On a jet bound for Texas
Reid breathed rather quickly as he buckled himself in.
"You okay?" Luke asked, noticing that Reid was sweating a little and looked a little green around the gills.
"Yeah...uh. Yes. I'm fine," he answered, reaching up to adjust the airconditioning vent above his seat.
"You don't look fine," Luke noted. "You're sort of looking like you did in the elevator a couple of weeks ago. Are you afraid of flying too?"
"No. No. Of course not. It's just...your plane is smaller than I imagined." His hands gripped the armrests as the jet lifted into the air.
"It's a private plane. What were you expecting; a 747?"
"I just thought it would be bigger; that's all...ya know, with you being Richie Rich and all that..."
"Well, I'm sorry that my plane doesn't live up to your grand expectations. Just how big is YOUR private plane, by the way?" Luke lashed out, still pissed off about seeing Noah with another man and having no patience for the doctor's usual attitude.
"I'm not going to get into a size comparison with you, Mr. Snyder," Reid replied flatly and tugged at his collar. "Is there a wet bar in this flying tube of death? I need a drink."
"Stop being such a baby," Luke huffed, as he unbuckled and walked to the back of the plane, where he proceeded to rifle around in the small fridge that was there. "The only thing back here is a bottle of champagne," Luke called out, holding the bottle up.
"I'll take it!" Reid said quickly, turning around to watch Luke return to his seat with the bottle of champagne and two bottles of water. Reid used Luke's jacket to uncork the bottle and then quickly gulped a quarter of it down before resting his elbows on his knees.
Luke placed his hand on the back of Reid's neck. "Hey, easy. Relax, okay? You're safe."
Reid nodded and sat back , as Luke removed his hand. He took another few swigs off the champagne bottle and closed his eyes.
"Do you want to talk about the brain?" Luke asked, "To get your mind off things?"
"No, I'm good," Reid said, opening his eyes and taking two more gulps. He then offered the bottle to Luke.
"No, thank you. You better slow down, or I'm going to have to carry you off of here in Dallas."
Reid smirked and turned the dark green bottle around in his hands. "So...champagne....you entertain a lot on your flying machine, Mr. Snyder?
"Entertain?"
"Yeah...ya know...initiate young, unsuspecting guys into the mile high club?"
"Mile high...? Wha? NO! Dr. Oliver!"
Reid chuckled at the redness that suddenly attacked Luke's cheeks and ears. "You and Mr. Mayer though...you've made use of this soaring example of your exorbitant wealth, right?"
"Not that it's any of YOUR business, but.......no."
"No?" Reid looked at Luke, a confused expression on his face.
"No."
"Let me get this straight...you have a private jet at your disposal, and you've never gotten your groove on at 28,000 feet?" Reid took another gulp of champagne. "Wealth is wasted on the wealthy," he sighed.
"I tried," Luke explained, only slightly embarrassed that he was discussing this with Dr. Oliver. "On a flight back from New York. With Noah. Be he wasn't...uh...receptive to it..." Luke bristled at the memory.
"I stand by my earlier statement. Noah is an idiot."
"You called him an asshole," Luke corrected him.
"That too."
Luke laughed because he was still upset about seeing Noah with that guy at Al's and didn't entirely disagree with Reid's professional opinion. Still, he wanted to understand where Reid was coming from. "Why did you call him that?"
"Because he is."
"Elaborate," Luke said.
"Look at all you've done for him...manipulation...blackmail...donating millions of dollars to get a neuro facility here in Oakdale. All for him."
"Not all of it..."
"And now look...you've broken up,and you are still working your ass off for him...flying half way across the country with someone you can't stand, namely me...having your grandmother pull strings...all so that Noah has the best chance of getting his eyesight back, and what does he do? He pushes you away."
"I gave him reason to," Luke said, opening the paper bag that contained their dinner.
Reid shook his head. "How can he resent you for wanting to help him? I've known you for only a few months, and even I can appreciate that you're a natural-born fixer. I mean, look what you're doing right now. Presumably that's one of the qualities he fell in love with...and now he wants to use it as an excuse to not be around you?" Reid took one of the containers of chili from Luke's hand and opened it. "And on top if it all, he turns down airplane sex? Like I said, he's an idiot....and an asshole."
Luke laughed. "Tell us how you really feel." He handed Reid a spoon, and Reid dug in.
"That guy he was with today...at Al's...was that a date?"
"I guess so...yeah, it was."
"So, he pushes you away..." Reid absent-mindedly points at Luke's body with his spoon as he says the word "you," and then continues, "And starts dating that loser?"
Luke ducks his head and then looks back at Reid. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is," Reid begins, his gaze focusing on Luke's lips before returning to his eyes, "...what I mean is that he's blinder than I thought...and maybe I can't fix that kind of blindness."
Reid looks back to his bowl of chili and continues to eat with gusto.
Luke blinks a few times and he chews a bite of cornbread. "Did you just give me a compliment, Dr. Oliver?"
"Absolutely not," Reid says gruffly, but Luke can see a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "So...you're a free man now, right, Snyder?"
"Yes...as much as I hate it...yes..."
"Well, then, you need to rectify this problem of non-membership in the mile high club."
"Are we back on this subject again?" Luke asks, sighing but secretly intrigued by what Reid's going to say.
"Yes, we are. I mean, what kind of millionaire trust fund brat are you if you have your own private jet and haven't joined that most prestigious club?"
"Are you a member, Dr. Oliver?" Luke regrets the question as soon as it is out of his mouth.
"Not entirely, but I once got a handjob under a blanket from a stranger on a red-eye from California to Boston." Luke ducks his head and puts his hand over his eyes. "However, we're not talking about me; we're talking about you...and now that you are free and unencumbered, you need to find some hot guy to hit the friendly skies with and pretend you're a rockstar. Life is short, Snyder." Luke shakes his head. "Or..." Reid continues, "We could kill two birds with one stone, and..." Luke looks up just in time to see Reid waggling his eyebrows at him, and Luke can't tell if Reid's going for funny or seductive.
"What?! NO! Us? Oh my God, Dr. Oliver...are you insane? No."
Insane? Reid covers his ass quickly. "Kidding, Snyder...I was kidding! As if..." Reid brushes the whole thing off and returns his focus to his almost empty container of chili.
He's not sure he can look back at Luke. Ever. As if? IF ONLY...