Chapter Eleven
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ilias
“What do you want to do now?” Oscar asked as we paused in the shade of some overhanging trees.
We’d been walking along the wide footpath next to the waterfront after spending the morning exploring Kona. So far, we’d done a couple of local museums and historic landmarks and walked all the way along the pier to look out over Kailua Bay.
It had been very low key, and I’d enjoyed the change of pace.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Are you hungry? Want to grab some late lunch?” We’d gorged ourselves on the hotel’s incredible breakfast buffet first thing this morning, but now I was starting to feel a bit peckish.
“Sure.” Oscar gave me a warm smile that made heat kindle in my gut. “Why don’t we make a start on that list of yours? We’ve barely touched it yet.”
“Yes!” I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and pulled up the extensive list of restaurant recommendations I’d been collecting.
We’d only managed one so far, and that was a bar and restaurant not too far from the hotel that we’d made it to last night. The food had been pretty good, and Oscar and I had spent the evening trading movie recommendations over freshly caught and grilled mahi mahi.
“What sort of thing do you fancy? Sushi? Mexican? Oooh! How about Nakoa’s? I’ve had like four people recommend it to me,” I said as I scrolled down the list and noticed the little number four in brackets next to the restaurant name.
“What sort of food is it?” Oscar asked. “I’m going to say yes. I’m just curious.”
“Well, the restaurant’s full name is Nakoa’s Fish Market Bar and Grill, so I’m assuming it’ll be fish,” I said with a grin. “And George said they do awesome poke, and we should try their lau lau too.”
“Let’s go there then. Do you know where we’re going?”
“No, but I have the power of Google Maps so the internet can do it for me.” I tapped the address into my phone and discovered it was about a ten-minute walk back along the bay and tucked away down a couple of side streets. “Ta-da, let’s go.”
A soft breeze brushed across my skin as we walked, dispelling some of the heat. I couldn’t believe we were already halfway through our week, and in another couple of days we’d be on the long journey back to reality. I knew it would be impossible to stay here, but it had been nice to escape the constant chaos of my family and the continued hustle of my day-to-day life and just be.
Despite my reservations, Oscar had turned out to be a lot of fun to spend time with, even if he could be a little grumpy at times. But I’d decided that was all part of his charm. He laughed at my terrible jokes, rolled his eyes at my ridiculous flirting, snarked at me when he was stressed and apologised later, listened to me when I talked about my family and my past, and never seemed to dismiss my experiences as something I just needed to deal with.
He was everything I’d been avoiding for the last ten years wrapped up in an incredibly handsome package.
The fact that he hadn’t fallen for my subtle attempts to see if he would come to bed with me, if I felt so inclined, was almost making me want him more. I’d never had anyone resist me like that before, even when I wasn’t trying.
Maybe it was because I felt like I could be myself around Oscar that I’d accidentally decided to show him all of who I was. I thought nothing was going to happen, so there was no point in pretending to be someone I wasn’t. I’d been myself all week, and nothing I’d done seemed to have fazed him. It was… refreshing, terrifying, and a little bit of a turn-on.
Nakoa’s looked deceptively simple from the outside with a hand-painted wooden sign over the door. It was located at the front of an old warehouse, which made sense if it was also part of a fish market. Oscar pulled open the door and gestured me through.
As soon as I entered, I was hit by a wall of chatter and delicious smells. The restaurant had high ceilings and bright blue walls with the lower half decorated in wood panelling, and the room was filled with wooden tables, plenty of them already occupied. Staff bustled around, and at the other end of the room I saw a counter that divided the restaurant from the kitchen, behind which a variety of chefs moved around all chatting and laughing.
It didn’t take us long to get seated, and soon I was staring at the menu, trying to work out what the fuck I wanted to eat.
“Any thoughts?” Oscar asked, giving me a wry smile from over the top of his menu.
“How about all of it? Seriously, how am I supposed to decide?” I glanced down the list of food again then over to a large blackboard on the wall that had the day’s fish and their prices listed in large, colourful lettering. “I definitely haven’t eaten enough poke, so I want some of that, but that ahi katsu sounds so good and so does the lau lau and the boneless short ribs… oh, and they have fish tacos and slow-roasted pork.” I looked up at Oscar. “Do we have dinner plans?”
He shook his head. “Not tonight. Tomorrow we’ve got the dinner on the beach.”
“Oh, right.” I tried to ignore the way my heart raced at that idea. I’d never wanted to do anything that romantic before, but suddenly it sounded like the perfect way to spend the evening. “I can gorge myself now, then you can roll me back to the suite.”
Oscar laughed. “Does that mean I’ll be spending the evening by myself?”
“You could keep me company.” I smiled at him sweetly. “We could watch a film or something.”
“That would be nice… We could go for a walk along the beach too. Watch the sunset.”
“I’d like that,” I said, trying to keep myself from blushing furiously like some sort of preteen on his first date. I was saved from further awkwardness because our waiter arrived, and we realised we hadn’t made any sort of decision. We ordered a couple of local beers and promised to be ready to order by the time he returned.
“Okay, serious decision time,” I said.
“Why don’t we both get different things and share?” Oscar asked. “If you’re okay with that. They do a mixed plate with two items and a side. We could both get one of those and try four different dishes.”
“That is a good plan, but it still means I have to narrow it down to two… What are you getting?”
Oscar frowned and pulled at his bottom lip, highlighting the deep bow at the top of his mouth. I quickly turned to look around the restaurant so he didn’t catch me staring.
“I’m going to get the spicy house poke with ahi because I don’t get much fresh tuna at home and the boneless short ribs with… seaweed salad. Does that help?”
“No.” I laughed. “Fuck it. I’m getting the sweet house poke, some lau lau, and spicy crab on the side, and I’m going to order some tacos too. Just because I can.”
The waiter returned with our beers, and we ordered. I took a sip of my drink and nodded. It was a shame I wouldn’t be able to take any back with me because Dominic would have loved it.
“What are your plans when we get back?” Oscar asked. I sighed. I knew he was just making conversation, but I’d been trying very hard not to think about London.
“Not sure. I’ll try to edit these photos as soon as I can,” I said, making a mental note to take a snap of our food when it arrived. “Then I’m not sure. I’ve got a couple of potential things lined up… but I’m thinking I might need to find a regular photography job as well.”
It was the first time I’d said that out loud, and I was surprised I’d admitted it.
“Really? How come?”
“Honestly, I love taking travel photos—it’s my dream—but despite my best efforts, it’s not paying all my bills.” I sighed. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to give it up. I’m just thinking about taking some more commercial jobs in between or setting up a little studio to do portraits and family photos so I have a regular income. My Instagram does a lot for me, and I’ve got plenty of photos in the bank to keep it going for a while, but I really want to be able to live by myself and have a little bit of freedom.”
Oscar nodded. “A little studio sounds like it could work. I’m sure there are lots of small places you could rent, and you wouldn’t have a lot of overhead, just equipment and running costs. And you could take your own bookings so it would make it easy to work around travel projects. Plus, you sound like you’re pretty good with kids.”
“Yeah, it’s just actually getting it started,” I said. “I know I should probably do something, but it’s finding the motivation. I know it’s not giving up, just diversifying my portfolio, but still.”
“Hey, it’s okay. You’ll get there.” Oscar reached his hand across the table to where mine was resting. His fingers interlaced with mine, and he squeezed gently, sending a bolt of electricity up my arm. I swallowed, looking across at him.
His dark eyes met mine, warm and full of kindness, and for a moment it felt like nothing else existed in the universe except the two of us. Time slowed to a crawl, and I heard every beat of my heart. I took a breath and gripped his hand, holding it in mine. I hadn’t realised how much a simple gesture could change everything.
“Thanks,” I said eventually, still not letting go.
Oscar opened his mouth, then closed it again and shot me a smile.
We were still sitting like that two minutes later when our food started to arrive, but it didn’t feel like the bubble around us had burst. The moment just continued to stretch out around us like it was curious to see where it went.
The food was delicious, and Oscar and I swapped forkfuls of the different dishes like it was something we’d done a thousand times before. It felt right in a way I couldn’t explain.
“What do you think?” Oscar asked as he watched me eat one of the short ribs he’d slipped onto my plate.
“It’s… amazing.” The beef was tender and delicious and almost melted in my mouth, but that wasn’t what made it special. It was the fact I was sharing it with Oscar. I knew this wasn’t a date, not really, but if it was, I’d have counted it as the best one I’d ever been on.
We spent the rest of the meal talking about everything and nothing, sharing the food and trying to work out what we liked best. There was no clear winner, and I understood why so many people had recommended the restaurant. If we had time, I would definitely suggest coming back before we went home.
“I’ll get the bill,” Oscar said. “I can expense it.”
“All of it?”
He shrugged. “Most of it at least. It’s all part of the job.”
“Suggesting we get all the food and then paying for it? You’re the perfect lunch date,” I said, hoping my tone was light enough that I could pass it off as joking.
“I try.” He gave me another one of those smiles that melted me from the inside out. I knew I was going to have to sit down and figure out what the fuck I was feeling because I couldn’t continue like this.
While Oscar sorted the bill, I reached for my phone to make a note on my restaurant list and frowned. There was a message from Dominic. He never messaged me unless it was something important.
Dominic
Sorry to bother you. Hope you’re enjoying your trip. Just a heads-up that Sophia just announced she’s getting married, Anna is having another baby, and apparently there was some sort of big blowout about Zo? not being married. Rumour is she and Auntie Tonia had a screaming match at lunch the other week. I’m guessing it was mostly Tonia doing the screaming. Also, you got brought up as an example of someone who is single and successful and happy? Idk what happened, but just wanted to warn you before you came home. I think it’s going to get messy.
Dominic
Also Teddy says hi and wants to know if you’ve seen any sharks?
I sighed, wishing for just five minutes my family could not try to set a world record for drama. I knew the reason Zo? wasn’t married because she’d told me at one of the numerous weddings we’d been to over the past few years. But my aunt Tonia seemed to be stuck in God knows what time period and seemed to think her eldest daughter was defective for not wanting to get married and pop out children like her other two daughters.
And it looked like I’d have to suck up all my opinions for yet another wedding in the next couple of years. Maybe I could make a bet with Zo? about which one of us would get asked first when it was going to be our turn.
“You okay?” Oscar asked. I looked up from my phone, knowing exasperation was written all over my face.
“Just my family being… my family.” I chuckled wryly. “They can’t go ten minutes without starting something.”
“Want to talk about it?” He stood and offered me his hand. “We can get some shave ice, and you can bitch to your heart’s content.”
You might just be the perfect man I thought as I slipped my hand into his. We headed out into the mid-afternoon sun, and not even my family’s desperation for drama could create any clouds.