"Final boarding call for Mr. Adam Stroe. Mr. Adam Stroe, please proceed to Gate 9 for flight WA 7493."

The amplified call carried across the crowded Otopeni Airport Departures. IIn Yuiko Ishida's head, the reverb-heavy voice pointed an accusatory finger right at her, where she stood near the closing gate. She was dressed in a summer business suit, thankful for the inspired choice. She was already sweating, any fabric but the silk of her blouse would have marked the onset of a full-blown panic attack. Still, she wore her corporate smile like armor, despite the white knuckles on her boarding pass.

"Once more, please," Yui said to the gate agent, sounding calmer than she felt. "He has to be on this plane."

Her fake smile was reflected in kind by the airport staff. "Miss Ishida, we have rules. Either you board now, or you'll have to rebook, alongside Mr. Stroe."

But Yui was highly trained in passive-aggressive politeness, so she did not relent. "I have to insist you give Mr. Stroe five more minutes. This is of utmost importance. I’ll check on him right now." 

Letting go of her royal purple suitcase, she scrolled through her caller list, choosing the contact of the man she would have ranked first among the people she least wanted to spend a week with: Adam Stroe.

He was the brilliant engineer behind the project she had to sell, and this was the first assignment she was running on her own, with no father in the room and no senior manager waiting to take it off her hands if it went sideways. 

She had one week to prove that the Ishida on her badge meant her, and not simply whose daughter she happened to be. Yui had every intention of making sure everything went smoothly. Mr. Stroe, however, had proved almost impossible to work with from their very first video call.

After a few weeks of remote video calls that were mostly taken over by his team in his conspicuous absence, it was finally time for Adam Stroe to fly with her to the Costa del Sol, where they would give their first sales pitch for his project, at Málaga's City Hall. And he was late to their flight.

The riffs of "Bad to the Bone" echoed in the distance, bringing Yui back from her fuming reminiscence of their first failed interactions. He just had to have an absolutely predictable ringtone.

Through the crowd, she could just make him out, a mop of dirty blond hair, his eyes on the phone in his hand. He rejected her call without the slightest hint of guilt, and continued to type on his screen. Whatever the message was, it softened something in his face for the briefest moment before he slipped the phone back into his pocket. 

With the aura of a man off on vacation, Adam Stroe breezed towards the gate, disarming the whole company with his nonchalant charm and easy smile. His piercing blue eyes were positively luminous. He was tall, dressed in a white tank top that revealed full-sleeve tattoos on both his chiseled arms. He wore sweatpants and sneakers, and his luggage seemed to be a single backpack slung over his shoulder.

Before the announcer could react, Yui started, her face a portrait of disbelief. "How irresponsible can you be, Mr. Stroe? It would be a disaster if we missed this flight."

Adam, in return, flashed her a cheeky smile. "Why, Miss Ishida, is this the last flight to Málaga?"

Yui held back an exasperated reply, her professionalism kicking in. Instead, she watched in silent reproach as Adam smoothly passed his documents to the announcer. The process was quick and filled with smiles from the previously irritated staff, and then they were directed towards the connecting corridor. The other passengers cast frowning glances at the pair as they navigated the narrow aisle to their seats.

The few video calls she managed to catch him on had done little to prepare her for the full experience that was Adam Stroe. For one, she was not aware he would be this tall. Or this tan. Or this attractive.

The overhead compartment was packed, but with those well-defined arms and a touch of engineering precision, he rearranged everything until her bag fit.

"Not flying business, Miss Ishida?" Adam asked, immediately forcing her to reassess the attractive angle. She was a firm believer in the brains-over-looks theory. Although, theoretically, the man did invent the robot they were going to sell that week.  So, personality-over-brains-and-looks. And it was all the same, regardless. Yui was there to prove herself professionally and nothing could distract her. 

"No, I don't care for such ostentatious displays on short-haul flights," Yui replied briskly, not willing to carry the conversation. She slid into her window seat, noticing with some degree of exasperation that an old lady on the other side of the aisle was openly ogling her companion.Adam noticed as well, and proceeded to ask the lady if he could help with her luggage. She could tell he thought he could get away with murder if he just flashed that ridiculously attractive smile. Well, he did not know Yuiko Ishida.

"Fasten your seatbelt," she demanded when he finally joined her and sat down. The flight attendant began her pre-flight presentation.

Instead of humoring her as a sign of collaboration, Adam preferred to check his phone, furrowing his brow as he typed out a quick text message, ignoring the illuminated seatbelt sign. A flight attendant promptly approached him.

"You must fasten your seatbelt, sir. If you don't know how, I can assist you," the smiling woman offered.

"Yes, you can assist me, but not with the seatbelt," Adam replied, leaning towards the flight attendant. "I don't really like flights. An early service with something strong could really help."

"Normally, we serve the spirits mid-flight, but I will see what I can do," the flight attendant whispered, making Yui want to roll her eyes at how easily persuaded the woman was.

Now he listened and fastened his seatbelt. 

The plane started moving backwards, getting situated for the runway, and when she looked away from the window, Yui found Mr. Stroe looking straight at her, as if waiting for something. She bristled instantly, already on edge from their near miss at the gates. "Do you take this for a joke?" Her voice was a harsh whisper, keeping their conversation private. But her reprimand was abruptly interrupted by the very same flight attendant, who delivered two small bottles of whiskey to Adam.

"Our secret," he whispered, accepting them, and rewarded the attendant with a wink that seemed to make her commercial smile brighter as she straightened up into her position for takeoff.

"Are you serious? You're going to drink during the flight?" Yui was appalled.

"No. Not during the flight," he replied, uncapping the first bottle and downing it in one gulp. "Gonna drink them right now. Not a fan of takeoffs. Or landings. Or, hell, even cruising altitude."

The plane quivered as it accelerated for takeoff. A baby's wail echoed from the back seats, and Yui felt a strong kick land against her seat. She closed her eyes, breathed in through her nose, and let it out softly between her lips. Sure, things had started wrong by every measurable standard, but that didn't mean she couldn't turn them around.

"We have an almost four-hour flight; I suggest we start going over our presentation once in the air."

No reply.

"Mister Stroe," she called out, her tone considerably less pleasant than she intended.

"No," was all he said, and she noticed his knuckles turn white as he gripped the armrests. The captain's voice crackled indistinctly over the loudspeaker, and with the roar of the engines, they took to the air.

"I would appreciate it if you could go over the presentation with me one more time," she tried again, but Adam remained unresponsive. He opened the second bottle and swiftly downed it. His fingers gradually unclenched.

"It's your presentation, not mine. I'm sure you know it by heart."

"Yes, I know my presentation. Do you know yours, Mister Stroe?"

She noticed him inhale the contents of the second bottle and had to fight back the urge to comment. She was in her early twenties, but she made it a point to carry herself as a mature woman. She carried that image of sophisticated maturity into every meeting where someone's eyes slid to her father's name on her badge and then, dismissively, back to her. She had learned to wear it like armor. Which is why she wore pantsuits on a flight. Her image was non-negotiable.

In stark contrast to Yui, her business partner for the next seven days looked like he was about to hit the gym, not fly off to give the presentation that could make or break his career.

"I'm here to fix stuff if it breaks, and to teach others how to fix stuff if they want to buy it and it breaks. I know my job," Adam said.

She noticed how he visibly paled when he tried to look at her. Surely she wasn’t that unpleasant to look at. 

"When does the service start?" he asked, looking back at the aisle.

"About thirty minutes after takeoff," Yui began, then paused as it finally clicked. "Don't tell me you're afraid of flying?" Not so cool now, are we, Mister Stroe? Reaching into the pocket of her blazer, she offered him a piece of bright yellow candy. "Go on, take it."

"Candy? Let me guess, it's vegan, organic, sugar-free, and all profits go to baby pandas?" Adam mocked, his bright smile gone.

"Yes, yes, yes, and no. It's yuzu candy. My father used to give it to me for motion sickness when I was a kid," she responded matter-of-factly. The plane experienced slight turbulence on its way up, and the same baby somewhere at the back started screaming louder.

Startled by the jolts, Adam tensed up. "Oh, fuck it," he muttered, before grabbing the candy with a certain urgency he couldn't hide. He popped it into his mouth and started crunching down on it.

"Good," Yui concluded in her most professional tone. "Now that the crisis is averted and you can focus, tell me what might go wrong with the machine during the presentation."

"I'm sure you've read all your little reports and had my team run all the simulations. Waste of time, by the way. You ruined their weekend for nothing. They're good at what they do, they don't need a babysitter with a clipboard breathing down their necks," he retorted dismissively.

"Excuse me?"

Indeed, she was known for being a strict professional, perhaps overly so. She was Ishida Tech's future, after all. She couldn't exactly take things lightly. "And why were you not present?"

"Because what you do is pointless and a waste of time. Stressed people don't work better," he shrugged.

"I would advise you to rethink and rephrase your words. I won't allow you to insult me and my work. I don't care how much my father tolerates you."

"And what exactly happens if you don't allow it? What are you going to do? Send me an avalanche of emails?"

"You are so rude!" Yui exclaimed, her voice escalating, her cheeks flushing red with indignation. She really did try to keep it professional, but her companion seemed to have no regard for her efforts. "I can't comprehend what your problem is or what my father sees in you. If it were up to me, I'd fire you instantly without giving it a second thought."

"You must have little trust in your father," Adam replied, his tone still clipped as slight turbulence made the empty mini whiskey bottle vibrate on the table.

Yui didn’t even try to hide how insulted she felt. "I will have you know I have nothing but the utmost respect and absolute trust in my father."

"Then you might want to respect his choice of engineer."

"I am not commenting on your skills, I am commenting on your character. You, Mister Stroe, have absolutely zero decorum," she retorted dramatically, putting on her earphones and turning her attention back to her tablet.

The last thing she heard from Adam Stroe was, "Your yuzu candy doesn't do shit."