“What?”
“Fiji,” she repeated.
I gave up trying to get a complete sentence out of Lila and leaned in so that I could scan the conversation she had pulled up. She had texted Charlie back in Denver, right before we’d gone through security, about being excited for Santorini.
Charlie’s response came in later. Just a lot of exclamation points and question marks, starting with, “What are you talking about!” followed by, “Call me as soon as you get this,” then, “You’re joking right?” And finally: “We’re in Fiji. YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE FLYING TO FIJI!”
“What the fu?—”
But my words were cut off by the sound of Lila’s ringtone. Charlie’s name appeared across Lila’s phone. She quickly pressed answer, and her best friend’s face filled the screen. Charlie’s eyes were bloodshot and it was clear she’d been crying.
“You’re joking right? You’re not in Europe! You’ve got to be joking.”
“Um, nope.” Lila caught my eye and frowned. “We’re definitely in the Munich airport right now, waiting at our gate for a flight to Greece.”
I raked my hands through my hair.Shit. I knew this stupid surprise trip was a horrible idea.
“No, no, no. I can’t believe this.”
“It’s alright.” Lila glanced at me but tried to keep any anxiety out of her voice for Charlie’s sake. “What do you think happened?” she asked.
“The travel agent must have gotten it mixed up,” Charlie said, choking on a small sob as she rambled on about where it could have gone wrong.
Lila’s pale face and panicked expression had vanished. Talking to Charlie had flipped a switch. Now, she looked calm, focused, ready to problem-solve. I knew Lila must have it together—she owned a business, after all—but watching her transform like that in real time was almost uncanny. You would have thought Lila was in on the plan all along, considering how coolly she listened to Charlie’s explanation, nodding along slowly.
While they talked, I got out my own phone and accepted any international charges. Almost immediately after getting service, Oliver’s name flashed across my screen. I debated pressing the red button. He knew how much I hated video calls. But I answered and held the phone up.
Oliver flashed his ever-present smile at me. He already had a tan from being in Fiji for two seconds.
“Europe? Are you serious?” His head fell back with laughter. I could see Charlie in the background of his video and glanced back at Lila’s screen.
This wasn’t the reunion I’d pictured.
“—I switched the locations at the last minute,” Charlie said. “I knew you always wanted to go to Greece, so that’s why I picked it originally, but then I thought that was a selfish thing to do, to bring you onyourdream trip formybachelorette party. So I rebooked it to Fiji instead. The boutique hotel we booked through had a sister location here. I figured we could go to Greece on our own another time. To celebrate a business milestone, or something. God—I’m so stupid. The travel agent must have forgotten to rebook you and Harrison, since your reservations were made separately and for a day later. I should have called her to double-check.”
Lila glanced at me with an expression that ever so subtly said,Oh shit.
“Let me say hi,” Oliver said through my phone.
“Is now really the time?” I glared at him.
“Come on,” he begged.
I held up the call so that he could wave at Lila. She gave him a weak smile in return.
“It’s alright,” she said, once Charlie came up for air.
“No, it’s not,” Charlie cried. “Fiji is a thirty-hour flight from Munich. I already looked it up. And they don’t have anything available until tomorrow night. If you tried to make it here, you’d only get here for the last day.”
Oliver whistled. “Sounds like you two are stuck there.”
Charlie whipped her head around and called to Oliver, off screen. “Are you helping right now?” she demanded.
Oliver held a hand up and yelled an apology before walking a little further away from the upset bride-to-be.
“Say hi to Nathan,” he said before pointing the camera at his brother. Nathan sat slouched, his head resting heavily in one hand. Without asking, I could tell he’d been trying to talk Charlie off a ledge; likely for hours at this point.
“Hey,” I said. “Having fun?”
