Waking up in our hotel bed this morning was pure bliss. Leah let me sleep in and didn’t try to throw me out in search of our next adventure.
It’s probably because we have no money.
Gah.Yesterday wasn’t a dream.
You know that moment, the morning after a horrible event, when you wake up and for a split second you wonder if everything that happened the day before was all just a terrible dream? Well, that was me ten seconds ago.
Now, I’m slamming my face into the pillow at the realization that I dropped my purse into the Mediterranean.
I roll over and let my arms splay out on the bed, taking in our current predicament. Our passports will be delivered sometime today, so Leah and I will be able to return home from our honeymoon, or sisters sabbatical, or whatever you want to call this. Leah was able to FaceTime with Adam using her iPad so her knight in shining armor is taking care of wiring us cash. How that is getting to us, I have no idea.
Last night wasn’t a complete bust. Since our hotel room was already associated with a credit card, we ordered room service and a bottle of wine. The crazy thing was, while I was expecting Leah to ream into me for losing our things, she didn’t. It’s like she’s afraid I’m going to break. Instead, she went on and on about how we fell in the water and she filled me in on all the details I missed.
Apparently, when I let go of Leah’s hand, I fell backward and smacked my head on the small wooden boat we were supposed to board. My falling caused Leah, who was already leaning over to try to catch me, to fall over too. She said she was back on our boat rather quickly, and when she turned around to help me out, I wasn’t there.
Her face went so pale as she told the story I had to reach over and grab her hand. She said she started screaming that her sister was drowning and no one did anything. She was just about to jump in the water herself when a man, Devon, came up for air, with me in tow, tugging me back to a boat that was away from her.
Leah didn’t even see Devon dive into the water. She said he must have done it as soon as I fell in. That also means he was under the water for a long time looking for me.
I remember hitting my head. Or shall I say, I remember the pain. First, the pain was in my hand from grabbing on to Leah. Then I felt like I was kicked in the cranium.
The water was murky so I didn’t know if I was blacking out or just having a hard time seeing through the haze. When Devon put his arms around me, I was floating lifelessly. He made it seem so easy, the way he grabbed me and lifted me up and out of that water. That breath of air I took, breaking the surface, was long, deep and so desperately needed. I must have been on some adrenalin rush because, until then, I didn’t even know I couldn’t breathe.
Leah kept on telling me I was the strongest person she ever met. In return, I kept on drinking.
Luckily, today’s hangover is nonexistent, thanks to Leah letting me sleep it off.
I lift myself up and look around the room. The curtains to the glass door are pushed open. Leah must have gone out for a walk. Looking at the space at the foot of the door I see Leah’s shoes she wore yesterday and the slippers I wore home. Shoeless Emma chose to wear them instead of hobbling on one Top-Sider.
Shame. I loved those shoes.
Leah is still not back when I exit the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing a pair of navy shorts and a red tank top. I pull my hair back in a ponytail and am sliding on a pair of flip-flops when she comes back into the room.
“Good, you’re dressed!” she says, wearing a denim shirtdress, holding a newspaper and a coffee cup in her hands. “I went down for breakfast and picked this up for you.”
I take the coffee and paper from her and take a sip. “Thank you. At least we know we can have three squares here at the hotel if the money doesn’t come through in time.”
“It’s about five in the morning, Ohio time, so I don’t expect to hear from Adam until this evening.”
I pinch my mouth to the side of my face. “Looks like there’s not much we can do but walk around.”
“Oh, to the contrary my dear sister.” She says, walking over the mirror, “We’re finishing our boat tour today.”
“How?” I ask into my coffee cup.
“Devon sent a note to the hotel this morning. They gave it to me when I was in the lobby. We’re expected at the marina at noon.” Checking her makeup, she applies some fresh lip gloss.
I point the newspaper at her like it’s a sword. “Absolutely not.”
Her shoulders fall and she turns to me with her head tilted to the side. “And why is that?”
“Seriously? I made a huge fool out of myself. He was pissed yesterday and, if you ask me, we have taken way too much from the man already. Come to think of it, isn’t it a little creepy that he did all these things for us? I mean, what does he want in return? He wants something in return, Leah. I bet he’s expecting something and I, my friend, am not giving it to him.” I cross my arms in front of my body, careful not to drop my coffee cup.
She looks back at me; her body hasn’t moved since I started my little rant. Pale blue eyes narrow at me as she stands there quietly, which is, as you know, so not like Leah.
She waits a minute and then straightens her body and lays into me in a calm and very controlled voice. “Do you want to talk seriously, Emma? The man dove off a boat to dive down, God knows how far, to save you from drowning. He also went out of his way to use a personal contact to get us passports. Passports! He was an absolute gentleman to us on that boat. In fact, he wouldn’t even enter the room.”
She noticed that, too, huh?
