8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
Now
I wake up to warm, bright sunshine hitting my face. Rolling over in bed, I listen to the sound of the ocean lapping against the shore through my open window. A smile plays on my lips, and I bask in utter bliss before opening my eyes.
This bed. This bed is the best bed I’ve ever slept in. Ever. In my entire life. Don’t even get me started on the pillows and the comforter. I bring the bedding up to my nose and breathe in the fresh cotton scent. Heaven. I’ve died and gone to heaven.
I open my eyes and am instantly reminded of the mojito I slammed before I went to bed. My head is pounding. It’s not fair.
When I was in college, I could take shot after shot of God knows what and wake up for an early class the next morning. Now, I have one little mojito and my head feels like it’s getting crushed between two rocks. Man, thirty-one is a bitch.
Water. That’s what I need.
Yikes, I can’t remember if I had any water at all yesterday. I had two Diet Pepsis on the plane, a Diet Pepsi when I got here, and then nothing until the mojito at dinner with Noah … No …Oh, God, No!
Images from last night begin popping into my head. Noah Riley. Noah Riley is here. In this perfect place. In this beautiful hotel. On this amazing island.
I rub my eyes wanting everything to be a figment of my imagination, but the reality of the situation hits me as the very real conversation we had last night replays in my mind.
He lives in New York City…he works for the same company I work for…he’s assigned to the Dumont case…Did he mention anywhere if he’s married or has a girlfriend?
My stomach flips. Woah, no. I do not care about that. Right now, I only care that he’s here ruining my perfect vacation. I need to talk to Jordyn; I need to tell her what’s going on.
I reach over to the nightstand expecting to find my phone, but my hand hits the bare table instead. Shit. Where is it? I look around, studying the disheveled room, trying to puzzle the pieces of the night back together.
I remember I had my phone at dinner in my purse. From where I’m at in bed, I don’t see my purse anywhere, and my heartbeat picks up, hoping I didn’t leave it at the table.
Fumbling out of bed, I desperately try to find it. I walk into the bathroom, not there. I search my suitcase, not there. God, what if I left it there? I put my hands on my hips and spot it hanging on the hook by the front door.
Relief washes over me. Thank you, Past Jane, that is the perfect place to put your purse. I hurry and pull out my phone, check for any missed notifications, then promptly trip on the heels that I carelessly flung when I walked through the door last night. Bad job, Past Jane. That is not the perfect place to put those shoes.
I lay on the ground and stare up at the ceiling. Thoughts of Noah flood my mind. How does he do this? It’s been more than a decade, and somehow he is still able to ruin my life.
I press Jordyn’s contact info, and my fingers drum on the back of my phone in anticipation waiting for her to answer. Thank God she picks up on the second ring.
“Hi! Holy cow, what took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you to call me! How was the meeting? How was Mr. Dumont? Was he nice? Is he funny? I was reading an article about him last night, and it said he can be really funny, which I was so surprised about because rich hot men aren’t usually very funny, ya know? By the way, please tell me he’s as hot in person as he is in pictures…”
I should have thought about what I was going to say to her before I decided to call her.
Jordyn knows my past with Noah, and I’m not entirely sure how she’s going to react when I let her know that it was him who sat across from me at dinner last night instead of Mr. Dumont.
“Hello?” she says.
“Mr. Dumont wasn’t at dinner last night. He got called away to Thailand at the last minute.”
“Wait, what? What does that mean? When do you get to meet him then?”
Continuing to stare up at the ceiling, I pinch the bridge of my nose between my finger and thumb. What am I going to say….
“I’m not sure on an exact date. It’s a ‘his office will call my office type of thing,’” I say, feeling a pit in my stomach.
There’s a brief silence on the other end of the line before Jordyn whispers, “Jane, what’s wrong? You’re not telling me something.” She sounds concerned. Fine, I just need to get it over with.
I scrunch up my face, take a deep breath, then blurt out, “Noah is here.”
“Who?”
“Noah Riley. Is here. In Hawaii.”
“What?!? Why ? What the hell ? Did you talk to him? Did he talk to you?” She speaks fast, sounding as flustered as I feel.
“Oh, we definitely talked,” I say with a groan. “Jordyn, he works for Schwartz & Adler, in our New York office.”
“What? No!”
“Yes! And to make it even worse, he was also assigned to the Dumont account.”
“Shut up right now. I have to sit down. Jane, you’ve got to be kidding me. This isn’t, like, a real thing, right?”
“Oh, J, I so wish I was kidding you right now. The restaurant was gorgeous, my dress was stunning, and everything was just so fucking perfect. Then, I got a call from Mr. Dumont telling me that he wasn’t even in Hawaii and didn’t know when he was going to get back. I was totally bummed thinking that meant I had to leave, but then he shocked me by saying I get to stay here, and I don’t have to do any work for ten days.” All of this pours out of me so fast, I have to take a beat to catch my breath. “I was so freaking happy. I ordered myself a fancy drink and a probably very delicious brownie, and that’s when everything came crumbling down.”
“The brownie?” she says, trying to follow my story.
“No, Jordyn. That’s the exact moment that Noah sat down and shattered all of my hopes and dreams and ruined my entire life. Again.” I softly bang the back of my head on the floor.
“ Fuck. Jane, I’m so sorry. What are you going to do?”
“Not leave my room for the next ten days, order copious amounts of wine and brownies, and probably binge The Office .”
“Oh, stop it! No, you’re not.”
“You’re right. I’ve watched The Office too many times. Maybe it’s time for Seinfeld again.”
“Jane, stop! You cannot let him ruin your vacation.”
“He already did. Just knowing he’s here ruins everything. I came to Hawaii thinking this entire experience was going to be it. My big chance to impress the partners, do a fantastic job, and get a stunning tan at the same time. Then, Mr. Dumont had to go and get himself called away to a far away place, and then the devil spawn himself had to sit down at my table. The literal one person in the entire world who could have made everything worse, waltzed right into the room, and acted like we didn’t even have a past.” I let out a huff. “It just sucks, Jordyn.” Tears begin to form in my eyes. “It just came out of nowhere. I hate it when plans change.” I slowly stand up from the ground and walk over to the balcony.
“I know you do…and I know it’s easier said than done, but you have got to stop letting people affect you so much. Noah doesn’t mean anything to you anymore. He’s just some random guy that needs to get off of your account. Jane, I know this entire situation is stupid. Really, really stupid, but you’ve dealt with stupid before.” She lets out a small laugh. “Just look at it this way, you were told that you basically get to have a ten-day paid vacation,” she says, trying her damnedest to lift my spirits. “Just try to relax for the rest of the time you’re there, and then you can figure out the Noah stuff when you get home. It’s a problem for Later Jane to fix.”
“Later Jane doesn’t want to have to fix it, either,” I say under my breath.
“I heard that, and I know. But Later Jane will have me there to help her,” Jordyn says, happily. “Just please, for the love of all things holy, don’t make any rash decisions while you’re upset. Don’t call the partners, don’t overwork, don’t overthink everything. I promise I’ll be here when you get home to help you figure out what you can say to the partners to get him off the account and totally out of your life forever. Again.”
“Promise?”
“I swear. I’ll be at the airport right as you land. I’ll bring Daniel too. He’s been extra sassy lately because his new employee, Jessica, was apparently caught stealing tons of sugar from the back pantry.”
“Wait, what? She was stealing sugar?” I chuckle.
“Yup. Like over twenty-five pounds a week. It doesn’t make any sense. We were talking about it last night, and we both came to the conclusion that she must be snorting it or something. I mean, she’s always so peppy, ya know? We honestly can’t figure out why a seventeen-year-old girl could possibly need that much sugar.” We both laugh. “Anyway, Daniel has had a major attitude the last few days because of it, so it will be good to get him away from the café. Maybe we can grab dinner on the way home, then we’ll come up with our Noah-attack plan. Deal?”
“Sounds good.” I take a deep, healing breath. “I miss you guys. Thanks for talking to me, J. We will get it all figured out.”
“Of course we will. We always do. For now, just relax. Go down to the beach and get your tan on. If you do happen to see Noah, tell him to go kick rocks.”
After the phone call, I stare more intently out at the vast ocean and let her words sink in. I don’t owe anything to Noah. I don’t even know him anymore, and he doesn’t get to ruin this vacation for me.
I walk over to my suitcase and take out my beach bag. I add my sunglasses, towel, and To Kill a Mockingbird , then proceed to put on the cutest and skimpiest red bikini I own. You know, just in case.