“Yeah, sorry. I’ve spotted Hemi.”
“Good luck. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I respond distractedly and hang up the phone.
Hemi glances around the airport, his shoulders tight, and his teeth dig into his bottom lip.
I’m assuming Daisy told him what I look like but that’s even harder to identify than photos—not that ghostly skin and red hair is hard to identify—and I don’t want to call out his name and have him recognised when it looks like he doesn’t want that.
Do I approach him?Hi, you don’t know me, but my friend Daisy offers my house out to strangers. I’m parked outside if you’re ready to go.
Hemi turns his head, and when I see more people stopping and staring at him, I decide I need to approach him. I breathe deeply, step away from the wall, and stride towards him. This week is about making his life easier and by connection, Daisy’s life, so I appear in his eyeline and smile at him. He catches my eye, and relief flows through him. His shoulders relax, and his eyes stop squinting. Hemi walks towards me, and we meet in the middle.
“Hi, Hemi, I’m Liam, Daisy’s friend.” I hold my hand out to him, and Hemi slips his hand in mine. His large, rough hand squeezes gently before releasing me. My hand drops to my side, and I fist it tightly before releasing it to distract myself from the warmth running up my arm. He’s taller than me, and I can’t help but notice my eyes are level with his lips.
“It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for letting me stay at your place. I’m really sorry if it’s ruined any of your plans.” Hemi smiles at me, but it looks more like an embarrassed grimace.
“No worries at all. I’m sure we’ll figure things out.” When Hemi doesn’t reply, I glance around the people looking at us furtively. “You got everything? It’s about an hour to Wanaka.”
Hemi’s eyes dart from the people edging closer before he nods.
“I’m parked outside.” I point at the sliding doors and head towards them. Hemi’s suitcase rolls behind us, and when we exit the airport, I aim for the car park.
I turn when I can’t hear suitcase wheels behind me and find Hemi staring at the mountains. I tilt my head and fight a smile at the awe on his face, the rapture that takes his concern about the people away as he stands just outside the door, staring at the snow-tipped mountains rising up behind the car park.
I step beside him and stare at them, too. I forget how different it is in Auckland with the hills and volcanoes. Down here it’s mountains and lakes, and when you land in Queenstown, the airport gives you a front-row seat.
“You haven’t been to Queenstown before?” I ask, surprised that in all the travel he’s done for rugby, Queenstown hasn’t been one of the places.
He shakes his head slowly. “I thought the flight was amazing, seeing the Southern Alps from the window, but this is…” He shakes his head again and rips his eyes from the mountains. “Sorry. Where are you parked?”
“Over here. You aren’t cold?” I ask, eyeing his shorts skeptically. It’s sunny with clear skies, which means the chill has a bite to it.
“I’m fine. I have warmer stuff in my suitcase.”
I unlock the car and open the boot for him to put his stuff in. “If you’re sure. We can stop at Queenstown if you want before we head to Wanaka?”
“Nah. I want some quiet, and I doubt the tourist town will have that.”
I chuckle. “You’re right about that. We can always head in later this week if you get bored,” I suggest and frown fleetingly when I realise I just offered to spend time with him when I was hoping to work this week. If I want to work, why did I offer to drive him to Queenstown later? His presence is distracting me already, and we haven’t even left the car park yet.
Hemi nods but doesn’t say anything as we get in the car and pull out of the car park. I guess he really doesn’t want to be seen. I hope he won’t camp in my lounge the whole time without going outside. Daisy teases me about my reclusive nature and hatred of the sun, but as a redhead, I have a love-hate relationship with the sun, and I prefer to be on the couch with a book.
But Hemi’s an athlete. If he doesn’t move from the couch, I’ll worry. All I promised Daisy was a place for him to stay, but he’s having issues with his game and is supposed to be sorting his head out in my house. I’ll feel bad if he shows no interest in exploring a new place and continues to spiral.
Or is that what he needs? A break from exercise and sport for the week? I’m so far out of my depth here. I barely completed the compulsory cross country assessment in PE at school. How am I going to help a fucking national athlete get out of his head? And why do I suddenly want to help him?
I tap my fingers on the steering wheel and bite my lip, glancing at Hemi quickly. I’m starting to think this is an even worse idea than I originally thought.
“Jesus, are all the roads like this?” Hemi mutters and clings to the handle above the window.
I guide the car around a tight bend and wince at Hemi’s wide-eyed expression. I forget that if you don’t live here the road to Wanaka is…stressful. A windy road with mountains directly on one side of the car, and on the other side across the lane isKawarau Gorge that plunges to a river. Not exactly the most relaxing.
“Nah, not all of them. It’ll smooth out soon.” Sort of. In about twenty minutes.
“If we go to Queenstown, there’s no way I’m driving,” Hemi says and clutches the handle tighter and flinches as a truck whizzes by us in the opposite lane.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t snow,” I mutter. “Then it’s more of a nightmare driving this way.”
