Michelle Bravo, Playing With Fire, Chapter 42

There's no denying it. Flights from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, California are very long...14 hours in the air.

Of course it helps if you are in first class, which both Michelle Bravo and Gus Keller were.

She'd booked a suite in Los Angeles for the night, then they'd take a 7 hour flight to New York the next day.

Michelle had done her research, and the best doctors who specialized in amnesia cases were to be found in New York.

Gus Keller was seated in the extremely comfy first class seat beside her, sleeping. She took the opportunity to gaze her fill at his profile...

Funny how things worked out, she thought, turning her attention back to her laptop. Although the airline offered a variety of movies, she preferred to bring her own entertainment.

What to watch, she thought, skimming through the list of DVDs she'd brought with her. Finally she selected Mel Brooks' Dracula: Dead and Loving It.

She disliked modern vampire films in general.. especially the Tweeners Twilight series...what wimpy vampires! There hadn't been a good vampire film since the original Fright Night.

Well, a good serious vampire film. She loved Dracula: Dead and Loving It.

What was the fascination with vampires, Michelle mused. Well, it was simple. With real people, you could never be sure if someone was cheating on you. Newspapers were full of husbands cheating on their beautiful wives, and to a lesser extent women cheating on their handsome husbands.

They were good liars all, gazing soulfully into your eyes and declaring their undying love, yet the next hour going out and seeking a one-night stand...

But with the power of a vampire...you knew your loved one was faithful because you had that power over them to compel their love, to make them bow down and worship you. You need fear no infidelity...

You need fear no deception.

Michelle looked over at Keller again.

She believed his amnesia story.

Well...99% of it.

But, what happened if he regained his memory?

She'd done some research. Apparently the longer the amnesia remained, the less chance there was that it would ever come back. Could she take that chance? Especially since she was going to hand him over to the best doctors in the country in curing amnesia cases?

And of course their relationship wasn't one of love, even though it could have perhaps burgeoned in that direction if things had worked out differently. He was an honest and moral man, even with amnesia. He thought her to be an assassin...even without his memory he might try to turn her over to the police - not that she'd be sticking around once she'd dropped him off at the hospital of course.

Michelle sighed. Real life was so complicated. The more so when she knew she'd brought all this mess on herself. If she'd just disappeared when she'd first learned of Keller's interest in her, as she'd intended....none of this would have ever happened.

Now...now she couldn't decide what to do. Unlike the movies, there'd be no second chances. Any further mistakes she might make would resonate forever.

Michelle waved a hand at a passing waitress and requested a brandy.

Glass in hand, she restarted Dead and Loving It. While the very familiar story played out on the screen, she sipped her brandy and thought about the future.