Crash Landing on You - Edelweiss Diaries

Part 23 - A family affair - I

She scurried to pack her make-up and yanked the dress bag out of the closet. With her having skipped work the previous day without notice, there were a dozen meetings to get to and hundred things to wrap up.

Stopping by the door, she turned around to catch him still pacing back and forth, while on a call with his team on the other side of the world. These moments usually involved her feeling that he might not fit into her space. Or that goodbyes and months of separation would follow the times they are together.

Noticing she was ready to leave, he put the call on mute. "Be there at 6:00," he reminded her again. "I texted you the address already."

His words sounded nothing short of a promise that things were different now and the ever-present impermanence dissolved a tad bit. Realizing she was getting late, she rushed back to where he was and threw an arm around his neck, to smack a kiss on his cheek. The sudden force took him by surprise and he lost his balance for an instant, but he curved his arm around her waist to gain support.

"These are the times, I wish I know what's going on in that head of yours," he said laughing.

"Nothing you need to worry about." She was loosely hanging from his neck. "I will leave you to your team now."

"Make sure you are dressed –"

"Seriously?" she rolled her eyes at him and removed herself from his hold. Starting towards the door, she held the dress bag high up to show him she was prepared.

He shook his head and jumped back into the discussion as if the last few minutes hadn't happened to begin with.

*****

The GPS directed her away from the upscale part of the town and a faint sense of dread kicked in. Once she pulled into the alley, her gut feeling that she may not be here for a date was reinforced. The destination happened to be the same run-down building she'd bought long ago, to boss over the Chinese mafia, in an attempt to trace Cho Choel Gang. 

Her pulse quickened with her mind raced through a million possibilities on why he wanted her to dress up to visit a decrepit structure. Looking around, she didn't find his car and just as she was about to call him, he appeared at the entrance of the plaza. Relief flooded through her chest and she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in.

Dressed in a three-piece suit, he charged down the stairs, also not fitting in with the surroundings.

"You're late!" She heard the distress in his voice. "And we need to fix your dress."

She waited for him to reach her. "Something tells me this is not a date."

"This is not," he sighed touching his forehead. "By North Korean standards, to say you are skimpily clad would still be an understatement."

Her dress revealed most of her cleavage and the inverted V cut of her skirt gave away much of her thighs, all meant to make a man keel over in the right setting. Seeing that he was far from it, her stomach was in knots.

"Do you have a scarf, or a shawl?" he asked, even as he was unbuttoning his jacket.

It took a beat for her to discern that he'd uttered a North Korean reference and the alarm in her head went off. "Don't tell me –"

"Aboneim and ommoni are here." he said, throwing the blazer over her shoulder. "Including your parents."

She wanted to push him away, but instead, she placed a firm hand on his chest and braced against him to reset her expectations for the evening. At it's best, it would be a celebration. At its worst, it could lead to a showdown between two families.