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“Sugar. Baby.” She enunciated each word carefully. When I laughed, she said, “No! I’m serious! I just met a girl at the resort club who is with here in Chiangmai with her sugar daddy!”
I made a face. “Gross!”
“I mean, yeah, okay. A little. But! She travels all over the world with him! He pays for her college, an apartment, a car and even her health insurance! He takes care of everything in exchange for a little, well, you know.”
“Prostitution?”
Van scowled. “You make it sound so dirty!”
“It is!”
She rolled her eyes. “And this mentality is why you’re flipping burgers and shoveling fries for eight bucks an hour to ungrateful, drunk assholes who yell at you in the drive thru line.”
“Uh, excuse me, but I make $11.25 an hour, ma’am!”
“And you could be making five times that staring at the ceiling and thinking about Jason Momoa!”
“Yeah, I’m sure Danny would totally love that arrangement,” I said, imagining the murderous look on his face.
“Well, maybe he could be your sugar provider! That’s a thing they do, right?”
“They?”
“Mobsters. Gangsters. Made men. A wife. A mistress. Maybe a couple of girlfriends.”
The thought of Danny having a revolving door of women including me was like a knife to the heart. “He better not!”
Was she right? Were men in that life serial adulterers? Was it just something expected and accepted?
“Mace, I was teasing.” Van’s smile was gone, and she seemed suddenly sober. “Danny isn’t like that. I'm sure of it.”
“How can you be?” I allowed myself to be vulnerable with my best friend. “All I know of Danny is what he’s let me see. This is all new and exciting, but what happens when the newness wears off? What happens when he gets bored or lonely here in Houston while I’m at school?”
“Danny will call you. He’ll message you. He’ll come visit you. He’ll take up a hobby and stay busy.”
“Until?”
“Until what?” Van frowned. “Mace, what’s going on with you? You’ve been in love with Danny since, like, the first time you saw him. You finally got to go on a date with him. You finally got that kiss you wanted. Why are you suddenly doubting him?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, completely lost. “I guess—I’m scared. My life is such absolute shit right now, and he’s the only really good and wonderful thing in it. How long before he realizes what a mess I am and how much baggage I have? How long before he decided I’m not worth the trouble?”
“Give me a break! He’s the one with baggage. He’s the one who is trouble. You’re a literal saint, and he should be on his knees thanking God you’ve even deigned to give him a chance!”
I let loose a sharp bite of laughter. “Deign? Using those big SAT words?”
“My parents paid good money for those classes. May as well make use of my fancy new vocabulary.” Van’s smile softened. “Macy, don’t start looking for reasons to bail on Danny before your relationship ever gets a chance to succeed. I know you’ve had a bad run of luck, and your dad has basically ruined your view of marriage.”
“Basically,” I agreed sullenly.
“But—there are lots of happy couples out there. Look at my parents! They argue and don’t always agree, but they come together and compromise and apologize. They make it work because they love each other.” Van sighed and leaned forward, filling up my screen with her face. “Look, we’re starting college and a whole new chapter of life. Maybe what you have with Danny won’t last. Maybe it’s only meant to last for a brief and beautiful moment. And maybe it’s not. Maybe this is it. Maybe you’re meant for each other in a big, wonderful way. Just hold on for the ride and enjoy it for whatever it is.”
Her impassioned advice stunned me. I felt a bit choked up over it. Not wanting to cry or get mushy, I jokingly asked, “How much did you have to drink tonight?”
Van rolled her eyes. “Abbie and I split a bottle of champagne before going out to dance and another when we got back to the hotel. I’m practically stone cold sober!”
“Practically,” I agreed with a sarcastic nod.
She ignored my remark and asked, “How is Janie?”
