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“I’m tired!” he protests, grumpily. I immediately take his hand and stand up.
“Okay. We’ve made you wait here long enough. Let’s go to bed.” I say.
The others at the table look at me strangely. I guess it’s more normal to let kids complain for a while, but I want to get out of here for more than one reason.
Ashley stands up too. “I’m getting a bit tired too,” she says. “It was lovely having dinner with all of you.
We say our goodbyes and head out the door back to our suite. We keep a friendly distance between one another as we walk, but I’m so aware of how close she is to me anyway.
I want her to be even closer.
When we get back to our suite, I get Alex into bed and settled. He falls asleep quickly after the big meal he had.
I head out of his room and sigh to myself, thinking about Ashley. I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next two weeks. I feel like I’m already about to combust.
I guess I’ll just have to take it one day at a time.
Thirteen
Ashley
My numbered days aboard this ship are slipping by faster than I could have ever imagined, and it’s a bitter sweet feeling. When I first decided to take my brother’s place on this vacation, I never imagined that I would be picking up a fake girlfriend and a feeling of excitement that I’ve never felt before. Yet, the fun makes time fly, and I sigh as I realized it will come to an end soon.
I decide to enjoy the time I have left with Jess and her bubbly nephew Alex. Since I don’t often mingle with genuine, down to earth people, these two are truly a breath of fresh air. Jess may be my fake girlfriend, and she may want to part ways after this and pretend she never met me, but I have to think of something that will make her think otherwise.
As I pace the lavishly carpeted floor of the hallway, I come up with the perfect plan. A while back, I remember hearing that Robin was going to propose and that there was some gigantic plot being arranged involving the ship staff. Proposing to Jess may seem insane, but I simply see it as the perfect way to fully commit to my role as Robyn.
With a smile of anticipation gracing my face, I hurry to the recreation room to find the two perfect people to pull off the proposal. Luckily, two of our new friends, Mandy and Natalie are still lounging in the chairs as they said they would be. When I approach them quickly, a twinkle in my eye, they look at each other in confusion.
“Wow Ashley, if I didn’t get to know you so well on this cruise, I’d say you were planning something crazy involving Natalie and me. Hopefully I’m wrong!” She laughs as she stands from her chair to greet me with a hug.
“You know me too well already.” I grin. “Trust me, you both will enjoy this plan.”
Mandy nods her head, matching our excitement on her own face. “Ok then, stop wasting time now. Tell us what we can he
lp you with.”
Before I divulge my ideas, I look around the mostly empty recreation room. When I’m confident that nobody important is within earshot, I lean in and whisper to them that I’m planning to propose.
“WHAT?” Natalie shrieks, suddenly placing a hand over her mouth in embarrassment after her sudden outburst. “That’s amazing, I’d love to help!”
“It’s the perfect atmosphere, this cruise is very romantic.” Mandy agrees.
Their shared excitement makes me glad that they’ve become two of our closest friends aboard the ship. Perhaps with their help, all of us including Jess can remain in close contact after the vacation comes to an end. “I need more than a romantic atmosphere to pull this off, so I was hoping you both can turn this into a giant production.”
“Absolutely! Tell us what you have in mind.” Natalie grabs a discarded piece of paper and a pencil from one of the tables beside her and begins creating a list.
We spend something close to an hour inventing things that will impress Jess. She doesn’t have to marry me in the end, but I just want her to know how much she and her nephew mean to me. Finally, after Natalie runs out of paper and Sandy runs out of ideas, we read over the final product.
It’s a huge production alright, just as promised. The three of us even pitched in to create some meaningful lyrics and a few choreographed moves. If nothing else, Jess will be surprised that I enlisted our friends to put such a large and fabulous undertaking together.
After we all make our small edits and agree on the final plan, I reach out to shake hands with the other two ladies.
“No need to be so formal! We deserve a group hug for all this great work.” Natalie wraps her arms around Sandy and me for said group hug, something I’ve never personally engaged in before but let slide for the time being.
Mandy puts her hands on her hips and lets out a long sigh. “I think we deserve a group trip to the bar for all this great work.” That’s more my style, and we all agree to head over together.
The next day, I can’t stop thinking about the proposal plan. Every time I imagine Jess witnessing the production in total awe and surprise, I beam from ear to ear. It’s happening now, and I don’t even try to fight the smile from my face.
