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“Name on the reservation?” the woman behind the host stand asks me when it’s my turn. She’s in a white-and-purple muumuu and has a white flower behind her right ear.
“It’s Manning,” I tell her.
She looks at the computer for a minute. “Can you spell that for me?”
“Sure,” I say and spell it out for her.
Her brows pinch in the center as she looks at the screen. “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t have a reservation under that name,” she says, giving me a sad frown.
“What do you mean?” I ask. It’s an instinctual question because I know exactly what she means, and I also know what this could mean for GlobeTrotter.
I have her check under Mila’s name just in case, and there’s no reservation under her name either. I pull my phone out of my pocket and open the app to show her the reservation, but it’s not associated with their system.
“We do have a cancellation for two people this evening,“ the hostess says. “Would you like to take that?”
The truth is, I’m only here to make sure the reservation works, and now that I know it doesn’t, there’s really no reason for me or Mila to stay. What I should do is go back to the hotel and try to figure out what’s happened. It’s too late to get on a call with Vik, but I could start working on it myself.
I turn to tell the hostess no thank you, but then I see Mila walking toward me. I know I’ve already seen her in that pink dress, but with her hair down around her shoulders and a soft smile on her face, I realize I don’t want this day with her to end.
“We’ll take it,” I hear myself tell the woman.
“Everything okay?” Mila asks when she approaches me.
“Yeah, great,” I say. I know she’s asking about the app, and not wanting to ruin the night, I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile. I’m pretty good at keeping my feelings to myself, so it’s not that hard.
We’re each given a lei of purple and white flowers before we’re guided to our seats at a small two-person table facing the left side of the stage, which has lit tiki torches lining the back and a trio playing Hawaiian music off to the right.
“I’m excited for this,” Mila says after we take our seats.
“Me too,” I agree, although the thing I’m most excited about is being here with her.
Dave. Must remember Dave. I shake my head, and she gives me a questioning look.
I’m saved by the server who comes by and takes our drink order. Mila orders a Mai Tai and I order something called a Blue Hawaii that the server recommends.
“What kind of vacations did you go on as a kid?” she asks once the server has left.
I think about that for a second. “Mostly to the mountains. My dad likes to fish,” I say.
“Do either you or your brother like to fish?” she asks. We’ve talked about families in our leadership meetings before, but it’s impressive she remembers mine.
“No, neither of us picked up the hobby, much to my dad’s disappointment.”
“Are you close to your family?” She sits back in her seat, folding her arms in front of her. It’s closed-off body language for most, but not for Mila. It means she’s getting down to business.
I look toward the stage, not wanting to make eye contact right now with that heavy question. “Yeah,” I say. “We used to be.” I turn to see Mila studying my face.
“Used to be?”
I lift my shoulder and then let it drop. “It’s complicated.”
“Got it,” she says, giving me a single nod, understanding that I don’t want to talk about it.
The thing is, I kind of do with her. I sort of want to talk to her about things I never talk to anyone else about.
I decide to give it a try. “I haven’t seen my parents in … uh”—I stop to do the math—“over two years.”
“Do they live far away?”
