Lingering Kiss

Chapter 34

They landed in Iceland two and a half hours later. Mia was out and even though Fred didn't want to disturb her, he had to.

"Mia." He was out of his seat and leaning in front of her. "Mia?" He brushed her hair away from her face as he unbuckled her seatbelt.

Mia's eyes opened and met his, she sat upright.
"Are we there?"

"We have to switch transportation."

"Ok." She pushed up from her seat with Fred's hand on her waist.

"C'mon." He said and they walked out of the jet and down the stairs.

Mia looked around the quiet airport.
"Where are we?"

"Egilsstaðir airport. We're getting to the island with the helicopter. There isn't much room for the jet to land."

Mia nodded as they walked hand in hand to the helicopter that was on standby for them. The few things they had had been loaded in. So, once the doors were shut, the helicopter was in the air.

Mia's gaze was fixed on the land below as they flew over Iceland and headed for the island. It was barely five minutes before Mia's view changed from water that reflected the moon to greenery and lots of light on what seemed to be the island. With how far in the air they were, Mia could see the immaculate architecture of the building. It was in the shape of a hexagon and all the sides had long hallways extending beyond the hexagonal center which finally ended in a circular building in seclusion of others; with straight hallways connecting one circular building to another forming an outer hexagon. The top of the beautiful structure was lit up so bright and as they rounded the island and descended, Mia noticed one of the circular buildings had an 'H' printed in large on top of it which seemed to be where they were going to land.

Fred stepped out of the helicopter and turned to help Mia out as well before they walked to a man who stood waiting for them at the top of the stairs.

"Frederick."

"Marty." Fred went in for a hug when they reached him. "This is Mia. Mia this is an old friend of the family."

Marty looked at her with a small smile.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss."

"Mia, please. It's nice to meet you as well."

"I wish it was under better circumstances though," Marty said.

"How is he?" Fred asked Marty.

"Dr. Campbell is still seeing him."

"Come." Fred looked at Mia as he placed a hand on the small of her back and they walked down the stairs leading to the inner hexagonal building. There were a series of stairs they had to climb down before they reached the main building.

From the little conversation she had heard, Fred's dad was sick which must be the news he had received on the jet that made him change the destination. It must be serious.

"Renee." Marty called as he shut the door behind them.

Mia was speechless at the interior. Everything was fitted perfectly into a large space. She stood at one side of the hexagonal spaced interior; two hallways on her left, two on her right, one opposite of the one they just came through. On her left was a living room between the second and third hallway, a mini well-stocked bar between the third and fourth hallway, a well-furnished kitchen between the fourth and fifth hallway, and finally a dining table for eight between the fifth and sixth hallway. At the center of it all was a small fountain with an angel blowing a trumpet, water oozing out of the end of the trumpet. The water in the fountain was covered with daisies and lilies, it was beautiful.

"Freddy." A woman called from the kitchen when she saw them. She made her way quickly towards them and Fred let go of Mia's back as he hugged Renee. "How are you?"

"I'll be fine when I see him."

''Mia, this is my wife, Renee." Marty introduced.

Mia smiled at Renee and offered her hand to the older woman.
"It's nice to meet you."

Renee smiled at her as she accepted her hand and covered Mia's hand with her other hand.
"It's nice to meet you too." She said, "Freddy never brings anyone here."

"Because there was no need to."

"Until now," Marty said with a smile.

Not really.
Mia thought.

She was only there because she was catching a flight back to the US with him. If she hadn't been on board, she doubted she would even be there. She smiled at the older couple.

"I need to see him," Fred said.

Marty nodded and Mia watched as the men walked past her and towards then through the third hallway.

"Come here, sweetheart." Renee caught Mia's attention. "You must be hungry after the journey."

Mia smiled and followed her into the kitchen.
"Not exactly. I'm just really tired." She ended with a yawn.

"Oh dear, are you sure you won't have something little to eat before you head to bed."

"Yea, I'm sure." She said as she watched the woman busy herself. "How is Mr. Zahn?"

Renee stopped what she was doing and glanced at her before picking up again.
"I have no idea. The doctor hasn't said anything to us since he went in to see him."

Mia wanted to know what happened to Fred's dad but Renee wasn't who she should be asking. She'd have to wait till Fred was ready to talk to find out what happened.

She yawned again, her eyes watering.

"Come." Renee dropped what she was doing. "I'll show you to your room."

Mia hopped off the stool she had sunk into behind the kitchen countertop and followed Renee through the second hallway. She was too tired to take note of anything but the long hallway. The arrived at the end and Renee pushed the door open and let her walk ahead of her while she shut the door behind them.

Mia looked around mouth hung open.

"This is Freddy's anytime he visits," Renee said.

The interior was circular just like the exterior but smaller, and it was a story tall; two stairs on opposite sides of the wall starting a few feet away from the door. It led upstairs and connected at the opposite end of the building with a floor to ceiling glass wall that went from the ground floor to the ceiling of the first floor.

"C'mon," Renee said.

Mia watched her take the stairs on the left and she followed behind. They reached the top of the stairs and Renee turned to the left at a one-eighty angle and pushed the door open.

"This is your room," Renee said. "Freddy's is the other one at the other end of the hall."

Mia walked into the room and realized the difference between the exterior and the interior was the room which she was sure was the same with Fred's room. She couldn't help but be in awe of the entire architecture of the island.

"Your bag will be sent up at once. You can take a shower or a bath." Renee said.

Mia smiled at her.
"Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's good that Freddy has you."

Mia nodded because she understood how important having Fred was.

She just hoped his dad would get better.