The elevator dinged and Abby grumbled. “Of course you do.”
They trudged down the hall and Abby shoved her hands in her damp pockets, unsurprised by the revelation, despite holding out hope. Of course, Kate had found someone. She was gorgeous and brilliant, worthy of groveling from the highest suitor. It didn’t sting any less, popping the excited bubble in her chest.
“You going to be okay?” Abby asked when they reached Kate’s room.
“Yeah,” she said as she opened the door. Kate narrowed her brow. “You’re not coming in?”
“I got my own room,” Abby said. “I thought it might be for the best. We’re not in college anymore, you know?”
“Right.”
“Sleep well.” She turned away quickly, like ripping off a bandage.
“Abby.” Kate stopped her and sighed. “I missed you too.”
Abby lifted a faint, toothless smile and Kate looked away.
“Let’s just try to get through this. For Mick.”
“For Mick.” Abby nodded. She couldn’t stop her gaze from flicking to Kate’s mouth, from daring to drag lower. Kate sucked in a breath, stepped into the room, and slammed the door in her face.
Abby threw her head back and exhaled. She knew she should leave for her room, but rested her forehead on the door instead. She swore she heard a rustle on the other side. After a minute she retreated, still closer to home than she’d been in five years.
Kate woke to a hammer splitting nails between her eyes and Jill’s unbearable, saccharine babbling.
“Here, say hi to Aunt Kate.” Jill, reeking of garbage and glowing three shades of green, extended the phone to her.
Kate hissed no, but exuded the closest to chipper she could muster when the receiver hit her ear. “Hi, Junie,” she said, while Jill scampered to the bathroom and gagged.
“Tell the kid to take a nap,” T.K. groaned.
Kate pinched the bridge of her nose as Juniper prattled on, the night’s memories worsening her nausea. She couldn’t recount the finer details, but the fury still tickled her skin as if it branded her. She murmured along a few more minutes before she said goodbye to Juniper, nearly puked in a cold shower, and escaped their putrid room for an elixir of coffee, aspirin, and whatever resembled fresh air.
She ended up at the pool, which people swarmed as if everyone hadn’t just been out hours ago, beach balls bouncing, a DJ scratching records and judging a dance contest. Kate wasn’t looking for Abby, but of course she found her. They always found each other.
She reclined on a lounge chair, smoking a cigarette, coffee in hand while she chatted with two women in bikinis. Kate rolled her eyes. Abby wore a sports bra and tiny shorts, thighs chiseled like a Greek sculpture, biceps bulging larger than in college, her skin toasted as if accustomed to tropical climates. Kate considered retreating when Abby noticed her. Her dimples popped in the distance.
“Don’t do it.” Kate hissed at her feet, but they marched against her will.
Being hungover in front of her shirtless, unfairly-growing-more-attractive-with-age ex would’ve sufficiently mortified Kate, but the yellow-bikinied blonde and her red-bikinied friend, bubbly and large chested, nearly did her in. As if to double down on seductiveness, Abby and her new friends weren’t speaking English.
Kate plopped onto the open lounge chair beside her. She didn’t bother to say hello as the girls giggled and left Abby with a few last unknowable words.
Abby swiveled to Kate the second they turned their backs. “Good morning.”
Kate rubbed her temple. “Am I that hungover, or were you speaking Italian?”
“Sì. Solo per te, il mio cuore.” Abby smirked. “I played a few seasons in Milan.”
“You’re infuriating.” Kate drank her coffee, while her shifting gazeconveniently hid behind sunglasses. She scanned Abby’s stomach, the skin she used to kiss, then lower, and cleared her throat. “You should stop smoking. I hate that you still do it.”
“I know.” Abby squashed the cigarette in an ashtray. Music thundered across the pool while people splashed. Kate didn’t understand how no one else had a hangover. “How’d you sleep?”
“Not great.”
“Does Shupe still do that kicking thing when she gets drunk?”
“Yes.” Kate rubbed at the ache in her shoulder that hadn’t stopped in five years.
