By the time we made it through customs, Brooke was still beet red, and I was trying not to giggle as she kept smacking my arm. "I can't believe you! That was so embarrassing!"

I pulled her into an embrace, kissing her for good measure while twirling her about. "Brooke. We're in London, and everything is fine! One customs agent getting embarrassed won't matter in the long run!"

"But did you see her face?" she countered.

"I did! I think she wanted to steal you from me!" I told her.

We'd planned the flight well. We both had a single drink in the terminal while we waited on the flight to board, and then took some melatonin to help us sleep for the beginning of the flight. After a nice six hours or so of sleep, my iWatch alarm woke me up to a darkened cabin. Being seated in first class had made it easy for me to wake Brooke up with a few kisses, and we'd eagerly snuck into the lavatory despite the knowing smirk of the flight attendant.

With her short skirt, it was easy for me to brace Brooke against the bulkhead and use my fingers on her with her panties pulled to the side, and we looked into each other's eyes as I brought her to the edge and beyond before dropping to my knees and doing it again with my tongue. And while she was more than pleased with the results, she also ended up with a pair of absolutely drenched panties.

And that is where things got a little weird, because she'd planned ahead and brought another pair in her purse and slipped out of the wet ones and into a dry pair. But she put the wet ones into a Ziplock bag, so her purse didn't end up in bed with us while I licked it because it had the same aroma as her! When we went through customs, we had an overly inquisitive agent who just had to unseal the bag and got a whiff of the intoxicating scent of my girlfriend. Her eyes went wide, as Brooke's face turned into a giant red lollipop in embarrassment.

On the good side, the mutual embarrassment was so bad that she just waved us through at that point, though I did notice she took one more sniff of the bag. I was jealous, I wanted to do that! But we were finally through and into the terminal as I dragged our one suitcase behind us. We were only here for a couple of nights, and Brooke had them in the room already, so it made more sense for us to pack together.

I hadn't seen Carol in over five years, but I'd recognize her anywhere. She was probably 45 or so now, but still looked great. She was dressed comfortably in jeans and a tee shirt, and her auburn hair fell to her shoulders. It used to be a lot shorter, like Brooke's, but it looked good on her.

"Kris! Hey!" she called out as we came into view. I quickly ran over and gave her a hug.

"Carol, thanks for meeting us," I said before gesturing to Brooke. "This is Brooke Adkins, my copywriter and girlfriend."

Brooke held her hand out and Carol used it to pull her into a hug. "Welcome to London. It's great to meet you."

"Thanks! It's nice to meet you too. I'm thrilled to meet someone that knows Kris so I can get secrets!" Brooke said with a wink.

"Oh, I'm sure we can find some juicy stories!" Carol assured her. I didn't think that was too likely. I hoped. Was there anything I didn't remember?

"Perfect! I need to tease her!"

"Come on. Let's go to my parents. I need food, and they want to meet Brooke," I pleaded.

Carol nodded and led the way to her Range Rover, where we loaded the suitcase in the back and then got in. I sat up front with Carol, giving her a rundown of everything happening in the office as we drove. By the end of the story, with Brooke confirming everything I'd said, she was shocked.

"Kris, you should have said something ages ago!" She scolded me.

There wasn't much I could say to that, she was absolutely right. "I know. I guess I just got used to it, and I wanted the company to succeed more than I worried about how much work I was doing. But Brooke motivated me to be better, and I tried to stand up more. That was when they threatened Elliot's job, which is why I asked you to move him under you."

               "I think I might have to come out there for the pitch," Carol stated. "I'd like to see how that office runs, without an announcement that I'm there."

               "Have you ever been out to the San Francisco office?" Brooke wondered.

               "No, which is another reason to visit. We usually have an executive meet up in a New York conference center once a year, but we rarely visit the other office at all. Maybe it's time to change that."

               My parents owned a large three bedroom flat in London. If I were to guess, I'd say it was worth millions just based on the size and the location, but I was never one to ask. They were constantly having parties thanks to their many diplomatic contacts, and I remember many nights as a kid where I would try to fall asleep, but I couldn't because the music was too loud. They were older now, both in their late 50s, and I'm sure the music was softer, but the parties would still happen. But not this weekend. They wanted to spend time with me, and by extension my new girlfriend.

Who wasn't nervous at all. I could be wrong about that.

               "I can't believe I'm meeting your parents!" she whispered harshly as the elevator took us up. "This is such a huge step!"

               "Hey, I already met your whole family, you can do it!"

               "But you hate my family!" she pointed out. "I don't want them to hate me!"

               "Nobody can hate you, you're too adorable," I promised her. "Besides, when I tell them how much I like you, they'll automatically like you."

               "Have they ever hated any of your other girlfriends?" Brooke was chewing her lips nervously now, and I leaned over to kiss them, just to get her to stop.

               "They've never met one of my girlfriends. This will be a first. I'm sure it will go well though."

               "I'm your first?" she yelped in surprise, making a little echo in the elevator.

               "Well, I was your first for something, so you get to be mine now."

               "Oh, awesome. No pressure at all!" she said while rolling her eyes.

               When I rang the doorbell, I heard a squeal from inside, and heard the pitter patter of feet that denoted my mom racing for the door. Seconds later, the door flew open, and my mom pulled me into a big hug.

               "Welcome home honey! It's so nice to see you!" My mom had happy tears in her eyes as she squeezed me tight.

               "Thanks mom. If you can stop squeezing for a minute, I want to introduce you to my girlfriend!"

               She released me immediately, looking over at Brooke with a giant smile. "Well, aren't you a pretty one!" In another second, Brooke was trapped in a hug of her own, but was still giggling happily.

               "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. van Noorel!" Brooke gasped out.

               "Stop that! Call me Maria. If you call me Mrs. van Noorel I'll think I'm at work!"

               "We don't want that!" I agreed. "Is dad home?"

               "Of course. He's finishing up the cooking. I hope you're hungry!"

               "Yes! We're very hungry! The airplane food wasn't enough." I complained.

               "Perfect. We have some halibut and rice that is finishing up"

               We brought the suitcase into the flat, and I heard my father calling me. "Kris, you have to come to me, or the fish will burn!"

               Like my mom, my father was happy to meet Brooke. I guess she had the same effect on all members of my family, she was easy for us to like. We spent the evening enjoying the food and then sitting around and talking. Brooke and I really were famished, and we devoured the fish. We explained what we were trying to do about the Nike pitch to my parents, and they seemed excited for us. It was a nice night. For all her nerves, Brooke got along great with my parents, and I was happy that we'd snuck out of the country for it. I had a feeling her father was probably blowing up her phone, but she didn't have it on, so we didn't care. She'd sent one text before we left telling him that she was going to go work on the Nike campaign for the weekend, but I doubted very much that would satisfy him.

               There was no sense in dealing with her family until we got home. We'd rather get this trip done and deal with the fallout later.  The trip was off to a good start, but we wouldn't know it was successful until the following night.