A perfect meld.
“You’re making Hawai’i seem larger than life. Are you sure it’s going to live up to the hype?”
“It’ll blow you away the second you get there.” The smile that was normally reserved just for me was now on his face and he put his arms behind his head.
“I hope I’ll be able to see it, eventually.” I knew seeing his home meant meeting even more of his family. They’d mainly kept to themselves at the wedding only giving formal greeting and then moving along. Ori had warned me before the wedding that he was estranged from the majority of his family so I wasn’t surprised. I’d silently hoped that he would be wrong.
It was rather terrible for both of us to lack familial connections but my sister and his siblings would have to suffice in the way of family.
“Do you have plans to go back home?”
“Depending on what you and my father have going on I’m not sure if that’s wise.”
“What does our deal have to do with you going to London?”
“London? I thought you meant Eritrea.” I was confused as to why he would want to travel to London. He had locations all over the world but I couldn’t imagine he would want to go to London.
“That’s always a trip we could take but I wondered about London. I know you have a place there.”
“What don’t you know about me?”
“A lot,Ka’iulani. Hence, this time together. Things have shifted. On my part and I hope on yours and this distance that we had with each other isn’t going to work. Physically, that shit was always a carefully constructed lie we told ourselves and now we don’t have that excuse between us. And when we look at things we work well together.”
“Want me to join the FBI right as you’re retiring? I’m sure Agent Anderson would absolutely love that.”
His face grew tighter than it had been in a long time and I didn’t bother to stifle my laughter. “Don’t bring him up. It will make me want to call the helicopter and beat him to death.”
“What is your problem with him?”
“He’s the typical white man in a position of power who wants to be the biggest person in the room without working for it. Like your girl Margo.”
“Are we going to spend the afternoon taking shots at each other? We only have another thirty-six hours before reality comes back.”
“You’re right. Truce?”
He held up his hand pinkie extended and waited on me to hook mine around his. I only waited because I hadn’t expected this Ori from Ori. He was right. Things were different with us and I was thrilled but petrified with what that meant for me. The hard spot that existed in my chest had chipped away and I no longer felt it. That tightness had been my salvation and protection for years and now it was gone.
And I didn’t know what that would mean for me.
Instead of worrying I had to trust what we’d spoken to one another at the crest of the mountain and trust him even more now than before.
I just prayed I wouldn’t develop a fear of flying.
I hooked my pinkie around his, and he squeezed them together before kissing mine.
“Have you enjoyed yourself?”
My question seemed to force him to take an assessment of his emotions because he didn’t rush to respond. “This is the first time in years that I’ve been able to just be. That type of peace is hard to come by.”
“Then this will have to be a regular occurrence.”
“Just renting out a yacht and sailing?”
He frowned as if the concept of vacation was foreign to him. Of course, I was sure that it was given how hard I’d seen him work over the last few months.
“I don’t rent,we own. And I’ll do my best to work around your schedule but part of me is hoping that you’ll focus more on the work you want to do instead of the work you think you have to do.”
“What makes you think I feel like I have to do this?”
