After Hours

Chapter 7: Caribbean Girl

Negril called as soon as she flew over the Blue Mountains. "Mommy, look at the mountains," Jeremy squealed jumping out of his seat and running over to the window. She was suprised that he was lasting the entire flight without crashing but she knew that her son got extremely excited everytime she brought him back to her homeland.

"They're pretty right?" She stood behind him, looking out the window. Despite her protests, Alex had offered for them to take his private jet rather than flying in economy as she was going to. She had given into his request almost immediately- hating to fly coach with a small child. She had adjusted to all of the other small things in life after leaving the glamorous world of being the significant other of a major football player, but flying in a noisy, hot and cramped airplane in economy was not one of the things that she had wanted to experience too regularly. She smirked knowing that Alex had once again saved her from four hours of hell. Even now, he had charmed the socks off her son, coming up behind them and looking out of the window as well. He was close enough that she could faintly smell his cologne but one whiff had her craving his touch again.

For the sake of her child, they both had to behave for the next two weeks.

"You were lucky to grow up in a place like this," Jeremy was soon distracted by a coloring book which had been his sole means of entertainment for the last two hours after a marathon of Handy Manny episodes. The book distracted him for a few seconds before he fell asleep in his chair,

"This can't compare to boarding school in England, now can it Mr Hartford?" She asked smugly relaxing against the cool leather seats. She had been shocked at the amount of time he actually spent in America, but he did have a faint English accent which she had found one of his better attributes even though he was still a jerk.

"Actually I think it might be better. England was nice in its own way but I like Jamaica better for some unknown reason," He stretched already shedding the asshole split personality, at least she hoped that he was.

"You've been before then?" She asked curiously,smiling to herself. As much as she had dug into his history, something new had always come up, making it almost impossible to trust the validity of the articles about him.

"A long time ago, yes..." She knew not to push him to tell her more from the way his body tensed. In her heart, she knew that it had something to do with the woman who had hurt him in the past. She somehow felt that he wasn't the type to go into his past and spill his guts. He was the type of man that pushed past circumstances, willing himself to believe that certain events never existed. He was an onion, if she wanted to get to know him, she would have to peel back his layers with a knife.

"It must be nice to be back," His voice broke through her fog and she smiled. She hadn't been back to Jamaica in months and it was almost as if the longer she stayed in America, the more she was slowly dieing a slow death. She was still an island girl at heart, even if she had a life in the city.

"I haven't been back since January," She had made enough to fly her parents to Miami during the crazy summer holiday but she hadn't been able to tear herself away to get a proper vacation. "I've been juggling someone's schedule, getting away wasn't an option," She was about to say that she had been so intent on being a good employee that she hadn't had time to see her own darn family but the pilot cut off their conversation alerting them that they would be landing shortly.

"Ready for this?" The plane descended from the sky at the small airport in Negril. As soon as they landed, everything came alive around them. An employee removed their bags while another escorted them off the plane to the limo. It was a shock to be once again given this treatment in her life, but she had to admit that it was nice,even though having someone take over was a hard task for her to get used to.