the direction of his villa.
“See you in a bit!” Stephanie shouts and gives him a coy wave. I hate how Stephanie always tries to flirt with Ben. It’s pathetic.
Once Ben is out of earshot, Michelle snaps, “What the hell was that?”
“What?” I say tilting my head to the side.
“Well you guys looked pretty cozy. Did I see Ben kiss your forehead?” Michelle asks tapping her foot on the floor.
Stephanie gives me a quizzical stare, but remains silent.
I feel myself turn a little red, but manage to pull myself together with a nervous chuckle, “We were just sharing a friendly hug. What’s wrong with that?”
“She’s his beer drinking buddy, not his fuck buddy.” Stephanie laughs.
Uggh! I have had enough of Stephanie this week and her rude comments.
“I don’t know, I could have sworn I saw Ben kiss your forehead.” Michelle says.
“Well you must have been seeing things.” Stephanie snorts.
“Why’s that?” I ask narrowing my eyes at her. Stephanie purses her lips and lets her eyebrows inch a bit higher.
“Like Ben would ever like you like that.” She dismissively says.
I keep my cool and take a deep breath to prevent myself from going into the red zone. I roll my eyes and shove past Stephanie to lead the way back to our villa.
****
Michelle digs through her luggage and looks for her deck of cards while I have a quick shower, put on a cute floral print dress and a pair of flats. When I poke out of the bathroom, Stephanie is sitting on the sofa painting her fingernails and chomping on a piece of gum, “Hurry up and find them already!” she snaps at Michelle.
“Why don’t you get off your ass and help me look?” Michelle says now rifling through her purse.
I walk a straight line between the two of them and catch a glimpse of a deck of cards under the end table on the opposite side of the sofa. I bend down and yank them up and toss them in Stephanie’s lap, “They were right beside you.”
“Good job Megan.” Michelle says and gets up from her knees.
Stephanie gives me a dirty look and tosses them to Michelle, “I believe she was looking for these.”
She pushes past me and bumps my shoulder on her way out the door. I quickly remind myself I only have the remainder of this trip to deal with Stephanie and her attitude. Because once we get back to Chicago, I will be taking a serious friendship break from her for a while.
When we get to the bar, I see Ben leaning back on his chair and sipping a drink. He changed into a pair of charcoal shorts and a tight white V-neck t-shit. He looks great beside Matthew and Eric who already appear to be half-in-the-bag.
“Hey ladies” Matthew shouts, and waves Michelle over to his knee. She tosses the deck of cards on the table and slides on his lap. Then she wraps her arms around his neck and gives him a kiss.
“You know you two are putting us in an awkward situation.” Eric says, “What is going to happen once we get back to Chicago and we forced to be around your boyfriend” he points to Michelle, “And your girlfriend?” he points to Matthew.
“Oh relax” Matthew says.
“Well?” Eric says shifting his eyes between the two of them.
“Well, you’ll keep your mouth shut for starters.” Matthew snaps.
“It doesn’t matter to me.” Michelle says with conviction, “I’m breaking up with him once I get back home anyway.”
“You are?” Matthew says raising his eyebrows at her.
“Yeah I am.” Michelle says and slides off his lap into a vacated chair.
“Oh God,” Stephanie moans, “Here we go.”
Matthew throws his hands up in the air and shouts, “Come on Michelle, make up your mind already!”
“Well what are you going to do? Keep on dating Felicity or whatever her name is after all of this?” Michelle asks leaning back in her chair.
Matthew let’s out an earthshattering moan and drops his head in his hands. Despite the drama coming from their end of the table, Ben smiles at me while taking a sip from his drink. I wearily smile back, feeling a bit bleak that the tropical heat is clouding our recent romance. I can’t help but wonder if Ben and I could end up like them. Their reality is my worst nightmare, and it is the exact reason all this tends to scare me in the first place. I can’t fathom losing Ben, ever.
It wasn’t long ago when Ben and I engaged