AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What was your favorite part?”
“Probably the fire dancers,” I say. “What about you?”
“I loved watching the Tahitian dancers move their hips. Like, how do they do that?”
“It can’t be that hard,” I say.
“What?” she laughs. “Okay, let’s see you do it.”
“Nah. I wouldn’t want you to be disappointed with the Tahitians after seeing me.”
“Now you have to,” she says, stopping in her tracks and putting her hands on her hips. “Show me what you’ve got, Manning.”
“Okay,” I say, feeling sillier than I have in years. Maybe it was the second blue drink. “You better stand back.”
I do my best to move my hips back and forth, but I know I’m not even close to any of the dancing we saw tonight.
“That was terrible,” she says, giggling.
“Let’s see you try.”
“I already know I can’t do it,” she says. “But I’ll give it a shot.”
She’s able to do it faster than me, that’s for sure, but neither of us can hold a candle to what we saw on the stage tonight. Still, I think I enjoyed Mila’s attempt, with that big smile on her face, more than the professional show.
“You nailed it,” I tell her.
“Liar.” She grins, grabbing me by the arm. “Come on. I’m exhausted and I need my rest before you make me go hiking tomorrow.”
“It’s an easy one,” I tell her. I did some research this morning and found an easy-to-moderate hike to a waterfall with a freshwater pool you can swim in. It’s only a couple of miles in.
“So you say.”
We make our way back to the hotel and walk around the pool area and in through the back entrance.
Mila guides me over to the check-in desk, where the man that checked us in last night is working again.
“Hello,” she says. “I was wondering if my suitcase showed up yet?”
She’d asked when we got back from the snorkeling trip and was disappointed. I can see she’s trying not to get her hopes up now.
“Oh yes,” the man says. “Your bag arrived tonight.”
“Oh my gosh, thank you,” she says, her voice echoing through the lobby.
“I’ve had someone take it up to your room. Here are your keys,” he says, handing her a small white envelope.
Her smile is big as she waves her keys at me. “I can’t wait to wear my own clothes.”
“And you get your own room tonight, so I won’t keep you up with my snoring.”
“Exactly,” she says.
Her relief is palpable. I just hope my disappointment isn’t. My room will seem boring without Mila Banks in it.
THREE YEARS AGO
ABBY WAS THE FIRST FRIEND I’d met when I started working at LogicSphere in Seattle. I was a project manager, and she was in customer support. The software company was one of the largest in Seattle, and it was very intimidating to be all by myself in a new town and starting a new job where no one knew me. Abby took me under her metaphorical wing and showed me around town, introduced me to people, and brought me into her friend group.
