Come Fly With Me

The day had come. Today, Sparkle would reap the benefits of all of her efforts, thus, propelling her into her future fabulous career. She paced back and forth in the living room of the charming home she shared with her parents. Her restless hands wound their way into her blonde hair and she remembered, distractedly, that she would have to touch up her roots soon. Sparkle had decided she would remain blonde for another year since she'd learned, through experience, that blondes have more fun. The shade of blonde she wore complemented her brown skin, caressing her shoulders when it was curled and falling to the middle of her back when straight.

It seemed that Sparkle had paced a ring into the hardwood floor before she heard the rumbling of the mail truck outside. She vaulted her slim body over the back of the couch and peered through the bay window before squealing with delight. Bolting through the front door, Sparkle could hardly keep the silly grin off her face. She snatched the bundle of mail from the courier's hand and shouted a thanks over her shoulder as she bounded back into her house. She stumbled on the hem of her yoga pants as she edged toward the island in the kitchen.

She sorted through the mail. "Mom, Mom, Mom, Dad, Mom, Dad, trash, Mom. Me!"

The envelopes addressed to her parents scattered onto the counter and Sparkle tore open the plain white envelope addressed to her.

"Dear Ms. Sparkle Lewis, we are pleased to offer you a position as flight attendant at EveRy Airlines."

Sparkle jumped in the air and nearly did a cartwheel right there in the kitchen. This was the letter she had been waiting for. She was about to start the rest of her life.

"I've got to call Mom," Sparkle said to herself. She pulled out her phone and just as she was about to dial her mother's number, it rang. It was an unknown number but Sparkle answered anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Is this Sparkle Lewis?" the friendly voice on the other end asked.

"Yes. May I ask who's calling?"

"This is Regina calling from Blue Sky Airways. I wanted to be the first to let you know that we're extending you an offer for the position of flight attendant at our company."

Sparkle nearly dropped her phone. "You're kidding."

"Nope," Regina chuckled. "You should receive an email before the end of the day with all the details. We would be so thrilled to have you."

"Wow! Thank you. Thank you so much!"

They hung up and Sparkle suddenly felt dizzy. She took a seat at the kitchen table. Did she really just get TWO offers from two great airlines? She knew she had killed it at both interviews but she never dreamed both companies would want her.

Just then, the front door and opened and closed. Her dad walked into the kitchen. He saw the stunned and dazed look on his daughter's face and went to sit next to her.

"Sparkle, sweetie, are you ok? What's wrong?"

She blinked slowly. "I'm going to be a flight attendant."

Connor Lewis smiled broadly and hugged his daughter to him. "Congratulations! This is what you've been waiting for for months."

"Two months, twelve days, and eighteen hours."

"So what's with the face?"

"I interviewed with two airlines remember? Well. Both of them just got back to me with an offer."

Connor raised his eyebrows and sat back in his seat. "I guess you're a pretty big deal."

Sparkle scoffed. "Dad, I've been telling you that since junior year of high school. But seriously, which one do I choose?"

"Well, which one pays more?"

"Blue Sky I think..." Sparkle paused. "I wrote all my notes down from both interviews in a notebook."

"Well, let's flip through it while I start dinner. Your mom wants my famous shrimp pasta."

Sparkle agreed and went out to the oversized garden shed in the backyard that had been converted to her private quarters. It was just like a studio apartment minus a functioning kitchen, but the mini fridge in the corner sufficed enough. Before going back to the main house, Sparkle called her best friend, Trisha. They both squealed over the news.

"Oh my goodness."

"What?" Sparkle asked, pausing her celebration dance.

"Didn't you say one of the training sessions was going to be in New York?"

"Yeah, seven weeks in New York."

"So are you gonna give up on things with Hassan? You know he won't be down for you going away..."

Sparkle frowned. She hadn't thought about Hassan being anything but happy for her. Sure, they had been broken up for a few months now but they had started talking again and Hassan had made it clear that he regretted breaking things off in the first place. Of course Sparkle knew he'd come crawling back but in their time apart, she rediscovered the standards she had set for a life partner. Maybe Hassan could live up to those standards. Maybe he couldn't. She would find out as soon as she broke the news to him.

"Sparkle, you there?" Trish asked.

"Yeah, sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I've gotta go. Loads to think about."

"Ok. I want to know what you decide as soon as it happens."

"Yes ma'am." Sparkle chuckled. "Bye girl."

"Bye."

Sparkle ended the call and opened up her text messages. She hesitated as her thumbs hovered over the conversation between her and Hassan. Nothing good would come of her talking to him before she made her decision so she tossed her phone on the bed and headed out to the kitchen with her spiral notebook. Her dad had the pasta boiling and was working on his homemade alfredo sauce.

"What did Trish have to say?" Connor asked knowingly.

Sparkle smiled as she sat at the table. "Well, she's happy for me, of course. But then she reminded me to think about Hassan."

Connor's lip curled over his teeth with disdain. "Hassan..."

Sparkle giggled. "Relax, Dad. I will make my decision based off what's best for me, not because I want to get back with Hassan."

"Good." Connor stirred his sauce. "So tell me about these airlines."

"Maybe we should wait for Mom so I don't have to do this whole thing twice."

"Have it your way." Connor hummed as he continued to stir the sauce. Sparkle offered to be sous chef and by the time the shrimp, pasta, salad, and bread was done, Mya Lewis walked through the front door. She tossed her briefcase into one of the chairs and made a beeline for the fridge, landing a kiss on both her husband's and daughter's cheeks on the way.

"Hello beautiful family," she said in a sing-song voice. "I got your dad's text, Sparky, so I rushed home as soon as I could." Mya took a bottle of white wine from the fridge and three glasses from a cupboard. "So tell us all the pros and cons and which airline pays more and which one has the best benefits and which one has the cutest uniforms."

Sparkle took the glass of wine from her mom with a bright smile. She fed off her mother's bubbly personality and it made her feel like she could conquer the world. She flipped open her notebook. "Ok. EveRy Airlines. It's a regional airline with shorter trips which means I could be home more. Meanwhile, Blue Sky is an international airline. A lot of their trips would have me gone for days at a time..."

Sparkle went back and forth between EveRy and Blue Sky. The training for EveRy was only three weeks right there in Atlanta so she could stay at home and, possibly, even be based at home. Unfortunately, their starting pay was only $19.50 per flight hour. On the other hand, Blue Sky's training would have her in New York City for seven weeks and there was a higher possibility for being based there or somewhere else far away from home. The positive side was that their starting rate was $22.75 per flight hour. Both companies had unions which, according to all the forums Sparkle read, was very important.

"So, I guess it really boils down to whether or not you want to stay home or start anew somewhere else," Connor said.

Mya was clearing away their plates. "If it means anything, I think you would do fantastically well in a new city. What a way to reinvent yourself as a modern woman in America!"

Sparkle laughed.

Connor frowned. "Mya... don't we want Sparkle to stick close to home? She'd be able to save up her money and build a monstrous nest egg. Living in New York is incredibly expensive. Not to mention the perils of the city."

"Well, of course we want her to think about her future, honey," Mya replied. "But, in all honesty, I think she needs to experience the world. The only traveling she's done has been with us."

Sparkle's dad shrugged with resignation then looked at her. "The decision is yours to make in the end. And whatever you decide, we will support one hundred thousand percent."

"One hundred thousand million percent!" Her mother amended.

They all laughed and formed a group hug. They sat down for dinner and continued weighing the options. Afterwards, while she cleared away the dishes, Sparkle realized exactly how great her parents were. Her dad was a dental hygienist and her mother was a math professor so she never wanted for anything. More important than the material things they gave her, though, was their time and attention. She wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. It was a little rough when she was younger and kids in her class would alienate her for having a white dad and a black mom but they taught her to be proud of who she was. Because of their unconditional love, Sparkle felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

"I'm going to sleep on it," Sparkle said, giving her mother's hand a squeeze.

"Good idea."

Both parents gave her a kiss on the forehead before retiring to the living room. Sparkle weighed her options as she washed the dishes. She thought some more in the shower and thought some more as she lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes closed and morning came soon after.