“I don’t hate you,” she corrects him. “I just—you’re—”
“What, Kai, what am I?”
Kai.We have a name. It’s beautiful—suits her well, but I prefer No for now.
“A manwhore,” she spits out.
“What makes me a manwhore?” Noa fights back.
“Please. We both know the answer to that. Don’t embarrass yourself.”
Noa shoos Kai off with a laugh and crosses his arms over his white polo. “Want to go over the job deets?”
“Definitely,” I tell him, checking for Aya. She’s still busy dolphin diving.
“Let’s head over to the bar, and I’ll introduce you to my girl—this lovely woman’s sister.” He nods his head toward Kai with an eye roll. “She works over there.”
“Dude, I’m so happy for you that you met someone. You deserve all the happiness. You gotta give me the deets … how did you do it? Were you all traditional and shit?” I ask him.
“Oh you two must not be friends on Instagram,” Kai interrupts. “It’s the classy way to announce your engagement. You wouldn’t feel the need to ask any questions if you saw their ‘story.’”
Noa and I are both silent for a moment. I take it Kai does not approve of this engagement, so that’s not sounding so great. Maybe she’s jealous. Chicks are like that. They’re either jealous or—yeah I have nothing else.
“Well, let’s go. I want to meet her. I just got to get my daughter out of the pool before we head over there. Give me a minute.” I’ve been trying to digest Noa’s engagement news since he called me last week. The fact that Noa, of all guys, is getting hitched makes me scratch my head. He’s been a lady’s man for as long as I’ve known him and I never imagined him settling down. He likes to fly by the seat of his pants and move at a hundred miles per hour. In the few times we talked over the last month, he didn’t mention her at all. I wonder how quickly this all came together. In any case, she must be something else.
“Right! I was wondering where the baby was,” Noa says.
Baby. I snicker. Time flies, and since Noa’s not a parent, I can understand how might not register how much time has passed since he’s seen Aya until he sees how big she is now.
“Aya,” I shout as I move toward the end of the pool. “You gotta get out for a few, baby. I have to talk to someone.”
“Dad! I can stay here. I’m fine.”
“No, Aya. You know the rules. Come on out. You can go back in when I’m done talking to Mr. Noa.”
She huffs and dramatically trudges up the pool steps where I meet her with a towel. “I’ll get you a smoothie, okay?”
“Fine,” she says with a little smile. “Thank you.”
“Holy shitballs,” Noa barks. “That’s Aya?”
Aya grabs the towel I’m holding around her and storms over to Noa, jetting her hand out to him. “Hi, I’m Aya. I don’t think we’ve met, but you shouldn’t swear in front of kids. It’s rude.”
“Aya,” I snap. “Don’t you be rude. You understand me? Apologize to Mr. Noa.”
“No, it’s okay. She’s right,” Noa says. He kneels in front of Aya and shakes her hand. “I apologize for swearing. I won’t do it again. I just can’t believe how big you’ve gotten since I’ve seen you last.”
“We know each other?” Aya continues.
“Well, I haven’t seen you since you were about this big,” Noa says, holding his hand just a couple feet off the ground.
Aya takes his hand and lifts it up to her current height. “And now I’m this big, so don’t forget that for the next time I see you.”
Noa laughs. “Holy—I mean, geez, man, she’s all you,” he says to me.
“Yup, that she is.”
We walk over to the bar area where an almost mirroring look-alike to Kai awaits, waving her heart out toward us. I’ll assume that’s Noa’s fiancée.
