One Wild Night

They had changed their plan after she let Matt convince her into leaving with Jamal, hence she had picked him up from the school instead, telling them she was traveling abroad for something urgent and needed to take her son with her. They had taken a cab to the airport where Matt had already arranged for their names to be listed on the flight list, and once they got into the convinience room at the airport she had switched to a wig and changed her clothes, then did the same for Jamal. She dumped the used clothes and duffel bag beside the trashcan, before walking out with Jamal to where Matt was waiting in a car.

"Is that right, Matt?" Jamal asked curiously, "He said I could call him that," he added for his mother\'s benefit when she raised a brow.

"Sure, pal. Plus, I will be your tour guide when we travel in my Jet," Matt offered.

"You own a private Jet?" Jamal asked with round eyes.

"Yes, mate." Matt winked at him.

"Wow! That\'s so cool! You must be super rich!" He exclaimed in awe, "But there are no tour guides in planes. Just air hostesses," Jamal added with a thoughtful frown after a while.

"What he means is that he will show you around his Jet," Candy explained.

"I know what he means. So where are you taking us to? You\'ve been driving all day. And why isn\'t aunty Andy coming with us?" Jamal asked once again.

"Jamal, can you please sit quietly and stop asking so many questions right now?" Candy chided testily, and Jamal snapped his mouth shut.

Matt glanced at Candy through the rearview mirror and then winked at Jamal when their eyes met and mouthed, "Women" to him with a roll of his eyes, making Jamal smile.

"We will be there in no time, mate. I assure you, you\'re going to love what you\'re going to see," Matt said, and Jamal gave him a small nod.

"I think the car is too quiet. We should listen to some good music," Matt suggested as he checked his playlist for a decent song he could play around a kid. He stopped when he came across one of his favorite tracks titled by Randy Newman titled, \'You\'ve got a friend in me\' and he played it.

You\'ve got a friend in me

You\'ve got a friend in me

When the road looks rough ahead

And you\'re miles and miles

From your nice warm bed

You just remember what your old pal said

Boy, you\'ve got a friend in me

Yeah, you\'ve got a friend in me

You\'ve got a friend in me

You\'ve got a friend in me

You got troubles, I\'ve got \'em too

There isn\'t anything I wouldn\'t do for you

We stick together and see it through

\'Cause you\'ve got a friend in me

You\'ve got a friend in me....

Matt met Candy\'s gaze in the rearview mirror as he sang along, and he held her gaze until she looked away from him.

As Candy listened to the lyrics of the song and watched from the corners of her eyes as Matt sang along, she briefly wondered if she had done the right thing by telling him all those stuff she didn\'t do just to chase him away. Trying to keep him away from them by lying to him was pointless, cause now he was still with them, the only difference was that he was no longer talking about being in a relationship with her.

"You should hold him. I think the music lulled him to sleep," Matt said, breaking into Candy\'s thoughts, and she looked at Jamal to see that he was beginning to doze off.

"Thanks," she murmured as she drew him closer to herself so that his head was resting on her thighs.

"Don\'t worry too much, everything is going to be alright," Matt assured her.

"Thanks for being here, and for doing all this for us," Candy whispered to him when she noticed that they had gotten to the airstrip.

"Don\'t mention. I can\'t travel with you as I have business I need to take care of, but someone has been arranged to pick you up at the airport. He will take you to the place you\'ll be staying. I will stop by for a visit when I\'m able to," Matt said as he drove into the private airstrip and parked the car.

"Sure. Thank you," Candy said with a nod as she unlocked the car.

Matt got out of the car and went to take Jamal who was now fast asleep from her, "I wish I could see his excitement when he wakes up to see that he\'s in a jet," Matt said with a grin as they headed for the jet which was already waiting for them.

"I\'m sure he will be disappointed to see that his tour guide isn\'t traveling with him," Candy said, making Matt smile.

"Just let him know I will give him a tour of the jet when I bring him back to his home after all this is over. So he shouldn\'t let anyone else take my position," Matt said as they walked together.

Once they got inside the jet, Candy looked around curiously while Matt gently placed Jamal on the bed, and stood up, "I need to leave now. You can catch some sleep. You should be there in less than three hours," Matt said as he dipped his hands in his pocket while watching her.

"Thank you," Candy said as she met his gaze, and they both stared at each other without saying a word for a while.

"Uhm... Can I hug you?" Candy asked hopefully.

"Make it quick. I don\'t want my body to be chopped off," Matt joked, and Candy smiled as she embraced them.

Matt resisted the urge to hold her or kiss her like he was tempted to, and once she broke the hug he took a step back and cleared his throat, "I need to go now. Goodbye. And.... Stay safe," he added with a wave and then walked away.