Finale

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Secretly I gazed at my Patek Philippe to see what time it depicted. Eight-thirty. The plane was flying high above the clouds, allowing its passengers to take a last look at the sunset that spread over the horizon. Only a few miles were left. The closer we got to the airport, the more my body started to heat up and my breath slowly became more shallow. "Tell me, Sonya, how are we going to proceed in this matter?", he casually asked me, while sipping on his scotch on ice. His penetrating eyes rested on me, his ears waiting for my words. I prayed that he couldn't tell, that inside of me a volcano erupted. Only sitting next to the notorious Jeffrey Epstein was already a challenge for a famous journalist like me. I swirled the scotch in my glass, took a sip myself before I answered. "It's not going to be a problem. You should know me. I'm the best in my field." I took another sip. "I'm going to rewrite everything to your advantage. In less than a month everyone will feel shame on blaming you for your deeds." He smiled contently. I thought about asking him about the price he'd be willing to pay, but he got there first. "What's your price? Name it and I'll pay you right now." We both knew money was never going to be the problem. It never was for him, the almighty Mr. Epstein. All I wanted was for him to stop watching my family, to stop controlling every movement I made, every word I said. He made me one of his marionettes, and believe me, he made me dance until the soles of my feet burned. But I couldn't let my masquerade drop now. I had to keep it up until we landed, and then I was a free woman. I had to be a good actress, try to convince him it was all about money. "You know what I want." I gave him my most confident look. "Give me CNN." He didn't even blink with the eye. "You'll get it by the end of next week." Great, he believed me so far. Suddenly I felt the plane descending. Shit, shit, shit! The voice of the pilot sounded through the speakers, "Mr. Epstein, Mrs. Gladwell, in twenty minutes we'll be landing at Teterboro Airport. Please fasten your seatbelt put up your seats." Only fifteen minutes. Oh hell no! I hope Officer Kolinski keeps his word. For the rest of the flight, Jeffrey read in his book while I tried to calm my nerves. How will it go down? Will there be colleagues with cameras and mics? I didn't want to imagine what he'd do to me if he knew. My brain started doing pranks on me. Maybe he does, and he's just testing you now. Afterward, he'll do the same to you as he did to many other women, it said. "Sonya, are you okay?", he asked me. How long had be been staring at me? "Ye-, yes Jeffrey. I'm just thinking about the articles I'm going to write." "Hmm." Back to reading. The airplane rolled out its wheels, the land was coming closer. Lights were spread alongside the airstrip. I heard myself counting. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. With a jolt, the plane landed. Gravity pushing us back into our seats. I gripped the armrest of the seat as tight as I could. When the plane stood still we stood up and took our belongings with us. It was time for the finale. I made it. I made it back to the ground. The door opened and from afar you could see the police cars arriving, their sirens breaking through the silence of the night. "What on-", Jeffrey turned around with a blank stare on his face, "did you know?"