I wanted to step forward. I wanted to be brave. I wanted to tell her what was in my soul. But I was scared I would be too much. That she wouldn’t understand my feelings. And then what? Where would that leave us. The silence was better than answers I didn’t want to hear.
“Nothing. You know what? If you don’t want to talk about it, I don’t need to talk about it. Let’s go down for breakfast.”
“I told you, I’ll be ready in a couple of minutes,” she says, her tone sharp. “Let me put the fruit down on the table and get it out of the plastic bag and let me brush my teeth, and then we can go down for breakfast. Or why don’t you just go by yourself and I’ll meet you down there? I have to take photos anyway, and that will just make it easier so you don’t have to wait around for me.”
“Hey, there’s no need to get an attitude.” I don’t bother arguing with her about what information she had and hadn’t given me. I didn’t want to rile her up, even more.
“I don’t have an attitude, Luke.” She lets out an audible sigh. “Okay, maybe I have a bit of an attitude, but I just don’t want you waiting around for me. Everyone knows I’m taking photographs this morning anyway, so they will not expect to see us together.”
“Okay.” I nod slowly. “Do you want to try to find the clue later this afternoon so we can continue the treasure hunt?”
“Yeah, we can do that.” She turns around, and I watch her pull out mangoes, pineapples, oranges, lemons, and apples from the bag and place them on the table.
“Well, you really had a fruit kick,” I say, walking up and picking up an orange.
“I guess so.” She smiles at me and runs her fingers through her hair. Her eyes look sad for a few moments, and then she gazes at the table and starts laughing. “This cost me forty-five dollars.”
“Wowser,” I say, laughing. “We’re not even here that long.”
“I know. So, I guess we have to eat a lot of fruit, or we have to have a party in the hotel room.”
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Is that your way of telling me you want to have an orgy?” I hope my light teasing will soften the mood. Jokes have always been a way for us to move on from awkwardness. Most probably not the most healthy way of us dealing with shit, but it worked for us. At least it had in the past.
“No. That’s not my way of telling you I want to have an orgy.” Hertone is still quite sharp, but she’s smiling now, and I can tell that she’s coming around.
She can never stay mad at me for long, and that’s one reason why I love her. Even when she’s angry at me, she gets over it pretty quickly.
“Mia, I think when all this is said and done, we should think about making plans to do something fun together that’s got nothing to do with the wedding.” I bring up the subject lightly, so that it doesn’t sound like our entire relationship weighs on her answer.
“Okay, sure,” she says. “If that’s what you want to do.” Her words are easy and that’s all I need to feel relaxed. We had a lot of shit to talk out, but right now we were okay.
“I do. I am going to head downstairs,” I say, and I pause as a clause in one of the work contracts comes to mind. I need to have the attorneys check out a statute and I know that it will be on my mind until I email them.
“What is it?” she says. “Shoot. Tell me what you’re thinking.” She crosses her arms and gives me a knowing look. She knows me far too well.
“I have to make a quick call.” The words trip out of my mouth of their own volition.
She stares at me for a couple of seconds. There is a subtle disappointment in her eyes, and I don’t know why she looks upset. Does she think I’m going to call Talia or some other woman.
“It’s not like I’m going to be long, Mia. It’s just a quick call about work.” I wait for the understanding to hit her eyes, but she still looks pissed.
“I don’t care. I’ll be taking photos. It’s fine.” She presses her lips together. “Go take your call for work, and I’ll see you down in the restaurant for breakfast.” There’s a coolness that permeates the air, the shift causing a chasm between us that I know can’t close in the time we have available to us right now. Staring at her face makes me think of days when we’d argued and she’d said she was fine, but gave me the silent treatment. There was something about the silent treatment that felt worse than being shouted at or cursed out. The silent treatment was like an ache that couldn’t be soothed.
“Okay.” I nod and then walk out of the hotel room. I don’t want to just leave, but I know for the sake of both of us, I need to.
For some reason, my footsteps feel like lead as I head to the elevator. There is a somberness that I feel in the air, and I don’t know why.Maybe it’s because Mia and I are not connecting how we normally do—how our friendship normally is.
We are always light and funny and laughing, and now it’s complex and complicated. I step into the elevator, and I’m grateful to see it’s empty. I really don’t want to come across anyone from the wedding party, especially not Rex or Talia. When the elevator dings and alerts me to the fact that I’m in the lobby, I step out and decide to walk outside of the hotel to take my phone call.
I call the office and wait for my assistant to update me as I lean back against a large white column. I notice that there are several couples standing there in matching outfits. I notice that one woman notices that I’m looking, and she grins.
“We made the guys wear matching shirts.” She giggles. “They didn’t know it was going to happen.”
“That’s cool. You look like you all could be related,” I say.
“We’re just best friends who came to Coconut Beach to relax, and it’s amazing here,” the girl continues. “I feel like I want to move here.”
“We can’t afford to move to the island,” the man behind her says, and I’m pretty confident that’s her husband or boyfriend, “but it’s just so gorgeous. Imagine being able to watch the beach every day and go to food trucks for delicious food.”
