Chapter 108: All Business and Professional
** Eli **
The Hawaiian sun felt a bit unnecessarily intense as Eli stepped off the plane, squinting against the blinding light.
People were milling about all over the airport, a busy sight for a Sunday afternoon. Colorful beach shirts and summer dresses and sun hats filled his view, accompanied by excited conversations and cheerful laughters. Everyone seemed to be in the perfect vacation mood, high-spirited and bright-eyed ... Unlike him, who felt about as dark and gloomy as the black shirt he was wearing.
It was almost comically ironic to think that this was a trip he originally planned with special intentions for Harper. But now, after that shitshow of a baseball game party and a long night of hard musing, he only wished he could cancel the whole thing and save them both from an awkward week.
"The limo is waiting right outside." Justin gestured at the exit as the two of them walked down the VIP passageway. Eli was glad that his assistant seemed unusually good-natured today, offering no comment at all about the very sulky air hanging between them.
He made a halfhearted sound of acknowledgement, glancing in the direction of the exit. A black limo was parked in the special access area, a white plumeria logo printed on its hood. So quintessentially Hawaiian. Some distance behind it, in the general exit section, a crowd of regular passengers were shuffling their way out of the building and into their taxis. The line looked long this time of the day—
Eli halted dead in his tracks when a slender figure at the door caught his eye.
She had her back to him, but he didn’t need to see her face to recognize her. He was too familiar with the color of her hair, the curve of her back, the rhythm of her steps as she walked. Even the off-the-shoulder shirt she was wearing tickled his memory — wasn’t that the shirt she wore the first time he visited her apartment? Or was it the second time?
Damn. That was only a month ago, but the day already felt so, so far away.