“It was about to get real ghetto up in paradise if that ho ain’t get out yo’ face,” Tiana muttered, sliding her earrings back in as we walked up. “I was one second away from catching a case on this beach.”
A laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it.
“Y’all good?” Malik asked, eyes bouncing between us and the direction Simone stormed off.
“We’re great.” Hasheem nodded as he helped me lower onto the blanket.
“Good,” Tiana and Malik said in unison. We all settled onto the blankets. Tiana and Malik on one side, me and Hasheem on the other. A few of the Duality hosts stepped into the center of the heart with mics in their hands, and I quickly noticed that Simone was missing.Good. Hopefully, I didn’t have to see her ass for the rest of the trip.
“Alright, beautiful people,” the staff member called, getting everyone’s attention. “First, thank you again for trusting us with your Valentine’s Day, your stories, and your love. We have gotten such amazing footage this weekend.” A few couples clapped and cheered. “We’ve got one last surprise for you before we close out,” she went on. “A little word from our founders, Kellon and Phileigh Barnes.”
They dimmed the lights around the circle and the portable screen lit up with Kellon and Phileigh. Everyone smiled as they came onto the screen laughing and giving advice about communication and love. It should have had me on cloud nine. Instead, I was in a weird head space from that run in with Simone.
“You good?” Hasheem leaned closer, sensing my mood.
“I’m settling,” I whispered, eyes pinned to the screen. “Trying not to let Simone get to me.”
“Don’t worry about her. If she try anything, she’ll regret it.” He pulled me into his side, and I tried to focus on the screen.Heavy ontried. But on the other side of the circle, two women were whispering about me. I could hear them loud and clear.
“That’s him, right?” One of them said. “The one who was in the room with that staff girl?”
“Girl, yes. And she still sitting next to him? Couldn’t be me.”
“Girl, shh. They can hear you.”
I kept my eyes on the screen and took a slow sip, but I angled my head just enough to catch them in my peripheral to let them see I’d heard every word. The video blurred a little and the Duality logo filled the screen. The video ended, and the host came back on the mic.
“Weren’t they amazing?” She beamed. “Okay, one last thing before we let y’all loose on the dance floor. We thought it would be fun to end with a quick little game of Never Have I Ever. Y’all know we like games.” A couple of the husbands groaned, and somebody laughed in response. “Nothing too wild,” she promised. “Just honesty and a little liquid courage to wrap up your last night in Zanzibar. We’ll go around the circle. You say your ‘never have I ever,’ and anybody it applies to takes a sip.”
Staff immediately started passing little paper cups around and set a big bottle of tequila on every couple’s blanket. It was on brand for this trip for there to be no shortage of alcohol. I took the bottle and poured myself a drink, ready for the chance to take it to the head. The first few couples started very light.
“Never have I ever fallen asleep mid-argument.”
“Never have I ever slid in my partner’s DMs first.”
“Never have I ever lied about liking a gift.”
People were laughing, drinking, kissing, and leaning into each other like they didn’t have a care in the world. And for the first time on this trip, Hasheem and I matched the vibe. I was cozy between his legs with his arm draped around me.Every now and then,he dipped his head and whispered some slick little comment in my ear that had me snorting into my cup.From the outside, nobody watching would guess we’d only made it official yesterday.
The mic kept moving around the circle, couples lifting their cups, groaning, and laughing at all the confessions as the tequila made its rounds. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Simone posted up nearone of the cameras,tablet in hand. She leaned in close to anotherDualitystaffer and whispered something that had both of their eyes shooting in my direction. My stomach flipped, and I blew out a deep breath. I’d let Simone spin her version of me and Hasheem for damn near a year now. I was not about to let her control the narrative of this trip too.
By the time the mic finally landed in my hands, my chest was tight, butmy mind was madeup. I lifted my cup and my truth fell out.
“Never have I ever,” I started, my voice shaking, “taken a couples’ brand trip despite not having a man, begged my best friend to pretend to be my boyfriend so I wouldn’t lose the opportunity. . . and then actually fell in love with him on said trip, only for me to catch him coming out of his half-naked ex-fiancée’s room while the sprinklers were going off.”
A few people let out an uncomfortable laugh under their breath, then realized I was dead ass serious.
“Never have I ever,” I went on, “found out that he was actually in her room because he’d just found out that same ex didn’t call off their engagement because she was uncomfortable with our friendship like she told everybody, even though I was the one that set them up . . . but because she’s a cheater, cheater pumpkin eater who slept with his brother and lied on me to make herself feel better.” I blew out a deep breath before continuing. “And never have I ever had to look that same best friend in the face and decide I’m done letting other people’s lies write our story, even if loving him in public scares the hell out of me.”Silence. All I could hear was the sound of the waves. Itipped my cup back, proud of myself, and drank. No one else moved.
“Damn, girl,” a woman across from us said softly. “That was real specific.”
A hysterical little laugh fell from my throat.
“Whew,” the host said after a beat, trying to sound upbeat and landing somewhere near rattled. “Thank you for your honesty, Harlowe. That was . . . real.”
I turned my head toward Simone and the Duality team. Their cameras were still pointed at us, red lights blinking.
“You were so pressed to tell my business,” I said, locking eyes with Simone. “Consider it told. If you don’t want to use our footage after this, that’s fine with me. No hard feelings. Y’all don’t have to worry about me coming to y’all launch party.” A couple of people gasped. Someone choked on their drink. “Thank you for the trip. Zanzibar was beautiful.”
