Chapter Forty-Three
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Sometime later, Kya ran into Ivy in the ladies’ room. Over a shared box of breath mints, they got to talking.
‘What’s up with you?’ Ivy asked. ‘Are you leaving? Are you staying? Are you going to London?’
‘You got it right the first time. I’m leaving soon.’
‘Then Quinn got it wrong,’ Ivy said. ‘Did you tell her?’
‘She knows.’
It wasn’t as if she was blindsiding Quinn. She had to go home at some point. The food rotting away in her refrigerator wasn’t going to clear itself out.
Ivy fluffed her hair in the smoky mirror. ‘It’s the lunar eclipse, forcing us to make tough choices.’
Kya hadn’t taken the lunar eclipse into account, but she didn’t really have a choice. She had to resume her life already in progress.
‘Maybe it’s this club,’ Kya said. ‘It’s strange being back here. Do you know this is where I saw you for the first time? I was in the lounge with Hugo, and you were at the next table, breaking up with Victor.’
‘Oh my God!’ Ivy cried, horrified. ‘That was your first impression of me? I was at my worst. That was a rock-bottom moment.’
‘For me, too,’ Kya admitted. ‘I was sulky, whiny, and all-around miserable. I hate to say it, but your ordeal made me feel a little less tragic.’
‘Misery loves company,’ Ivy said. ‘Look at us now, thriving!’
Kya didn’t know about that. Tonight, she felt as though she were floundering.
The door swung open, and Amanda poked her head in. ‘Come on, ladies. We’re getting out of here.’
‘Where are we going?’ Ivy asked. As the ringleader, those decisions usually went through her.
‘To a bar on the beach, Ocean Drive.’
Ivy made a face. ‘Those bars are tourist traps!’
‘Sam is a tourist,’ Amanda pointed out. ‘She’ll love it. Come on. It’ll be fun.’
Amanda and Kya were also tourists, although they would never admit it.
‘All right. Let’s go,’ Ivy said.
So much for an early night.
The bar on Ocean Drive was loud. They overcharged for watered-down cocktails served in novelty glasses by a team of gorgeous waitresses who flirted shamelessly as they collected their tips. Sam and Amanda loved it, and it was fun. Ivy loosened up. Quinn was greeted like a star. Only, Kya couldn’t get into it. Not even when a few celebrities showed up, and ordered watered-down drinks for everyone to show off. Not even when Sam, Ivy, Amanda, and Quinn hopped onto the bar and started singing along to yet another song Kya had never heard. Since Hugo knew the lead bartender, it wasn’t a problem. The scene was caught on camera, anyway, and likely going viral, generating free publicity for all parties involved.
She wanted to join the fun. She wanted to make memories, like Ivy had ordered them to. But the girls were celebrating, and she was sulking. These were parallel paths that would never cross.
The adjoining space was a quieter game room with a dart-board and a pool table. Kya decided to hide there. She approached a stranger and proposed a round of pool. Although she was readily handing him his ass, she took no joy in it.
‘Okay, you got me,’ her opponent said. ‘You won fair and square.’
He was a guy – a standard bloke, as Quinn would say. He didn’t take too kindly to losing.
‘Beginner’s luck,’ she said to appease him. ‘Another round? Maybe you’ll do better.’
‘No, thanks.’
He set down the cue and backed away slowly. Kya gathered the balls and set them one by one in the triangular rack. This was peak avoidance, she realized. She didn’t know what to do with herself. She should join the others.
‘ Minha irm? ,’ Hugo said. ‘What are you doing in here by yourself?’
‘It’s quiet in here. That’s all.’
‘Is that all?’
Kya didn’t bother to lie; he could see right through her. ‘What have you got there?’ she asked, eyeing the silver platter in his hands.
‘Onion rings. The best in the city.’
They sat leaning against the edge of the pool table, munching on onion rings in thoughtful silence. Then Hugo had to ruin it by asking, ‘Now tell me. Why are you hiding?’
‘You won’t judge me?’
‘I’ll judge you, but so what? We’re family.’
She leaned on his shoulder. ‘True.’
‘Go on. What’s troubling you this time?’
‘This time! You make it sound like it’s a recurring thing.’
‘It’s been a rough month for you. What we won’t do is pretend that it wasn’t.’
‘Everyone has something to celebrate tonight.’
‘Everyone except you?’
She nodded and helped herself to another onion ring.
‘Good things are coming, he said. ‘You’ll see.’
‘I had a good thing,’ Kya said. ‘It wasn’t great; I know. It was actually pretty awful, but it was mine. I’ve lost it. Everyone thinks I should have gotten over it by now. Like it’s easy to turn the page. It’s not easy.’
‘Everyone?’ he asked, sceptical. ‘I don’t know a single person who expects that from you.’
‘Maybe it’s just Quinn, then?’
Even as she said it, she realized it was unfair to Quinn. She had never pushed her, but she did have certain expectations that Kya could not meet right now. Hopping on a plane to the UK, for one.
‘She wants to see you happy,’ he said. ‘We all do, but you’re going to have good days and bad days.’
‘I’m going back, soon. This week. No more delays.’
Hugo looked at her steadily. ‘Just promise you won’t go begging for your old job back. It was awful, and you deserve better.’
‘I won’t!’ she promised. ‘Maybe something with remote work. Sam loves being a digital nomad.’
‘Yeah, but you have to figure out what you love.’
She loved being here with Quinn and her family. She just didn’t love feeling like a failure all the time. She could not shake off that feeling.
‘I want you to know that I get it,’ Hugo said. ‘I was in the exact same position as you last year.’
‘No, you weren’t!’
She didn’t mean to minimize his experience, but she couldn’t recall a time when he’d been fired or cancelled or publicly shamed. Hugo was loved and cherished by all.
He gave her one of his dazzling smiles. ‘You don’t think so? My career is in the can. Meanwhile, your brother wins award after award.’
‘Ugh! He does win an awful lot of trophies.’ She thought of the mantel in their family home, riddled with Adrian’s plaques and awards. So, Hugo did understand how horrible it felt to be proud of your partner while drowning in self-pity. ‘I feel your pain.’
‘And I feel yours,’ he said. ‘And if you ever need to talk, I’m here with onion rings.’
‘They’re pretty good,’ she said. ‘But I’m going to need water now.’
‘I got you.’
He kissed her on the cheek, and left for the bar. Only it was Quinn who returned with her water. Tonight, she looked ethereal, in a delicate minidress in a pale pink with thin straps. She could go her whole life and never know anyone as beautiful as Quinn.
‘Here you go,’ she said.
‘Thanks.’ Kya took the glass from her, took a sip, and set it on the table.
‘I think Sam had the night of her life,’ she said. ‘What do you think?’
‘Well, if it turns out this hen do was for nothing, at least she had a good time.’
Quinn shook her head. ‘So cynical,’ she said. ‘I think you’ve had enough. Let me take you home.’