out to meet his family. He was an assistant at a company in LA. We compared notes and talked about the life – what we had expected, and what things were really like. It sounds like he was having a whole different type of fun than me – and it made me a little curious. I never thought I’d make it out there, though. A black girl like me, with all my curves and attitude, out there with those bimbos? I had seen the OC and the Hills enough times to want to throw up. We hit turbulence at one point, and I even found myself eyeing his hand, imaging a more confident ‘me’ who would just reach out and grab it. I had been so crazy with work the last few years that I hadn’t had time to think about a relationship, much less a little fun. Lately the itch had really gotten out of control… I had these dreams.
I fantasized about a really confident ‘me’ who would just grab his hand, take him to the bathroom, and get a little hands on experience with all that fun he had been talking about out in LA with the clubs, and the movie stars running around.
Not that confident I’m afraid. Not even close.
He did give me his number and offered to show me around the island when we landed. I took it happily, and made my way to the baggage claim with little fantasies starting to play out in my head. A date on the beach. A first kiss. Maybe more?
I was tired of being the nice girl.
I got my stuff from the baggage claim and went outside. It was warm and humid, and a dark thunderhead rumbled in the distance, casting off gray sheets of rain onto the green cliffs. Hawaii was a stunning place. It had all the exotic magic of some tropical island, but with the comforts of America: street lights, McDonalds, Target; stuff like that.
I pulled out my phone to fiddle around, but hardly entered my password before I heard someone calling my name!
“Alisa, over here!”
It was Dawn. She was the resident “queen bee” of the company, in charge of Human Resources and all of the bustling assistants, mailroom clerks, attendants and paralegals. She was waving excitedly, rushing towards me for a hug as Tom, the vice president, stood stoically behind her. I gave her a cautious side hug and she took one of my bags to carry.
“How was your flight? Everything go alright?”
“It went fine!”
“No hiccups?”
“Nope!”
“Oh, good. Come on!”
“Did you bring the presentation files?” Tom asked, not bothering with the welcoming pleasantries. I tapped my bag.
“Right here.”
Great, let’s get you down to the hotel to get changed – we’re meeting Kyle at 5.
“Five?”
Tonight?
“Yea, let’s go!”
I had expected a little more time than that to get ready, I wasn’t even familiar with the presentation. You’d think we’d at least have a rehearsal before a meeting with a wild card billionaire.
I was at the hotel in a flash, changed and back in the black sedan driving along the coast highway nearing sunset. The storms had fallen off the island and huddled near the horizon, flashing the sea with occasional bolts of lightning.
It was nearly five o’clock on the dot when we pulled up the double driveway to the private, and surprisingly humble, island estate.
I stepped out of the sedan awkwardly, patting down my skirt and gathering up my attaché case. Tom mumbled something, but I didn’t hear him over the sound of trees alive with birds, and the ocean waves crashing against the rocks below. I turned frustrated…and I got my first look at Kyle, standing there, hands in his pockets. He had a close beard, and piercing eyes that considered me with a curiousness not unlike that of a lion.
I would never have admitted it at the time, but I felt a jolt of electricity that first time I saw him again. I always imagined him as this intimidating man’s man – but something about him now was…alluring?
Maybe that’s not the right word. I don’t know.
He waited for us to come to him.
“How are you Tom? Lauren?” he asked in his