Just This Once (21 page)

“I know,” Hannah said ruefully. “I’m a little worried about
that. But I realized when I came back from vacation, you know, that Beth is
ready to take over my job. She’s really good. Of course, Felix could hire
somebody new. But I’m going to recommend that he promote her.”

“You’ve been training her for years. I don’t think you need
to feel bad at all. You’re giving her an opportunity. You’ve already thought
this through, I see. So what are you waiting for? Say yes!”

“I have my visa application ready to go too,” Hannah said.
“I already had the medical exam. I decided to get the two-year visa. I really had
to do that to get a job,” she explained self-consciously. “But if it doesn’t
work out—if any of it doesn’t work—I can always quit and come back, right?”

“That’s right. Remember, I’m coming to get you if you’re in
a puddle over there. Nothing to worry about, see?”

“All right. I’m hitting ‘Send’ now,” Hannah said
breathlessly. “Stay on the phone with me, OK?”

“OK,” Susannah laughed. “Whatever it takes.”

“Done,” Hannah exhaled. “Notice I called you to check,
instead of Drew. I wasn’t sure what he’d do if I asked him again if he were
sure.”

“Smart of you,” Susannah agreed. “Men really don’t like to
be reminded over and over that you don’t trust them. Better call him now,
though.”

Hannah said a thankful goodbye, then hung up and dialed
Drew’s number.
Be there,
she urged silently. To her relief, he answered
almost immediately.

“I wasn’t sure you’d pick up,” she began. “I thought you
might still be on the plane from Australia.” He’d had a game on Saturday night
in Sydney, she knew. “Congratulations on the win, by the way.”

“Thanks. Flew back yesterday. Spending a bit of time in the
spa today. It’s a pretty tough side, the Waratahs. What’s up?”

“I thought you’d want to know. I got a job!”

“You did! That’s brilliant! What is it?” he demanded. “Did
you say yes?”

“I did say yes,” she answered, laughing with relief. She
told him about the position and the company.

“Good on ya,” he approved. “I know who they are. Even have
some of their gear. Good stuff.”

“Well, we’ll just keep that to ourselves,” she told him firmly.
“I’m not using you in this job. Heaven forbid.”

He laughed. “They can’t use me without my consent, you know.
So what’s next?”

“Next I get the official letter, and I submit it with my
visa application. It could take six weeks though, they say.”

“Why don’t you send it to me? Those applications can be a
bit complicated. I’ll have someone in the office give it a look, make sure
there’s nothing dodgy in there, then we’ll hand-carry it. Should go through
faster that way. When are you giving notice?”

“I thought I should wait, don’t you think, until the visa
goes through? If it could take that long? I can’t really sit around for weeks,
not working.”

“I think you should do it now. They inflate those processing
times. I’d bet you’ll have it in a few weeks.” He knew she would, in fact. As
soon as he made a call or two. He’d keep that to himself, though. “And you’ll
have to pack up, and all. Give yourself some time. You don’t want to get down
here and be knackered already.”

“I need to find a place to live too, once I’m down there,”
she said. “I thought I’d stay in a hotel while I’m looking. I have money saved.
Where would you recommend?”

“Why would you do that?” he asked, surprised and not
pleased. “Why wouldn’t you stay with me, at least until you find a place of
your own?”

“Drew. I can’t move all the way to New Zealand, uproot my
whole life, for a guy. I have to be moving there for work, for the experience
of living someplace else. That has to be the focus. You’re the . . . the
bonus.”

“The . . . bonus,” he returned, stunned. “I’m the bonus.”

“Oh dear,” she faltered. “That makes you sound like some
kind of boy toy.” At his outraged snort, she continued quickly, “I need to move
out there independently. I can’t put pressure on you. And I can’t put myself in
that kind of dependent position. That would be starting out all wrong. Can you
understand that?”

“I can understand that it matters to you,” he answered
resignedly. “As the . . . bonus, am I allowed to help you find a place to live
before you get here, save you staying in a hotel? That’ll be easier for me than
for you. I’m here, and I know more people. And you can stay with me for a week
or two while you get the place ready. I know you can do that.”

“I’d love to have your help finding a place to live. And I’d
love to spend a few days with you first, if I already have a place. But nothing
too expensive. It has to be something I can afford.”

“Am I allowed to find you a flat close to me, or do I have
to keep my distance, too? Is there a perimeter we’re meant to maintain here?”

“No perimeter. Please. It’d be great to live close to you. But
on the other hand, have you thought about what happens if it doesn’t work out?
You might not want to see me on the street all the time.”

“Good to know you’re prepared for the worst,” he answered
grimly.

“Just trying to be realistic,” she countered. “Just in
case.”

He exhaled. “Reckon I’ll just be glad you’re coming. The
rest of it we’ll work on.” 

The next month was one of the most intense of Hannah’s life.
Giving notice at her apartment hadn’t been so hard. But sliding the piece of
paper with her resignation on it across the table to Felix had been tough.

He’d been shocked, angry, cajoling by turns. Had offered her
more money to stay, a new title, even three more vacation days. She shook her
head, remembering. She’d had no idea that she’d had so much power to change the
conditions of her job. She’d always felt that Felix had held all the cards. Now,
too late, she realized that she could have made her life easier. She would have
to remember that in the future.

Felix had asked for four weeks’ notice, but she had held
firm at two. She had so much to do, and once she had actually given notice, it
was hard even to work out the two weeks. She had done her utmost to create a
smooth transition. Luckily, Felix had gone along with her suggestion that he
promote Beth to fill her position. Although Beth had been upset at the thought
of Hannah’s leaving, she couldn’t hide her pleasure at the new opportunity.

 All in all, it had been surprisingly easy to leave, once
she had made the decision. Her entire adult life had revolved around TriStyle
Woman. She had lived and breathed her job, and it had formed a huge part of her
identity. But Emery was right. It was a job. She was proud of what she had
done, and she would miss the people she worked with. But once she had left, she
found to her surprise that a lot of that identification simply fell away. Or
maybe, she thought, it was just that she had so much to do, and was so excited
and nervous about the change.

The simple logistics were overwhelming in themselves. She
thought back gratefully to Drew’s suggestion that she give notice right away.
She had certainly needed the extra weeks of time to get ready. Her visa had
come through in an amazing two weeks, but that had still only given her three
weeks before her travel date. The hardest question had been what to do about
her possessions. After a lot of thought, she had decided to sell or give away
most of what she had. Shipping it turned out not to be an option.

“Thank goodness I only have a tiny one-bedroom,” she told
Susannah on the phone one night, surrounded by boxes and bags. “But how did I
fit so much into this tiny space?”

“How much is there that you really want to hang onto?”
Susannah asked. “You could store a few boxes at my house.”

“Thanks,” Hannah said with relief. “I might have to do that.
One box, anyway. This is where it gets hard not to have parents, you know? No
childhood bedroom.”

“I’m sure it’s hard to figure out what to do with
everything,” Susannah sympathized. “But it’s exciting too, isn’t it? You’re
really starting over. How’s Kristen taking it?”

“Well, she was pretty upset at the beginning, as you know.
But I think she’s adjusting now. We can still talk a lot. And it’s not forever.
Matt’s fine, of course. He’s already planning his trip down there for next
year. I think he’s mostly worried I’ll break up with Drew before he has the
chance to score tickets.”

Susannah laughed. “Trust Matt. But I think it’ll be good for
Kristen, too. It’s not like you’re abandoning her. Thank goodness for the
Internet.”

One giant garage sale and donation drop-off later, Hannah
sat on a duffel bag in her empty apartment, looking at the dust motes dancing
in a beam of watery late March sunlight that shone down onto the hardwood
floors she had loved, and waiting for Kristen to pick her up. She had even sold
her little car. On the plus side, she had some extra money in her bank
account—which she would need, she reflected, when she had to furnish a new
apartment, no matter how small.

She jumped as the doorbell rang, and buzzed Kristen up.

“Wow,” her sister said, sobered, looking around at the bare
floors, the vacant rooms. “It looks so empty. Kind of sad.” She teared up and
hugged Hannah. “I’m so sad too, Hannah. What am I going to do without you?”

“You’re going to call me, when you want to talk to me. And
I’ll call you too,” Hannah promised. “And you’re going to come visit next Christmas,
remember? Christmas at the beach. You’ll love that. We’ll be together again
soon. And I’ll always be there for you. You know I will.”

She held her sister close and fought back her own tears.
“Now get me out of here,” she said with a watery smile. “It’s ridiculous to
stand here crying. I haven’t even left yet.”

Even though she had once again been upgraded to Business
Premier—she hadn’t even been surprised this time, she realized guiltily—Hannah
found it hard to sleep on the flight to Auckland. She hadn’t seen Drew for over
two months now. She hadn’t even talked to him much over the past two weeks,
while the team had been playing in South Africa. She hoped she had made the
right decision.

She was fairly sure about the job, she reminded herself. It
was a wonderful opportunity. Without Drew’s prodding, she wouldn’t have taken
it. She would focus on that, whatever happened in her personal life. At least the
team had a bye during the coming weekend, and the two of them could start out
by spending some time together.

When she stepped out of the automatic doors into the arrivals
area and saw him, her doubts receded a bit. Standing big and solid, his arms
folded across his broad chest, waiting for her. No matter that it wasn’t even
six A.M.

“You’ll be seeing my house for the first time, I realized,”
he said as they made their way through the sparse early-morning traffic into
the City. “Had to tidy it up a bit for you. I can show you your flat too,
later. Picked up the keys yesterday.”

When they pulled into the driveway of his modern house, all
cantilevered levels on a hillside overlooking St. Heliers Bay, Hannah suspected
there hadn’t been too much tidying required.

“It’s beautiful, Drew,” she exclaimed as she stepped into
the living room—the lounge, she corrected herself—and looked out past leather
sofas through a wall of windows to Waitemata Harbour, with Rangitoto, the
city’s iconic volcanic island, in the distance. “And what an amazing view.”

“Another sea view from my bedroom on the next level,” he
smiled at her. “I’ll show you that next.”

She laughed happily. “I want to see that,” she assured him.
“Just show me the shower first, OK?”

Snuggling with him later after a leisurely bout of
lovemaking, she said sleepily, “I’m supposed to stay awake all day to get over
my jet lag.”

He tucked her more closely against him. “You’ve had your
exercise. Take a nap. Then we’ll walk down and look at your flat. We can have a
swim later too. I made sure you had a safe swimming beach. And I promise to
help relax you tonight so you can sleep.”

The flat, just a few blocks back from the quiet beach, took
up the lower floor of a small villa. Built in the early 1900s, it had the
old-fashioned touches she enjoyed, with a modern kitchen and bathroom. There
was even a tiny flagstone patio in the back, surrounded by greenery. It looked
as pretty as the pictures the realtor had emailed her, and she knew she would
be happy there.

“You can take the bus straight into the city,” Drew offered.
“Less than half an hour. Thought you’d like that.”

“I do need to get a car, though,” she said as they walked
back up the hill to Drew’s house. “Besides furniture and everything. I was
hoping you could give me some advice.”

“Actually, I found you something,” he said in a deceptively
casual voice that made her antennae quiver. “A mate had an extra car he wasn’t
driving.”

“This one,” he pointed out as they entered his driveway.

“I thought that looked pretty small for something you’d
drive. It’s perfect for me, though,” she said slowly, looking at the tiny
Toyota Yaris.

“Thought it might suit you. Not flash, but it should be easy
to maneuver in the city traffic, easy to park. Good fuel economy too, and
you’re going to find that’s a bit more expensive than in the States. I thought when
we went somewhere together, we could take my car.”

“I’d say that’s a pretty safe assumption, since I don’t see
you sitting in the passenger seat while I drive you. Especially in this car,” she
said with a smile.

“But Drew,” she went on more seriously, “I can’t take this.
Not as a gift.”

“Here it is, though,” he pointed out reasonably. “I’m not
going to drive it. Too small. And you need a car.”

“Wait a minute.” She turned and looked at him. “Your friend
didn’t give you this car. You bought it. From whom? And for how much? You need
to tell me.”