***A Month Later***
Jennifer and Jonathan were finally going on their long-awaited trip to Hawaii. Both of them were ready for total relaxation and no interruptions.
They had agreed that she would stay with Jonathan and he would drop her off at the paper on his way to the office and pick her back up when it was time to head to the airport.
When he got there around noon, she was in a pretty intense phone conversation.
"I appreciate it, I do. But I never said I was interested in that, and your offer is way below what I think is fair and appropriate. So, again, thank you for your interest, but I will politely decline".
She hung up the phone and saw him standing in the doorway.
"Hi".
"Hi. Everything ok?"
"Yes, especially now that you are here".
She walked over and hugged and kissed him.
"Baby we are taking my plane, so if you need to stay and leave later-"
"No, it's fine. Everything is handled. That was just a last-minute phone call that kind of got out of control".
She grabbed her briefcase and her purse and turned out the lights in her office.
They held hands as they walked through the newsroom and she said goodbye to everyone.
"Ok, Roxanne and Emma are in charge. I'll be back in a week. I trust all of you to handle things the way I would in case something goes wrong".
"Have fun!"
Jonathan opened the door for her and then slid into the driver's seat.
"That was a good idea you had about me staying with you last night, so that we don't have to go home and get my bags".
"I do have good ideas from time to time".
She laced her fingers through his as they drove to the airport.
"Want to stop and pick up a salad or something for lunch?"
"We don't have to. Max is meeting us at the airport-I called that salad place you like, what is it, Spring Greens? I had them make you your usual order".
"You're wonderful".
She leaned over and kissed him.
After a few moments, she squeezed his hand.
"How was your meeting this morning?"
"Good actually. There is a company known as Lotus Technologies, and they want me to purchase them and help make them profitable again. I'm willing to do that, but they have some work to do before that happens. So I told them the expectations and they agreed to all of them, no questions asked".
"That's wonderful".
"Yeah, I was surprised that there wasn't any pushback. I just hope they don't give my executives a hard time about it while I'm gone".
They pulled up to the airport and parked, and Max was waiting for them with a big box.
"Hiya Mr. H, Miss Edwards".
"Hey Max".
"Hey Max".
"Ok, I stopped and got Miss Edwards' salad and a fresh strawberry tea from The Tea Kettle. And Mr. H., I picked you up an Italian hoagie from The Dragon's Den and some of their special tea like you like".
"Thanks Max".
"Thank you, Max".
"You two have a good trip. I'll be living it up in Sin City".
"Here Max, play several hands for me".
"You got it, Mr. H."
Jennifer stepped forward to hug Max and kiss his cheek.
"See you in a week, Max. Have fun".
"Bye Miss Edwards".
"Bye Max".
"Later, Mr. H".
Jennifer and Jonathan headed up the steps into Jonathan's plane, and got settled.
"This is so nice".
"Yeah, I like it. It will hopefully serve me better than the last one".
"What do you mean?"
"Remember how I told you I saw you in LAX?"
"Yeah".
"I never go inside LAX. I only did that day because I had gone out of town to get over things after the wedding didn't happen, and when I got ready to come back, my plane broke down and we were forced to land in the middle of nowhere. I had to take a taxi to the closest airport that took commercial flights and that was over an hour away. When I got back to LA, I fixed my plane and then sold it and bought this one brand-new".
"I see".
He got up and got a bottle of champagne out of the mini-bar. He popped the top and poured them each a glass.
"Cheers to our maiden flight".
"And our first trip together".
"Cheers to relaxation and time away, just the two of us".
"Cheers to no interruptions and lying in the sun, listening to the waves".
"Cheers to everything".
They clinked glasses and kissed and then took a sip.
For the next 5 hours, they ate, drank, watched a movie, and got into vacation mode.
When they landed in Hawaii, there was a lady waiting on them to give them fresh lei's.
"Pink or white, or yellow?"
"Pink and white, please".
"And I'll take the yellow".
They took the shuttle to their resort and got checked in.
They had a lovely oceanfront room with a private balcony and spacious bathroom.
"Jonathan, the view! It's absolutely gorgeous!"
"Yeah, it's pretty nice, isn't it?"
"I can't believe how beautiful the water is. And I love being up high like this".
"Ok, so what do you want to do first? We can lie on the beach, or go to the pool".
"This".
He grabbed her face and crushed his lips against hers and kissed her till her head spun.
"Mmmm, what a great idea".
"Happy vacation to us".
"Happy vacation indeed".
***Four Days Later***
Jennifer and Jonathan had done it all-sightseeing, mornings by the pool, afternoons by the beach, romantic dinners at sunset. They had taken a helicopter ride to see the volcano, and had even gone deep sea fishing to feed Jonathan's need to be on the water and not in it. They had both had a marvelous time, and didn't want their trip to end.
Jennifer found a bushel of fresh flowers with blooms that were large enough to make lei's out of, so she picked a bunch and took them to the pool with them.
"What's that?"
"Well, we are going to toss our lei's in tonight, and I got to thinking I want one to take home and preserve, so I thought I would make us one".
"What a great idea".
Jonathan leaned over and pulled her beach chair right next to his.
"Ok, so we have pink and yellow, or all white. What would you like?"
He leaned over close to her.
"If I'm going to be lei'd, it better be a white one".
"Jonathan!"
She had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing at him.
"You are terrible".
"What color would you pick?"
"Well, as it turns out, my lei choice isn't dependent on color".
"It's not?"
"No. Because you see, if I'm going to be lei'd, it better be by you".
"Great choice".
He leaned over and kissed her a few times.
"How about a pina colada?"
"Great idea".
"I'll run get us one".
"Darling, see if they will put a swirl of fresh fruit puree in mine".
"You got it".
She finished making their fresh lei's and then they spent the rest of the morning lying in the sun.
***That Evening***
Jennifer and Jonathan took the shuttle to the Lover's Grotto just before sunset.
They walked to the edge and read the directions.
"Legend has it that when one tosses their lei over the edge into the water, if it comes back, you are destined to return to the islands. If you and your lover toss your lei at the same time and both of them come back, that means your lover is your soulmate. Oh, how incredibly romantic".
They tossed their lei's and then watched as they floated out a bit and then floated back.
Jennifer leaned over and kissed him and then they walked down the steps a bit and took some pictures.
The sun was setting rapidly, so they took the shuttle back to their hotel.
"What do you think about a candlelight dinner just the two of us on our balcony?"
"I would absolutely love it".
They stopped and ordered room service and drinks, and then headed up to their room.
Jennifer stepped into the bathroom to freshen up while Jonathan made sure the patio was set up for their dinner.
He turned on the tv and found a station playing only music, and turned the volume down low.
Room service delivered their dinner and helped get it all set up.
They had a lovely romantic dinner on the balcony. Jonathan lit them some candles and the music helped set the mood as well.
After they had finished eating, he held his hand out to her.
"Would you care to dance?"
"I'd love it".
They danced just the two of them, right there on their balcony in the moonlight.
"This has been the best trip ever, and I know it has to, but I really don't want it to end."
"Me either. I'm not ready to give up seeing you all day long".
"I'm pretty fond of seeing you all day long too".
"So, what do we do? Are you saying you want to spend the night at my place every night? Or me at yours?"
"I'm saying that you are the sexiest, most beautiful, and absolutely the most genuine woman I've ever met, much less dated. You have the kindest heart and the most gentle soul and you truly care about everyone else and making sure they have what they need before you focus on yourself. You are even more beautiful on the inside than you are on the outside and all I want to do is make sure you have what you need and that you are safe and cared for and know how much you mean to me because I am head over heels in love with you and I can't imagine not being in love with you. I would sleep under a bridge in a box if you said you wanted to do that. My place, your place, it doesn't matter as long as we are together".
"You love me?"
He nodded.
"I swore I would never love anyone again after the non-wedding, but that all changed when I met you. It's impossible not to love you, and I will do whatever I have to do to make sure I get to hold you every night and see your beautiful face when I wake up every morning".
He leaned forward and kissed her so passionately that she felt like she was floating. She didn't even know her own name when the kiss ended.
"I…..I….I love you too".
She leaned up and kissed him again, and then he picked her up and stopped to blow out the candles before he carried her into their bedroom and set her down next to the bed.
They quickly undressed, got under the covers and turned out the light.
His lips met hers in a frenzied passion, his fingers twirled through her hair while he kissed her. She gripped his shoulders and pulled him over on top of her as he moved his kisses to that magical spot on her neck.
He reached down and squeezed her breast as he sucked on her earlobe.
"Mmmm".
She sank into the bed a little further as he moved to suckle her taut nipples.
She ran her hands up and down his back and moved her foot against his.
He wrapped his arms around her and settled in between her legs. He kissed his way across her perfectly tanned skin up to her lips and parted them with his tongue. Their passion increasing, he quickly entered her and found her center, and began rocking his hips back and forth.
She laced her fingers through his and kissed him as they found a mutual rhythm.
"Oh…yes….."
They found a mutual release and then calmed down together, both of them completely aware that each of their worlds highly revolved around the other.
As they fell asleep in each other's arms, they were both so incredibly thankful to have found each other.
***The Next Day***
Jennifer and Jonathan were spending one last morning by the pool before heading home.
He noticed that she was distant, and seemed to be lost in thought as they soaked up their final rays.
"Penny for your thoughts".
"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking about a work thing".
"I thought we agreed to not think about work. We are on vacation, remember?"
"I know. But I was thinking about how much I don't want to go back to work, because I want to stay here with you. And that made me think about the phone call I got before we left".
"What was it?"
"The Los Angeles Chronicle called and offered to buy my paper. And before I could say no, they made me an offer and it was extremely too low for me to even break even. So I said no because I don't want to sell it, but now I'm trying to figure out how much I would accept, and whether or not I would be happy with selling it or not".
"Well, if you sold it, what would you do?"
"I would write what I want, when I wanted to. And I wouldn't have to worry about managing anyone else or whether or not the machines are working, or if I can afford payroll this week".
"Those are definite pros to selling. What about the cons?"
"Would Loretta be mad at me for selling? And does it make me a hypocrite? I mean, I just went through this court thing only to sell a few months later?"
"Well, that's a little different. Stella forced you to go through the court thing. You had no choice in order to protect what Loretta left you. And we both know that if you had given in and not gone through with the court thing, she would have tanked the paper faster than a lightning strike. But if you sell, you would be selling to actual, reputable journalists like yourself and Loretta couldn't ask for more than that".
"That's a good point".
"How much longer do you have in the apartment?"
"It's paid for the next 4 months. After that, I have to sign a lease if I want to pay for it".
"Ok so that can be your time frame to decide. Take a minute and analyze the business. Are you printing the types of stories that you want to? Are you happy with the editions you are printing? Are you making a profit? After you take an internal analysis of what level you are on and what level you want to be on, that will help you make your decision".
"You're so wise".
She leaned over and kissed him.
"How much would they have to offer you for you to take it?"
"They offered me about 1/5 of what I think is fair".
"Ouch".
"We are a new paper, Jonathan. All of our equipment was brand new, and I have been very meticulous about making sure it is properly maintenanced and maintained".
"Well, it's your paper, so it's up to you".
"Yeah, I just need some time to think about it".