“Yes,” he says, taking another sip of his drink.
But that yes isn’t simple, is it? No, not at all.
It takes me a few moments to fully process his words, but I eventually do.
“Sex,” I realize out loud, my body taking on a new tension. “You would seriously want me to have another one-night-stand with you in exchange for the use of your plane?”
“That is a suggestion I would consider,” he answers as if I made him the actual offer and didn’t present it as a shocked hypothetical. His eyes glitter with amusement now. “However, I do not think one night would be compensation enough for both my plane and my time. You say you must return to your job on the twelfth day of Christmas. I can take exactly that amount of time off of work. In exchange, you can provide me with companionship until we both return to our jobs.”
“Companionship…” I repeat, beyond shocked. “You mean sleep with you for ten whole days.”
“That would be part of the package, yes,” he answers.
My heart beats faster at the prospect of sleeping with someone—not just someone, Hayato freaking Nakamura—in exchange for a plane. It feels crazy for more reasons than one.
“I don’t understand,” I tell him, truthfully. “Why me? You could have, like, any other woman in this city.”
“Yet, here I am, negotiating with you,” he answers. His voice is quiet, almost soft, but there’s no give in it. No place to wiggle or straight-up run.
I breathe. Try to think. Which is hard with his eyes on me. I take a huge sip of brandy. That doesn’t help either. But at least I don’t fall into another coughing fit this time.
The truth is, I don’t hate the idea of spending the next ten days with Hayato. Sure, we’re on completely opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to relationships, but neither of us is denying that the one night we spent together last January was hella fun…and hot.
It’s Bacchanoel. My elf credo, I’m supposed to do whatever and whoever I want. Maybe, I could let go again. Let myself have some fun. To help Declan out.
But… “This feels like a really bad idea. Somebody’s going to get hurt.”
And by somebody, I totally mean me, the elf who meant what she said last night…but can feel a newly awakened hunger crawling through her body. Not just urging but screaming at her to answer yes to his outrageous proposal.
Hayato gives me another cool look. “Not if we enter into this business relationship with a clear-eyed view of what will happen. We’ll enjoy each other’s company for a few days, up to ten, depending on my mood. Then we’ll go our separate ways.”
Just business…
“So you won’t be showing up at next year’s Christmas party?” I ask, a small smile quirking my lips.
His mouth tilts up slightly, too. “I don’t believe so.”
“Okay,” I say. “Okay, I’ll do it. But on one condition…”
I wait for him to ask what the condition is, but he doesn’t take the bait. He just sits there, on wicked standby for my next words.
Man, this guy is good at business, I think to myself as I take another Dutch Courage sip of brandy, then say, “I need you to do for me what I’m going to do for Declan.”
“Pretend to be an elf?” he asks.
“Um…no,” I answer, once again pushing aside the urge to point out that I’m not pretending. “I need you to go to Jae-Hyun, the man I drew for you. He lives right nearby in the Tenderloin District, and he’s…all alone this year. In fact, if you don’t visit him, he’s going to die all alone. And I can’t go back to Santa’s workshop, knowing that I didn’t do all I could to prevent that. So do that for me, and I’ll um…be your companion for the next ten days.
Now, it’s his turn to mull over my offer. And let me tell you, he takes a lot longer than I did to consider his. Embarrassment hatches back onto my cheeks as seconds upon seconds tick by.
Then with a somewhat annoyed look, he says, “Fine. But after you’ve served your full ten days, not before.”
“Why not before?” I ask, thinking of Jae-Hyun all alone in his hoarder’s apartment. “We could go right now.”
“Forgive me,” he says, with a sardonic bow of his head. “You disappeared so completely the last time you agreed to replace my date. I am wary of making arrangements with you again, without some guarantee you will stay as long as I require this time.”
Now I have to quirk my head because “Were you really that upset I disappeared in the morning?”
Instead of answering my question, he takes another sip of his drink. “We should talk about your terms of service. I don’t think it’s necessary to sign a formal contract. In exchange for the plane, I’ll expect two-hundred and forty hours of companionship, at the end of which, you may take me to meet this”—a distasteful look passes over his face— “man, I do not know.”
I don’t bother explaining to him he has to know him. That Santa’s gift is unerring. I can tell there’s some wall here on both his and Jae-Hyun’s part. One that can only be surmounted if I stay firm in this negotiation and get them in the same room.
But funny, how stating my expected time as two-hundred and forty hours makes what’s supposed to be a short ten days seem like eons.
I peep up at him. And though I left Jae-Hyun’s apartment nearly an hour ago, it feels like “The Warmth of the Sun” is still playing on a record player somewhere I can’t see, melancholy and bright.
I force myself to be brave. To do this. For Declan. For Jae-Hyun. Most definitely not for me.
At least that’s what I tell myself as I say, “Okay…two-hundred and forty hours. I agree to that. When do I begin?”
He sets down his brandy, his dark eyes taking on a new heat.
“Now,” he answers, the one word dropping down like an anvil between us.
Then he rises from the couch and comes to stand over me, his long, lean body framed by the glowing city lights of San Francisco.
Wowee!!!
Will Hayato and Kristal seal this deal?
Find out in the next hot installment of
TWELVE MONTHS OF KRISTAL
WHITE RABBIT
Episode 3
14
Comin' Back to Me
HAYATO
I have her. I finally have her. Exactly on my terms.
I have trouble believing this, even as I rise from the hotel couch and come to stand in front of her.
Her eyes are cast downwards, reminding me yet again of a Japanese girl…even though she so obviously is not one.
I thought I had lost her. I spent nearly an entire day believing I might never see her again. But then I opened my Berluti messenger bag to find her drawing pad inside.
A peace offering? A “go away” that really meant “try again?” I could not be sure.
But even then, I tried to resist the temptation. Seeing her again wouldn’t change our separate views on relationships. Wouldn’t get her back into my bed on my terms. And “California Dreamin’” had finally stopped looping in my head.