The Protagonist System

248 L’amour En Abondance Part One

Lisa Lasalle didn't think her life could get any better. A free trip to Europe was a lot of people's dream and she was going to be quite appreciative to the handsome young man that made it happen. She learned more about him during the flight and confirmed he was more than just a common farm boy.

Clark pampered her as much as he could in the small confines of the plane and he even had the flight attendant see to all of her needs that he couldn't do himself. They weren't even in first class!

Lisa held in her slightly hysterical laugh when the flight attendant gave her a pillow to make her awkward sleeping arrangements a little better. She exchanged looks with Clark and he smiled, making her realize he didn't have a pillow. She opened her mouth to ask and he shook his head.

“Why not?” Lisa asked him.

“Because you're using me as a support and I don't need a pillow.” Clark answered.

Lisa's eyebrows raised at that and he glanced around, then he lifted the armrests between their seats and patted his lap as he motioned to her feet with the other. “No way.” She whispered.

“Trust me.” Clark whispered back.

“My feet are going to stick out into the aisle.” Lisa whispered the complaint and shoved her jacket into the corner of her seat and the wall before she set the small pillow on top of it.

“Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it.” Clark told her.

Lisa didn't want to argue over it, so she turned her back to the side of the plane and leaned backwards against her improvised cushioning and it felt great. She didn't question it and hiked her legs up off of the floor, kicked off her shoes, and laid her legs across Clark's lap and her feet did stick out past the third seat.

She started to bend her knees to rest her feet on Clark's jacket and he caught her calves, bundled up his jacket into a round support, and put it back on the seat to rest her heels on. Lisa blinked her eyes at how comfortable she was and she gave Clark a disbelieving look.

“Close your eyes and sleep. I'll wake you when the food is served.” Clark promised.

Lisa wiggled her butt a little, settled herself for a good nap, and went right to sleep.

*

A small use of a copy of Vista's original power, de-nerfed space manipulation, left plenty of room for Lisa's feet and it didn't look weird or distorted anything. It wouldn't be noticed by anyone else, either.

I had been tempted to alter the current time around us to slow us down in comparison to normal time, and didn't want to risk anyone coming close or passing by and noticing how we would be acting like we were in slow motion. It was too much risk for so little gain.

Food was served halfway through the flight and Lisa groaned about not wanting to wake up because she was too comfortable. I told her to go back to sleep and I would save her meal for when she did want to get up. She was out like a light again and I had to hold in my laugh. Apparently, cushioning charms felt fantastic when she thought she was only going to have an awkward nap.

It might have something to do with her uprooting her life to move to the big city and all the worries that brought out, too. This might have been the first time she had allowed herself to relax since she left home and I understood how she felt. She was trying to start a new life for herself and things just weren't working out like she thought they would.

Mind you, everyone had lifelong dreams and goals to achieve to make themselves happy. The problems usually came when their lofty dreams met reality and they found out exactly how much work it actually entailed. Lisa wasn't disillusioned yet, so there was still hope in her eyes that she would become a famous model.

She would soon discover that the height of fashion was currently demanding stick figures to wear their outfits and Lisa was so very far from being a stick figure. Her breasts alone would have her rejected almost immediately. The rest of her curves? Those would have most of the industry, models and designers alike, look down on her for having a normal body and not starving herself.

As I thought about that, I wondered if I could help her along a little. After I had my farm going and started looking into making new and cheap technology, I would need someone to help sell them, like a spokesmodel. I looked at her long red hair and then down at her sexy body, and smiled. I could definitely rework my business model to include her. Sex sells, after all.

Lisa didn't wake up until two-thirds of the flight was past and she ate the saved meal like a starving person. She was definitely not going to fit in with the other models if that was how she ate... and didn't throw it up afterwards. They would probably shun her for both things, actually. How dare she not eat like a bird and not regurgitate it afterwards? The horror! The shame!

I chuckled at those thoughts and Lisa gave me a squinted look. “If you can eat warm airplane food with that much enthusiasm, I can't wait to see you devour the meals in the hotel's restaurant.”

Lisa blushed and couldn't refute my words, probably because she hadn't been eating properly for the couple of weeks she had been stuck in Smallville, even after she had lucked into getting a job that didn't require much training.

“I'm not making fun of you, Lisa.” I said and leaned over to tenderly kiss her cheek. “I eat generous helpings of food every time I sit down to eat and it's nice that I don't have to hide that while you're around.”

“Really?” Lisa asked and looked down at the empty and mostly clean food tray. The only thing she didn't do was lick it to get those last bits of food out of the separate sections.

“I was tempted to eat both meals and tell you they didn't serve sleeping passengers.” I said with a crooked smile.

Lisa let out a cute bark of laughter. “I would have believed it, too.”

“I know.” I said and picked up the tray and the empty cup for the drink. “I'll be right back.”

Lisa looked surprised. “You can't be serious.”

I smiled and nodded, then walked off down the aisle. I could feel Lisa's eyes on my back as I went all the way to the front of the plane to deliver the tray and cup to the flight attendant stationed near the tiny elevator that was attached to the kitchen. When I passed by the curtain between the business class and first class section, the feeling of being watched didn't lessen, because a few people noticed me.

I had promised to bring the tray and cup to the flight attendant when I convinced her to leave the uneaten meal with me. Plus, the look of surprise on her face when I kept my word, was worth the long walk and having the attention of all the other people watching me deliver it.

“Thank you.” The flight attendant said with gratitude as she accepted the tray and cup.

I knew she had fully expected to interrupt her duties to make another trip down to my seat halfway down the plane to retrieve them and then she would have to come all the way back to the front of the plane to the kitchen and add them to the stacks that needed to be washed.

“It was no trouble, Karen. Thanks for letting me keep them until my date woke up.” I said and she nodded. I walked away and felt her eyes on my back until I passed through the dividing curtain again.

Lisa's eyes saw me immediately and she stared at me until I sat back down beside her. “That took a while.”

I gave her my best smile and she bit her lip. “No, I didn't flirt with her. It's a long walk.”

“You didn't?” Lisa asked and then turned her head away to look out the window. “I'm sorry. I have no right to tell you...”

“Yes, you do.” I interrupted her and she looked back at me with surprise on her face. “I'd be quite the ass if I tried to make time with someone else while I'm on vacation with you.”

Lisa looked like she was at a loss for words.

“It's true I do flirt with a few of the women back in Smallville; but, that's all it is. Just flirting and some attention for happily married women.” I said. “I admit I haven't flirted with anyone around my age...”

“Why not?” Lisa asked.

“I have a brighter future than what a girl that grew up in Smallville can handle.” I said, honestly.

Lisa looked shocked and stared at me as her mouth hung slightly open.

“I'm pretty sure you don't have that problem, considering what you're doing to try and achieve your dreams.” I said and she closed her mouth. “I don't think any of the girls I know would ever think about running away from home to make a better life for themselves. They're comfortable, and safe, and like the quiet life.”

Lisa let out a breath and gave me a look full of certainty. “I'm not going to give up my dreams to settle down with you.”

That gave me the opening I needed to plant the idea. “Who told you they're mutually exclusive?”

Lisa caught her breath and her face changed to show confusion. “But... but, going to the big city is what you need to do to get yourself out there. Attending model tryouts, doing photo shoots for promotions, meeting important people...”

“...and you can't do that while living in a house with someone else? It's only a few hours of flight to Metropolis and the fares are relatively cheap if you use economy class. Once you get going, you upgrade to business and then to first class. You might even charter a private plane eventually.”

Lisa's eyes had changed from disbelief to almost having stars in them. “Really?”

“Anything is possible.” I told her.@@novelbin@@

Lisa sat back in her chair with a contemplative look on her face. She stayed silent for the rest of the flight as she thought over everything she wanted to do with her life. Was it possible for her to have a fulfilling career and also have a happy home life at the same time? It was kind of a novel thing for her to think about, because she hadn't seen or heard about anything like that before and it seemed like a fairy tale.

I mentally followed along with her thoughts and tried to not smile at her actually considering things in a new light. She had been so set on going out on her own that she never once considered the thought about having someone at home to return to. Being independent and being obstinate were two very different things.

When the plane landed, Lisa was a little more open to the idea that she didn't have to do everything all alone and kept giving me little glances. We picked up our bags and went through security, with nothing to declare, and a cab driver was waiting near the doors for us with my last name on a sign.

“I don't remember buying a cabbie as part of the travel package.” I joked and Lisa gave me an amused look.

“I'm sure you can protect me if this turns out to be a kidnapping.” Lisa joked right back.

The cab driver flinched at her comment and I poked his brain mentally. Damn, it really was a kidnapping. One of the hotel workers was part of a smuggling ring and when word of the most expensive travel package went through the hotel, he arranged for a kidnapping of the kids to make the parents pay to get the hostages back.

We approached the man, whom covered up his nervousness and led us out of the building towards his cab. He owed the guy some money and the debt would be forgiven if the scheme worked out.

Idiot.

Unfortunately, all he knew about the operation was to deliver us to a different address than the hotel and his part was done. I debated letting him go through with the plan, just so I could find out who was behind it, then shrugged. I could easily do that as Lisa settled in the room and excused myself to the bathroom for a shower.

“Hotel Monterrey.” I ordered after helping Lisa into the backseat and used a bit of wandless magic to make the order stick with the Imperius curse.

The cab driver nodded and drove off. He took us right to the hotel and dropped us off at the front door. I ordered him to wait around the back for us and Lisa gave me a pointed look. I smiled and told her it was still early and she might want to do some sightseeing with the cab the hotel assigned to us. Lisa looked pleased and we went inside, registered, and went up to the room.

“You can unpack your things while I have a shower after that long flight.” I said and put her suitcases on the large bed and mine off to the side. “I'm locking the door and might be a while.” I warned her.

Lisa waved me off and opened one of her suitcases. “There's no way we're having our first time together in the shower.” She said and pulled out half of the clothes in her suitcase. “I don't even remember where my good panties are.”

I blinked my eyes at that. “Does that mean you're not wearing them?”

Lisa gave me a deadpan look. “There's no way I'd wear a thong on an international flight, Clark. The wedgie would be epic and would have driven me nuts.”

My eyes dropped to her faded jeans and I looked back at her face.

“Do you really want me to tell you I'm wearing full size plain white granny panties with a thick pad in case of leaks?” Lisa asked me with amusement on her face.

“I didn't hear that over the sound of running water! Sorry!” I shouted and ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. Her laughter reached me and I smiled as I went to the shower and started the water. I only used cold, just because I didn't want to waste the hot water, then I took a step and was beside the taxi cab. “Let's go.”

*

Le Piece Resistance was a small group that enjoyed being able to make money with kidnapping schemes and then selling the girls on the international slave market, whether or not the ransom was paid. They considered the money small change, though. They were making a good amount; but, they wanted a lot more and to also make a huge splash on the international scene.

If they could get enough capital together, there was a rumor that an underground scientist had the means to make a dirty nuclear bomb if he had the right supplies and enough cash to buy or steal the fissionable material. That would definitely get their name out there if they could do that.

The cab from the hotel arrived at the safe house they had arranged, which was an abandoned warehouse, and the small group of future terrorists waited in anticipation of sampling the goods. The slave market didn't care if the products they provided were slightly used and the men always took full advantage of that.

The door opened and the four men were surprised to have the cab driver's limp body thrown through and into the room with them.

“You people are disgusting.” A young man said as he stepped inside and closed the door.

“Where's the girl and why aren't you knocked out?” The closest terrorist asked and pulled out a gun to aim it at him.

“I think it's me that's going to ask the questions.” The young man said and his eyes glowed red.

All of the men stepped backwards and drew their guns, only for all the guns to instantly melt over their hands. The men yelled in pain and dropped to the floor on their knees.

“Tell me what I want to know and I'll make your deaths quick.” The young man said.

One of the terrorists cursed at him in French and the young man smiled.

“Good idea. You first.” He said and was suddenly across the room and tore the man's heart out of his chest and shoved it down the man's throat.

The other terrorists stared as the lifelong friend choked to death on his own heart.

“Are there any other objections?” The young man asked.

All of them talked at once to tell him everything they knew and the young man smiled.