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I went left, toward the atrium, through a curving gold-and-white-striped walkway. There were large sticks of cinnamon resting in tall, clear vases, filling the air with their scent, making it feel like I was walking through a busy bakery, their display cases filled with warm holiday treats.
The ship’s atrium could only be described as grand, made even more so by the elegant touch of Christmas decorations set throughout. The atrium was all about subtlety. There were wreaths made of tinsel and red ribbon-covered garland hanging on the gold-trimmed oak walls. A scattering of hand-sized snowflakes had been dusted on the glass walls of the elevator, and the curving staircase had its banister wrapped in garland. The centerpiece of the room was the twelve-foot-tall pine tree, the branches full and thick with pine needles, a string of white lights placed perfectly in spiraling rows up its entire length. There were ornaments glittering against the white lights, gold and silver and royal blue. A mixture of balls and stars and icicles. At the very top, the tree was crowned with a large star radiating light, bright enough to shine even through the sunlight that streamed in through the glass ceiling.
I looked around the crowd, feeling my near-deadly case of embarrassment and self-inflicted dumbassery begin to wane. The shame was being replaced by a buzzing excitement that started off low and blasted right to the sky the second I spotted my friends.
Jada and I made eye contact first. Her squeal alerted the rest, the two of them whipping around and breaking out into wide smiles.
I ran over to them, my heart already feeling full to the brim.
“You guys!” I shouted as the group all came in for hugs, shouts and squeals of excitement filling the air. It felt so good hugging my friends again, after having been apart for years. Like I had just walked into my mom’s kitchen after having spent months away at college, smelling her cooking for the first time, the spices and warmth reminding me of easier times.
I put my hands on Lou’s shoulders, shaking him, surprised at how big he looked. He used to be as frail as a twig and now looked just as muscular as me. Jada had an arm looped around my waist, her head on my shoulder, her soft brown curls smelling like coconut, just like they had on the days we’d all run off to the beach and lie out, gossiping and laughing and listening to music for the entire day.
Ace clapped his hands and bounced up and down on his heels next to me, his smile lighting up his youthful face. If the three of us had all changed in some way or another, Ace had remained the same, his face somehow being preserved as if he’d just popped out of a time capsule after being frozen in time. He still had his one dimple and his almost perfectly placed beauty marks dotting his unwrinkled face.
Damn him. Damn him to youthful hell.
“This is insane, you guys,” Ace said, looking around at the group. “How long has it been since we’ve all been together?”
“Like four years now. Since we graduated college and got scattered in the postgrad wind,” Jada said, her hair brushing my ear as she separated from me.
I cleared my throat. “Well, we’ve got to promise never to go that long again.” Being around my crew felt good. I realized I had gone a good three minutes without thinking about Nick and my crazy-ass proposal. My cheeks flushed with warmth.
Well, three minutes is a record at least.
“We’ve got to introduce the significant others,” Ace cheerily said and turned to the smiling man behind him. He was taller than Ace by a good foot, by my guess, and he seemed older, too, with smile lines that crinkled the space next to his big green eyes, which popped against the pastel-yellow shirt he was wearing. “This is Rex.”
Because of course the most innocent appearing one of us would go out and find a man named Rex who looked like he could split him in half with a look alone.
I had to remember to have a secret toast with Ace—he’d done well.
“And this is Ken.” It was Jada’s turn, who reached for Ken’s hand, their fingers locking in what appeared to be a vise grip. I could almost see Ken’s dark skin go pale at the force.
“He’s an EMT. We met on the field.”
“Not over something gruesome, I hope?” Lou asked, his girlfriend standing next to him but lost in something on her phone.
“Oh no,” Ken said, waving a hand in the air. “It was one of the most benign calls I’d ever gotten actually. We thought it was an actual emergency at first, but we get to the house and it’s Edith Windham asking for us to open her jar of Nutella. So I credit Nutella for a lot of my happiness,” Ken said, laughing.
