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I call Essie once I’m in the back of a cab—they can’t give me a bad rating for being emotional. “You won’t believe who was on the plane.”
“Ryan Reynolds?”
“I wish. I bet he’s just as funny in real life as he is in movies,” I say.
“Do you really want me to guess, or should this be a rhetorical question?”
“We can go with rhetorical. Tristan was on the plane.”
“What? Why? Didn’t he have a game in Toronto yesterday?”
“Yeah. Apparently, he flew out to Vancouver to talk to me, but changed his mind when he got there and ended up on the same flight home as me.”
“What? But why?”
“I don’t know. It was so humiliating. I had a bathroom emergency on the plane and snuck up to use the one in first class since there usually isn’t a line and no one pees on the seat. Also, that dinner we had last night was so stupid. Why do I always eat the refried freaking beans?”
“Because they’re delicious and impossible to resist.”
“It’s so annoyingly true.” I glance at the cab driver, who is dutifully ignoring me. “Anyway, I came out of the bathroom and guess who was sitting in first class wearing the same suit from the game last night.”
“Oh my God.”
“Right? He was shoving candy into his face. And when I confronted him, he said he flew out to talk to me, but changed his mind. Like breaking my heart once wasn’t bad enough. He had to go and do it again in front of a bunch of people. I made a scene on a freaking plane. Today is the worst.” Tears leak out. I don’t stop them. It’s pointless. They’ll fall regardless.
“Oh, muffin. I’m so sorry. What happened when you got off the plane?”
“I had to use the bathroom for obvious stress-induced and refried bean reasons. He messaged to say he was at the baggage carousel. I don’t know if it was a warning or what. I sent an excessive number of middle finger emojis, and he sent a thumbs-up, and then I cried for twenty minutes, and now I’m in a cab on the way to my apartment.”
“I feel like there are pieces missing to this story,” Essie muses.
My phone beeps with an incoming call. I check to see who it is. “Crap, that’s my brother. It’s the third time he’s called in the past ten minutes, and he hasn’t left a message.”
“Okay. Call me when you can with an update. I love you.”
“I love you back. Wish I was still in Vancouver. I’ll call you later.” I end the call with Essie and take the one from Flip. “Hey.”
“Hey. How was Vancouver?”
“Great until the flight home.”
“What happened on the flight home?”
“Tristan.”
He’s quiet for a second. “Can you explain that?”
“Evidently he came to Vancouver to talk to me, then decided he didn’t want to talk to me anymore, and we ended up on the same flight home.”
He blows out a breath. “That pussy-ass fucker.”
“It was humiliating.” Especially the part where I said he would pay for everyone’s drinks and the guy beside him reminded me they’re free in first class. And then I tried not to cry for the rest of the flight home. I was unsuccessful.
“What were his exact words? Did he say he didn’t want to talk anymore?” Flip asks.
“He said he changed his mind. Can we not do this right now? I’d prefer not to relive this experience more times than necessary,” I snap.
“For fuck’s sake. You two are hopeless.”
“Thanks for being a supportive brother.” I hang up and turn my phone to silent.
It’s nearly dinnertime when I roll in the door to my apartment. I leave my bag in my room and hop in the shower to rinse off the smell of plane. When I come out of my bedroom, Hammer, Hemi, and Tally are in the living room.
“Yay! You’re back! How was Vancouver?” Hammer bounces across the room and hugs me.
I hug her back. “Vancouver was great.”
She steps back. “It sounds like there’s a but in there?”
“There is, and his name is Tristan. However, I do not feel like crying anymore over that asshole, so can we not talk about him and go get something to eat? All I’ve had today is a mini container of plain Pringles and a Kit Kat. Also, please, for the love of all that is holy, do not allow me to order anything that includes refried beans.”
Hammer and Hemi exchange a look. “Okay. Let’s grab dinner.”
“But no refried beans,” Tally adds.
Hemi invites Shilpa to join us since she knows Ashish is with Hollis and Roman. She meets us in the lobby, and we file out of the apartment and over to the restaurant across the street.
“So Essie was good?” Hammer asks once we’re seated in a booth.
“She was great. I needed the break from life. How was everything here this weekend? Tell me what I missed.”
