Oceans Apart: Book 1

by Amanda Heartley

  “Hey pretty lady. The sun, the wine, it’s killing me; and I need to get back and get things packed up, although I would love to have spent the rest of the night here at the beach with you.”

  I could feel the heat in my cheeks when I answered. “Sure, and honestly, I’d love to spend the night — uh — more time with you, but I understand. Fifteen hours is a bitch.”

  We packed up the car and headed back to the hotel. It was closing in on eight in the evening. I had the top down, there was still a beautiful orange glow in the sky, and there was something magical about the way the sun looked over the ocean as it set.

  As I pulled up into the parking lot of his hotel, I looked over at him. His cheeks were a little pink, probably from the sun. I gave him my best smile. “I guess this is where I let you out.”

  “I guess it is,” he replied, but didn’t make any moves to get out of the car. “I wish I had met you when this trip first started. I would have had a lot more fun with you and Kari than I ever did with my father and his cronies at their little cocktail parties.”

  I giggled at his words. “Oh, but cocktails sound like so much fun. Old stuffy men in suits drinking martinis and gin and tonics, and talking about whatever business they’re in. Sign me up!”

  “Believe me; you are much better off never having to attend those sort of things. If there’s anyone there under fifty you’d never know it, and except for my dad, they’re all on their second or third marriages. It’s a nightmare.”

  “But it’s business,” I said.

  He nodded. “Pretty much.” He hesitated, drumming his fingers on the door handle like he was thinking about something.

  “Yes?” I asked, “What are you thinking?”

  “I wonder…would it be totally inappropriate to ask for your number?”

  I looked at him quizzically. “Planning on coming back?” Although my heart wanted to hear him say yes, I knew this would probably be pen pals for a few weeks, then nothing, so I didn’t get my hopes up.

  “Sometime, I’m sure. My father’s determined to make the business a household name and he’s set his mind on LA, so I’m sure I’ll be back. When? I have no idea, but I meant…” he sighed. “Well, it’s like this. I had a good time today. And…I’ve had the same best friend for the last fourteen years of my life because it’s rare for me to find someone else I want to be that close to. But today was nice, and I find myself wanting to talk to you more. You remind me a lot of my best friend, only he’s…well... he’s …nothing like you at all.”

  I shook my head, totally confused. “Huh? Your best friend? I don’t think I understand.”

  He let out a little laugh. “Let me try that again, because none of what I just said came out right. What I mean is, you both make me feel comfortable in a way I like, and I would very much like to get to know you better. If you’d be okay with that.”

  “Sure, I had a really good time with you today. I’d love to get to know you, too.” I tried to stay calm and collected while he pulled out his phone. I pulled mine out of my purse and scrolled through it for a moment. “What’s your name on Facebook?” I asked.

  “Tristan Lee,” he replied.

  “Tristan Lee,” I typed and then smiled. “That’s a nice picture of you. Is that your dog?”

  “My mother’s. I walk him on the weekends when she has her social obligations.”

  “That’s kind of adorable. Well, Tristan Lee, I have sent you a friend request, and if the mood strikes you, you can accept it and send me a message sometime.”

  “I definitely will. Thanks for showing me a good time today, Ginny. If I come back, you’re the very first person I’ll look up.”

  “Promises, promises,” I teased, but my smile was almost a permanent fixture on my face. “Have a good flight back.”

  “I’ll certainly try,” he replied, and then he leaned in and kissed my cheek before he got out of the car.

  “Bye!” I waved and pulled away, thinking about what a great day I’d had and what I’d been missing.

  Chapter 4 — Tristan

  I was in a good mood after saying goodbye to Ginny. Ecstatically happy that I’d met such a beautiful and captivating girl, as I’d really enjoyed spending the day at the beach getting to know her a little bit. Wished I’d met her sooner. She was a lot of fun. At least I had her contact details.

  I’d had the most wonderful day and I didn’t even mind when I got back up to my room and my dad was waiting there to take me to dinner. He’d been working with some developers all afternoon while I was at the beach with Ginny, and now he was excited. He wanted to sit and talk about the success of the trip, how he could see the possibilities for the company’s expansion into California, when all I wanted to do was order room service and finish packing.

  No such luck there; I politely ushered him out of my suite — “Let’s continue this conversation over dinner, Dad” —with him still babbling on, so I could grab a quick shower to wash the salty Pacific from my body and get dressed to go to the restaurant. Neither one of us wanted to make it a late night, so after some delicious Mahi Mahi and a few more glasses of wine, we were both tuckered out and went back to our rooms.

  Ginny was still on my mind while I finished packing. Dad had said at dinner that he was coming back in a few weeks; I secretly hoped I’d be on that flight with him. I thought of our day at the beach. She was so natural, so feminine, and so happy. I’d never met a girl who was so carefree. And smart. A lawyer? Thoughts of the day drifted through my mind as I dozed off to sleep.

  I woke up happy, thinking of Ginny and wondered if she was still sleeping — or would she be awake by now? Was she thinking about the great time we’d had together yesterday, like I was or was I just a distant memory in her mind already? I pondered for a minute how crazy it is that some people you meet can have such an effect on you.

  Thinking about her again had put me in a good mood straight away, so I wasn’t fazed at all about having to get up at an unholy hour of the morning to head to the airport. I’d checked the weather report the night before and London was going to be drizzly and dull compared to the warm sunshine of LA, but I was looking forward to getting home and sleeping in my own bed again.

  We got to the airport and through private security in good time. I picked up a bottle of Mike’s favorite Scotch on the way to the executive hangar at LAX. I was used to some pretty nice VIP lounges but this was the plushest departure suite I’d seen, exquisitely decorated and furnished, but we had no time to hang about and enjoy the surroundings today. We headed out into the sunshine, across the apron, and climbed the steps up to the Armstrong company jet for the flight home to the UK.

  Our regular captain, Colin, greeted us at the door. “Welcome aboard again, gentlemen. I trust you had a successful trip? I’ll let you know our progress once we’re en route, but the weather looks good all the way across the Atlantic, and with a slight tailwind too, so we should arrive on time.” The crew stowed our things, we soon got settled into the plush leather seats, and it wasn’t long before we taxied to the runway and were in the air.

  As the aircraft climbed away from the airport, I looked down through the window, watching the LA beaches move further and further into the distance until they’d disappeared behind us; my thoughts turned to Ginny, wondering where she was and what she was doing now. I’d only known her two days, yet I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I couldn’t wait to talk to her again.

  I never found it easy sleeping on any plane, even one as luxurious as this, so as Dad was already talking to the office on the satellite phone, I decided to get some work done too. I wasn’t tired right now anyway, so I booted up the laptop and connected to the Wi-Fi so I could send off some emails and get things ready for Monday’s grind.

  I tried to concentrate but after just a few boring business replies, my mind wandered to Ginny’s beautiful smile, her hair blowing in the ocean breeze as we lay on the sand. I don’t know what this hot American cutie had done to me but business could
wait. I logged on to Facebook, not really expecting to see anything from her, at least not just yet, but a big grin spread across my face when I saw that she’d already sent me a friend request, just as she’d promised.

  My fingers couldn’t move fast enough on the track pad to click on “Confirm”, but I resisted the burning urge to scroll through her pictures while my father was sat next to me, glancing over my shoulder every so often. Instead, I just updated my status; that I’d had fun in LA and that I was on my way home. I’d get a better look at her pictures in private later on.

  It was going to be a long, long flight. The captain did tell us over the intercom, but I didn’t pay much attention. Something like seven and a half hours to Newfoundland to refuel, then another five hours forty minutes to Heathrow. About fifteen hours altogether; it was going to be around 6 a.m. when we landed. Losing those eight hours was probably going to kill me.

  The on-board chef had prepared a lovely piece of venison with seasonal vegetables followed by crème brûlée and our usual coffee and brandy, so Dad and I ate lunch together and chatted about what we had to do the next day so we could kick back for the remainder of the flight.

  I left him to read his Sunday Times and got up and moved to the plush sofas in the forward part of the plane to chill out for a bit. I put on a movie, “Captain Phillips”, which I’d wanted to see for a long time, but my mind kept drifting to Ginny. I finally got to the point where I was just staring at the big-screen TV without taking in any of the action or dialogue.

  I thought about her face, the way she laughed, her cute little nose and her voice was still so fresh in my mind. I went back to grab my laptop again from the overhead locker and settled back down on to the sofa. I sat for a moment before flipping it open, thinking about what I would say. I finally opened it, clicked on Facebook, and found her again. While I was looking at her photos, and reading about her life in detail, I realized I wanted to know everything about her. From the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. Everything she’d added to her profile, her friends, schools, employment, everything. And to be honest, I imagined what it could be like to be a part of her life.

  Questions flew through my mind. Am I stupid? Acting like a schoolboy? Can it work? What if it does? If Dad is looking around Los Angeles to develop, I could move there. Maybe she’ll already find someone else in LA anyway. But what if she doesn’t? Fuck! I wish I could talk to her.

  I was using logic to try and talk myself out of getting involved with her, yet she’d been so captivating the day before, and my left-brain wanted to know more about her. I rationalized that I could at least send her the odd text message to say “hi” from time to time. There’d be no harm in that, and who knows? Maybe we’d meet for a coffee or a drink next time I was back in Los Angeles. That would be nice.

  I’d never felt like this about anyone before, and after what seemed like a thousand more questions entered my head, I had to give in to fatigue. It had been an early start and I had to work the next day, so I lay down and pulled up a blanket. My eyelids grew heavy, and no matter how hard I tried to fight it, the low hum of the engines had me drifting off to sleep in no time at all.

  It seemed as if I’d only been sleeping for half an hour or so when the gentle nudge from Tracy, our flight attendant, woke me. “Sir? We’re landing in twenty minutes Mr. Armstrong and the captain just wanted me to make sure you’re buckled in safe before we touch down.”

  Bleary-eyed, I lay still for another few seconds, glanced across at my dad —who looked sickeningly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed — then dutifully complied. I’d missed breakfast but what the hell, sleep had been more important. As I stumbled back to my seat, I looked out of the window at the grey skies over England. After what seemed like just a few minutes, I felt the bump of the wheels touching down on the tarmac at Heathrow and I knew I’d soon be home in my apartment. Hopefully the chauffeur was already waiting for us at the terminal.

  Chapter 5 — Ginny

  Monday morning found me and Kari back at work, sitting at our desks in the Westin Reed Law Offices. There was a good pile of work to do, but since I was the queen of multitasking, I could chat with Kari in a Skype window on my computer while I compiled research for a case.

  Kari had spent the whole weekend at her parents’ house, so she hadn’t heard any of the details of my day with Tristan, and she was chomping at the bit to get information.

  Kari Ann: So. How did the beach trip go? Did you two get sand in private places?

  Ginny :P: No, nothing like that, you pervert. It was nice, we just mostly talked and swam and stuff like that. Normal stuff, not pervert Kari kind of stuff.

  Kari Ann: Whatever. Did you at least get a look at him without his shirt on? Because I could tell, he was hiding a body under those clothes at the club on Friday.

  Ginny :P: Yeah. He has so many tattoos! I have no idea how he manages to work in business with tattoos all up and down his arms and chest. There was this cool tribal dragon on his arm and some flowers. Bad boy :)

  Kari Ann: I knew I was getting a rebel child vibe from him even under all of that Brit politeness. I bet he’s a nasty boy when he’s with his friends.

  Ginny :P: Kari, that’s gross.

  Kari Ann: No, it’s not! It’s a fact of life, baby girl. All the most polite men are freaks in the sheets. They’re into all that kinky stuff like bondage and s&m.

  My face was on fire as I clicked away from the Skype window to type in a citation on my work. I couldn’t believe I was having a conversation while I was at work about whether or not the guy I’d just met and said goodbye to was into kinky sex. But then, it really wasn’t so strange a thing to talk about with Kari. She didn’t have the same filters most other people seemed to have.

  The little icon was bouncing up and down, indicating that Kari had sent me another message when I’d failed to respond to the first one, and I was almost afraid to look at it. All I needed was one of the attorneys to come by to ask for some information and see how red my face was.

  But I knew Kari wouldn’t give up until I replied, so I sighed and clicked the icon.

  Kari Ann: Shame you probably won’t see him again. He seemed into you.

  Alright, that was tame enough, and I bit my lip, wondering if I should tell Kari about how I had exchanged my Facebook info with him with the intention of talking more. She’d probably find out anyway, so I took a deep breath and decided to go for it.

  Ginny :P: Actually, I friended him on FB, and gave him my cell number, so we’ll probably talk more.

  There was a good thirty seconds of the little pencil animation showing that Kari was writing, and I could only imagine the diatribe my best friend was typing at her desk. The little icon bounced almost angrily, but I ignored it for a bit, getting up and going to get something I’d printed and coming back to add more to the document I was compiling before I actually looked to see what Kari had written.

  Kari Ann: ARE YOU CRAZY!!?!?! You can’t just exchange information with a perfect stranger like that. God, Gin. What if he’s some kind of psycho stalker looking to harvest the organs of young women who are dumb enough to fall for his British charm? What if he’s planning to abduct you and bring you back to his lair in England and do things to you? What if he’s married and his wife sees you two talking on FB and decides he’s having an affair and hires a contract killer to take you out before he can leave her to take care of their six children alone?

  Sometimes I had to remind myself why I loved Kari so much.

  Honestly.

  Ginny :P: That doesn’t even make any sense, Kari, and you know it. Besides, you’re the one who wanted me to dance with him, remember? You’re the one who started talking to him in the first place, so you really can’t get pissed at me for doing what you made me do.

  Kari Ann: I just thought you two could have a fun little fling while he was in town, that’s all. I didn’t expect you two become pen pals or whatever. Let me know if he does anything creepy. If he asks for naked pics or so
mething.

  Ginny :P: You know I don’t really do flings, Kari. I’ve never seen the point of them. What are you going to do if he does? Fly to London and kick his ass?

  Kari Ann: That’s because you’ve never done it right, obviously. You’re damned straight. No one tries to harvest my best friend’s organs.

  Ginny :P: I’m concerned you’re insane, but I love you anyway. Lunch soon?

  Kari Ann: Hell yeah. You’re not working out today? Great. Just gotta drop off some files by Amhurt’s office, and then we can go.

  I signed off and saved what I’d been working on, emailing my progress and questions to the people who were involved with the project. Then I grabbed my purse, more than ready to head out and get something to eat.

  I loved my job, but sometimes it could be information overload.

  Kari met me outside the office we worked in, and together we headed down the hall to the elevator, discussing the benefits of Chinese food over something lighter like soup and sandwiches from the place down the street.

  The two of us worked on the seventh floor, so we hit the down button and were pleased when it only took a few minutes for the elevator to show up, blessedly empty.

  “People must be working through lunch,” Kari said. “The elevator is usually packed by this time. Maybe that means the sandwich place won’t be too full.”