Lost Flyght – Chapter 18

Skylar, Malina, Gus, and I arrive early for dinner. The restaurant is busy with most of the tables occupied, and a band plays quiet samba music in the far corner.

“Ms. Kawabata, your table is ready.” The head waiter is already in front of me and on top of his schedule tonight.

“Is anyone else here?” I ask, trying to peer past him. Cressida never acknowledged that she would meet us for dinner. Is she going to stand us up? I suppose I hadn’t considered it until this moment. She could easily say ‘fuck that’ and stay in or leave the planet altogether.

“No. The table is empty. Shall I show you there?” He steps to the side to lead me away.

“Sure.” I try not to show my disappointment. I figured, if anything, Cressida would be early too, trying to get the jump on me with a better seat at the table.

Gus touches my arm. “I’m going to sit at the bar for a while.” His eyes scan the room. “I feel like someone should watch your back.”

A chill prickles my neck. I believe I’m about to be ambushed. Or maybe I’m just paranoid, and Gus is too.

I nod to him, and he peels off to the bar as we cross the room to our table.

Once we’re seated, nervousness creeps over me, that crawling sensation that climbs up my legs and activates my knees to bounce.

“Do you get the feeling like she won’t show up?” Skylar asks, drumming her fingers on the table.

“Yeah, maybe.” I try to keep my eyes from wandering. “I don’t know. Things are in chaos in her own network right now. It did not look good from the outside, I can tell you that.”

“What did you see, exactly?” Malina asks, looking up from the menu.

“Her number one? Tall, deep voice, dark skin?”

“Fabian,” Malina fills in. “Such a nice guy. Kind. Sweet.”

“Yeah, he walked out on her. Said she had been complaining all day, and he just up and left. It looked like he was heading to the beach. Cressida lost it and yelled at him.”

Malina winces. “That’s not like Fabian. He’s the rock in that network. Who else was there?”

“Hmmm, a woman who looked a lot like Cressida?”

“Her older sister, Ada. She’s a bit of a loner. Not really interested in a relationship network.”

“Like Renata Dellis?” I ask, remembering my conversation with her at the Athens Industries headquarters.

Malina’s smile is sly. “Don’t let Renata fool you. She has a network, but it’s business only.”

I press my lips together and try not to think of that network coming after me.

“And James was there, I suppose?” Malina asks, and I nod. “She has a new man, newer than James, but he hasn’t left Avenal yet, I’ve heard.”

And with Jinzo gone, her network just keeps shrinking.

I glance towards the bar, and Gus is staring over the top of his drink at me. He tilts his head at the dining room entrance, and my heart rate goes through the roof.

She’s here.

She’s not going to stand us up.

I crane my neck to peek around the corner and size her up before she makes it to our table, and I’m met with the most perplexing sight.

Cressida is alone.

No network. No sister. Nobody to back her up. She’s dressed in casual clothes, not at all how I’ve seen her in the duonet videos. But most striking of all is her lack of makeup. With skin and eyelashes as pale as hers, she’s ghostly without foundation, blush, and mascara.

I stand up quickly, on my guard. This was unexpected. I was sure she’d walk in here, high on her horse, looking for a fight.

Her steps falter, and her face hardens on her way across the dining room when she spots Malina sitting next to me. Good. I surprised her.

“Vivian,” she says, lifting her chin. And despite the toned-down appearance, she is still as formidable as ever.

“Cressida, I’m so glad you could make it.” I turn on my most amiable and genuine smile, making sure the feelings reach my eyes. Though I want to kick her for all she’s done to me, I can be a bigger person.

Really, it’s hard not to jump forward and wrap my hands around her slender neck.

“Please have a seat.” I gesture to the chair next to Skylar. “This is my cousin, Skylar, and you know Malina already.”

Cressida sits and clears her throat. “Well, I’m surprised you know Malina. You don’t socialize in the same circles.”

I plaster on a pitying look. “You don’t know me at all, so I’m not sure how you could make that assumption.”

She sighs and folds her arms over her chest. A bad sign. “Let’s get this over with because there’s no way I’m staying to have dinner with you. My time here on Laguna is over, and I have a shuttle to catch in two hours.”

“You’re not staying for Carnival?” Malina asks, sitting up as an array of appetizers is delivered to the table. Raul called ahead for us, and his choices are excellent. She spoons ceviche onto my plate first and then hers.

“No. There’s no point. I have dismissed my entire network.”

The world skips like there’s a glitch, and everything needs to be rebooted.

“What’s that?” I ask as Skylar’s mouth drops open. Malina is trying to keep her face straight.

She narrows her eyes at me. “Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me.” She huffs and signals for a waiter. He hurries over, and she orders a double vodka on the rocks.

“I know when I’m beaten. Everyone has been unhappy since Darvin left. It was like a disease that infected each of my consorts. First him. Then Jinzo. Fabian left late last night, and I dismissed James this morning because I knew why you had come here.” Her eyes are on Malina. A member of the waitstaff approaches, and when the tumbler of vodka hits her hand, she takes a long gulp. “Though I didn’t realize you were friends with this one.” She tilts her head at me.

“Yes, well, we’re new friends, but I expect it to last because Vivian actually gives a shit about people.”

My cheeks heat from the compliment, and I direct my eyes at Skylar. She can tell I’m trying to hold it together. This meeting is not going how I thought it would.

Cressida flattens her lips into a thin, pale line, making her face even whiter. “And I don’t. Yeah, I’ve heard. You’ve come to reveal me for the hypocrite I am, am I right? I stole Darvin. Without a doubt. I regret it, but what can you do?” She shrugs and takes another sip of her drink. “I suppose you’re going to sink me now that you know?” she asks me.

I take a deep breath and hold it.

Sure. I could sink her. Malina and I could go public about Cressida’s thieving ways. If I needed more, I would find Darvin and convince him to help us. The Briar-Stevenson family would be mine to own because I’m sure there are more skeletons in their closet than just this one incident.

But that’s not the kind of person I am. I will fuck someone up if I have to, but not for this. This is not a human trafficking problem like Gai Reis. This is petty bullshit.

Still…

“Well, now that I know, I think it’s time we came to… an understanding,” I say, keeping my eyes on her. Cressida locks her eyes with mine, but I hold steady this time. I will not look away first.

She sighs and closes her eyes.

“You need to drop all of this public outcry nonsense. I don’t care what you do. Take a leave of absence or join a commune or whatever. But stay off the duonet. Stay out of the news. Give the gossip a rest.”

“Or what?”

I scoff. “Oh, please. Stop the bad girl act. If you’ve lost your network, then take pity on yourself and leave this be. In addition to Malina’s story, I have all your messages between you and Jinzo, Jinzo’s original message to Marcelo way before we ever started dating, and a host of other people who will come forward should you continue to push me.”

I drive my finger into the table, and the silverware jumps. “And don’t even think I won’t go talk to your exes. I have it on good authority that Fabian will talk.”

Or just a hunch after watching him walk away last night.

I sit back in my seat to watch her digest this information, and Gus catches my attention from the bar… and he is no longer alone. Jinzo is sitting next to him, cool and confident in a light linen shirt and dark indigo jeans. Gus finds me watching him, smiles, and signals to Jinzo. They both look over, and my heart skips before it races away.

I would do anything for these guys.

Including putting everything on the line like I am now.

Because Cressida could be playing me. She could be recording everything. She could be lying about her network. I might be socially deceased by midnight.

But I would do it again for anyone I love.

“Fine,” Cressida grunts. “I’ll drop the campaign to get Jinzo back.”

“You will go, on record, as having a change of heart” — my jaw aches from anger — “or I will ruin you.” My voice is so low that even Skylar sits up in her chair and widens her eyes. I don’t talk like this to anyone.

She nods once. “Fair enough. I’ll…” She takes a moment to swallow the lump in her throat. “I’ll put together a statement this evening and make sure it hits all the major channels. But…”

I narrow my eyes. “But what?”

“The ship. The Taurus. I haven’t forgotten about it.”

“The ship isn’t yours, and it never was,” Jinzo says from behind her, and she jumps.

I didn’t think she could get any paler, but she whitens by three shades.

“Hello, my love.” Jinzo steps around her chair and comes straight to me. Instead of kissing me on the cheek, he aims for my lips, only pausing right before to smile at me. The kiss is everything I need right now. “I see you’ve been busy on your vacation.”

He takes a seat next to me, crossing his legs and placing his tumbler on the table. Gus seats himself on the opposite side of Cressida. She’s surrounded by us.

“Quite busy,” I reply. “I did spend a lot of time on the beach, though. You would be proud.”

“The ship is mine,” Cressida stresses, sitting forward. “You can’t sell it.”

“I can, actually. The ship was to be yours if our contract was elevated to marital status. It never was. And you violated the morality clauses of our original contract, which means the ship was never yours to begin with.”

What’s this? I turn my head slowly to look at Jinzo’s confident demeanor.

“The family lawyers have been working on this for a few weeks. With all the evidence I’ve given them, they’ve gone straight to a judge on Rio and filed for a complete annulment. You have nothing to stand on, Cress.”

I hold back a laugh. Laughing now would just be evil.

“But, if you really want the ship, you can buy it from me.”

“Buy it?” she asks as if such a thing is beneath her.

“Sure. I have a buyer from Rio who is dying to take the ship off my hands for 1.8 million credits. Can you do better?”

Cressida stands up. “Oh, fuck you. It’s not worth 1.8 million!”

A few heads turn to watch Cressida throw her fit. Her head twitches, aware now of the eyes on her. She drops her gaze and sits back down.

“I see that whole pious attitude only goes so far,” Jinzo counters. “1.9 million or no deal.”

Cressida’s chest heaves with hot breaths, and Jinzo is as still as stone. I am so proud of him right now. I know how hard this whole ordeal has been for him, so to see him here, facing Cressida and not backing down? I am super impressed.

“No deal,” she says, finally. “I can’t swing 1.9 million if I’m about to go home and start over again.”

Jinzo nods. “It’s probably for the best. Now, I believe you owe both Vivian and me public apologies. I expect to see them before the end of the night.”

She gets to her feet and raises her chin. “You’ll have the apologies, and I hope we won’t see each other again?”

“I’ll do my best,” Jinzo says, raising his glass.

“I’m hoping you won’t give me cause to see you again,” I say, taking Jinzo’s hand under the table.

“Same,” says Malina. Like I promised, she barely had to say or do anything tonight.

Cressida nods once, turns, and leaves.

When she’s gone, everyone breathes a collective sigh.

“I hope you don’t mind that I kept Jinzo in the loop of what was going on.” Gus waits for my reaction and flinches when my cheeks heat. But Jinzo leans in and kisses me there, cooling them down.

“You” — he stresses — “are so brave. Braver than me. I struggled to even send her a message, and yet you went after the situation and solved it.”

I take his hand in both of mine. “You had almost a decade’s worth of relationship with her to work through. I didn’t. And it wasn’t brave. It was stupid; I just got lucky. And I’m sorry I kept it from you.”

He shifts a little closer to me. “I could tell from your last message that something was going on. Don’t worry about it. This is why we have networks, right?” Jinzo looks around the table at everyone. “So we can all watch each other’s backs and care for each other.”

Gus raises his glass. “To luck.”

Everyone else raises their glasses. “To luck!”

And with the tinkling of knocked glassware, we get back to the business of being a family.