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Chapter 7
“Sir?”
Aleki glanced up from the stack of documents he was reviewing. Orange streaks of light filtered into his office from the sky outside, alerting him to how much time had passed since he had sat down at his desk.
“Ah, Lani. Do you think we might be able to schedule a call with the Samoan trade minister tomorrow? I’ve got some questions regarding their export routes.”
“Aleki.” Her tone was firm. “What are you doing?”
Puzzlement furrowed his brow. Lani only ever called him by his first name when she was extremely pissed off.
Did I forget her birthday? No, that’s just before Christmas.
“Is there… that is… was I supposed to do something?”
“Yes, you idiot.” Aleki flinched. She was not happy at all. No panipopo for him in the near future. “You’ve got a beautiful woman apparently ready to saddle herself to you for life, and so far all you’ve done is take her to your father’s for a telling-off, send her that ridiculous contract and lock yourself in your office through dinner on her first night here. You were supposed to make her feel welcome, but you’ve done as good a job of that as you have of keeping your desk under control.”
Aleki looked around the papers strewn over his desk. Every morning when he arrived in the office they were stacked neatly, colour coded for urgency, and each night it looked as if it had survived a paper-based blizzard.
“Did Stella eat?”
“No. She claims she’s not feeling well.” Lani’s reproach was palpable, and the sting of it settled in his chest.
“You are right.” Aleki met his assistant’s gaze head on. “I have been distracted by this deal. But it is no excuse to neglect my responsibilities elsewhere. Can you please rearrange my calendar for the next week to ensure that my afternoons and evenings are free?”
Lani nodded once, silently assessing him as he rose and approached the doorway. He patted her arm once on the way past her. “You’re a good friend, Lani. Thank you.”
After a quick stop in the kitchen, he made his way to the top of the stairs and knocked on Stella’s door. His house was modest by royal standards, even in the islands. There were only four bedrooms on the upper level, including the master suite, all currently closed off behind their doors.
From behind the wood, a groan rumbled.
“Come in.”
Holding the tray carefully in one hand, he turned the knob and maneuvered into the darkened room. The curtains were pulled against the island sunset, the only light coming from a small lamp on one of the polished concrete bedside tables. Stella was curled up under the blue and black patterned coverlet, her hair caught up in a messy ponytail. She eyed him suspiciously as he crossed towards her.
“How are you feeling?” He settled the tray on the bedside table furthest from her and settled himself on the bed, over the covers.
“Terrible.” Her narrowed eyes shone up at him from a cosy cocoon of pillows. “What idiot named it ‘morning sickness’ when it lasts all frigging day?”
Aleki huffed out a gentle laugh even as guilt bit under his skin. He should have checked on her earlier. “You should take it up with the World Health Organization.”
“I intend to.” She snuggled deeper into her nest. “How was the rest of your day?”
“Busy. I should not have left you alone though. That was thoughtless of me.”
A small shrug. “You’re an important guy. I imagine you have more important things to do than watch me lie around moaning.”
He growled, the sound pulled out of him at her words despite his best intentions. “Oh, little star. You could not be more wrong. Lying in bed watching you as you moan would be the most spectacular way to spend a day.”
Humour glinted in her eyes as she peeked up at him, a reluctant smile tugging at the side of her full lips.
“You are such a dork.”
“Come,” Aleki patted the padded headboard. “Sit up. Let a dork feed you.”
Stella hefted herself upwards, plumping the pillows behind her as she rearranged herself in a seated position. She snagged one strap of her black tank as it slipped down her shoulders and hooked it back into place with her thumb. Aleki almost groaned aloud at the temptation.
“You may present your offerings.”
“For your consideration, ma’am. Firstly, we have the egg and cheese toastie. Fully cooked egg to prevent any salmonella concerns, real butter used to toast each side, a protein-packed extravaganza. Next,” Aleki rotated the large plate so Stella could see the items on it in more detail. “Taro chips. Salty and delicious, just like you.” She rolled her eyes. “And finally, banana bread, baked fresh this morning using bananas from our own garden.”
He held the tray in the perfect imitation of an infomercial presenter while Stella gazed upon the riches of his kitchen.
“Toastie,” she declared firmly, accepting the sandwich as he handed it over, a recycled paper napkin wrapped around it to prevent the burning of her fingers.
“Excellent choice, ma’am. And to drink? Your options are water or a vanilla milkshake.”
“Milkshake!” Stella bounced happily on the bed, her earlier lethargy gone. She accepted the frosty aluminum vessel from him and sucked half of it down through the metal straw immediately.
Her sigh was almost sexual. “God that’s good. When we’re married, you will be Chief Milkshake Maker. I’ll have Luke add it to the contract.”
“It would be my honour.” Aleki scooped up a handful of taro chips and crunched into one. “So, pregnancy really is that terrible?”
“It’s not fun. I’m sure the flight has something to do with it as well, but I’m exhausted and nauseous. I always assumed I’d be one of those glowing pregnant women who swanned about in elegant kaftans when I decided to have children, but I feel more like Oscar the Grouch with narcolepsy.”
Aleki snorted gently. “You’ve never struck me as the trashcan type.”
Stella shrugged as she bit off the corner of her toasted sandwich. “How the mighty have fallen, huh?” The question was mumbled around a mouthful of egg and cheese.
They fell silent, while they ate, the air punctuated with the munching of chips and toasted bread. Without talking, they shared the banana bread, each picking small chunks off and licking the moist cake crumbs off their fingertips.
“Aleki?” Stella broke the quiet, stabbing her straw into the last centimetres of her shake.
“Hmmm?”
“Why did you leave me in Wellington?”
The easy calm that had been stealing over Aleki halted in his chest, pulling taut throughout his stomach. Stella avoided looking at him, her gaze fixed on the foam at the bottom of her cup.
He sighed deeply. “I shouldn’t have done that.” He let his mind drift back to the first night he’d been with Stella.
“I liked you from the first time we met. Do you remember?”
She nodded slightly. “Mae dragged me down to the field under the cable car to meet her new boyfriend. You guys were chucking a rugby ball around down there.” She sniggered. “I told her Luke better be passing his law classes because he couldn’t pass the ball for shit.”
Aleki’s laugh rumbled low in his chest. “You were wearing a green scarf and the wind kept picking it up and whipping it around your face. We all went to the pub for dinner that night. You ate the biggest burger they had on the menu and then the two of you beat us at pool.”
“It’s probably a good thing you’ve taken up boxing actually,” Stella mused lightly, still staring down into the milky abyss. “Your ball skills leave a lot to be desired.”
“Much more of that mouth missy, and you won’t see my ball skills for a month.”
She snorted, but he continued. “After that, you were everywhere. I took that final Commerce paper because I had a free space in my timetable and you were doing it. Then you kissed me at games night after our exam and it was like I was standing on the edge of a cliff. I could stay where I was and I’d be safe, or I could fall over the edge and be lost. And I thought ‘bugger it’ and jumped.”
“You did?”
“I did.” Aleki ran a hand through his hair. “And then my dad called. He wanted to see how my last exam had gone. I told him it was fine, but I was thinking of staying another year and finishing my degree in New Zealand. Do you know how much it costs for international students at New Zealand universities?” He glanced over at Stella who shook her head mutely, still fixated on her shake. “It’s a lot. There’s a fund here on the island. Everyone contributes what they can and scholarship recipients get to study overseas. But only for a year, unless the subject isn’t offered here in Avali.”
“And you wanted to stay longer?”
