“Not once,” she says then pops a carrot slice into her mouth.
“Ouch.” I turn away from her and start to heat up the pan for the steaks. “I will do my best not to be offended.”
“Being butt hurt about our past is not exactly the best use of your remaining time.” She’s not wrong. Ok, redirect focus.
“I might be going to Korea in a few weeks. Japan isn’t that far away.”
“I know how maps work, Grae.” Ouff, she’s not giving me anything.
“Well, maybe we could go to Kyoto for a few days, and then I could go to Seoul, and you could return home. First class all the way… or if you are a private jet kinda gal, I could swing that.”
Sometimes my partners are only with me for the money and fame, but I don’t need to flex or get all bougie with her because we’re on equal financial footing.
I drop the butter in the pan and watch it bubble up.
“That’s well beyond your trial membership. I don’t know if it's a good idea to do long-term planning.”
“You. Don’t. Want. To. Plan?” I gasp, “Who are you and what happened to Alana/ Kinsley, who would live and die over a plan?”
She’s quiet for a moment, and her silence bothers me. It means she’s lost in her head, and that’s not a good place for her to be at the moment.
“I mean,” I need to get her back on track, “it’s only fair I take you to Kyoto, since you took me to Reykjavík. And if you are going to claim it’s the greatest city in the world there needs to be a comparison.”
“Hmm. I think you’re wrong.”
I turn towards her, shifting my weight, and I lean against the counter. “I think you’re scared Reykjavik won’t measure up once it’s compared to any city larger than 200,000 citizens.” Gauntlet thrown.
“We already had this conversation yesterday, and I’m not scared.” She pushes off the breakfast bar and crosses her arms. “It is superior in every way.”
“But you don’t want to see my choice…”
“We’re looking at five days minimum.”
I shrug, “Still falls within the fourteen-day limit.”
“You’re down to twelve days.”
“Again, falls within the time limit.”
“I agreed not to ghost you, not to sacrifice all my time. And do you really want to waste your precious days on a plane?”
“Lots of fun things we can do on a private plane for thirty-two hours.” I wiggle my eyebrows, but I'm pushing it, and the ice is getting thinner by the second. “Fine, win by default, which is the lamest way to win anymore.” This earns me a half smile, and it’s almost as good as an actual win. “And you’re right…”
“I love that phrase.”
“Oh, I know.” I nod, “There are better ways to spend my efforts convincing you to extend past the two-week trial period.” I flip over the steaks and my stomach growls. “I could just keep telling you how right you are over and over.”
“While appreciated, it’d get boring after a while.”
I take a few steps out of the kitchen, brush against her as I go into my office and return with an envelope. I slide it down on the counter next to her and return to the steaks. A quick poke tells me it’s almost done.
“What’s this?” She asks.
“Well, if I only have twelve days left, I might as well get something out of it.” The envelope seal rips open. While I’m putting the steaks on the plate, she makes a confused huff sound.
“Why are you giving me a bill for thirty thousand dollars? Your cock is good but not that good.”
“You wound me, woman.” I slide the plate and silverware in front of her, before I slice into my own meat. The buttery beef almost melts in my mouth like a high-end cut should. “That’s the bill for the extra storage units I had to rent over the years.”
