciousness of Ben's compliment. I'd feel really bad if I told him that I really did make more than he does... But... honesty does count for something, doesn't it? Sighing, she gave him a quick nod, signifying that she heard him, while thinking of a way to say it that wouldn't be too condescending.

"Well, the job pays the bills, that's for sure. I work at the Dawson Lake Law firm, mostly on harassment and embezzlement charges." Trying to look as if it didn't bother her in the least to be talking about paychecks, she leaned back, occasionally glancing over at her companion in slight interest, eyes flitting away when they met with his.

A guy this nice shouldn't be too hard to get to know, hm? I mean, he's not bad looking, and he's actually trying to get to know me. Maybe I should give him a chance...

Cheeks flushing a healthy pink shade, it seemed that the ice maiden had been melted with smooth talking and charm, which was unheard of. She seemed almost dazed, but not so entirely that she had no clue what she was saying. "But your job sound cooler than mine. That whole self employment business is really amazing."

[Aubs]

“I guess you could say that,” Ben spoke aloud. “Things are kind of left and right; you never really get that many possibilities of what can happen..” He found himself lying. “I don’t do much besides knock a few shit down, build it back up, and sign checks.” He combed his hands through his hair, confidently as he continued to mask his lie. “Being around arrogant, testosterone filled guys all day. I’m positive it’d be more fun to be in a place with a girl like you.” Flirting down to the core at this point, Ben wanted to call all the shots. He could see the look in her eye. She just couldn’t turn him down. It wasn’t in her eyes.

“So tell me more about yourself.” And from there, the two continued to get to know each other more. Neither of them would have thought something would blossom from right there on the plane, but little did they expect that things were going to get more complicated.

[Wendy Ann Beckett-Jolina]

The plane ride was just the start of this story, though. Once in Rome, the two continually met up, until they were seeing eachother on a day to day basis. Both had started to get comfortable, and the troubles of both of their ordinary lives were forgotten momentarily... That is until about two weeks later, when Ben had to make one of the most fateful decisions he would ever make...

---

Charlotte had never imagined that a guy as carefree and spontaneous as Ben would be able to get to her the way he did, but she certainly wasn't objecting to it in the least. It was as she had walked in the door of hotel, fingers loosely entertwined with the man in question, that she realized this, and a small smile graced her countenance as she marveled at the strange ways that fate could work.

Letting go of Ben's hand, she stepped over to the vanity mirror on the westerly wall of her room and removed the rubber band holding her hair back, letting the strands fall to her upper back. The sheer, floral dress that she wore fell right above her knees, the floaty material giving an almost romantic look, and as she sat on the twin sized bed and crossed her legs, it rode up ever so slightly, and knowing that his attention was going straight to her legs, she smiled coyly at him.

"Enjoying the view?" the woman chuckled lowly, pushing her blonde locks over her shoulder and absentmindedly twisting them. When all he could do was nod, eyes locked on another place than her eyes, her chuckle grew to a full-out laugh, eyes squinting in the humor. Bending down to slip her shoes off her feet, she heard the bathroom door click softly, and not thinking much of it, she merely took the time to change out of her dress and into a pair of sweats and a tank top.

Just as she slipped her shirt over her head, she heard a buzz from Ben's pocket. Just his phone... She told herself, walking over to his coat and pulling the phone out of his pocket and flipping it open, only to reveal an odd text message from an unidentified number.

Have you finished the job?

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, she went to the bathroom door, knocking on it lightly. "Uhm, Ben... You just got a text from somebody... Something about a job? I thought you were off work."

[Aubs]

Inside the bathroom, Ben overheard his phone ring from the bedroom outside. At first, he’d thought nothing of it. Phones rang. It was what they did. But before he knew it, Charlotte’s voice from in the other room raised suspicion as she obviously had glanced at it in confusion. Tensing up, still inside the bathroom, Ben panicked to himself. SHIT! Why now? He brushed his hair back behind his ear and looked at himself in the mirror as he gathered his thoughts. Sighing deeply, he opened the door and peered out.

“What was it you were saying?” He questioned immediately, his face expression showing no concern what-so-ever. He’d wanted to act as surprised about the situation as much as he possibly could.

“I uh- your phone.” Charlotte replied, holding the handset in the air. “You got a text message about- well, some type of job. But I thought you were off from work, weren’t you?”

Ben walked out from behind the door and approached her, grabbing for the phone to view the message. He’d recognized the sender’s number. It’d been an associate of his, Finmore, probably wondering the status of important details that Ben surely wasn’t going to provide to Char. “Hm, I thought I was off from work too.” He played, deciding to work himself around the conversation. “This doesn’t make sense. Maybe it’s from the wrong number?”

“That just doesn’t seem logical though-”

Ben tried to move away, but as he did so his phone vibrated again as it signaled he’d received yet another message. He opened it and read it as followed, “You have within forty-eight hours to complete the job. Incompletion will result in desolation.” He grimaced. “It’s uh- it’s nothing,” He spoke walking over to put a shirt on. “Don’t worry about it, it isn’t anything.”

[Wendy Ann Beckett-Jolina]

Charlotte frowned, not completely sure why Ben seemed so tense all of a sudden, but letting it go for the time being. He wouldn't lie to her; the guy really wasn't the type to lie. She thought desperately of a way to change the subject, to lighten things a little...

Walking up to him, she fingered the hemline of his shirt, not meeting his eyes but looking at some indistinct spot on the wall. Ben looked confused at her sudden closeness and introspect, but really wasn't objecting to the minisule space between them, and just stood there to hear what she had to say.

Finally, she spoke in a small, thoughtful tone that sounded like it was in some sort of daze, "I had a really good time today, Ben..." At that paint, she locked eyes with him, allowing a small, yet nervous smile to pass from her lips.

He smiled back at her, tugging on a lock of her blonde hair."I enjoyed it too, Char... Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something? You're acting odd."

She said nothing at that point; she couldn't. All she could do was pull him to her, kissing him shyly on the lips with tense shoulders. It was done just as soon as it had started, and when she pulled away, her eyes were wide.'I... I kissed him...' she wondered to herself, looking up at Ben with an unreadable expression. Finally, her eyes turned apologetic, and she angled away from him in embarassment."I'm sorry... That was out of line..."

[Aubs]

OOC: Coming up with a post! Should have it up soon, boo!

-A

[Aubs]

“I’m sorry. . . . That was out of line. . .” Charlotte spoke out to Ben, stepping back to reflect over what she’d just did. While it had initially been out of line, Ben hadn’t really thought any negative emotion over it. If anything, he’d enjoyed the kiss. He wanted more of it. Watching as she moved away from in the second after, Ben couldn’t help but reach out toward her hand and grasp at it firmly. ughh, this is killing me inside. Why did I have to meet her now? He thought to himself as he just stared into her eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything, just leaving his words to his actions instead.

Any other fucking time, He crept in closer to Char, grabbing onto the same hand he held onto with his other. If I’d met her on the down time, then just maybe there could have been something but- I don’t know..

“I should be the one apologizing to you,” Ben began, finally able to form words vocally. “I probably should have taken it easier on you with the flirting. I don’t want to force you into anything that the both of us may regret if we take things too quickly..” He let go of her hands.

“Char. . . there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”