CHAPTER
ONE
OLIVE
Olive kept replayingthe moment in her head.
“We really aren’t right for each other,” the ex-who-shall-not-be-named said to her over the phone yesterday.Yesterday.The night before their big anniversary trip to Italy. And on the phone?!
Olive had wondered why her ex was acting distant lately, not really as excited for their upcoming trip as she was. It was hard enough taking the time off work for three weeks. The least her ex could’ve done was tell her sooner so she could’ve tried to cancel the vacation, or at least tried to look into getting a refund for the trip. But it was looking as if Olive would be stuck here in her apartment, single and alone for the next few weeks instead.
The thought of going back to work filled Olive with a dread even stronger than the idea of this breakup.
She sighed dramatically, scrolling through her phone. She’d barely gotten any sleep, and she was supposed to be on her way to the airport now, but that was the last thing on her mind.
Olive’s doomscrolling ended when a call from her sister flashed across the screen. Oh God, she was going to get anxietypanics every time she saw someone calling her now. The memory of yesterday was too fresh.
“Yes?” Olive asked when she answered, not even bothering with a pleasantry.
“Shouldn’t you be on the way to the airport now?” Bronwyn asked.
“What part of ‘I don’t have a girlfriend to go with anymore’ don’t you understand?”
Bronwyn sighed, and Olive could picture her shaking her head at her. “Just go anyway. You said the vacation was paid for already, right? She already told you she won’t be there, so you may as well take advantage of the shitty situation.”
“That’s ridiculous, I can’t just go by myself,” Olive immediately refused.
“Why not? You’re thirty, aren’t you?”
Olive gasped. “How rude! I’m a sensible twenty-nine. Don’t remind me. I don’t want to be dealing with a quarter-life crisis in addition to heartbreak.”
“First of all, your quarter-life crisis would’ve been five years ago. And are you sure you’re really mourning the breakup and not just the idea of being in a relationship?”
That was entirely too much logic for one sentence, and Olive didn’t bother with a response. When she didn’t answer, Bronwyn continued her tirade.
“Just go. I think you really need this, Olive. Just you and the Italian views, good food and good vibes. You need a vacation from work. Do you really want to spend the next three weeks moping?”
“…No,” she eventually responded. “Exactly. Just go. And let me know when you get on the UP Express. I’ll be stalking your location.”
Ah, Olive had forgotten she could see where she was on the Find My Friends feature of their iPhones.
“Is that how you knew I was still at home?”
“Of course. You know checking in on my Sims is my favourite activity,” Bronwyn said with all the seriousness in the world.
Olive shook her head. “Kids these days.”
Though they were only six years apart in age, Bronwyn definitely made Olive feel every year of it when they talked. It wasn’t that Olive was overly serious or stuffy, but she’d been to climb the corporate ladder at a young age to make sure their family was provided for. It hadn’t really left her with much time for fun or spontaneity, which was probably the real reason she was so averse to going on this trip on her own.
Talking to Bronwyn made her rethink that, though. Maybe she was too stuck up for my own good.
Olive could be fun. Olive was a fun person, at least Natalia had thought so before she unceremoniously dumped her. Maybe the problem was that the fun never lasted, and that reality always kicked in. But on a vacation, reality would be thousands of kilometres away.
“Okay, I have to go. It looks like I have a plane to catch,” Olive said. Bronwyn’s cheering was more than enough to convince her that she was making the right decision.
CHAPTER
TWO
