No couch in sight. Not even a measly footstool. Why did this resort decide to go full minimalistic for a massive bungalow?
While Nikki is busy picking her jaw off the ground, Frobish smiles at us expectantly.
I wave my finger in a circle around us. “So I’m guessing there’s no other sleeping area on the roof? No rollaway cot?”
Frobish literally clutches his pearls… on the brooch he’s wearing.
“Mr. Nuñez, we are not a, as you say,rollaway cottype of experience. But as you can see, there is a California king bed in this suite. More than enough room for the both of you.” He nods toward the bed. “Now, I shall leave you to get settled. The white button by the door calls your personal butler, and they will provide you with anything you should need.”
“Like another bed?” I mutter under my breath.
Frobish acts like he didn’t hear me, but the tic in his jaw says otherwise.
He nods at us as he makes his way out of the room, closing the door with a soft click.
Nikki and I stand rooted in place with our eyes locked on one another. I don’t know how many minutes pass before the spell is broken by the ringing of Nikki’s phone. I can see a picture of Amelia’s face light up on the screen. We don matching scowls, and for the first time since I can remember, Nikki and I are about to be on the same team.
6
Nikki
Amelia has lostall color in her face by the time we’ve finished filling her in on our whole debacle. “Oh my God, you guys. I am so, so sorry! I don’t know what happened. I’m a master at planning trips. I have no idea how I could have messed this up so badly.” She rubs a hand back and forth over her forehead.
“I do,” Evan chimes in smugly. “You’ve been a little out of it since you’ve been on pain meds. I had just given you some when you went into full planner mode. I tried to reel you in a bit, but you cursed at me in Spanish.”
“I would never.” Amelia gasps.
Evan levels her with a mild glare. “I know whatpendejomeans, babe. And it’s not a term of endearment.”
“Proud of your Spanish comprehension, Evan. But can we get back to our problem here? How the hell am I supposed to spend the week here… withher?”
I should be offended by Antonio’s disdain while speaking about me, but I agree with him. There is no way in hell that we’ll survive a week of this. I need to get the hell outta Dodge ASAP.
“Look, guys, this is my mistake. I’ll get on my computer right now and book another place for you. I can’t believe I’ve royally fumbled the bag on this one. Really, I’m so insanely sorry about this.” Amelia looks truly dejected. Poor girl has been through the ringer, and I know that gifting us this trip meant so much to her.
Antonio blows out a breath. I can tell he’s thinking the same thing. If there’s one thing we have in common, it’s our love for Amelia. And even though I was mentally cursing her out for putting me on a helicopter, I would never actually want her to feel bad about this. Especially now.
“Amelia, don’t sweat it. Honestly. The resort is beautiful, and the restaurant we drove past looks delectable.”
“So delectable that Nikki ate a hand towel upon arrival—oof.”
I elbow Antonio’s side. “You really did pick and plan an amazing vacation. So don’t worry about us. Maybe we can fly out and cut the trip short?”
I look to Evan on the screen, but he shakes his head. “We can look at commercial flights if you’d like, but I gave my pilot and crew time off for New Year’s. And I truly doubt that after all you’ve experienced, you want to endure drunken New Year’s Eve holiday travel—”
“Not necessary. Like Nikki said, this place is great. We’ll manage.”
Amelia’s eyes go about as wide as mine. Is Antonio finally not acting like a total tool?
“Besides,” he starts, “I saw a very luxurious hammock that I’m sure Nikki is dying to spend the night in. Right, champ?” He bumps my shoulder.
“Champ,” I mouth to Amelia on the screen as she stifles a laugh.
Evan looks thoughtfully into the camera and says, “You know, this kind of reminds me of—”
“Bye, guys. Love you! Play nice!” Amelia yells quickly before ending the call.
That was abrupt. And odd.
