Page 34 of Yorix

Chris’s face brightened. “And they’ll just swoop in and get him? Then bring him here to us?”

Korah nodded once more, a slow smile spreading across his face as he simply replied, “Yes.”

“Great. Here’s hoping my dad and Brenda are their usual stupid selves, then.” Chris grinned and I found myself smiling too. I gave him two thumbs up, letting him know I was here for him and that it was all going to go great. I just knew he'd get his fondest wish and Jimmy would find his way home to him.

“Come on. The desk clerk is staring at us and that guy is standing there waiting with all our luggage,” Chris said, grinning back at me.

“Ohana means no one is left behind,” I heard him whisper as he moved closer. “Hang on, Jimmy. We’re coming for you.”

I reached out, giving his hand a quick squeeze as he went past. “It’ll work out,” I said, and he nodded. As we trailed along to the check in desk, my thoughts turned to our spa treatments scheduled for today. Not too long from now, I realized, spotting the clock behind the check in desk. Perfect! We could settle into our room, have something to eat, and go to them. They would help take Chris’s mind off that stupid protest thing and refocus on the wedding, surely.

“Here you are,” the desk clerk said, handing over two door keys. Korah accepted them, passing one over to Yorix. A quick trip up the elevator and within moments we were in the exquisitely appointed double room.

“Thank you, sirs, ma’am. I’ll return to move you to your individual suites once they’re ready,” he said as Oshar thanked the attendant, handing him a cash tip. He left, taking the cart with him. Our garment bags were already hanging in the closet thanks to his attention.

“They’ve already got a litter box and dishes set up here with their usual brand of food and water,” Chris said, sounding impressed.

“I think we should just change out of the suitcases since we’re only in this room for tonight,” I suggested, taking my brush out of my purse, along with a scrunchie. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, then replaced my brush, taking out my reef safe SPF infused lip gloss to add a fresh coat.

“Good idea,” Korah agreed, everyone voicing murmurs of agreement along with him.

“I’ll just introduce them to where the boxes are,” Chris said, fussing about the carriers.

My stomach growled, and all eyes turned to look at me. I blushed.

I shrugged it off. “Come on! I’m starving! I looked up the place we’re going to, and it’s rated super high on Trip Advisor, so it’ll probably have a long line!”

“Alright already,” Chris pretended to grump at me, as he fed his furbabies treats. “I’m done. We can go now.”

“About time!” I snarked.

“Wow, hangry much?” he teased.

I giggled. “Maybe a little,” I admitted, putting my lip gloss back into my purse.

“Are you sure it’s safe for us to leave the hotel right now?” Chris asked, biting his lip. “I didn’t see any picketers here, but what if we run into some out there?”

“The manager said that ahead of the events, all known members of Humans First and other hate groups of record had legal orders forbidding them to go anywhere near places that’d registered they were hosting Friendship Day events. The general public was also warned that anyone interfering with a Mylos or their party, or any other tourist, would face immediate arrest. They aren’t playing around,” Korah informed us.

That made me feel better. I did not want those yahoos messing up our trip, not one bit. His words reassured Chris too, as he nodded, his shoulders relaxing as he said, “Okay.”

“Only the spirit of aloha is allowed to prevail,” Korah said, opening the door to allow us all out, then firmly closing it.

Chris’s mood improved as we found our way to the diner, courtesy of Uber. We pointed sights out excitedly to each other, our mates joining in all of us making plans on places to go poke around in later in our trip. Then we were there, hurriedly piling out. Korah paid, adding a nice tip.

“Mahalo nui,” the driver said before rolling his window up and driving away.

There was only a short line as it happened, and I took it as a sign that the stars were smiling down on us still.

“Here you are,” the hostess said, leading us to a table.

“Everything looks so good!” Chris said, once we were seated and had a look at the menus kept on the table. “What do you recommend?” he asked, as our waitress approached.

“Well, the pancakes are delicious, but my personal fave is the loco moco,” she replied. “You can’t get any more Hawaiian than that or a plate lunch.”

“Oh!” he glanced down at the menu, looking to see what a loco moco was.”I’ll have that then, the loco moco, I mean.” He glanced at Korah. “I’ll have to try one of the plate lunches another day.”

I was in full agreement with him on that, because, damn, they looked amazing!