“Working out pays off, I guess,” I smirked. “Where were the sleeping masks?” I asked, curious. “We thought they might have been in the yoga studio.”Damn you, yoga studio. You’ve ruined my life.
“They were in the meditation room,” she said, like the fact that there was a meditation room was common knowledge.Yogi.
“Where is that?” I asked.
“Right next to the yoga studio, next to the gym.”
Damn, we were so close. We were rightthere. Damn you, yoga studio.
It was decided -- I was never doing yoga again.
I drowned my sorrow in a third cupcake, and waited, not so patiently.
Finally, it was midnight and everyone was giddy. The winning couples were announced, and of course, Ace and I weren’t them. Neither were Leo and Brianna, or Kendra and Alicia. The winners were all kids I didn’t know, except for the girl in my Biology class. She and her partner won first place, and I was really happy for them. They practically toppled over when they held their prize baskets.
A few minutes following the announcements, people started to leave -- yawns, worn expressions, and lots of disappointed faces. Simone was all a flutter when she came back to us. “Okay, I’ve made the arrangements,” she said. “I will need Ace and Leo, and Anna to join me tomorrow morning, as previously planned. We’re heading to Michigan again, first thing in the morning. Six o’clock sharp. We’ll head straight to the Hendersons.”
Oh, damn. Ace and Leo and I, stuck in a small jet together.
I was so not looking forward to this.
I could barely getup the next morning. I pried one eye open to glance at my alarm clock. 5:20 AM. I dragged myself out of bed and begged Alicia to do her thing, and she outright refused. “Deal with it yourself,” she scoffed. She was obviously mad at me -- I had no clue why. I really didn’t have the time or energy to think about it.
I brushed my teeth, and put on my uniform in a complete daze. I cleaned my raccoon eyes off -- I don’t usually wear mascara, but Alicia had insisted. “For the costume,” she’d said, “and I have the perfect red lipstick.” I raked my fingers through my hair, and untangled my braids. My red ribbons had fallen out long ago.
I raced to the front office to meet Simone and the boys. We all hopped in the car without a word -- we’d all seen better days. We had a driver again. I sat in the seat next to Simone, who was tapping away on her phone again.
The guys were at the back, and I didn’t dare turn around. Not even once.
We hopped on the plane. Fresh muffins and scones with jam were waiting for us. “I assume none of you have had breakfast,” Simone said.
“You assume right,” Ace said, and helped himself to a blueberry muffin. He seemed in a much better mood than Leo.
The flight was uneventful, and we made our way to the Hendersons in no time. Jenna welcomed us in. “I’ve just come back from dropping Calvin at the daycare. I’m all yours.”
We sat down at the kitchen table, and Simone explained the situation. I couldn’t sit still -- I was so eager to dart off into the living room, where I could pick up the photo and show them all.
Jenna nodded once or twice. She was very quiet -- there was something ominous about the way she was behaving. She stood, and took a few steps toward the living room. “Come with me.”
I bounced from the chair, eager to see the photo again. But when I sprang to the spot where it sat, it was gone. “It’s gone,” I said. “I swear I saw it. It was here.” The last thing I needed was for Simone to think I had made it all up. I turned to her. “I swear. I’m not lying.”
“No, I know you aren’t, Anna,” Jenna said quietly. “I remember it, too.”
“Well, where is it?” What had they done with the photo?
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s gone.”
I was confused. What had happened to the photo? Had he taken it away?
“I remember her face,” Jenna said. “She was quite an attractive woman. Amazing hair.” She spoke the words in such a solemn, heartbroken way, I knew she was hurt.
I inched slowly towards her. My heart was frantic when I took her hand. She was devastated. Up until then, she’d known there had been someone else in Mason’s life, but she had no clue who she was. Now she knew. And to put a face on that person, a pretty one at that, made it so much more devastating.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
She pulled her hand from mine. “It’s fine. Let’s sit down, and go over this.”
We all took our seats in the living room. Simone started. “Well, we don’t have the photo, so unfortunately, Leo will not be able to identify her,” Simone started, turning to Jenna, “but not all is lost. I assume you know who this woman is.”
