11. Happy
Two Years Later…
“Do you know what time it is?” Nikki scolded me over the phone. “Where are you?”
“Calm down. I am literal feet from the dock,” I replied as the small boat puttered into position next to the worn wooden dock, ready to relieve itself of its cargo of vacationers. “I don’t know how, but you’re beginning to sound like my mom.”
“Don’t you start,” she said in an uncanny tone.
I looked over the small island, its swaying palms, the gently curving sandy beach, and a cloudless sky overhead, and I sighed with relief. “It’s so beautiful here. Is it possible that it’s even prettier than our first visit?”
“Of course it is. It’s Fiji for Christ’s sake. Paradise doesn’t become less paradise-y.”
“Please don’t ever use that word again,” I groaned.
“Fine. Just go check-in to your beautiful room and text me when you’re settled.”
“Will do. Bye.”
I dragged my small suitcase behind me as I disembarked and took in the familiar sights and smells of the tropical island. The last two years were kind to both this place and myself. I wrote and published a new book in the shortest amount of time I ever had, though I was still waiting to hear how it was being received. I felt more comfortable with myself, was more confident and self assured, and was even okay with being alone for long periods of time. No more leaving a television on just to soothe my nerves while home alone. I finally felt like I had become who I always meant to be.
Moving out of that tiny apartment I’d been sharing with Fred was a blessing. When I went to pack everything up, I realized just how much of the furniture and big ticket items were mine: All but one set of bookshelves, the couch, the bed, both our desks, our TV and gaming consoles were paid for by me, and generally everything outside of his teeny little office that he loved sequestering himself into at all hours. After it was all in the moving truck, there was barely anything left for Fred, save a small folding table and two folding chairs.
I left him the bed. I didn’t need those memories to follow me into my new chapters.
Nikki practically cackled from the moment we left to the moment we hit traffic.
In my spring green sun dress and floppy hat, I arrived at my cabin quickly and opened the door. The warm ocean breeze teased my hair as I stepped over the threshold and took a deep breath. “God, this place is amazing.”
“Didn’t I tell you it would be perfect?” said Jason, hugging me from behind and kissing my shoulder.
“I can’t believe we’re back here,” I said, turning to face him. I wrapped my arms over his shoulders and kissed him. “I can’t believe it’s already been two years.”
He lifted me into his arms and carried me over to the giant bed that stood on a raised dais in the rear corner of the room. We flopped down, bouncing a little, and he pressed his lips to my throat. I couldn’t help but laugh as his whiskers tickled me. “Stop! You need to shave before you do that again!”
“So I’ve got a five o’clock shadow at ten in the morning. Deal with it!” he muttered against my skin, making me squirm even more.
“I’m supposed to text Nikki when I’m settled,” I cried, struggling as he slipped a strap off my shoulder.
“She’s going to be waiting for quite some time, then.”
“Not as long as you think,” said Nikki from the doorway. “Shame on you two. Have you no knowledge of tradition? You might as well be walking under a ladder in front of a parade of black cats.”
“Should I mention that mirror I broke before we left?” Jason joked, setting me free.
Nikki ignored him and took my hand. “Your parents got here about two hours ago. And yours,” she said to Jason as she pulled me toward the door, “will be here around noon.”
“Nikki,” I whined. “We’ve been on planes, trains, and automobiles—”
“And boats!” added Jason.
“And boats for over a day. Can’t you just let me have an hour or two alone with him before we start getting ready?”
“It is my sworn duty to keep you chaste at least for the next twenty four hours,” she stated like a member of the Queen’s guard. “She’ll be sleeping in an undisclosed location tonight, Jason. It will do you no good to look for her!” She took my suitcase with her other hand and pulled me out of the cabin.
“Ugh, fine. I knew I should have made my cousin my maid of honor. I’ll see you soon,” I called to Jason, waving and blowing a kiss. “Love you!”
“Love you!” he called back as he disappeared from view.
In truth, I couldn’t have picked anyone better than Nikki, especially since she had become a Fijian local a little over a year ago. Apparently, her fling with Siti was more than just a vacation dalliance, and it wasn’t long before international calls were happening daily. They fell head over heels for each other. She made the decision to move to the other side of the world for him in the blink of an eye and never looked back. Since then, they’ve lived together in a beautiful two-bedroom cottage, and while he still danced at the local resorts, she took a resort job as well teaching couples yoga.
I’ve never seen her happier.
“You know we’re not exactly a traditional couple, right? I don’t think every traditional rule applies to us,” I groaned.
“Yeah, he’s divorced. Yeah, you two hooked up before the lawyers were called. And sure, you were already going to town on each other in your little den of sin before the ink on the divorce papers dried. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little semblance of decorum until six-thirty tomorrow night.”
“I wouldn’t call it a den of sin,” I countered, a little insulted. “I liked our starter apartment. We were incredibly lucky to find a place with enough space for all our stuff at such a low rate on such short notice.”
“You’re lucky Annie let you guys shack up together because she was already boning down with a couple randos, or she would have dragged that shit out longer than the mandatory ninety days.”
Nikki refused to let go of my hand until we had reached her room on the other side of the resort. “Do you realize how much of a hypocrite you seem right now?” I asked, rubbing my wrist after being released.
She waved me off, setting my suitcase near the bathroom door, where two garment bags were hanging from a coat rack. “This is your first—and hopefully only—wedding. I know what it means when it’s not done just right.”
“You mean Cupid’s Wedding Chapel in Atlantic City wasn’t everything you dreamed it to be?”
She answered with a pointed glare. “Marriage is not for me. The fates have made that abundantly clear, and since embracing that fact, look what’s happened! I’m living in paradise with a god of a man, a relaxing job, and no shortage of bliss. What more could I ask for? However,” she added sternly, “I have seen the way you two are when left alone for more than five minutes. It’s no wonder he proposed less than a week after the divorce was finalized, and you didn’t even breathe before saying yes. Far be it from me to try to reign you in before the big day.”
“You think we’re rushing.”
“I said nothing of the sort.” She opened my suitcase and dug around until she found something she liked. “Here. You should change.”
“A sun dress isn’t good enough now?”
“Too casual for the day we have ahead of us. Now, chop-chop!”
“I’ve known him for fifteen years, Nik. And I finally feel like me. We love each other, and I want to marry him. The only thing in my life I have ever been more sure of was dumping Fred’s sorry ass. Don’t you trust me?”
Her stern expression faltered, her lips twitched. “Oh, of course I trust you,” she whined, throwing her arms around me in a bear hug. “I was just testing you, I swear. I’m so happy for you both. After everything the two of you have been through, how can I not be?”
“Nik,” I croaked. “Bride… choking…”
She let go of me just as I started to see a tunnel, her eyes wet with tears. “Sorry. But really, you should change.”
I took the dress she’d chosen for me—a silky turquoise blue maxi dress with a very light shimmer, something I thought should be more for an evening look than late morning—and changed into it, just before there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find Jason, already wearing a white linen button down shirt and khaki pants. “Undisclosed location, eh?” he quipped.
Still overcome with emotion, she slammed him into another bear hug, making his eyes pop. “I’m so happy for you!” she howled, tearing up again.
“Did the brownie just kick in or something?” he coughed.
“Seriously guys,” she said, wiping her eyes. “If you really want some alone time tonight, the secret’s safe with me.”
“No, you’re right,” I sighed, looking over the broad shoulders of my fiancé and his now clean shaven face. “If we spend the night apart, it will make tomorrow all the more special.”
He entered the cabin and gave me a sweet and tender kiss. “But don’t think that I’m going to let go of you until after dinner tonight,” he whispered into my ear. “I’m thinking this time, we’ve got to try out our private pool.”
I practically purred with anticipation. “I’m in.”