The headlines shown in those few messages are also the tip of the iceberg. I know it will be much worse once I return home to Helsinki. Better get ready—I can already feel everyone’s eyes on me, judging my every move. Just what I need right now.
GOOD VIBES ONLY
VIVIAN
“Ihate men,” I tell my best friend, Lottie, on our way to JFK. She glances at me skeptically before focusing on the road again. She isn’t having it—I can tell by her expression alone. Before she can say anything, I continue. “Well, okay, maybe certain men.”
I can’t believe my ex is engaged to someone else only three months after our breakup. It seems their affair went on longer than I realized.
Lottie questions my statement, “Is that all you have to say?”
“Fine. Let me correct that one more time. I hateTucker Black, and the last time I checked, he was a man. Are you happy now?”
“Ugh, no. Thank you very much; I don’t need to hear anything about his manhood.” My best friend makes a puking sound and scrunches up her nose. “It’s bad enough that I had to see you with him for years.”
“Why didn’t you say anything then?”
“You wouldn’t have listened. You know yourself, Vivi. Remember back in sophomore year when I told you that cutting your bangs wasn’t the greatest idea, and you still did that? You cried every time you saw yourself in the mirror for the next two weeks.”
I huff before admitting that she’s right. “Sure, Iprobablywouldn’t have listened to you if you told me you didn’t get the best vibes around him. I thought I was so in love. But you could have saved me from being in a relationship with a cheating piece of shit like Tucker the Fucker foryears.”
“Oh my god, Vivi, that’s hilarious! Tucker the Fucker has a rhyme to it.” Lottie snorts at my new nickname for my ex, who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.
Maybe it was naivety on my part, but giving my ex a free pass after he cheated on me the first time was foolish—a massive mistake. And then, the jerk did it again. It’s been three months since I walked in and saw him and his best friend’s little sister going at it.
“Oh baby, don’t you worry. We’re just childhood friends, like brother and sister.”He said those words only two weeks earlier when she broke up with her boyfriend and began sending messages to Tucker daily. Indeed, it looked like they were siblings when he was screwing her on the living room couchmyparents bought for us as a housewarming present less than a year ago when he finally moved to New York to be with me. It’s safe to say that the couch was the second thing I got rid of right after Tucker.
And what hurts the most is that I trusted him. Heck, I’m a human rights lawyer from a family of legal professionals, so I should know when someone is lying. So why did I trust his lies?
My retired parents, who are enjoying the warmer weather down south all year round, hadn’t liked him either. When I called them after kicking his ass to the curb, I was expectingI told you soresponses, yet they remained silent as I sobbed. It’ll be slightly awkward seeing them tomorrow for the first time since then, but I know they have my back no matter what.
“I feel so damn foolish,” I admit quietly, playing with a strand of my long, wavy brown hair. “Everyone around me disliked him, and I still stayed with him.”
Lottie glances my way with a stern expression. “Don’t even get started. It wasn’t your fault that the fucker decided to dip his meat stick inside someone else’s mayo jar.”
“Stop, that’s gross!” I shriek in horror.
“At least you stopped frowning for a moment there.”
“Thanks for that mental image…and a ride to the airport.”
“Sure, that’s what best friends are for. Now you can bring me a hot Finnish guy as a souvenir, and we can call it even,” she tells me and taps her fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of the music in the background. When I realize what’s playing, I turn the volume up, and we sing along to Jonas Brothers like we did as teenagers.
My evening flight to Helsinki, Finland, departs in four hours, and Lottie was kind enough to offer to take me to the airport. As someone who isn’t a fan of flying, I need liquid courage before boarding the plane. Hence, I’ll spend an hour or two at the airport lounge pre-flight, enjoying their selection of white wines.
“And remember that we checked that you’ve got everything before we left your place. Your passport is in the side pocket of your bag,” Lottie shouts over the next song.
She knows me too well. I lower the volume back to normal before replying to her. “How did you know I was about to worry if I remembered everything?”
“It’s all in your body language, Vivi.”
“I had no idea…but I must have checked that my passport is valid at least three times this morning alone.”
“I understand that you need to make sure everything is in order, but now you can relax and enjoy your vacation,” Lottie reassures me.
“What would I do without you?”
“I ask myself the same question at least once a day,” she flashes me a smile.
