When Owen stepped out of Heathrow, he was further reminded that he was no longer in Miami. The weather he had left in Miami had been hot and muggy, while the weather in London was indeed cooler and it seemed that there was a touch of rain in the air.
"Yes, Owen, you are no longer there," he told himself. "There" was Miami – that was where he left his heart. He had blown it with Cristina. She probably never wanted to hear or see him again. His soul was aching.
He saw the familiar face of his family chauffeur waiting for him. "Byron, so good to see you," he said, greeting the man.
"Good to see you, sir. You're looking well. So you enjoyed your trip to Miami?" Byron asked, opening the back door of the car for Owen.
"Yes, in many ways, I did. It didn't particularly end the way that I hoped," Owen said. "But in terms of my assignment there, it was a very satisfactory exercise." He got in the back seat and waited as Byron placed his suitcase in the trunk.
Byron slipped into the driver's seat. He turned around. "I have instructions from your mother to bring you around to her house. She would like to see you. She said you can spend the night at her house."
"That's fine, Byron," Owen said. "I expected this. Is Laura going to be there?" Laura was Owen's younger sister. She was 23 and half-Italian, a product of a relationship that Elinor Lockhart had, after she had divorced Owen's father. Laura, who had the last name of Facinelli, had been a total surprise to Elinor, since her relationship with Laura's father was brief and lasted only a few months. Owen with his reddish blonde hair and blue eyes was a sharp contrast to Laura, who had very dark hair and dark eyes, like her Italian father. Nobody would even believe that they were even remotely related. Laura lived with their mother.
"Yes, Miss Laura is there, too," Byron said. Owen groaned a little. He was in no mood for conversation, since he was feeling so down. He just wanted to crash in bed and forget his sorrows for a bit. As the car headed to Knightsbridge, he lay back in his seat and remembered Cristina's face. He didn't even notice when they pulled up in front of his mother's house.
"Well, there you go, sir," Byron said. "I will park in the garage and bring in your suitcase. So go ahead. Your mother is waiting." Owen reluctantly got out of the car and opened the front door of the house. He headed straight to the study because he knew that where his mother would be. Even though she was not in the office, his mother still continued to work at home. He knocked on the door and heard her melodious Scottish voice, "Come in, Owen."
He opened the door. "How did you know it was me, Mother?" he said, as he entered. He went straight to her and gave her a kiss on her soft cheek. Elinor Lockhart was an elegant woman with auburn hair and green eyes. She had touches of grey in her auburn hair.
"Who else would be knocking at my door at this time?" she said. "Besides, I timed Byron picking you up at the airport and bringing you here, so I knew it would be you. So how was your trip?"
"It was fine," he said. He felt no need to go into the details about Cristina.
"Good, good," she said. "I read your report. Quite fascinating. Loved your analysis of the place but we have lots of time to discuss it in the morning. I am certain that you are tired. Your old bedroom is ready for you. I had Thomas prepare it for you."
"Thanks, Mother. I guess I will probably go to bed, now," he said.
"Yes, yes, we will chat in the morning. There is something very important that I need to speak to you about. It will affect your whole career," she said. Owen was intrigued but too tired at the moment to contemplate what she was talking about.
"Good night, Mother," he said, kissing her on the cheek, again.
"Good night, son," Elinor said. She had an enigmatic smile on her face, as she watched him depart the study.
The next morning, Owen came down to breakfast. He really wanted to find out what his mother was hinting at in their last conversation. He came down to the kitchen and found his sister and mother already there.
"Hello, Laura," he said, as he kissed his sister on the cheek. "Good morning, Mother."
"Hello, Owen," Laura replied. "You went to Miami for two weeks and didn't come back with a tan."
"Well, you already know that I do not tan, unlike you," Owen said. "Plus I was wearing SPF 100. Had to save my skin from any sunburn."
"Good thinking, son," his mother said, watching him pour out a cup of tea. "I don't want to rush you but there is something I need to tell you and I want Laura to be here for it." Owen looked up at her. This must be important, he thought.
Elinor continued, "I have decided that your sister will have your flat." Owen nearly spat out his tea.
"What! Why!" he exclaimed, loudly. "Where am I going to live?" Laura gave him a mischievous grin from across the table. She was totally enjoying her brother's discomfort. He gave her a glare, which made her snicker at him.
"That's because you won't be needing it anymore," his mother said. Owen was confused. What was his mother talking about?
"Okay, Mother, please explain yourself," he said, a little bit exasperated. "Why won't I need my home, anymore?"
"Your trip to the Miami hotel was not just a fact-finding mission for you, Owen. It was for you to get familiar with the place. Rodrigo Santiago, the current general manager will be retiring at the end of August. I want you to take his place and run the hotel," Elinor said. Owen's mouth dropped open in total disbelief.
"Close your mouth, son. That is not a good look," Elinor added. Owen closed his mouth as commanded by his mother.
"But Mother, I am only 25 years old. The Miami hotel is a huge undertaking. Do you think I can handle it?" he said, a little doubtful.
"Owen, I was 20 years old when I took over Grandpa's inn in Edinburgh. I have given you the finest education that money can buy. Surely, you can show me that all that money was not wasted," Elinor said. Laura guffawed. Owen gave her a deadly stare. Sometimes, his younger sister was such a pain in the rear.
"You have been at the head office for a year, now, which has given you a good grounding on the way our company works," Elinor continued. "However, I think the best way for you to learn our core business is for you to go out there and just do the job. This is your legacy, Owen. Your last name may be Hunt but you are a Lockhart through and through. I brought you up, not your father. He may have given you his looks and stature, but I am the one who gave your brains, talent and determination."
Owen was silent for a bit, thinking about the enormity of the task that lay before him. Laura stood up and said she had to leave as she was meeting a friend in Wimbledon. She gave her mother and her brother a kiss on their cheeks before she disappeared. Owen quietly stabbed at his eggs, without really eating any of it. He was thinking about Cristina. If he went back as the general manager of the hotel, it could be his second chance with her. At the end of the summer, she would no longer be an employee but would be going back to school. It could work out, perfectly.
"Owen, is something the matter? You seem to be in a rather pensive mood," she said. "Is it all too much?"
"No, Mother, I am looking forward to the challenge. It's just something else," he said, quietly. Elinor knew her son very well and zeroed in on the one thing that something else could be.
"Did you meet a girl in Miami?" she asked. "That is the only thing that could have you acting this way," she said.
"Yes, Mother, I met a girl," he said. "It was going really well for a while, there and then, it ended in a way that I had not anticipated."
"Okay, tell your mother what happened," she said. "I want to hear. You haven't been interested in anyone since Elizabeth, so it is nice to see you going out there, again."
Owen paused. He didn't particularly relish talking about his love life to his mother. But maybe as a woman, she could help him with this one.
"Alright, Mother. Her name is Cristina Yang. She was a student, working at the hotel for the summer for a course she's doing at FIU. She was working at the front desk of the hotel. You should see her – she is fantastic. She speaks all these different languages and can handle guests, so efficiently. She is like a rock star out there. We started going out and honestly, they were some of the best times of my life.
"But there was one thing. I was there to do a job. Of course, only management knew about my real purpose for being at the hotel. None of the main staff knew about it. So Cristina is a member of the main staff and I couldn't tell her, even though we were dating. I kinda bent the truth about what I was doing at the hotel and where I worked. So the night before I left, I decided to tell her the truth and she was very furious. And that was the last I saw of her. Right now, I don't think she even wants to hear from me, again."
"Ah, so we put you in a very tight spot, Owen," his mother said, shaking her head. "Sorry about ruining your love life. But I am sure when the girl thinks this through, she will see why you couldn't tell her. Give her time, Owen. Maybe when you go back to Miami at the end of August, she would have had a better understanding and you would be able to rekindle your relationship."
"I hope so, Mother, I really hope so," he said, ruefully, as he still continued to stab his breakfast with his fork.
In the aftermath of Owen leaving Miami, Cristina was like a broken shell. She moped around the apartment so much that Ryan began to get worried about her. But her depressed state did not stop her from resuming her job at the hotel. After all, it was important to still complete the practicum for school. But the joy had left her. She felt so empty.
Ryan suggested that she call Owen in London. She shook her head. "He probably doesn't want to hear from me, after I didn't give him a chance. I think I would need to see him face to face to let him tell me what he needs to say. I owe him that. Since he lives thousands of miles away, it just isn't going to happen. It's not like I have the money to go to London, anyway. I think I should just forget him and move on."
Ryan listened to her words but he felt that was not what Cristina really wanted. She said she wanted to forget him but he knew his best friend so well. That's not what she wanted at all, he thought. If Cristina had been truthful to herself, she would know that she couldn't forget Owen.
She was so unhappy that sometimes, she would crawl next to Ryan in bed and just lay there. They didn't need to speak. All Cristina needed was Ryan's presence for comfort. It was on one of those nights that Ryan decided to hatch out his plan to help Cristina but he needed to get Juanita and their other friends in on it.
The day he turned up at the hotel, during Cristina's shift, was a total surprise for her. "Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Come to take me to lunch?"
"Well, no, not for lunch. Juanita and I have something to tell you," he said. He nodded to Juanita, who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Juanita and I, with help from Amber and Collin and Jeremy, too, have come up with a way for you to go to London to see Owen," Ryan said, with the biggest smile ever.
"What?" Cristina said, surprised.
"Well, Jeremy will be using his frequent flyer miles to get a one-way ticket to London. Juanita, Amber, Collin and I have contributed to pay for your ticket to come back. We're also throwing in accommodations for four days and three nights. We think that will be sufficient time to get back with Owen and spend some time with him," Ryan said, triumphantly. Cristina was dumbstruck with emotion for a moment.
"Guys , you are the best friends a girl could ever have," Cristina said, the tears rolling down her face. She gave them both a hug. "Why did Jeremy volunteer his frequent flyer miles?"
"Oh, he is trying to get back into my good graces," Ryan said. "I know he has lots and lots of frequent flyer miles because he is always traveling for his job. His company pays for his flights and he gets the benefit of the frequent flyer miles. I told him if he did this for you, I was willing to talk about our relationship and maybe, get it back on track. Besides, who am I fooling? I love him."
"Oh, could you thank him for me?" Cristina said. Then, she stopped. "Oh, I just realized I can't go right now. I have to finish this practicum or I won't get a grade."
"Oh, yeah, we know that," Juanita said. "We're booking it for the end of August, when we're done here. We have that week off before school starts. So that is when you're going."
"This works out spectacularly," Cristina said. "Now, all I have to do wait out the summer and then, I am London bound. Woohoo!"
A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thanks for the reviews so please keep them coming.