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“Maybe a little tipsy. I’m about to hit the town for a night of clubbing, so I did some pre-gaming. But I only had two cocktails. Okay, three, but who’s counting?”
Considering Sofia was built like Tinkerbell, three was a lot. But she knew how to hold her liquor.
“Are you still in France?” Olivia usually tried to keep up with Sofia’s Instagram feed, but the last two weeks had been so busy she’d fallen behind.
“I left last week. It was so fun. I spent a couple of days in Paris with Rafael and his girlfriend, Victoria, and we visited all these incroyable bakeries. The pastries were to die for.”
Olivia could only imagine. As a chef, her cousin Rafael was a total foodie, not unlike Sofia. If anyone could find the best patisseries in Paris, it would be him. “Where are you right now?”
“I’m on Mykonos, so kinda in your neighborhood. I did a photo shoot today at a fab fusion restaurant, and then I was a guest on a foodie show about Greece. I’m taking the night off to party, but I thought I’d check in with my big sis first.”
A photo shoot, a TV show, and a night of clubbing. Truly, Sofia was living the sweet life. Or, as she would put it, #goals. Her life had always been like that. Sailing through school with mediocre grades but having a blast. Never lacking a date or a posse of friends. Cute, adorable, and utterly irresponsible. As teens, they’d both been expected to work at El Marinero, but half the time, Olivia had ended up filling in for Sofia, who rarely turned down a social opportunity.
“Liv? You okay? Did I lose you?”
Olivia plucked at a blade of grass. Now was not the time to envy her little sister. “I’m fine. Just tired. This place feels more like a campsite than a school. I have to get ready for the students, so I need to get in the right mindset.”
“They’re gonna have a fabulous time. Six weeks on a Mediterranean island? It’ll be so much fun.”
Olivia fought back the urge to snap in frustration. “It’s a class, not a cruise. I’m supposed to be teaching them the basics of archaeology.”
Given the exorbitant cost of the field school, she didn’t take her responsibilities lightly. She wanted the students to feel as though they’d learned something.
“Ooh. Maybe one of them will dig up a lost treasure. Wouldn’t that be exciting?”
“It’s not like that. Archaeology is about using the scientific method to uncover ancient civilizations and study how people lived. The students are supposed to be learning valuable skills, not chasing dreams perpetuated by the Hollywood media.”
“Is that what you’re going to tell them? You’ll be like the worst TA, ever. Why kill their dreams?”
“I just want to give them realistic expectations.” Why was she arguing with Sofia about this? Though her sister hustled constantly to maintain her social media presence, she was completely self-focused. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to oversee anyone, let alone a group of students.
“You’re supposed to make this fun, spoilsport.” Sofia’s voice took on a pouty tone. “Don’t you think it’s going to be fun?”
“It’s going to be work, Sof. That’s how most of life is. It’s hard work and a lot of stress.”
“It doesn’t have to be. Not all the time. Promise me you’ll try to have fun. You used to get so excited about traveling. Remember when Dad got you that globe for your birthday? It was just a boring old globe, but you were so freaking excited about it.”
Olivia remembered. She’d loved spinning the globe and letting her finger fall on a random country. Uzbekistan. Fiji. Malta. Then she’d look up the place to learn more about it.
Sofia’s voice broke into her memories. “Are you stressed because of that dig you went on in college? The one with the hot guy who got you in trouble?”
Olivia winced. For all of Sofia’s cluelessness, she sometimes hit the nail square on the head. “Maybe. That experience messed up everything.”
“Only because you let it.”
“But Mom and Dad…” Olivia broke off, not wanting to remember. Worse than the shame and the money she’d owed them was the fear she’d disappointed her father so badly he’d never forgive her. He took responsibility seriously, at least where Olivia was concerned. Sofia, on the other hand, usually got a free pass because she was the “baby” of the family.
“Mom and Dad are over it,” Sofia said. “Everyone’s moved on except you. And maybe Mr. Hottie. I’ll bet he never got over you.”
“He’s over me all right. He hates me.”
“How do you know?”
No sense in hiding the truth. “Because he’s here.”
“What? Seriously? Ohmigod, is the spark still there?”
Olivia could only imagine how Sofia might be reacting. Jumping around in excitement. Mixing up another cocktail. She loved relationship drama.
