Lost Flyght – Chapter 19

I can tell something’s not right throughout dinner. Gus avoids eye contact, and Jinzo is a lot quieter than usual. The happy atmosphere from getting rid of Cressida didn’t even last until the main course. Skylar and Malina chat away happily, but I get the feeling I’m in trouble. That the initial smiles and kisses were for show, and the stress of wondering closes up my throat, and my dinner sits untouched.

I get up from the table the moment Skylar finishes her meal.

“I’m not feeling well, so I’m going to head back to the villa early.”

“Oh,” Malina says, trying to stand up. “Let me see you back.”

“No, please.” I hold out my hands to keep everyone in their seats. “Everyone stay and have dessert, dance, or have more drinks, or whatever. No need to end the night because of me.”

Gus leans over and looks at my plate, the meal there barely touched. “You didn’t eat. Do you think it’s because of last night?”

I swallow hard. It was nice to be somewhat fine for a few days, but now the background nausea has returned. Something is wrong. I can feel it. But I’m not sure what I’ve fucked up yet.

“Maybe? I don’t know. I’ll go rest.”

Jinzo finishes his meal and stands up with me. “I’ll come with you.”

“You just got here. Why don’t you stay and enjoy the night?”

“I came here to be with you, Vivian. I’ll come with.”

I nod and grab my bag and the shoulder wrap I brought with me. Okay, well, there’s no avoiding Jinzo now.

We’re quiet the whole way back to the villa, which I know deep in my gut isn’t right. My stomach twists away as I imagine how our greetings should have gone. There should have been big hugs and plenty of kisses. Smiles. Promises of nights spent together. Instead, he’s cold and silent. He doesn’t even touch me.

When the villa door closes behind us, I head straight for the stairs.

“Vivi?”

“I’m tired. I’m going to go lie down. It’s been a hell of a week.”

He follows me up the stairs and closes the door behind us in the master bedroom.

“Room controls,” he says, and the system chimes.

Huh? I had no idea the place was automated.

“Quiet mode.” With a hiss and a pop, ambient noises are sucked away, and we’re left with only our own sounds.

“Well, shit. If I had known the room had a quiet mode, I would’ve been using it since I got here.” I slip out of my Bomba-Farias and toss my bag on the bed. “I woke everyone the first night with my nightmares.”

“Yes, I know. Asteria told me.”

I crouch down at my bag and look for something to sleep in. “And Gus told you about Cressida?”

“Yep.”

I find a cotton shirt and shorts, turn around, and Jinzo is standing with his hands in his pockets. Sighing, I sit down on the bed and pull my skirt up to my knees to let my injury from the previous night breathe. After my stomach had calmed down, and my skin returned to normal, Gus treated the bruise on my hip and patched up my knee with a nanobandage.

“Why don’t you tell me why you’re upset with me? I’ll sit and listen.”

Jinzo’s eyes focus on my injured knee, and he takes a few moments to gather up what he’ll say. Here it comes. He’s mad at me for keeping this Cressida stuff from him. He’s angry that I didn’t trust him. He’s done with women who treat him like this.

He’s going to break up with me.

Be strong, Vivian.

“I sent you here to relax. I’m upset that you didn’t. I’m upset you engaged with Cressida at all. That you got sick taking more of those Rio plants. That you weren’t safe.” His voice raises to almost a shout. “I’m upset that I’ve met the love of my life, and everything I do to keep her from being killed just makes things worse!”

I suck in a quick breath and hang my head. Did he just say I’m the love of his life?

“I’m upset you’re not eating. I’m upset you had to call Malina Tsing for help with something that’s private between the two of us. I’m upset we even had to face Cressida.” His tone turns from hurt to a growl. “That woman has no right talking to you, much less treating you in the fashion you’ve been treated tonight.”

I sniff up and raise my head. “I’ve handled worse.”

“You shouldn’t have to handle it at all.”

“But that’s not the way this universe works.” I stand up, more confident in this argument now that I know he’s not going to break up with me. “Everything is against me, against us. I can’t take a day or a week off from this crazy shit. I mean, it’s noble and sweet that you wanted time off for me, but what did you really expect?”

When he’s quiet for a few breaths, I shrug. “How’s my ship?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“What more is there to say? I defeated Cressida. I got her off our backs. She’ll be out of your inbox, out of our hair. I called in a favor, and it worked!” I laugh as I throw my arms up in the air. “Hallelujah!” I scream at the ceiling.

He almost growls as he steps forward into my personal space. “I don’t like what you had to do to fix my problem.” He takes my arms in both of his hands. “You should have waited for me to solve it.”

I get right into his eye line. “Fuck. That. You were fixing our ship. So I fixed our Cressida problem. This is not me versus you. This is not your problems” — I make a box in the air with my hands — “and my problems.” I make a second box in the air. “These are our problems.”

He stares at the two nonexistent boxes I made.

“Look, I realize Cressida was a shit leader for your network. Maybe she didn’t have the kind of role models I’ve had, like my mom and my aunts, but we solve problems together as a team, and other people in the network take the initiative to solve those problems too. That’s why Gus talked to you and kept you informed without me having to ask him. And that’s the way it should be.”

He breathes in and blinks. “You’re right. She was a shit leader. She expected everyone else to not only handle their own problems but hers as well. I kind of thought that’s how it’s supposed to go.”

I nod and sink back to the bed. Good. I think we’re on the same page here.

Jinzo has been trying to fix everything from the beginning. It was nice to have someone who cared, but he can’t go overboard. He can’t fix everything by himself.

“Did you and Gus…?” He doesn’t finish the statement, so I shake my head.

“I think he wants to be a part of our team, but…” I wave my hand.

Jinzo sits next to me. “Hmm. What’s the issue? He wants you. He loves being here and being with us. So?”

“It’s his family. They’re military, and they want someone military for him.”

“But you’re still going to the wedding? It’s in three days.”

“I believe so. I haven’t heard otherwise, and we’re supposed to leave tomorrow. I hadn’t planned to spend so much of my time dealing with Cressida.” I groan as I stretch out my neck. “I got a nice massage from Gus, but the effects didn’t last, unfortunately. And now I’ll have a bruise on my hip and another gash on my leg to hide. I’ll need a floor-length dress for this wedding.”

“Come on,” Jinzo says, standing up. “I happen to know that the tub in here is big enough to fit two.”

Oooh. This is unexpected. It’s been a week of sexual frustration with constant denials from Gus, and the last time I had sex was with Ken before he left. I remember going three years without sex, and it didn’t bother me at all. Now, I have prospects, and it’s a great way to blow off steam. An excellent way.

Jinzo goes straight to the wall panel and adjusts the settings to fill the tub.

“It’s crazy how much I missed you while you were gone.” He takes my hand and pulls me in, so I’m close to him. “I sought you out for chats or meals or you know.” He lifts his eyebrows, and I laugh. “And I ended up having to take cold showers and go talk to my mom or dad or sister for company.” He shakes his head. “Totally not the same thing.”

He’s so different from quiet Gus, who is happy to just sit in the same room with other people, and Ken, who doesn’t always want to talk, but when we’re back together, it’s like no time has passed.

I wonder what this other guy, the one Marcelo wants me to meet, will be like.

Jinzo leans in and kisses under my ear. Mmmm. That’s nice. He inhales as his hands reach around to unzip my dress. “You smell like the beach. I love that. Two of my favorite things together.”

“You love the beach?” I sigh as I lift my arms up around his neck and rub my hands over the short hair at the back of his head. He’s been letting his hair grow but still buzzing the back once a week. I love that short hair and running my hands over it. It’s comforting, familiar.

“Absolutely. This is one of my favorite places in the universe.” He shifts away so he can drop my dress. “I usually sleep down the hall, though. This was the room for the fancy people.”

I step out of the dress and move it to the side. Jinzo peels off his shirt.

“I guess I have fancy taste.”

“You have excellent taste for the finest things in life.” He tilts his head at the tub. “Get in.”

Taking off my bra and underwear, I slip into the tub with a satisfied hiss. The nanobandage on my knee flexes to protect my cut, and the soreness of my hip eases away. I drop my head on the back of the tub and close my eyes.

“Oh, God, I missed this. I love the ship, but baths are a planet-side luxury.”

When I open my eyes, Jinzo is naked and standing over the tub. He smiles as he leans down to kiss me. His lips are soft and caring at first, then ravenous as he deepens the contact. When our lips separate, and my eyes drift over him, I’m pleased with what I see.

“This is exactly what I dreamt about when I was away from you,” he says, taking my hand and pulling me forward. I lean away from the edge of the tub and let him slip in behind me. Snuggling into the space between his legs, the day, the tension, the unbelievable amount of stress I’ve been under fades away. I did what I had to do to keep him with me. Every step of the way was difficult, but now we can concentrate on moving forward.

The bath is cold, and our bodies are spent by the time we drag ourselves to bed. Vacation will be over tomorrow, but I get to spend the last night sleeping with my new love.

Not bad, Laguna. Not bad.