Flavia was still sleeping soundly when the morning reached halfway between breakfast and lunchtime. A phone call from Cristina woke her up and disrupted all the plans she had for that day.

Cristina asked her to hurry up and pack her bags and go as soon as possible to the Urbe Airport. She explained that there had been a sudden change of schedule, that they had to anticipate the trip to Valdaora for that same day and that she had already spoken to Fabrizio, who was taking Sandra to catch the train in Bolzano. He would have lunch there with her before she left and then would go to wait for them at the airport.

After Cristina hung up the call, Flavia looked at the time and got frantic. She put her phone on speaker and set it to call Franco while running to the bathroom to get ready. She needed to secure the agreement she was seeking or, at least, postpone the appointment for a few days. Women always have some unforeseen events happening to them, Franco would understand. But he didn't answer.

Flavia hurried to get dressed and pack her bags with clean clothes, while the mobile kept repeating the call unsuccessfully. She gathered her things, discarded the idea of taking her car out of the garage and went straight to the subway without having breakfast. With the wheels of the suitcase rolling on the cobblestones of Piazzale Flaminio, she took the opportunity to try another call to Franco. The phone rang one last time in vain and then the underground tunnels of Rome cut her off from the network of electromagnetic signals.

From Piazzale Flaminio she took a train to Termini, where she changed lines heading to Tiburtina station, where she took a suburban train that in two stops took her to Nuovo Salario station. She got off the train, walked alone through the desolate and catacomb-like tunnel spanning over three hundred meters, crossing the railway line under the tracks, and finally found herself in front of the entrance of Rome Urbe Airport.

Inside the facility, corridors and offices were populated mostly by airport staff, a small number of pilots and an even smaller number of passengers. The calm due to the almost total absence of commercial flights was broken from time to time by the noise of propeller engines that turned on in the hangar area or by some plane that circled around the runway. In the control buildings, Cristina greeted Flavia in uniform and with a folder of papers in her hand.

«They just approved my flight plan, the latest weather report gives us perfect conditions all the way to Bolzano.»

«Are you on duty?»

«Oh, this...» she said smoothing her uniform, «we have some delays and this morning I worked.»

«Can you explain this sudden hurry? Didn't you say that...»

«Come on, let's talk over here» Cristina interrupted cheerfully.

She took Flavia by hand, led her through a service corridor and then into a small room with lockers and a few benches. When they were inside, she closed the door and locked it.

Flavia looked around while Cristina headed for one of the lockers from which she pulled out a duffel bag full of clothes.

«Why does it always have to be in a changing room when we need to talk?»

«I need to change, I'm putting on something comfortable for the flight» replied Cristina, who, having opened the duffel bag, had already started unbuttoning her uniform.

Thinking about the enormous danger she could have put Flavio in, Flavia made a strenuous effort to ignore her friend's underwear, which was beginning to be exposed in front of her.

«You caught me off guard» she admitted. She noticed the lingerie that Cristina had chosen that day and found it... stimulating. «I wasn't ready to leave today.»

«I thought you would prefer today, I hope I didn't cause you any trouble.»

«No, no... but you know, if we could reschedule...»

Out of her skirt, Cristina started to take off her stockings.

«What nonsense are you saying» she smiled, «we're already here.»

Before Flavia could reply to propose an alternative, she had to answer her phone. The ringtone was one of her favourite songs, reserved to people of very little importance, whom she didn't mind keeping waiting for a long time.

«I saw that you called me countless times this morning. What happened?» Franco asked her.

While Cristina, in panties and bra, rummaged through her duffel bag, Flavia casually moved away to sit on a bench, hoping that the noise of a plane taxiing nearby would cover her voice enough to prevent Cristina from hearing her.

«There have been some... developments.» she told Franco.

«Good, you can come by me in the afternoon, so you can tell me everything.»

«Ah... this afternoon...» she reflected with her eyes fixed on Cristina. «I can't.»

The roar of the propeller engine grew louder.

«What is that noise? Where are you?»

«What? I can't hear you well...» Flavia said, plugging one ear with her fingers.

«I said: where are you! What's all this racket?»

«Uh... it's a plane, I'm at the airport.»

«And what are you doing there? Look, I can come pick you up if you need.»

Once she folded her uniform in the bag, Cristina unhooked her bra under Flavia's gaze, who anticipated her movements.

«No... you have to give me another chance, I'm about to... take off.»

«That's not possible!» Franco shouted at her, not only to make himself heard over the engines, «I only have time today, I can't give you another chance! I guess you didn't care that much, after all.»

«Yes I do! Really!» Flavia insisted, worried about Flavio's fate. «It's just that I can't come anymore, there was an emergency... because...»

With Cristina bare-chested in front of her, Flavia struggled to focus on the conversation. At that moment, seeing her slip her arms into a stretchy top seemed much more worthy of attention than the phone call.

«...my grandmother died» she said.

«Oh, come on, that's original, really!» Franco said annoyed.

Cristina finished adjusting her garment and turned to Flavia. It was a sports top that she had never seen her wear before.

"Do you like it, Flavia?" she gestured while accentuating her lip movements, all smiles amidst the fading rumble. Flavia kept nodding hypnotized, as Cristina was already removing her panties.

«I mean...» she explained on the phone «my pussycat died...»

«You don't have a cat!» Franco yelled at her, losing his temper.

«...my grandmother... uh... my pussycat's grandmother...» Flavia mumbled to him.

«Excuse me?!»

«...and we have to take her to the hospital...»

«For crying out loud! You're at the airport and you're about to take a flight!» Franco insisted.

«Because we're going...» Flavia continued to babble, while following Cristina's movements as she put on new panties, «we're going by helicopter, because it's so bad.»

«Flavia, I postponed some important commitments to see you, stop joking, I'm serious.»

«I'm sorry, we'll talk another time» she cut off the conversation and immediately ended the call.

«Who was that?» Cristina asked her, now buttoning up her pants.

«Ah, nobody. A pest...» Flavia smiled. «Are we ready?»

A gentle breeze played with the strands that escaped from their hair ties, and the winter sun bounced delicate reflections off their heads.

On the square between the hangars, a hangar attendant greeted Cristina.

«All set, Cap!» he addressed her, handing her the keys. He pointed to the low-wing single-engine plane that Flavia had already taken a ride on with Cristina. The cockpit was open, with the brown transparent bubble canopy raised over the cabin.

After inspecting the airplane, Cristina signed a sheet to the attendant and then climbed on the wing to have Flavia pass her the luggage. She placed them in the small space behind the seats, signaled that they could board and when they were inside she lowered the canopy over the cockpit.

They put on the insulating headphones, then Cristina did an audio test with Flavia. When she turned on the engine, a powerful roar filled the cabin making their bodies vibrate and Flavia felt adrenaline enter her bloodstream.

«Are you nervous?» she heard Cristina ask with the electric voice of the headphones.

«A little...»

«Don't worry, it's all the same as last time.»

«Last time we took a ride around here, now we have a five hundred kilometer flight...»

Cristina taxied the plane to the edge of the runway where she waited for clearance from the tower. As soon as she received authorization via radio she placed the plane on the take-off line, went through the check-list out loud, then gave full throttle. The propeller hummed and the landscape around the runway ran behind them at increasing speed. In a few moments they began to rise above buildings that seemed annoyingly close to Flavia. The ground retreated further below them and within a few seconds they were flying over Rome heading north. It was a few minutes before noon.

Cirrus clouds that floated much higher than they could reach with that plane streaked the almost oceanic blue sky, stretched out without haze in front of them.

As soon as the takeoff procedure was over, Flavia had already gotten used to the buzzing of the engine that ran through her whole body. However, she couldn't get used to being suspended in the air in such a small device. The whims of the wind were felt every now and then, rocking the plane and giving her a tickling and light sensation in her stomach.

«Tell me» she asked in her headset, «is it normal for pilots to change in that locker room before flights?»

Cristina chuckled.

«No, it's one of the privileges of having a dad who's a general in the army.»

«Speaking of your father, I wanted to ask you...»

«...if I found anything for Flavio?»

«Sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you.»

«Don't worry, I'm happy to do it. I might not even have to ask my father for help.»

«Really?»

«Lately we're realizing that we're short on manpower. We'll need external collaborators.»

«I guarantee you that Flavio can do a great job!»

Cristina turned to look at Flavia, showing her smile, then reached out to touch her shoulder.

«You don't need to convince me. I really liked Flavio.»

In the nearly six years that she had known her, Flavia had come to rely on Cristina's nobility of character. If she said she appreciated someone, it meant that she was willing to help them wholeheartedly, and that she wouldn't ignore them.

Literally among the clouds, she felt a mix of euphoria and excitement. After worrying so much about about Flavio and fearing he wouldn't make a good impression on Cristina, things had gone well and, however she looked at it, she could take credit for it all.

«Hey, is everything alright?» Cristina shook her.

«Yes. It's just... I want to ask you something.»

«What is it?»

«You have to make me a promise.»

«Let's hear it.»

«I'd like you never to leave Flavio alone... and I need to know that you'll stay by his side if he needs help...» Flavia took a deep breath. «If one day I no longer remembered that you've always called me Flavia and I was convinced that I've always used the name Claudia... and if I said strange things and lost some logic and rationality...»

Cristina, who was listening attentively, started to laugh.

«Saying strange and irrational things? How much crazier can you get?» she left the controls and kissed Flavia on the cheek, making the microphones under their chins collide. «Sorry, but logic has never been your strong point!»

«Seriously! Please. Can you promise me?»

«Alright. If it's important to you, I promise.»

When they started the approach procedure for landing, Flavia was surprised that they had already arrived. She noticed that on a single-engine propeller plane, unlike on a commercial flight, the wide field of vision on the endless horizon, the constant shaking of the vehicle and the flowing of the landscape had left no room for boredom.

She found the landing at Bolzano airport, spacious and distant from buildings, much more relaxing than the one she had experienced at Urbe the first time she had flown with Cristina.

Once they got off in the parking area with their luggage, Cristina gave instructions to the attendant about the hangar custody, then, taking Flavia under her arm, she headed towards the administration offices. Before they reached the entrance door, her mobile vibrated, signaling the arrival of a new message. Cristina looked at it while still chatting with Flavia and froze on the spot.

«Oh, no» she muttered with her eyes on the device. «No... darn it!»

«What happened?» Flavia asked.

«I'm sorry... I have to go back to work.»

«It's Sunday, don't joke!» Flavia laughed.

«I'm not joking. They called me shortly after we left. I have to go back to Rome for an unexpected issue in the project.»

Flavia shrugged.

«It's not a big deal, you can come back tomorrow, I can pick you up at the airport whenever you want. When are you free?»

«Sweetie... forgive me, I have no idea how long it will take» Cristina apologized, «but I'll let you know! As soon as I know something, I'll inform you, okay?»

Flavia stifled her disappointment as much as she could.

«Okay...»

Cristina hurried ahead to the arrival area, told the staff to let Flavia through and that she would take care of the airport fees in a moment.

«You can't imagine how I feel leaving you here, alone, stuck with your father's car...»

«Don't worry about it, maybe you'll get free and can come rescue me» Flavia forced a smile.

Cristina hugged her, and hoped that the embrace would comfort her friend more than it was comforting herself.

«I really have to go» she said, planting a kiss on her cheek. «Say hello to Fabrizio for me.»