Nikki spat out her champagne, and Willow started laughingso hard I was briefly concerned she was going to drop Nora into a bowl of tortilla chips.
“Anyway,” I went on, “we have since been talking to them about an updated model that doesn’t make so much noise. So, you know, in the end, it was useful market research.”
Emma shook her head, red hair swishing like a shampoo commercial. “Sybil, for real, youhaveto get theLovedByproducers to do a show about your office. It’s such a good idea.”
I sip my drink. “Ha. I would definitely watch that, if it wasn’t, like, mylife.”
“But it sounds like things are going… okay? Generally, I mean,” Emma said.
“Yeah, everything’s great!” I assured her. But from the way she was looking at me, it seemed like she didn’t quite believe me. I turned to the other girls, and they, too, had quieted.
“You should tell her,” Nikki said to Emma. She then exchanged a glance with Willow, who in turn raised an eyebrow at Emma. None of them said a word.
“Tell me what?” I asked. “You guys, what is this, some kind of intervention?” I gave an awkward laugh.
“No!” Nikki exclaimed at the same time Emma said, “Not at all!” and Willow, more quietly, said, “Well, sort of.”
Finally, Emma came out with it. “Sybil, tomorrow, it will have been exactly one year.”
The words hung in the air like she’d uttered a curse.
I knew what she was talking about, of course. I’d had the date mentally circled on my calendar for weeks now. On June 18, it would be exactly one year since my wedding.
Well—myalmostwedding.
My friends would be the first to tell you that my life is fullof epic, sometimes charming and sometimes horrifically mortifying catastrophes, but that one really took the (three-tiered, strawberry bagatelle with Bavarian cream) cake.
I swallowed, trying to push down the lump in my throat that bobbed up every time I thought about what happened with Jamie. My stupidRunaway Brideroutine. His callous coldness when I returned, finally ready to bare my soul to him. Our fight at the altar. The shocked look on all the guests’ faces. The chaotic, messy tears. My girls helping me stuff my gown into the back seat of an Uber as I fled the Malibu wedding venue. I’ve tried to tell myself that things falling apart between us was inevitable. That a failed engagement is better than a failed marriage. But that doesn’t mean remembering that day doesn’t still tear my heart to shreds. Especially since it wasn’t even my first broken engagement but mythird. Two had always just seemed like bad luck, but three? It was starting to seem like some sort of jinx.
“We just want you to be happy, Sybil,” Nikki said. “And it feels like you haven’t quite been the same since… since then.”
In that moment, it suddenly became clear to me why the girls had all converged upon LA for this “impromptu, early first birthday” celebration. I was simultaneously annoyed that Emma and Willow had lied to me about “just happening to be in town” and immensely grateful that they all wanted to be here with me on the anniversary.
Emma tucked her hair behind her ear. “Also, I got an alert that those refund vouchers for the hotel and flights are going to expire at the end of June if you don’t book something.” She glanced at Nikki and then back at me. “We really think you should use them and take a trip.”
A trip.The idea wasn’t unappealing. I’d been working likea dog for months, developing a new Flowies social marketing campaign and training the Spring interns. I hadn’t even made it home to Dallas for Easter, much to my mother’s disappointment. Spending a week lying on a beach—okay, adifferentbeach than the ones that surrounded me on the west side of LA—sounded pretty great, actually. Except…
“Wait, are you saying I should go to Halia Falls—as in, myhoneymoon destination—alone? Now? After everything?”
“Totally!” Nikki nodded emphatically. “It would be such a waste not to.”
“I would love to go with you, Sybs, but, you know—baby.” Willow shrugged, bouncing a cooing Nora on her hip.
“And I think Mrs. Perry might literally murder me if I don’t get her kitchen remodel done on time,” Emma said with a cringe.
“Niks?” I turned back to her with desperation in my eyes.
“My filming schedule is unpredictable,” she said apologetically, before plastering on a megawatt smile honed from many years on the pageant circuit. “But I think this could be so good for you, Sybs! You love to travel, and it’s been ages since you got out of town. I actually started looking, and it seems like the resort has availability the first week of July—”
“That’s in two weeks!” I protested. “I know my office is a little less formal than some, but I still have to get approval if I’m going to take vacation.”
“Maybe it could be a working trip!” Nikki said.
Emma smiled encouragingly. “Yeah, Sybs, you do content creation—can’t you do that from anywhere? If you’re going to be working, you might as well be working from Hawaii.”
I felt a prickle of defensiveness. It’s one thing to admit toyourself that your life hasn’t been that great lately. It’s another to have that fact unceremoniously thrown in your face by your best friends. “Why are you guys doing this? Do I really seem so depressed that you needed to stage a coup to get me on vacation?”
Once again, they all responded at the same time.
