“I meant, why didn’t you leave yesterday with everyone else?”
“A work thing. I had to present something to a new investor this morning,” she said dismissively.
I shifted from foot to foot. “Were you really planning on ignoring me?” I asked, even though I knew I completely deserved it.
“I didn’t see you.”
“Yes, you did,” I challenged.
She glanced up at me for a moment, only to narrow her eyes. “Fine. Yes. I was planning on ignoring you. Now can you just go be somewhere else so I can have some peace?”
Discomfort surged through my body. My bad behavior had gone too far last time. She knew it. I knew it. But apologizing was not a skill in my wheelhouse. Still, I had to say something.
“If this is about what happened at my shop, I’m sorry, okay?”
“Great,” she mumbled dismissively.
I looked up to the high, pitched ceilings and sighed. “I’m serious. I’m sorry.”
I waited for her to respond, but when it was clear she was done talking to me, I held up my phone instead.
“Any idea how we’re supposed to board the flight when we haven’t gotten our itineraries yet?” I asked, hoping her shell would crack a little. Lila wasn’t an angry person by nature. Grudges weren’t her thing.
She continued scrolling on her phone, still refusing to look at me. “Charlie wanted it to be a secret until the last possible minute.”
“It’s stupid, is what it is. We’re just supposed to wait around until we get our boarding information?”
Lila huffed and shoved her phone into the black belt-bag slung across her chest. “It’s not stupid. It’s fun. Ever heard of the concept?”
“Oh yeah, it’s real fun standing around waiting like an idiot with no direction.”
“If you had bothered to read the emails, you would have known that we’ll receive our itinerary two hours before take-off, which she told us was at five-thirty.” Lila paused to check her phone. “So based on that information, we should get it in approximately four minutes.”
The color-coded, two-page email Charlie had sent through the travel agency had, unsurprisingly, gone straight to my trash folder. I had fully planned on just gleaning all the details from Oliver, a plan that had worked out well for me historically and would have been fine for this, too. Until I had to stay back an extra day.
“Why are you even here so early, anyway?” She pursed her lips and gave me a once-over. “You seem like the type to roll up to the gate right as they announce last call for boarding.”
“I don’t fly much,” I admitted. Lila’s assumption about me couldn’t have been further from the truth. Control was something I had difficulty relinquishing. And because this whole scenario made me so anxious that I had a rash creeping across my neck, I’d made sure to get to the airport early.
“Huh,” was Lila’s only response as she continued to assess me, her gaze lingering on my beat-up duffel.
“What?” I asked, agitation creeping into my voice.
A large group of people swept by us to enter security. The line snaked as it got busier. It was torture having to sit back and watch it while we waited.
“You got a bathing suit in there?” she asked.
“Yes.” Oliver had at least been able to give me the highlights from the packing list.
“Interesting.”
“Why?”
“I’m just trying to imagine you relaxing on a beach, and I can’t do it.” She looked past my shoulder as if there was a screen there portraying the scene she was imagining. A smile crept onto her lips.
“Believe it or not, I do own a bathing suit.” Just one. I’d only worn it on two occasions. Both had involved Oliver dragging me paddle boarding last summer.
“Hmm...I’m still struggling to picture it.” Lila stroked her chin with her dainty fingers. “Be honest. Have you ever relaxed a day in your life?” She was goading me. Honestly, it was an improvement to being ignored. Although I could sense the resentment underneath her teasing tone. I probably owed her a better apology, but I didn’t know how to go about it.
