Copyright © 2001. This material is copyrighted by gr8fluke. Any publication, reproduction, retransmission or other use of the descriptions and accounts herein without my express written consent is prohibited.
Standard warnings apply. If you are not 18, if this is not legal where you live or if reading material of a sexual nature offends you, please go away.
This is my first effort and absolutely experimental. Please forgive any glaring stupidities and submit constructive criticism.
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The drive down saddle road was dry and dusty. The road behind stretched up between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea and disappeared into the clouds. Ahead, the narrow asphalt ribbon ended at the dark angry sea. Dry yellow petals blew into small drifts along the roadside and a small white cloud scudded west trailing its shadow over lava fields, scrub grass and kiawe.
Hadley's plane was due in at Kona at 1:15. As always I was running late. Our relationship had been strained lately and this weekend visit had the unstated purpose of patching things up. I skidded the old jeep around an unbanked curve and downshifted to maintain my speed.
I arrived at the airport at 1:25. The OK Air Cessna had already unloaded and she stood at the baggage pickup with arms crossed. Shit. I passed a flower cart and purchased a pale yellow plumeria lei. The old woman attendant dug into the pocket of her hideous pink muumuu for change but I waved her off.
Hadley was of course beautiful. Even her anger couldn’t hide the beauty. Not the pop ideal of beauty. She was more like a ‘50s calendar model. Womanly hips. Lush breasts. The breezy white cotton dress emphasized her tan.
“Asshole.”
“It couldn’t be helped. I had to get the reports in before I could leave.”
“Jerk.”
I reached out with the lei and dropped it around her neck, crushed her to me and waited for the anger to break. The aroma of the plumeria, the spice of her white ginger perfume and her own delicate musk were intoxicating. The tension broke and she pulled me into her with a sudden strength.
“You are still an asshole.”
The drive south was quiet. Conversation had never been needed as filler. We were usually comfortable with each other, but our work had kept us apart. She worked in Honolulu. I worked on the Big Island. It was a fact of life.
She placed her hand on top of mine on the gearshift and traced a lazy figure eight on the back of my hand. I glanced at her.