17. Saturday
SATURDAY
She woke up in the morning to an alarm with Ren’s hand lightly resting against her cheek. He stirred when she tried to get up and pulled her back into the warmth of his arms, and they had slow, sleepy sex before she finally got out of bed in time for breakfast.
Ren opted to sleep in for the last hour before he had to pack and check out.
“We are telling everyone in Toronto that they need to get their picture taken by you,” Selassie announced as she and Rita stopped by Sarah’s breakfast table. “Once that photo goes on my wall, you are getting calls from all my book club friends.”
“I hope so,” Sarah said.
“You should join our book club,” Rita agreed. “We have a very strict policy where every month we go back and forth between something literary and intelligent and something fun and trashy.”
“That sounds amazing, actually. Send me an invitation.” Sarah felt touched that they actually considered her a friend. She needed more of those.
The Dangols came by after Rita and Selassie left and gave her a quick thank you.
“We will see you at another one of these workshops,” Tanjul said.
“Yes. We are coming back. Once Tanjul recovers from the lack of sleep. He is getting old. I am still young, but he can’t handle this very often.”
Tanjul smiled as if this was a well-worn joke between them.
She saw Kyle stepping out of his room with his gear as she was returning to her room to pack. “Flying out soon,” he said. “At this point, my bedtime is 11 a.m., so it’s easier for me to just stay awake until I get home.”
“Please take a nap if you need one. I don’t want you landing in the middle of the Atlantic.”
“My mind is zeroed in on the now,” he said decisively. “It helps that I’ve gone entirely off caffeine. I don’t have that crutch anymore and it sharpens my thinking.”
“Maybe I’ll try that sometime,” she said, thinking that it sounded dreadful.
“Maybe,” he said with a smile, “is my least favorite word.” He gave her a pointed look. “And maybe you, me, and Ren should get dinner sometime,” he added, “since apparently neither of you bothered to tell me that he’s in love with you.”
She looked down, embarrassed. “I didn’t know he was.”
Kyle nodded. “He’s so lucky with women,” he said.
“I hate that son of a bitch sometimes. But he’s probably my best friend, so…
” Kyle shrugged, smiled quickly and then turned and left.
She watched him go, wondering what it would be like to be that successful and still need to turn everything into a competition…
whether maybe that was what made him so successful.
She returned to the hotel room to pack up next to Ren, who was up but looking groggy; they would be on the same flight together to Toronto.
“Jandro is meeting me in Toronto,” he told her. “He and Paola are flying up today and will meet me at the airport. So I would love to spend time with you while I’m there, but I’m going to be taking the boy to visit some universities and whatever else he wants to do.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “We’ll see each other for the next workshop.”
“Galapagos is going to be incredible. But I do have to warn you that Kyle is coming.”
“Oh God.” She laughed. “Think he’ll go to bed at midnight this time?”
“Not a chance. I love the guy,” Ren said. “I just wish I had a tranquilizer gun for him.”
Before they left the hotel room, she kissed him one more time, just because she could.
She was seated far from him on the plane because of her last-minute flight change. It was just as well, Sarah realized. He fell fast asleep as soon as he was in his seat. Their time together was ending. And she wouldn’t see Ren for weeks.
But he loved her.
He loved her.
Ren, of all people.
When they got off the plane in Toronto, Sarah saw that Paola and a teenaged Jandro were already standing to one side of the luggage area waiting for Ren.
It was not the circumstance in which Sarah would have wished to run into Paola again: Sarah was tired and disheveled from lack of sleep and was hauling an awkward amount of gear and a sleeping bag.
She waved at Ren and then prepared to walk away, leaving him to greet his ex-wife and son. Then she heard Paola’s voice.
“Sarah, right?”
“Hi Paola,” she said with a hint of embarrassment. She walked over. “Ren asked me to help out with this one.”
“I’m sure,” Paola said pointedly.
Ren walked up and kissed Paola on the cheek. “Hey,” he said. “Thanks for bringing me the boy.”
“I’m going to leave him with you while I visit some friends,” Paola said crisply. “My flight home leaves tomorrow morning and I’m staying with Eugenia. Jandro has homework to do for his tutor, so make sure he gets that done in the middle of having fun.”
Sarah took a moment to take in Alejandro. He was an awkward thirteen, his face dotted with acne, tangled dark hair in his eyes. He might grow up to be as gorgeous as his parents, but now he just looked wary and hunched as he stared at the floor.
“This is my friend Sarah,” Ren said to Jandro.
Jandro looked up at her, and Sarah decided not to announce that she’d met him as a baby; that tended to make kids uncomfortable.
“Hey,” Sarah said. “I’m a friend of your dad’s from university.”
“That’s one of the goals for this trip, remember,” Paola said to Jandro. “You’re going to visit some schools. And hopefully that will inspire you to put a little more care into your schoolwork.”
Jandro shrugged and looked down. “Okay.”
“I’ll let you two talk,” Sarah said. “Nice to see you, Paola.”
“No, you stay. I have to get going. Call me if anything comes up.” She gave Jandro a kiss on the cheek and walked briskly away, rolling her wheeled luggage with the authority of someone who knew exactly where she was going.
“She’s been like that nonstop,” Jandro groaned.
“She just wants you to stop procrastinating,” Ren said gently.
“Unlike your dad who stayed up for thirty hours to finish all his papers,” Sarah said with a grin.
Jandro stared at her. “He did what?”
“Sorry,” Sarah said. “I’m not helping. Have fun in Toronto. Nice to meet you, Jandro.”
Ren gave her an affectionate glance. “I’ll call you soon.”
“Take care.” She smiled and left him there with his son.