Chapter 5
“Do you have a reservation?” the hostess at Oregano’s Italian Restaurant asks over the loud music and conversation.
“I’m with Emma. Party of six.”
She points behind her. “They’ve already been seated.”
Oregano’s is packed on Friday nights, but Emma’s uncle is the head chef, so we can always get a table for our standing second-Friday-of-the-month friends’ dinner. These are my ride-or-die girls I’ve known since elementary school. We made it through junior high, high school, and college and managed to still like each other.
When I get to our usual table, I sling the strap of my purse over the last empty chair. “Hello, hello!”
Everyone turns in surprise.
Camila is the first to speak, which isn’t shocking. She’s the lawyer of the group and always has something to say. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be on a plane to New Zealand right now?”
“Yes.” I dramatically drop into my seat. “But I’m not.”
Blair angles forward, her black, chin-length hair swaying as she leans in. “Let me guess. Nate kicked you off.”
“How did you know?” Sarcasm owns my words. “By the way, hi!” I wave back to her. “I haven’t seen you in forever.” Blair has been out of town for work the last three dinners. But that’s typical. She’s pretty hit or miss.
“It has been a long time. I go away for three months, and when I return, your office enemy is still a jerk.”
I laugh. “Are we even surprised?”
“I hate this for you.” Emma’s shoulders sink like she’s as devastated as I am. We can always count on sweet Emma to sympathize with us during our hardships. “You were looking forward to the New Zealand trip so much.”
“Yeah, well, now I get to look forward to Cabo next week.”
“Again? Didn’t you just go to Cabo?” Emma’s cute frown, paired with her red hair, makes her so endearing. She’s definitely the nicest one of our friend group. She’s not shy, but she’s not as outspoken as the rest of us.
“I went to Cabo two months ago, but yes, I’m going there again.” I open the menu in front of me with no intention of deciding what to order until the waiter stands in front of me. Though we all know I’ll get the pizza cookie for dessert.
“How can Nate keep kicking you off trips?” Juliet asks. Her brown hair is slicked on both sides into a sophisticated ponytail. Dangly gold earrings complete the look. “Can’t you file a complaint with your HR department over this? He’s clearly targeting you on purpose.”
“Do you guys even have a human resources department?” Juliet’s boyfriend, Vinny, asks. Vinny’s been allowed to attend our friend dinner every once in a while—basically whenever Juliet throws a fit about it. He grew up with us in Gilbert. He and Juliet have been together since ninth grade, so we’re all pretty used to having him around.
“We don’t have a human resources department,” I say, answering his question. “We have an HR person , but she’s useless, as in she thinks Nate walks on water.”
“Then sue the company for harassment.” Juliet turns to Camila for legal help. “You’d represent Carly, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m a divorce attorney…so no. And that’s not harassment.” Camila swipes at her unruly dark curls, moving them back from her shoulder. “I’m not a fan of Nate, but I’m also not a fan of suing someone for no reason.”
“Well, we’re glad you’re here with us instead of flying to New Zealand.” Emma gives me a quick squeeze.
“Thanks,” I sigh. “Let’s just forget about Nate. What were you guys talking about before I came?”
“Blair was telling us about her trip to Europe,” Emma says.
“Oh, I’m sad I missed that.”
“Don’t be.” Blair shakes her head. “I was swamped with work and don’t have anything exciting to report.”
“I know you’ve told us before,” Camila interjects, “but I still don’t have a clue what you do for a living.”
“It’s very top secret,” Blair says with a teasing smirk. “Actually, it’s just IT consulting stuff. Real boring. Lots of offices and airports. By the way”—she looks right at me—“I saw your sister at the airport the other day.”
“Which sister?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “There are, like, twenty of you guys.”
“Ten, actually, including me.”
“Feels like twenty,” Camila says under her breath.
I ignore the jab, even though it grates a little. I blame it on the long week at work. Jokes about my large family usually don’t bother me. Half the time, I’m the one making them. Growing up, I had to. As the oldest of ten kids, I had to control the narrative about my family before it controlled me.
“What did she look like?” Emma asks.
“All your siblings look the same,” Vinny says. “I can’t tell any of your sisters apart.”
Yes, there’s a Catterson look. Blonde hair, golden skin, blue eyes—basically me over and over again. Six girls and four boys spaced apart every two years, starting with me at twenty-six down to my little sister, who’s eight. We’ve been nicknamed the “Scattersons” because people tend to scatter when they see the blonde tornado coming. We’re pure pandemonium.
“She knew who I was, so I think it was the sister just below us in school,” Blair says.
“Claire,” I guess. “That makes sense if you saw her in an airport. Claire travels a lot for her job.”
“She was nice. Told me to tell you hello since she never sees you.”
Despite living only thirty-five minutes away from my family, I rarely go home.
“Well, we’re both so busy.” My token excuse whenever this subject is brought up. I glance around the restaurant as a way to change the subject. “Has anyone seen the waiter yet?”
“He came by to get our drink orders, but we haven’t heard from him since.” Juliet smiles at me. “But now that you’re here, you can complain so we can get better service.”
Yes, I care that the waiter is MIA. It’s literally his job to check in on us. But part of being chill is not caring and definitely not aggressively controlling the situation.
I shrug, feigning indifference. “Oh, I don’t care. I was just asking for Camila. I don’t want your blood sugar to get too low.”
“Nice try, Carly.” Camila laughs as she takes a sip of water. “You can’t blame this on my type one diabetes. We all know you’re secretly dying inside.”
Unfortunately, I’ve been friends with these ladies long enough that they know the real me. They know me to be opinionated about everything, to be the first to raise my hand to answer a question in class, to clean our entire dorm room when no one else cared, to plan every detail when we travel together, to make Uber reservations after parties, to be the driver whenever we go places, to read the map when we’re lost, to basically be the self-imposed leader of our friend group for the last twenty years.
I didn’t think my natural inclination to be in charge of everything was that big of a turnoff until Isaac pointed it out. His exact words were, “Your personality is too strong. You suck the fun out of everything.” Before that, I thought my assertiveness was a strength. But in one tragic moment, Isaac dumped me and pulled off the blinders. Instantly, I became more self-aware and self-conscious than I’ve ever been.
It’s not like I didn’t know I had a strong personality, but I guess I thought it was endearing or appreciated, like Emma’s sweetness, Camila’s confidence, or Blair’s aggressiveness. But I was wrong. So, the last nine months since the breakup have been about softening my rough edges. Honestly, I don’t even think it’s working.
I shrug again because that seems like the appropriate thing to do if you don’t care about waiters who don’t come check on you. I even add a whimsical smile. “I’m only dying inside because I’m hungry. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t miss ordering, but I’m good to wait. I’m sure he’ll be around soon.” I turn to Emma as a way to deflect. “How did your date with the new teacher at your school go?”
“Oh, he was a nice guy.” She glances quickly at Vinny before dropping her eyes. It’s widely known among Camila, Blair, and me that Emma has an undying crush on Juliet’s boyfriend. Technically, Vinny was Emma’s boyfriend first before he was ever Juliet’s, but that was back in ninth grade. Juliet has had him in a chokehold ever since. “The date was fun, but I don’t think we’ll go out again.”
“You don’t like nice guys?” There’s a glint in Vinny’s eyes that borders flirting.
“I do. I just…” Emma’s words trail off.
Poor girl. She can’t say, ‘ Actually, Vinny , I like nice guys like you .’
“I think it’s best that you don’t go out again.” I come to Emma’s rescue. “You know I have a strong don’t-get-involved-with-someone-at-work policy after everything that happened with Isaac.”
“I have a strong don’t-get-involved-with-men-in-general policy,” Camila adds.
Juliet rolls her eyes. “That’s because every guy you date grosses you out.”
“No, it’s because I see how most marriages end in divorce.” The corner of Camila’s mouth lifts. “ And because every guy I date grosses me out. Did I tell you about the last one that put his finger in my belly button?”
Blair winces. “I’d break his arm if a guy did that to me.”
“Yep, I was wearing a cropped shirt, and he swirled his finger around the inside, thinking it would be cute. I’ve ghosted him ever since.”
“Why do you continue to date men if you have no intention of getting involved or married?” Vinny asks.
“Because dating is fun. Marriage is the problem.”
Juliet playfully covers Vinny’s ears. “Don’t say that in front of him. I want Vinny to pop the question.”
Emma fidgets beside me.
“Sorry for the wait.” The waiter stands above us, holding a tray of drinks.
My phone buzzes in my purse, and I reach for it as drinks get passed around the table. Nate Farnsworth’s name appears across the screen.
“Oh, no,” I mutter, already scooting my chair back. “I need to take this.” I glance at Emma. “Order me a Dr. Pepper.”
I walk toward the exit, trying to find a quieter place to take the call. “Hello?”
“Carly, it’s Nate!”
“I guess this means your flight to New Zealand didn’t crash and burn,” I say as I step outside into the parking lot.
“I’m not in New Zealand. We missed our connecting flight in Fiji, and the only flight to Auckland is in the morning. I need you to find me a hotel.”
The lines on my forehead deepen. “Why can’t you find yourself a hotel?”
“I don’t have service.”
“You’re calling me, so you must have some service.”
“I just got the signal for one second, but I don’t have enough service to look up hotels online. I need you to do it for me.”
Of course he needs me to do it, because he’s helpless without me. I bet he missed the connecting flight out of sheer stupidity.
My weight shifts in frustration. “What time is it there?”
“Like, one-thirty p.m.”
“So, you have plenty of time and daylight to take care of this yourself.”
“I wouldn’t be calling you if I could handle this myself.”
“Can’t you take a taxi to an internet cafe or something?”
“I could, but since this is part of your job as the event coordinator, I called you first.”
“Fine.” I pinch the bridge of my nose as a sign of suffering. “Just give me fifteen minutes to get home in front of my computer. I’m out with friends.”
“I didn’t know you had friends.”
There’s teasing behind his voice, but I ignore it, deciding right then that I’ll find Nate the absolute worst hotel in all of Fiji, and I’m not even going to feel bad about it.