Sister Golden Hair Delight Ch. 35

Seeing Maria, they embraced her and although crying from the circumstances, told her they were so happy to see her again. Evidently, Jim and Maria had visited them a few times over the years, something I was just learning. Maria must have forgotten to tell me, but when we first met, our relationship was antagonistic and emotionally draining.

"When you wrote to us, we knew that you were able to finally live again. Although we are Miriam's parents, we wanted you to be happy with someone who would truly love you.

"We love Jim. Yes, we know we gave him a horrible, miserable time when Miriam first brought him home but we finally understood what a wonderful person he is.

"He would write to us about his life and you, Maria... he would write us how wonderful you were. I always thought that if he hadn't been in love with Miriam, he would have married you. We anxiously waited for each new letter. He hinted at things he couldn't write about and we could tell he was still in pain. Sometimes, we really feared for his life."

Silence...

"Oh, God, Alessa... I... I'm sorry." Dara went silent

Well, I wasn't expecting that and decided to just chock it up to pent up emotions that needed to come out one last time. I sat down; the plane's slight up and down motion was starting to make me nauseous.

I knew the Gylers were good people. But, that they would accept us this way...? And what about my growing infatuation with Philip? Could they accept even that? My life was becoming more and more complicated with each passing second.

"Since his parents had died so long ago, we've tried ever since Miriam's death to help in that role. From what you've written, we would like to be there for both of you, too, if that's all right..."

I broached the subject obliquely. "I would appreciate talking to you both tomorrow. Would that be all right with you?"

"Of course, dear. Tomorrow morning? Maybe after breakfast?"

"Thank you."

"Well, we better get back to our seats. I'm sure that you both still have so much to talk about. Congratulations."

The Gylers went back to the main passenger section.

Congratulations? They must have thinking about the baby.

Maria kissed me. "I know how hard this must have been for you. It's part of your life, darling and so am I."

When brunch was ready, we were surprised by Sella and Christine serving us a prepared platter with a variety of food. When Maria gave them a quizzical look, Christine said something about learning new skills while flying across the U.S. and nodded toward Sella.

I went back and talked with our people, walking back in one aisle and returning up the other, shaking hands and smiling at their children. I asked them if they were waiting for Santa. Once little boy was crying. He thought Santa wasn't going to find him... I told him not to worry; Santa was magical and knew where everyone was. He wanted to know why I was fat and kicked me in the shin!

Jesus Christ! Fucking lump of coal for you, you little mother... I sat down on the edge of one of the aisle seats, looking at my torn silk stocking now soaking up the blood oozing out from the cut.

Two men ran toward the galley looking for a first aid kit. Doctor Mayes, my OBGYN, hurried back with the kit and gently cut the silk off, washed the cut, put on some antiseptic and then a large bandage.

Great! Going to spend Christmas with a big, white wrapping around my milk-chocolate skin. I seriously thought about giving the little fucker a lump of coal but had no idea how to get one in Hawaii without Fedexing it over.

His mother, one of the main office secretaries, was so mortified I thought she was going to open the cabin door and jump out. I smiled and limped back to my seat.

Sella went to get some ice water from the galley and I counted to a hundred before I could say anything I might have regretted later.

My baby was going to be a good child... my baby was going to be a good child... my baby was going to be a good child... If I said it enough times, I might be able to believe it.

**********

A little over an hour later, all conversation in the plane was interrupted by the pilot's announcement.

"This is Captain Greenwilder, again. We'll be landing in about twenty minutes. Please put any personal belongings away and buckle in. Flight attendants, please make the plane ready for landing."

The six attendants made a quick sweep of the cabin, picking up some loose papers, which were carefully handed over to Philip to look over.

After adjusting seat belts where necessary, they took their places toward the rear of the plane.

Accompanied by plane noises, the flaps and landing gear both came down, the plane slowed, the engines changed pitch and we approached Honolulu and lightly touched down.

Jimmy's choice of pilots and security men reflected everything else he did: only the best. I sometimes wondered just what they thought about how things turned out and now I was the CEO, a relative unknown to most of them even now.

"Welcome to Hawaii, ladies and gentlemen. Today's forecast for Oahu is mostly sunny throughout the day. We're looking at a possible high of 80 with southwest winds approximately ten miles per hour. Tonight, a low of 64 with a chance of some isolated showers. We expect the rest of the week to be similar.

"On behalf of the entire crew, we wish you all a merry Christmas and a joyous New Year... and speaking for the crew, our heartfelt best wishes to Miss Alessa and the best for her baby."

The Boeing lumbered across the field to its designated area. Already there were the four tour buses that would take the guests to the North Shore house. Philip assured me that there was more than enough room at the estate's two wings added four years ago. Jim had used the property in that manner many times and it kept guests away from the main house.

I was looking forward to meeting Bob and Sayomi Osborne again. When the news of their marriage came, I was surprised and pleased. When I offered him the opportunity to live at the estate, both he and his wife immediately accepted. Sayomi said something about her aunts that I didn't understand but let it pass.

That the little hot-blooded nurse had agreed to marry Bob, Maria's pilot that last flight, was interesting and seemed to be working well. I wasn't going to judge why people do what they do, all I had to do was look at my own life... Jimmy, Maria... Philip???

Philip waited at the cabin door while I went to the cockpit and thanked the pilots, a tradition Jim first started with his flight crews.

"Merry Christmas, gentlemen... I have a little something for you for the holidays. I hope that you will like it. Go on, open it up." I stood there like a little child hoping for acceptance.

In each box were the blank keys to a new 'Vette. The crewmembers could choose their own car when we got back to Los Angeles.

Each man shook my hand with deep gratitude and wished me the best for my baby, again. I began to feel the approval I had hoped for and decided to kiss each man on the cheek. Not very professional but I wasn't feeling that professional just then.

And my damn leg was still throbbing. He must have hurt me more than I thought. I didn't want to take any drugs for the pain because of the baby. I wondered how close the sharks came to the beach.

Before leaving the plane, I met with the flight attendants and gave them similar boxes. I found it hard to think of them as 'flight attendants' when they looked as if they stepped out of an airline advertisement from the 60s. Each young, perfect woman gave me a hug and a more than friendly kiss. That was interesting...

Did Jimmy's choice of stewardesses reflect some... no, not him. He had more integrity than anyone I've ever met. Yet, they did give a good show. Even I found them very appealing and felt my own excitement at watching them start to rise to the surface again. Jimmy, for all his integrity, was still a man, how I had known. Time to move on...

I was going to ask Philip about their uniforms. They might have worked for a single man flying around the world on business but... on the other hand, I did appreciate watching their tight butts moving beneath those tight short skirts. Sometimes it's better to just leave things be.

Philip told me that over the years neither he nor Jimmy ever took advantage of the situation, much to the disappointment of the six young women. I had to believe him; otherwise, my perception of both Jimmy and Philip would be destroyed.

"Merry Christmas, Miss Alessa! Thank you!" The attendants boarded the last waiting bus.

The 767's pilots stayed behind, making arrangements for servicing the plane and setting up a surveillance perimeter with the new Honolulu group we had set up with Bob, now my Hawaiian anti-drug 'black ops' director.

Philip and I escorted the Gylers over to one of the company's helicopters for the flight to the North Shore. I had flown enough times in our different aircraft that lifting off no longer made my stomach drop to the floor.

My leg was now burning and I was thinking of different ways to kill that little bastard. I could fly him over to Kilauea and drop his sorry ass into the bubbling lava. The sharks would be more interesting but probably would close the beach for a while. Surfboard accident?

Waiting until all the buses had left and our security was squared away on the other helicopter, I told the pilots to go.

Because of the Corporation's needs, Maria flew in the other helicopter. It wouldn't do for both of us to be killed in an accident leaving no one to carry on Jimmy's legacy. The Bell 222s immediately took off and headed east, speeding past the harbor with its view of Aloha Tower and then Waikiki Beach.

Keeping with Jimmy's tradition for his flight crews, at Diamond Head the helicopters hovered still for a minute in memory of the men and women who had died at Pearl and the battles in the Pacific.

"Diamond Head is the home of the National Cemetery of the Pacific. We always stop and remember everyone whose lives were lost defending our country," Christine explained to Sella.

I noticed that she and Christine were sitting even closer together than Maria and I ever had in public. Hmmm... another thing to ponder. It might be that my Italian protégées were just as interested in each other as Maria and I were.

Continuing north from there along the east coast of the island, Christine pointed out the shallow water beaches and rugged volcanic cliffs to her. Reaching the northern edge of the island, we headed west again past the Chinaman's Hat and eventually later landed at the north shore estate.

A traditional Hawaiian welcome greeted us with fragrant leis and kisses from the dancers. Sella was enchanted and Sol had the stupidest grin on his face as he kissed each dancer in turn.

Leaving them, Philip accompanied me as I went to have my leg looked at again and then be with Maria.

I was hungry.

**********

Early evening, Thursday, December 20th

Sella....

I had hoped to hear again from Zio Paolo. After Zia Angelina had died, I was sure the poor man was going to have a lonely life and instead, was pleasantly surprised. He wrote he had found a lady friend, a doctor who was helping him regain his health.

As much as I had liked Zia Angelina, there were times when I thought she wasn't very nice to him. Many times when he was home, she would have a reason to go into town and have one of the men drive her.

I would have thought he would go with her once in a while, at the very least but seemed content to kiss her on the cheek and wave goodbye while the car disappeared in a cloud of dust down the road.

Whatever there was between them, it wasn't my business, but just the same...

Delfina and Mimi and spent the day at the beach and were tired. Mr. Osborne and his wife had several of the house staff set up entertainment for the children while the adults were at the party. I think it was because Miss Alessa didn't want to see that horrid little boy that kicked her. What a little shit.

There were several hours before the evening's luau on the beach, so I judiciously got out my laptop and started quizzing myself on the various aspects of the Corporation's business. Alessa expected me to reach the benchmarks she had set and I had no desire to displease her about something as important as this.

As much as I was grateful to God that my uncle's plans for me had come to nothing as far as being Signore Crowell's putana, I was saddened by the death of Colonel Jim, as everyone still insisted on calling him. He had risked his life saving me and I never had a chance to thank him. I know that if things had been different and we had married, I would have been a good wife and hopefully, eventually would have loved him, as he deserved.

I was pleased to know that he would have never done that, from what everyone said, his code of ethics was set to high. Miss Alessa, they were going to be married, that was so different from what Zio Paolo had in mind. I had no idea why he thought I would sleep with a man just for security... was that what Zia Angelina had done? Was that why he let her do what she pleased? O, Dio, she was cheating on Paolo! Oh, Jesus...

The time passed so quickly that I was startled by a knock on my door.

"Sella, are you in there? Are you OK? I'm coming in."

Christine opened the door to my darkened room lit only by the glow of the computer screen. Holding her Glock in one hand, she reached for the light switch with the other.

"Hey, what's the matter?" I asked, startled. What the hell? She could have shot me!

"Miss Alessa sent me to find you. The luau's been going on for over an hour, already. The governor's here with his wife and there's some other people she'd like you to meet. C'mon."

"Oh, I've been studying with the laptop. Let me lock it up and change my clothes. Wait for me, OK?"

With the laptop locked into the wall safe, I took a quick shower, quickly brushed my long dark hair and put on one of the pink sarongs that I had purchased earlier. Looking one last time in the mirror, I adjusted the neckline a bit and left with my friend. I wondered where Christine had hid her gun under her light green one.

Down on the beach, the sun was dipping behind the western coastal range, quickly plunging the northern coastline into darkness. The only illumination came from the tiki torches placed around the blankets on the sand and the lights around the buffet table. The rest of the world disappeared.

Standing nearby, the governor, his wife, two other people and Alessa were waiting for us to arrive.

"Oh, there you are! Governor, Mrs. Kilani, may I present to you our new associates: Ms. Sella Vincenzi and Ms. Christine Rosatti."

"Very pleased to meet both of you. Miss Alessa has told us how happy she is with you both. I hope that you are enjoying your visit to our state."

"And, this is Bob Osborne and his wife, Sayomi."

The Osborne man was a pleasant-looking person but his wife... oh, his wife! As a woman, I admit to comparing myself to her and felt that she was indeed a very beautiful Japanese woman. She had a certain 'something' that some women have, other women envy and men instinctively search for.

Since they were living at the estate, I was wondering where they had been.

"Have you been here before?" the governor's wife asked. I wasn't sure if she was just being polite or actually cared one way or the other.

Christine spoke first. "Yes, ma'am. I spent a year here at Pearl, with the Air Force. It was an interesting time."

I was surprised. She had never told me about that. "No, ma'am," I answered. "This is my first trip here. Until now, I've been living in Italy."

"Come with me, young lady, you simply must tell me all about it!" Grabbing my hand, the governor's wife, Mathea pulled me from the group toward one of the dimly lit blankets closer to the water. A romantic evening playing 'beach blanket bingo,' it wasn't going to be.

Alessa....

I gave Christine a subtle nod to follow and she left to follow the two disappearing into the darkness surrounding the beach.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, Governor, that project Jimmy started and we've been working on is ready to go."

Osborne entered the conversation. "Sir, I'm ready to show you the information you requested. Would you like to go in, now?"

"Yes, let's get it out of the way before dinner. Always a pleasure, Miss Alessa." The governor kissed my hand and turned away and the two men left the crowd and went into the house.

I needed someone to listen to me, someone not directly connected with the Malibu group. I turned to Sayomi and asked her to walk with me. When we approached the sand, we took off our sandals and left them on the bench.

She congratulated me on my pregnancy and asked how I was feeling. For the next hour, we talked about many things including her marriage to Bob, her problems with her aunts, and her own desire to become a mother. She was hoping to, also, she said, because she felt she was getting older much too quickly. She hinted at a love life that reminded me of the glorious two weeks Jimmy and I had.

I think she was afraid to mention what happened that day. When I had gone to Hawaii, I was not in the mood to really speak to anyone and it was only after returning to Malibu did I realize I had been very inconsiderate of the people who had worked so hard to keep Jimmy alive.

"Oh, please, don't worry about it. I see people everyday handle such a huge amount of stress, each one differently. Under the circumstances, I'd say that you were pretty much under control. I am so sorry that he..."

We continued down the beach until we were well past the torchlight and deep into the night shadows.

"Sometimes, I think I was under too much control and only now, with the baby coming, do I truly realize what I've lost. My problem is, I'm in love with someone else and I really don't know what to do. Do I tell him and possibly make him uncomfortable, especially because he works for me, or do I stay quiet and wonder what could have happened?"

"How much do you love him?" She put her hand on mine and we stopped walking. My toes curled up in the black sand. Jimmy's, well, my property now, was along the shore where the sand came from the volcanic rock. The sky was black and we disappeared into the soul of the universe. If there was indeed a God, he was out there somewhere doing something else. I think he forgot about me.

I stared out at the black ocean, only seeing the fluorescence of the waves' edges and hearing the hiss of the water washing up on the sand. "I dream about him every night. I want to be in his arms, I want his kisses, I want him to make love to me."

Only the darkness kept Sayomi from seeing my embarrassment. I was aroused. What was the matter with me? Just thinking of Jimmy, Maria or Philip was enough. This couldn't be normal, could it? Back to the psychologist, I guess.

"Have you..."

"Oh, God, no..."

"I meant have you spoken to him?"

"No, I'm afraid to. There's too much at stake for me. Besides, do you think he would want to raise another man's child?" That and my love for Jimmy and Maria were the only things holding me back from professing my love to Philip like a love-besotted teen-age girl. At least, that's what I imagined a teen-age girl might do. My years were spent in my room, studying.

"The child is going to be there whether he wants to be with you or not," Sayomi said. "Like it or not, you're a package deal, now, unless you're heartless and give the child to nannies and boarding schools."

I was quiet for a long time, mulling over her words. I had spent many a lonely moment obsessing over the same thing. It was a great motivator to take chances and bringing Michael into my office was one that worked on so many levels. Along with the Corporation, I must also have inherited that from Jimmy.