Order vs. Chaos

Chapter 2-2

Carrington laughed, tipping his head back so I could see where he’d missed a spot shaving that morning. I captured the second on my camera, knowing it would be great footage for the series I was working on. These guys were in the middle of hell, but they still managed to have a good time.

That was the American spirit.

He turned his head to the left to say something to Rogers when the explosion rocked us. Rogers swerved, and all of the faces in the vehicle went from smiling to pissed off in an instant.

I kept shooting, knowing the moment was one many photographers didn’t get a chance to be a part of and live to tell about. If I didn’t live, at least my family would know what happened to me.

Of course, then my mother would say she wished she could bring me back so she could kill me again.

The vehicle stopped so they could figure out what was going on.

“What the f**k?” Carrington said. “Stay with me, Carpenter.”

I got out of the truck right behind him, following as he moved toward the pile of fire that used to be our lead vehicle.

“f**k me. These stupid mother fuckers don’t know who they’re dealing with.”

I scanned the area with my camera, knowing I could see things that were invisible to the n***d eye. Light reflected off something that brought me back to that spot.

Then a flash.

“Get down!”

Carrington tackled me, slammed me to the ground seconds before he screamed. Hearing a grown man, a Marine no less, scream like that sent chills down my spine.

“Carrington!” I screamed.

He pushed off me and glared with those blue eyes that were laughing just moments ago.

“I never should have saved you. I was fighting for our country, and you just take pictures and hide them away. You never even told our story. And you think you deserve to be happy?” He laughed, a menacing sound that made me nauseous.

I could taste the bile in my throat, rising up and ready to release.

I woke up with a start, bolting straight upright in bed. I was soaked with sweat and still heard Carrington’s evil laugh in my ear.

“f**k,” I muttered, running my hands over my face and back through my short hair. “Fuck.”

I took a leak and went back to bed, but I couldn’t sleep. I never did after one of my nightmares. I knew it was coming, being in a new place, but s**t.

I laid in bed until I heard Kapena moving around. I was going to make the wedding that afternoon the best damn photo shoot of my life. Carrington was a hero, and I’d never be half the man he was, but I could do something. I could make someone’s wedding day perfect.

I shook my head and laughed. It didn’t matter that Carrington never said those words to my face when I was awake, I felt them. And just thinking that giving someone a good wedding was anywhere close to fighting for my country was laughable.

But it was all I had.

I finally found the emails Kiana sent, after searching my junk folder, and had all the details about the wedding that day at Opposites Attract. I asked Kapena how long it would take to get to the office and GPS’ed it just in case. I set out three hours earlier than I needed to be there, hoping to get the lay of the land and take some shots before the ceremony.

I found Opposites Attract easily enough and discovered it was a photographer’s paradise. Lush green lined the white building with the rich, black soil of a long ago volcanic eruption covering what should have been the yard. Blue shutters, the same shade as the ocean, and a yellow front door brightened up the office, making it look less like a business and more like an old home. I could tell efforts had been made to improve the appearance of the entire place, but I was a fan of the stark contrast between life and death. I’d photographed a lot of both.

I parked my bike near the building in one of the parking spots labeled ‘Staff Only’ and unpacked my equipment. I liked to go as close to natural as possible, but there were times when a flash helped. Everything fit easily into the saddlebags, but if I got anything new, it would be tight. So far, I wasn’t worried.

I held my camera as I walked around, testing the light in different parts of the yard. I knew it would shift as it got later in the day, but I wanted to have some shots of the area to include for the bride and groom. Like Kiana said, it wasn’t just a wedding, so I wasn’t going to shoot just the wedding.

I got lost in my work, circling the property and finding good spots to take pictures. A crew was setting up white folding chairs near the beach and anchoring a pergola into the sand. When I thought I had enough pictures and a good idea of how I wanted the afternoon to go, I headed back to my bike to go find lunch.

With my stuff packed away, I straddled the bike and was about to crank it up when I heard, “Running off already?”

I looked up and found Kiana watching me, her arms crossed over her lavender suit, one bow covered black-heeled toe tapping on the ground.

“Not even a little. I was going to grab something to eat before everyone arrives. Want me to get you something?”

She was clearly taken aback by my offer. Her hands fell and her toe stopped. She gaped at me for a second before she recovered and nodded. “Thank you. That would be great. I usually forget to eat. Kapena and Jack always get on me about that.” She clamped her lips shut, as though she remembered who she was talking to.

“Any suggestions?” I asked, trying not to ask who Jack was. I was her employee, not her confidant. And I had no business asking about the man she was seeing.

She stared again but finally regained her ability to speak. “Just up the road, to the left, there’s a great place. Spam burgers. If you’re up for that.”

I shrugged. “I’ll eat just about anything. What do you like on yours?”

She gave me her order and watched as I cranked up the bike and pulled away. I found the place easily enough and ordered my first ever Spam burger. It was one of the many things about Hawaii I didn’t understand. Spam? But they loved the s**t, and when in Rome and all that.

I tucked the bag with our food into the compartment I stored my helmet in when I parked my bike. It smelled good even if was Spam. Back at Opposites Attract, I had no idea where to find Kiana. Something I didn’t realize until I was parked and wandering around like an i***t.

She wasn’t outside, so I headed into the office building. A large room was just inside the front door and smaller rooms branched off as I worked my way through. I heard music coming from the back and followed it to a small office with a white desk front and center, two yellow chairs opposite the desk, and Kiana singing along to the music in her white captain’s chair, her head bopping and her dark hair swinging.

Damn, was she cute.

I knocked on the door after a second and held up the bag of food. She beckoned me in and turned the music off.

“What do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into a lower desk drawer.

I shook my head. “Consider it a peace offering. Maybe you’ll give me a little bit of a chance if I don’t let you get cranky today.”

She looked like she was considering my words and wasn’t thrilled by them. She finally nodded, just once, and gestured for me to sit in one of the guest chairs.

She dug into the bag and smiled when she opened her burger. She took a big bite, groaning and closing her eyes.

It was impossible not to think about s*x when I was around her. The woman was a walking, talking, groaning s*x dream.

And she was off-limits because she was my boss.

“How is it?”

She nodded, her eyes on the burger.

I unwrapped my own and took a bite. It was better than I expected, but it was still Spam. A bit salty for my taste, but the onions and peppers tempered it, giving the whole thing a sweeter, fresher flavor.

“First Spam burger?” she asked.

I nodded, surprised she even spoke to me. “I figured I would try it eventually. Now seemed like as good a time as any.”

She laughed softly. “We all grew up on this stuff. It’s like fish around here. We eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

“Fish I can get behind for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Spam is going to take some getting used to.”

She laughed again. “Before long, you won’t even miss the beef.”

“Huh?”

“Most burgers around here are Spam. It’s one of the reasons it’s so popular. Beef is expensive because we don’t have the facilities to process high volumes in Hawaii. It’s shipped to the mainland then returned, which adds up. There are cattle farms on the islands, but they’re not big enough to supply all the restaurants and the grocery stores. It’s not like I’ve seen on the mainland.”

“You've been to the mainland?” I asked. Kapena said neither of them had been, but I wanted Kiana to tell me.

She paused then shook her head. “I’ve seen it on TV and stuff like that.”

“Oh.”

We ate in silence for a few minutes, me trying to convince myself I could one day like Spam and Kiana acting like it was the best juicy burger she’d ever eaten. I finally managed to finish mine and pulled out the bag of cinnamon sugar donut holes. Kiana’s eyes lit up.

“You got them?”

I nodded. “They looked good. Do you want some?”

She reached for the tiny bag and grabbed one off the top. A small one. I knew she wanted more. Hell, I’d let her have all of them if she kept smiling like she was.

“Have another.”

“You don’t want any?”

I grabbed one and handed her the bag.

“I can’t.”

“Sure you can. Enjoy. I’ll get out of your hair. I’ll be outside, if that’s okay?”

She nodded, already ignoring me in favor of the donut holes.

I grinned and left her office.

One point in my favor.