Just then, the man in the room walked up behind her.
“Who’s your friend?” I asked.
“Oh,” Harmony said, turning to squint at him like that was a good question. Then, going on vibes, she said, “Kevin?”
But the guy shook his head. “Kyle.”
Then there was a funny silence while Harmony and Kyle turned back to stare us down—until we realized they expected us to leave now.
“Oh-kay!” I finally said, all singsongishly cheerful, like we’d justwrapped up a productive meeting. “I guess we’ll just let you two… get back after it, then. And I’ll circle back around on that lei situation a little bit later.” I started to turn but then asked, “Can I leave my suitcase?”
Harmony wrinkled her nose. “Now’s not a great time.”
“Got it,” I said.
Then Harmony gave me a thumbs-up.
And slammed the door.
GREAT NEWS. COOPERhad a single.
But we had to go up five floors to get there. From steerage, as they would say on theTitanic, to accommodations much more befitting an aristocrat in a tweed vest.
Except an aristocrat would have taken the elevator… and we took the stairs.
At the base of the first flight, rolling my giant suitcase behind me, I stopped and looked up, likeNope.
But Cooper just turned back, grabbed the suitcase for me, and kept going.
And so, after standing still for a minute in protest, I followed—making sure tovigorouslyclomp the clompy platform sandals that Ashley had insisted I wear for my “silhouette.”
“They invented these things called elevators,” I called after Cooper as we hit the next level.
“I don’t love elevators,” Cooper called back, not slowing.
“Is it the ease, or the convenience?”
“This is better for your body,” Cooper insisted.
“Definebetter.”
By flight three, I had kicked off my shoes. By flight four, I was breathing hard. And by the time we reached Cooper’s floor, as I thought about how much more fun Harmony—of all people—was having at this moment than I was?Activelycranky.
“So now I’ve met Harmony,” Cooper said as we paused at his door.
I nodded. “My whole family calls her Grumpy Cat.”
“She wasn’t scowling today.”
I bent forward and rested my hands on my knees to catch my breath.
“What does she do for a living?” Cooper asked next.
“I have no idea,” I said. “All I know is nobody likes her.”
“You should room with me instead,” Cooper said.
Yeah—thatwasn’t happening. “Why are we even up here?” I asked. “You’re not with the wedding block?”
