Ada settled on the armrest of Genevieve's seat and huffed. "Look at him." She sucked her teeth and shook her head. "The poor man is working himself to the bone."
Genevieve grunted and bit into her bar of chocolate. Through the curtain of her eyelashes, she had watched Raymond set up a mini office mere minutes after the seatbelt sign went off. First his MacBook, then a tidy stack of papers, a steel thermos, and three neatly lined protein bars.
It was her nature to be friendly. Offer the first smile, say a joke, or give a compliment. But this morning when she woke up, a thought broke the dam for a hundred others to come rushing in.
Why are you doing this?
You are supposed to be wooed; not the other way round.
Stop being friendly. The dude doesn't deserve you.
Then inner optimistic Genevieve countered logical I-am-always-right Genevieve.
You and Raymond are meant to be. What other sign do you need? An actual cupid is your wingman.
Wingman?
You know what I mean.
Fine, so what? Ada says she sucks at cupiding anyway. This may be a waste of time.
Just give it a shot. You have nothing to lose. Look, you didn't even have to pay for your flight tickets. Things are falling in place for a reason. Stop struggling. Go with the flow. Have a blast.
I see heartbreak in the future, inner logical Genevieve warned. Be half-hearted. Look out for yourself before it's too late.
All the while Genevieve prepared to head out, her thoughts had ping-ponged. Then there was that other chastising voice that went on about how she never really stuck to anything because she lacked drive, and the debacle with her mum the other day. Her mind was a mess. She did not breathe a word about her misgivings to Ada. It would be sad to infect the cupid with her sudden crushing self-doubt.
Since the week before the trip, Ada had been a joy to be around. She had gone on and on about the first rules of a budding romance. Complete classroom experience; this time with a virtual board, and a bespectacled Ada holding a pointer and pointing at well... points.
Each class had been fascinating, not because Genevieve could remember half of what Ada taught, nope. It was the cupid Genevieve found thoroughly entertaining. The absolute seriousness with which she took her task. Lessons on stages of love, how to put your best most attractive self forward. Genevieve found it all a bit mechanical but kept her opinion to herself. She had nodded where she was expected to, and even asked one or two questions to Ada's delight.
Now that she was in a jet, heading to their first destination, Genevieve just wanted to enjoy the trip. Seeing Raymond's laser focus as he shifted through papers, typed away, and took sips from his thermos, she couldn't summon the strength to go about interrupting all that to 'cultivate a budding romance'.
"Offer your help," Ada said.
Rolling her eyes, Genevieve unlocked her phone and typed a reply in her notes app. Nope.
"Come on. This is a nine-hour flight. You'd be bored out of your mind if you don't make some interaction. This is your chance to apply the tips I taught you in my lessons."
Shaking her head, Genevieve typed another reply. I brought a chess board. We could play. They had played chess a few times in the past. All Ada needed to do was to point at where she wanted her pieces to be and Genevieve helped her out. The cupid was very good at the game, an interesting opponent.
Ada huffed. "Play chess for nine hours? Hardest pass in the history of hard passes."
Genevieve chuckled. Raymond's fingers paused over his keyboard then he resumed typing almost immediately.
Ada sat straighter and clapped her hands. "Did you see that? He is aware of you."
I don't care. Let's play chess, pleeeeeeease.
"Nope," Ada said then patted Genevieve's hand affectionately. "Not because I don't want to. I have somewhere to be." She stood and faced Genevieve. "I don't know what's wrong with Raymond but one of the character traits mentioned in his file is 'fun-loving'."
Genevieve's jaw dropped.
Ada chuckled and nodded. "Shocking, I know. You share that trait and a bunch of others with Raymond. I swear your match with him makes sense. Talk to him. Try to make this work. I gotta bounce. Bye!"
Genevieve started typing a reply then stopped when Ada waved and vanished.
Great. There goes her last shield.
She stole another glance in Raymond's direction. He was munching on one of those protein bars, attention shifting between a sheet of paper held in his left hand and his computer screen. He had that look of intense focus, brow furrowed, downturned eyes sharp and the sleeves of his powder blue dress shirt rolled up his forearms. The only thing that took away from his fine appearance was the dark smudges under his eyes. The dude needed to relax ASAP.
Rummaging through her bag, she pulled a bag of mixed treats and drew a fortifying breath. Damn. She was kinda shy. Unbelievable. All those times she had spoken with Raymond and teased him, she had not felt a lick of shyness but now that she was stuck with him in a floating thin can thousands of feet in the air, she couldn't summon the courage to engage him in a simple conversation.
Blast it! Not letting herself overthink it, Genevieve stood and walked over to the right side of the jet.
"Hey," Genevieve said as she plopped in the seat opposite him. She had to give it to Raymond's dad. His jet was super sleek. Soft leather. Glossy surfaces. Courteous flight attendant. Even though Genevieve was the daughter of a sitting Senator and astute businesswoman, she had never flown private.
"What can I do for you?" He asked without looking up. He flipped through the stack of papers, read through a sheet then went back to typing. Her fingers twitched with the mad desire to snap his MacBook shut just to see his reaction.
"Do you ever take a break?" She dumped the bag of goodies next to his sad protein bars and pulled an Eclairs from the mix. "You can have some."
Raymond's fingers paused over his keyboard as his eyes slid to her offering. There was open interest there.
Go on. You can do it. Live a little.
When he swallowed, Genevieve bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself not to grin. Ada was a genius. She was correct about Raymond having a sweet tooth.
"This vacation wasn't planned. I still have a lot to catch up with." As Raymond spoke, he retrieved a bar of chocolate and carefully opened its wrap. "If I am to be remotely useful at the reef, I have to compartmentalize my time." He took a bite and sighed, eyes brightening instantly.
Why do you keep yourself from happiness, you sad, sad man?
"When last did you take a vacation?" Genevieve reached for a pack of M&M. Raymond had taken over at Dominic & Dimes a little over three months ago; maybe he had a vacation before he joined them.
"Can't remember," he answered absently as he took another bite of chocolate and returned his attention to his screen.
Well, that did it. Genevieve reached over and did the unthinkable. She pushed his MacBook shut.
Furious eyes flew to hers. His frown was so heavy and fierce that a lesser woman would have withered on the spot. Good thing Genevieve was made of tougher stuff, and she liked it when he showed genuine emotions.
"Why did you do that?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She grinned at him. Ada was right about talking to him, she felt alive poking at this man. He made it too easy to get under his skin. "To get your attention, Dummy."
The muscles at his jaw jumped as he observed her for a long moment. It was hard not to squirm but she liked his eyes on her. Look on, mister. Get an eyeful.
"Do you plan to be this aggravating throughout the trip?"
"I would never dream of it." She sighed as if sad, looked away then raised her eyes to meet Raymond's. "It's just that section 9 of the contract you signed states that you are to show a willingness to work with me as long as the trips subsist."
"And what does that have to do with you interrupting my work?" His biceps bulged as he folded his arms across his chest. The black diver wristwatch circling his left wrist managed to make his arm look more... capable.
Leaning forward, Genevieve rested her elbows on the polished collapsible worksurface and softened her smile. She nodded at the stack of papers. "How about I help you out with all that? Getting all that sorted as fast as we can manage will make you more useful at the reef."
His frown suddenly melted as something else flashed in his eyes. "I-I can't let you do that. You would be having access to classified company information."
"So, you still do not trust me?" Leaning back, Genevieve raised both hands in surrender. "I understand. The fired fraudster definitely can't be trusted—"
Swiping a hand over his face with a sigh, Raymond sunk into his seat and spread his legs. "You know that's not how it is."
"Then how is it? I am offering to ease your stress; I bet there is something I can help you with that wouldn't breach the company's privacy." She chuffed as she struggled not to ogle the man. Was it weird that she found the way he was sitting attractive? "Not to throw shade on your looks but you have a hardcore exhausted vibe going on."
"Fine." He dropped his arms and sat straighter. "You can help."
"Hey," Genevieve said with a chuckle and a small smile. "You are supposed to say thanks too."
His gaze lingered on her face for a silent moment then he smiled too. And boy, did it do wonders to his already good looks. "Thank you."
Genevieve's belly did a hard flip at the sight of his smile. She cleared her throat and sat straighter too. "You're welcome. And once we're done, we'd play chess. The loser gets to be the trip's photographer."
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Heya readers!
Sorry this came late. 😅
Hope you enjoyed reading that.
The next chapter will have Ada and Haruto.
Anyhoo, please show thy support by voting and commenting. All the love.