Chasing Waves

Chapter Seven: pier pressure

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7: The parties agree not to divulge the true nature of the Partnership to third parties, except for those who are explicitly named and included on the list in Annex 2. Listed third parties must sign an NDA.

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It took Honey a bit longer than anticipated to distribute the NDAs; she had to ensure that her lawyer's guarantee of confidentiality bowed to her before her father. Her parents could never find out the truth about her arrangement with Adam.

Never.

Honey knew from experience that the Valentines were amongst an elite few in the southern hemisphere who could expressly violate a contract and come out on the other side. She wasn't taking any chances. Not that her parents would throw her to the wolves on purpose. But a competing interest might arise. And business always came first. Honey had almost twenty-five years' worth of lessons from her father testifying to that.

Tucked in the corner booth of a cosy patisserie one week after her meeting with Adam, Honey smiled when Daisy, Laia, and Belle audibly cooed as their desserts were brought to the table. Even Honey perked up a bit as the waitress laid down a porcelain cake stand stacked with treats—as though the four of them hadn't frequented the patisserie and ordered exactly the same spread since their early years of high school. Macarons, eclairs, cupcakes upon cupcakes oozing with strawberry and rocky road and cookies and cream icing ...

Honey froze when she saw the new garnish accompanying the chocolate caramel tart. Small enough to be consumed in two bites. Big enough that her skin prickled like she'd been stung.

Honeybees.

Four of them.

They really were everywhere.

Gulping down a breath, Honey offered a nod to the young baker who was eying her through the peephole that looked into the Parisian-inspired kitchen. She knew that he meant well, but she subtly pushed the tart aside, aiming for a strawberry cupcake from the three-tiered cake stand instead.

Not subtly enough.

"What actually happened with your grandfather's will anyway?" Lai asked, distributing plates and cutlery.

Daisy elbowed her in the ribs. "Lai!"

Lai barely winced as she plucked the bee-shaped chocolates from the top of the tart, discarding them on her plate before slicing up the lavish dessert. Her sleek black hair was styled in a high ponytail that day, putting her mix of Spanish and Armenian features and russet eyes on display. "What? It's been a month since the reading!" She waved the serving knife at Dais and Belle in turn. "I thought I'd at least ask instead of sweeping it under the rug like the rest of you cowards." 

Daisy stuck her tongue out, which was met with a blob of cream by Lai.

"Do you want to talk about it, Hon?" Belle asked a bit more tactfully.

Kind of. Yes.

But the mood was up, and Honey didn't want to spoil it. They'd spent the morning perusing two final venues that Belle and Ruby were considering for their wedding, and after months of searching for a space that merged Belle's love of all things classical with Ruby's darker, gothic taste, Belle had announced that they'd made a decision. Ruby had parted with them to get back to work at the tattoo parlour, and the others had wound up at their old high school hangout. Honey had done a good job, she thought, of masking the blizzard that swirled under her skin when she'd read the notification on her news app as they aimed for their usual booth in the pastel pink and white café.