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No, I chided myself. I could do this, now I just needed to toss back a cup of cement and harden the fuck up as my father would say. Unfortunately, I hadn’t inherited his hard ass personality, I’d been lucky enough to get my mother’s meek, walk all over me, personality. My sister, on the other hand, had every gene and personality trait I had ever wanted. That’s probably why Melly had everything she had ever wanted and more at her fingertips and I was still struggling all these years after leaving home.
And it all came crashing back down that my downfall had started right around the time I caught Scott with that whore.
Goddamn Scott.
Goddamn that whore.
I could feel my anger mounting right as I saw the marina coming into view. I pulled back, forgetting about Scott and the woman and focused on my future.
My bright future ofWaltzing Matilda Skincare. The reason I fought so hard these days was for my business and that’s what this trip was all about.
As the bus pulled up, the girls excitedly exited before I pulled myself up and down the few steps. “Have a good trip, ladies.”
I waved at the man as he handed me my bag and I headed down the wharf to the boat waiting for us. The girls were already on the boat, sipping at flutes of champagne and huddled by the table on the edge. One of the men grabbed my bags from me and chucked them on the boat, and helped me on.
A lady came toward me with a flute of champagne and a warm smile. “Welcome, you must be Matilda.”
“Mattie.”
“Oh, well, Mattie, I’m Louella. Welcome.”
I sat down on the only available seat, away from the others and listened to Louella as she told us about the island and what to expect tonight. The first day officially starts tomorrow so we were free to do as we wished, but there would be a banquet tonight for us to feast and drink and meet each other. I had to admit, it did sound great, but I didn’t know anybody yet.
I’d be the nerd in the corner, hoping someone would take pity on me and talk to me. Now that was lame.
??
“Mattie?” I heard my name being called out. Turning around, I saw the most glamorous woman I had ever seen coming my way. She had a short brown bob with the most immaculate makeup and dress I had ever seen. “I’m Mara, I’m so glad you could take Veruca’s spot at the last minute. If you need anything, you let me know, okay?”
I nodded, still unsure how such a goddess could exist. She moved off to join some others who all seemed to know her. There was a large banquet table set up to the side with entrees and flutes of champagne, glasses of water and also cocktails at the very end. If I didn’t know where I was, I’d think I had just stepped onto a beach in Hawaii, and I was in the middle of a luau. There were wait staff with grass skirts on and bikini tops for the women. Everyone was dressed in a slinky dress or a sarong dress, but I must have missed the memo because I looked down and saw jeans and a nice silk top I’d bought on a whim and had never had the opportunity to use before.
Damn it.
“Hey.”
I turned at the sound of the voice and smiled at the blonde I’d seen on the boat earlier. She hadn’t been as boisterous as the other women and had offered me kind smiles in between conversations.
“Hi.”
“I’m Sophie,” she said. “So you’re new to these things?”
“Yeah, I’m the odd one out, it seems.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll meet new people at this thing. I was new last time and I was super nervous too. I made lifelong friends in that group. Come on over and I’ll introduce you.”
“Sorry, Sophie, I think I’m a little overdressed. I’ll head back to my room and see you tomorrow morning.”
Sophie looked disappointed but it quickly turned to her nice smile again. “I get it. It’s a little overwhelming, right?”
I nodded. “Very.”
“Well tomorrow morning, at breakfast, I’ll look for you and you can come and sit at our table. That way I can introduce you.”
I nodded, thankful she was being nice about me wanting to take off after an invitation. “Thank you, Sophie. My name is Mattie.”
She smiled again and headed off to her group. I grabbed a little sandwich and headed back to the hotel room, hoping like hell no one saw how out of touch I had been this weekend. The whole point was to blend in, and here I was, sticking out like a sore loser yet again.
Just like always.
