High Flyght – Chapter 27

The expanse of Ken’s Concord City apartment knocks me breathless. It’s at least four times the size of our old place on Rio, modern and perfect in every way. And, of course, there are views. I feel like all of Concord City was built for its views.

“Nice place,” Jinzo says, dropping his bag near the door and kicking off his shoes. “How long have you lived here?”

“A year. Not long. My previous place was a dump compared to this, but I was still building Flyght at the time.” He turns to the kitchen. “We have a little over an hour to get cleaned up, then we’ll stop for something to eat before we head over to Flyght. Board meeting is at three-thirty.”

“I’m quick. I’ll go take a shower.” Jinzo angles his head to look down the hallway. He spots the bathroom and is off.

I meander through Ken’s place, taking note of what he has on display. His furniture is comfortable and new with only the sparsest of wear. I suspect he doesn’t spend much time here, even if he loves it. When I meet him in the kitchen, he hands me a glass bottle of water.

“Thanks. My throat is so scratchy.” I suck down the cold water and let it numb my aching throat.

“You shouldn’t have gone in so far without a respirator.” Ken leans against the kitchen counter. “You might have lung damage.”

I inhale deeply to show him I’m okay. “I held my breath for most of my trips inside. I’ll be fine. I only hope I’ll eventually not smell like smoke.”

“You’ll be fine with a shower,” he says, smiling. Then, moving a little closer to me, his smile fades. “I have a favor to ask.”

“Of course, anything. I don’t have much, but you already know that.”

“When we go to this board meeting today, I’d like for you to…” He considers his words. “To observe only. I have a feeling the meeting will be contentious, and people will say things about you that you don’t want to hear.”

My face heats, and I open my mouth to protest. Ken raises his hand.

“Please?” He brings his hands to his heart. “You already have me, one-hundred percent. Nothing that they will say could make a difference now in how I feel. I promise it’ll all be handled.”

I nod and swallow hard to rid myself of the giant lump in my throat.

This is one thing of many I’m not good at, listening to people hate on me. I’ve avoided the news stories, so I am ill-prepared for hearing them in person. Maybe I should be paying attention to these popular opinions of me. I could use a thicker skin.

A shower, two drinks, a burger, and fries later, and I can conquer the world… or at least not feel like I’m so hungover I’m going to die. The Flyght building looks like an old friend now instead of the intimidating powerhouse run by an ex-boyfriend I was still in love with. The trip up to Ken’s C-suite office is a world away from the last time I was here. I was so nervous then. I hadn’t seen him in years, and I was sure he would turn me away.

He did, but not for long.

“Okay, I’m going to handle a few things before our meeting in ten minutes.” Ken moves to his desk, waves his hand, and brings up his monitors and pressing business.

Jinzo saunters to the window, his hands jammed in his pockets.

“You seem to be addicted to places with views,” he says, and I halt a smile. Where Jinzo comes from, views are not a thing. It’s either a box in the middle of the station, or it’s stars and an occasional planet.

“I can think of worse things to be addicted to,” Ken says, absently. His eyes are trained on the work on his displays. I stare at the chair in front of his desk and remember the humiliation I felt asking him for help.

And in a few minutes, we’ll go before the Flyght board and his lawyers and convince them I’m not a liability to his business. How in the hell am I going to do that? Renata Dellis is on to me. India Dellis wants to buy my family’s farm before I can. Cressida is calling for my head. I am a liability, and I have a whole host of issues to prove it.

“Ken?” I sit in the chair across from him.

“Hmm?” His thoughts are elsewhere.

“Is this meeting really necessary?” He looks up at me. “Can’t we just find some quiet way for you to funnel money to me? We can stay off the gossip news sites, too, if we just don’t do anything public.”

Ken is quiet for a long moment. I hold my breath and wait for the conversation to happen.

“No.”

I blink as I let the held breath go. “No. That’s it?”

“No. That’s it,” he repeats, standing up at his desk. “I have plans, and we’re going through with them.”

“But —” I stand up too and look over at Jinzo.

“He has plans,” Jinzo confirms.

“Plans you know about?”

Jinzo smiles. Ken mirrors the smile all the way down to the smirk in his eyes. I’m at a loss for words. How have they already bonded like this?

“Time to go.” Ken gestures to the door. “The conference room is down the hall on the right. Remember what I asked of you earlier.”

Fine. There’s nothing I can do about this now. Once the meeting is over, I’ll try to talk some sense into Ken. I’ll do my best to sit quietly and answer questions if they’re directed at me. Otherwise, I should endeavor to be as unassuming as a house plant. Ken doesn’t want me to speak, no matter what. So let’s see if that’s even something I can do.

“Everyone, thank you all for coming.” Ken strides into the room and makes his way to his chair at the head of the table. I falter at the doorway as twenty heads turn to watch me enter. All of those eyes are assessing me like I’m a profit-and-loss statement. How much will I cost them? How much am I worth?

“Ms. Kawabata, it’s good to see you again.” Ken’s assistant steps in front of me, cutting me off from the glares of everyone in the room. I could kiss the boy so hard right now. “Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea, water?”

“Water, thanks.”

He seems so eager to please that I can’t say no to him.

“Coming right up. These two seats are here for you and Mr. Lee.” He gestures to two chairs away from the giant table. There’s no room for us among the lawyers and partners.

“So,” Ken starts as we sit down, “at the behest of everyone in the room, we’re here today to talk about my inclusion in Vivian Kawabata’s relationship network.”

Ken invites people to start by sitting back and waiting.

“You’ve been single for years,” one man starts. I hereby dub him Mr. Bushy-Eyebrows. “Why this woman now?”

“Yes, I have the same question,” a blonde woman butts in. “This woman is riddled with scandals. Her brother is on the run from the authorities, and her family has no money left to their name.”

Jinzo reaches over and takes my hand in his. I keep my chin up, and my eyes focused on the mountains out the window. If I concentrate hard enough, I may be able to ignore the things being said about me, too.

“There’s also the possibility of network thievery.” Another man shakes his head, but I can’t bring myself to look at him directly to see who he is. “It’s not illegal per se, but it does you no good.”

There’s a murmur of affirmation around the room as people lean over to whisper to each other. At the door, Ken’s assistant unsticks his feet from the floor and offers a glass of water to me. He looks me in the eyes and smiles. I squeak out a whispered thank-you.

Bushy-Eyebrows clears his throat and leans forward to bring the room to order.

“The media group has already been in full spin mode, trying to bring this situation back to neutral. If you cut things off now, we’ll be able to salvage everything.”

“How are our contracts?” Ken asks, and he doesn’t bother to call up any data.

“Contracts are steady, if not improved.” This fact seems to annoy Bushy-Eyebrows.

“And our animal situation?”

A woman down the table raises her hand. “I have news on that. The insurance arm is reporting that with added screening, we can start transporting animals again within a week.”

“Good.” Ken seems pleased with this news. “Then, the subject of Vivian is moot.”

A wave of mumbling rolls around the group.

“Profits are up.” Ken raises his voice over the whole table. “Sentiment is wildly popular. Flyght has never looked better.”

“Only because we’ve been working hard to keep it that way.” Bushy-Eyebrows huffs. “Do you think good PR like this falls out of the sky?”

“Sometimes it does.” Ken raises his hands, palms out. “Look. I don’t think I was clear about this from the beginning, so I’m going to set the record straight right here.”

He leans back in his chair. Hot damn, he has never looked sexier than this moment. He commands this room, and everyone is waiting for his next words. Pride stirs in my belly. I’m proud that I know him, proud that he loves me and wants to be with me, especially the fallen woman I am now.

“This is my company, and I’ll do with it as I see fit. I’ve never made the company public, I’ve never had a partner, and I’ve never asked for help with my love life because it’s none of your business.”

He stands up, and all the eyes in the room follow him.

“As of today, I am putting Vivian Kawabata at the head of Flyght.”

“What?” I spill my glass of water, hitting the bottom of my pants and the floor.

Half the room is stupefied, and the other half is outraged and on their feet.

“In name only!” Ken shouts over the chaos. “In name only,” he directs at me.

I press my hand to my chest and breathe a sigh of relief.

“Sit down.” Ken’s voice catches everyone’s attention, and the room calms.

“You can’t do that,” one man announces over the voices of the others.

“I can do that, and I will.” He steadies himself with both hands on the table. “I built Flyght for Vivian.”

I drop the glass, and it skitters across the floor.

“What?”

Jinzo squeezes my hand and tugs, keeping me in my seat.

“Flyght has always been for Vivian, from the very beginning. I built this company from the ground up because I wanted to go back to her with something… something substantial to show her how much I care. How valuable I am.”

“You didn’t —” My hand flies to my mouth, and my legs ache from trying to stand up and stopping myself. You didn’t have to do that, Ken. I always knew he was worth it. I did.

The room falls into a hush as everyone looks between Ken and me.

“I know I didn’t have to do it. I wanted to build this. You always believed in me, more than I believed in myself. You supported me, even when I didn’t deserve it. And now, Flyght will be just what we need to move forward. Together.”

He focuses his eyes on Jinzo and me, and I’m speechless. This is so far from what I expected. Everything he’s saying is true, that I supported him and believed in him, but that doesn’t make it easy for him to say or for me to hear.

Everyone at the table is silent again. Several of the men just stare forward. One woman has her mouth open, but she thinks better of saying anything. Ken’s assistant has tears in his eyes.

“Talk to the lawyers, but it’s been in the papers from the very beginning. They’ve always known.”

The three men at the end of the table must be the lawyers because they’re as silent as the grave. Holy shit. When Ken said he never let go of me, he never really did.

“I’ve lived a rather frugal life when it comes to the riches of being the CEO of a company like this. I’ve saved up so I could make this switch someday. Between my savings, funds from others in Vivian’s network, and the profits Vivian will accumulate from Flyght, we should be able to buy back her farm. I’ve looked at the books from before her brother sent them into bankruptcy. Kawabata Holdings is a profitable and reliable business. Together with Flyght, we’ll rival some of the best conglomerates in the Duo Systems.”

This time the whispering across the table is more positive. The tide has turned from an angry, hissing kitten to one purring in my lap.

Ken glances at the clock on the wall.

“We’re out of time. Now that you know the course we’re going to take, do what you have to do to make it work. I assure you, Vivian does not want to be your boss.”

I let out a snort of a chuckle then wave at the faces pointed towards me. “Not on your life.”

“So, it’s business as usual. And speaking of which, we need to get on with our day. I have a ton of pressing business to go over and a graduation party to attend in, oh, four hours.”

He claps his hands. “Everybody back to work.”

Everyone files past, and some people even stop to smile or nod on their way out of the room.

Ken claps his hands at me.

“Didn’t you hear me? Back to work, Ms. Vivian. You have a graduation party to attend in a few hours, and I expect you to be dressed for it.” He points at the door, and Marcelo is standing there with a quiet grin on his face.

“Marcelo has all my instructions. You have shopping to do, and a spa visit booked.”

I tip myself from the chair, take three leaping steps, and throw myself into his arms.

“Thank you,” I say into his shoulder. I kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome,” he replies, kissing me back. “You deserve it.”