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One
BROOKE
“Ohhellyeah!”
My exclamation landed flatly in the empty room, only to be carried away by the island breeze. I was almost too stunned to notice. Too awestruck by where I was to even consider the amount of room I had, which happened to be four times the space I was supposed to.
“You girls are crazy,” I swore, dropping my bags to the smooth bamboo floor. “Absolutely certifiable.”
I spun in a circle, and was instantly dizzy. It could’ve easily been all the travel. I’d been in the air almost a whole day, jammed into a middle coach seat without so much as a window to look out. But now I was in paradise. The villa’s shutters were open, giving me views of the lush green tropics and crystal blue waters that lapped, gently, just a few dozen paces from my doorway.
“Out your fucking mind nuts,” I sighed, before flopping to the vibrantly-decorated couch.
I melted into the cushions for a full minute, letting the fragrant island air fill my tired lungs. The water was so clear it didn’t seem real, the ridiculous sunset so vivid it looked like a watercolor painting. Everything seemed pristine and perfect, right down to the sand. It was so fine, so smooth, it seemed almost sacrilegious to step foot on it.
A secluded villa, right on the beach at Mo’orea, just outside of Tahiti. Afour-personvilla, big enough for me and three other women, three other teammates.
And yet I was here all alone.
Exactly one year ago I was in Burma, or Thailand, or maybe Kathmandu. We’d taken legs of the Race in all three places, and that whole week had been an exhausting blur.
This week promised to be exactly the opposite of that. I had nowhere to go, nowhere to be. No checkpoint or finish line to cross, before all of the other teams beat me to it.
No, this would be total relaxation. No challenges to finish, and nothing to do but lay back and soak up the sun. A week’s worth of paradise, bestowed upon us as a secondary prize for finishing the Venezuelan leg in first place. Because while our team hadn’t actually won the Insane World Race — and its million-dollar grand prize — we had wonthis.
“Just me, the sand, the sun, and the surf,” I said forlornly, to the breathtakingly beautiful but empty suite. “And a whole lot of talking to myself.”
Our team had consisted four women, all of us strangers to each other up until the day the golden pistol went off. Over the next four weeks we became a close, tight-knit foursome. A fierce bunch of competitors, unwilling to give up all the way to the last challenge on the final episode.
As second-place finishers we’d come within just minutes of becoming millionaires. It was exhilarating, thrilling, infuriating, heartbreaking — all at the same time. The sort of trauma that both scarred you and binded you together for life, whether you liked it or not.
We’d kept in touch over the past year, the girls and I. Carmen had even flown out to Arizona to visit, and the two of us had torn up Scottsdale for a good week and a half.
Originally they were all in on our free trip to paradise, until Meghan had to cancel three months back. Turns out her huge family had a biannual reunion she couldn’t get out of, and this year’s was at Lost Valley Ranch in Colorado. Two weeks ago Ingie got whisked away by her fiancé, to a surprise elopement in the south of France. Which left me and Carmen and all the fun in the world…
… up until she got called back to New York for emergency reserve duty, as a Navy air cargo specialist.
I’d gotten that grim news twodaysago, and it immediately took all the wind out of my sails. I trudged around my apartment in a complete funk, the saddest person ever saddled with the burden of a free flight to a pre-paid, all-inclusive French Polynesian villa on the shores of paradise.
In the end I’d frantically called the network, and even pleaded with the resort. I’d done everything in my power to cancel or reschedule the trip for a time we could all enjoy it together. But it was too late.
“Use it or lose it,” they’d told me. “There’s no chance of moving the date.”
And now here I was, woefully alone on a trip we’d all earned together. Feeling totally guilty over the place being so beautiful, so perfect, and of course, so empty.
No matter how many times I told myself it wasn’t my fault, it just didn’t seem right.
A cool breeze blew through the villa again, bringing the fragrant scent of flowers along with it. I was still in my travel clothes. Sticky from the plane. I could remedythateasily enough at least.
Moving into the hallway, I tossed my bag into one of the four beautiful bedrooms before proceeding on. Two minute later I was naked as the day I was born, stepping into a gorgeous glass shower enclosure that was surrounded by wood barriers yet open to the sky. Thankfully the hot water came up quickly. As the steam washed over my tired, travel-weary body, I let out a long, grateful sigh.
“A little lonely maybe, but Idefinitelycould get used to this.”
I lathered up and shampooed, letting the rich suds run slowly down my sun-kissed skin. It was pretty wild, being naked and looking up at the white fluffy clouds. Seeing the yellows turn to orange and go deeper still, as the last of the sunlight was rinsed from the sky.
My stomach rumbled as I slid my hands over it. Maybe I’d go down to the restaurant and get something to eat. Or maybe I’d just order in. My body was so confused as to what time it was, I didn’t know whether I was actually hungry or just supposed to be that way.
The towels provided were big and plush and much nicer than anything I might’ve brought with me. I shook out my hair, wrapped one around me, and proceeded back down the hall to grab the rest of my things…
“WHOA.”
And walked right into the three strapping guys who were standing in my new living room.
