When uncle James had said that a driver would pick Ada up from the tiny apartment she lived in, she hadn't thought it would be a classy black SUV with her own personal driver. After she hung up the phone, Adaline had simply been awestruck. Why had her uncle not decided to help her earlier? If he wanted to cover up her father’s incident, why not have brought her to New York after it happened? Apparently uncle James had already told her mom about the four year departure before she handed Ada the phone. That's probably why she looked slightly conflicted. Hope for their future and sadness that her only daughter was going to leave, all mixed together. Eventually after processing all this new info, Carmen Ashton happily supported the idea. Even though she would only be able to see her daughter for short periods only during holidays or short trips it would mean they would soon be free of the huge debts Ada’s father created before he passed.

With only one suitcase and her handbag, the driver, dressed elegantly in a suit, opened the door for the young woman so that she could make her way to the airport. After all there was no need to pack heavenly as anything she would wish for could be provided in New York. Ada rolled down the tinted window to say her goodbyes to her mother and waved at her until you could only see the silhouette of Carmen Ashton.

******

After once again being shocked by all the luxury she had been thrown into, Adaline left the gorgeous car with a bunch of expensive snacks that she had found in the car, stuffed into her handbag. Ada thanked the driver and made her way to the gigantic building in front of her.

As she entered the first hall of the airport the girl checked her boarding pass but couldn’t find her flight on one of the boards hanging above her. Confused, she walked towards one of the luggage check in areas and stood in line. Finally Ada reached the lady sitting at the desk and requested to check in her one suitcase. “Excuse me miss but I believe you are flying privately and because of that there is no reason to check in luggage.” Surprises kept being thrown at Adaline and it took some time for her to recover and thank the lady behind the desk. But before she left, Ada asked her where she was supposed to go if this was not a normal flight. “Well on your ticket it says that you will be departing from one of the private gates on the other side of the airport, so there is no need to go through security either. Just follow the signs that say ‘private gates’ and you should be fine.” Adaline wished the woman a nice day and went off to find the signs the lady had mentioned. And indeed after sometime she entered a different hall called ‘private gates’. Now on the ticket it didn’t say a gate but rather a name. ‘James Ashton’. When Ada looked up she saw the exact words placed above the entrance of a gate. And obviously there were people standing behind the counters to help the niece of one of their biggest customers.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

******

Eventually Adaline had been seated in one of the six leather seats available in the aircraft and been offered all kinds of foods and refreshments. As they took off she asked her personal flight attendant some questions. “Do you often work on uncle James’ planes?” “Oh miss I think you might have understood it wrongly. I am your personal flight attendant and this is your plane.” This time the shock was less because of course she would have her own plane. Only a few moments after the flight attendant left, Ada’s phone buzzed.

Message from uncle James

Enjoying the flight?

She was about to answer but then she realized something. Usually there isn’t WIFI on board. Another perk of flying private. Quickly Adaline replied that she was being way too spoiled. Once the message was sent, the flight attendant came to inform her that Ada should prepare for landing and put on her seatbelt.

******

It took awhile to find the correct way from the ‘private gates’ to the exit but when Adaline finally found her way to the entrance she could not contain her excitement anymore. Practically skipping she was once again greeted by a driver who led her to a stylish SUV and introduced himself as Andrew.

Even though the car that Ada had been picked up in from her apartment was already impressive, this vehicle had even more features. Like in action movies where the spies in the back of the car press a button and a glass plate goes up so they can talk in private without the driver hearing, in this SUV you had to only clap twice and the exact same thing would happen. There was also a mini fridge that stored drinks and double the amount of snacks. And in Ada’s opinion that was fantastic but her favorite must have really been the opening roof. She had her head stuck out of the roof for nearly the whole ride to get a good look at New York City.

Soon they drove away from the busy center of the city towards a more laid back neighborhood. Andrew made a few turns and they ended up driving through a street full of fancy shops which then led to another road where there were some houses. The reason why there were not more than four houses in the neighborhood was because they were literally gigantic and beautiful mansions.

But that's not where uncle James lived. The place where Adaline would be living in for the next few years stood on a hill. Looking out over the rest of the houses. The car was nearing the gate of the mansion and when they arrived, the air disappeared out of Ada’s lungs for a moment. In front of her was the most brilliant building she had ever seen, and at the front door stood uncle James.