Chapter Two: The Unforseen Delay

As they disembarked from the plane for the required layover in Seattle, the passengers were informed that the flight from New York was going to be delayed for a mechanical maintenance checks. The normal wait time of four hours was now extended to nine hours. The New York flight wouldn't be arriving until about three in the morning. "We will be setting you all up in a private lounge. We will be supplying you with cots, blankets, food and beverages" the attendant explained as he led them to the lounge,"We are so sorry for the inconvenience." "What about hotel accommodations?" one of the men with his family asked. "Unfortunately they are all booked up due to several conventions taking place in the area this week. There's a medical convention, an internet business convention and Comic-Con. We felt it wouldn't be a safe environment for the wives and children with all the drunks around" the attendant explained. The families had to agree that it was much safer where they were. "We are close to the flight crew locker rooms and you will have full access to them. They have showers an, changing rooms and restrooms at your disposal. My name is Jason and this lady here is Mrs. Davis. I will show the gentlemen to the men's facilities and Mrs Davis will show the ladies to theirs. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times, please. If there is anything else you need just ask me or Mrs. Davis as we will be here with you all night" Jason explained.

After the people used the facilities, they returned to the lounge and found that the cots were set up and so were more tabes and chairs. It wasn't long before the kids started to get bored. "Hey, Komiko, I have an idea. I have my laptop and speakers with me. How about we wear these kids out with some games or dancing after dinner?" Jackie suggested as she saw tables being set up and the food and beverages being placed on them. Everyone líned up for the buffet style dinner. Jackie went to work setting up her laptop and speakers. She put on soft music while everyone was eating and queued up a playlist of dance music for after dinner. She left off any music that wasn't appropriate for the kids to hear. Once she was done she looked around for her cousin. Komiko waved her over to a table. "I got you a tray already. Where did you get those clothes from? I love them" Komiko asked. Jackie smiled. "I got them from one of my former MMA sponsors. They gave them to me to wear in the cage" she replied. She was wearing sweatpants with Kanji embroidered down the legs and a matching long sleeved tee-shirt. After everyone ate, Jackie queued up the dance music. At first it was the two women dancing, but slowly everyone joined in and it turned into one big dance party until the children got tired and went to sleep. Jackie turned down the volume and put on softer music for the adults to enjoy.

Komiko and Jackie were sitting at a table and enjoying cups of tea when Mr. Tall came over and introduced himself. "I am Mr. Tomishiro Ichibana. May I join you ladies?" Komiko smiled and Jackie nodded. "Are you one of the sponsors?" Komiko asked. He nodded and replied, "Yes, I represent your family's interest in the competition. In the past it was only the men competing. This year it was decided to let the women compete. The Takahashi Clan only has seven women currently residing in Japan and to compete each team must have a minimum of ten members. We had to search far and wide for others of the Takahashi bloodline. That is why you three have received your invitations." Komiko thought over what he had said and it made sense as they were directly but distantly related to the Takahashi Clan. Jackie studied the man over the rim of her cup. He had slightly long hair and a strong masculine face. He was taller than her and a very fit body. The man before her was not dressed in business attire but snug fitting jeans over thickly muscled thighs. He also wore a tight fitting tee-shirt with an MMA logo on it. His clothes were cut to show off his body. Jackie swallowed hard. She realized she was attracted to him. 'No! Not now, not after what I had suffered through! This can't be happening!' her mind screamed at her. Lust was raising its head and howling out loud to be set free."I wanted to thank you both for the impromptu party. These kids needed an outlet for all their pent up energy" he said, looking pointedly at Jackie and smiling. Jackie excused herself and went to fiddle with her computer, shutting it down. She disconnected the speakers and repacked them. She glanced over and saw he was still sitting there, conversing with Komiko. Something her cousin said had him leaning forward and frowning. Jackie wished she knew what they were talking about. She figured it was about her. Her guess was confirmed when he turned to stare at her. She dropped her eyes and continued to repack her laptop. She was so intent on what she was doing that she didn't hear him approach her.

"Miss Wolf-Takahashi, I am sorry to hear about your brother. Please let me know if there is anything I could do to help or if you hear any news about him. I wish he had been able to be here with you" he said squatting down close to her. "I take it you two are very close?" he asked her. She had frozen up when he had first spoken, now the tears she had been fighting back were threatening to spill once again. She was also surprised that he had called her 'Miss Wolf-Takahashi'. "Thank you for your concern. Yes we're very close, we're twins after all" she replied quietly. She looked up at him. "You're welcome" he said. He looked as if he had wanted to say something more but decided against it. Instead he just nodded, stood up and walked away. Jackie blew out a frustrated breath and watched him walk away. Mr. Ichibana moved with the ease of a mountain lion.

An hour later, Jason the attendant, entered the lounge and announced,"We have received confirmation that the flight from New York has just taken off and is now in the air. It will be arriving at approximately three am. Get a good rest. We will be serving fruit, snacks and beverages at two thirty am. By four am you should be on your way to your next destination. Good night Ladies and Gentlemen." Komiko came over and grabbed her carry-on bag. " I'll be back shortly" she said and headed to the restroom. Jackie sat back against the wall, pulled out her mp4 and headphones. She queued up some relaxation music and soon fell asleep.

Komiko stepped out of the restroom to find Tomishiro waiting for her. He led her over to a couple of seats just outside of the lounge. "There's more to your cousin's story than you told me, isn't there?" he asked. Komiko was surprised by his obvious concern and insight. "Her pain goes deeper. It's much more than worry over her brother. She tenses up and closes off to male contact. She wasn't..." he started to ask. Komiko shook her head at where she was imagining his thoughts were heading. "No, it was nothing like that. Let me put it to you this way. Imagine you're super smart, athletic, pretty and sixteen. You're already in your second year at the University and an eighteen year old, good looking guy asks you out. You seemed to be the perfect couple, but you started to notice things about him that weren't so nice. You're now seventeen and you're preparing for the summer break. You go home and while your home you grow taller. You don't realize it until you return to school that you have grown six inches and are not much taller than you boyfriend. He starts screaming at you and calling you a freak. He screams all kinds of horrible insults at you and breaks up with you. Then he starts dating your worst enemy and until they got caught they terrorized you. Their abuse gets caught on a student advisor's cell phone and they are expelled for 'Domestic Terrorism.' How would you feel?" she explained. Tomishiro sat back in his seat, hands balled up in his lap. He looked as if he could kill that guy. "She cut herself off from dating and threw herself into her studies. But her anger and outbursts of rage were taking their toll so when she turned eighteen her and Jet joined the MMA. It was helping but then the accident happened. Jackie had been visiting with her brother Jet and keeping up with her studies. And here's the real kicker, Glenn's ex contacted her family to warn them that he wants her back. He even contacted her family. He found out she had become famous in the MMA. Jackie found out because she over heard her sisters discussing it. This trip is a Godsend. It will do her some good to get away from everything for a while. Why this interest in my cousin?" she asked watching him shrewdly.

"It's hard to explain, but I find myself very drawn to her. I just want to hold her, comfort her and love her. I want to make her forget that guy. I want to protect her and let her see that not all guys are assholes. There are some great guys out there and I'm one of them. Besides she isn't the only one with height issues. When I was home and dating, I felt like I was dating little girls because most women in Japan are so short. It doesn't feel right. Can you now understand my attraction to your cousin better?" he asked. Komiko smiled and nodded in approval. She looked at her watch. "I have to get back or Jackie will be worrying about me because of how long I've been gone. Give me your number and I'll give you mine. We'll talk later about it"she said. They exchanged numbers and he went back in first. When Komiko went back inside she found Jackie asleep against the wall.she roused her with a shake. "Here's your sleeping bag go lay down" Komiko said. Jackie crawled into her sleeping bag and rolled over. She saw Me. Ichibana stretched out on the floor close by. She took this opportunity to study him once again. She started with his long unruly hair down to the chiseled features of his face. He was laying on his back, one are was flexed up and placed behind his head. Well defined thick muscles graced his arms as well as a tattoo on the arm that was bent up. It was on the underside but it was too dim to make it out clearly. Jackie let her eyes continue their journey. He wore no shirt and she saw smooth skin stretched tightly by the thick muscles underneath. She noticed the shadows of more tattoos on his skin. The man was pure raw power. Her eyes traveled down his rock hard and to the waist band of his shorts. He had lean hips and his shorts clung to him. They outlined every part of him with exceptional clarity below the waist. Jackie felt her face grow warm. She heard a familiar chuckle and her eyes shot up to his face. He was grinning at her for checking him out. She quickly rolled over and went back to sleep.