Page 5 of Accidental Getaway

By the time Piper and Sarah arrive late in the afternoon the day after my meeting, I am an anxious wreck. I have spent every free moment between work tasks searching for my passport without success. I’ve torn apart my room and am now sitting in a pile of random junk and clothes.

I have gotten myself in way over my head. Clearly, I have lost my mind. All I want to do is crawl into bed and forget any of this is happening, but I’m supposed to meet Piper and Sarah at a restaurant in thirty minutes, and I’m still in my ratty sweats. At least I showered this morning.

I go stand in front of my closet to find an outfit to wear.

Piper and Sarah always look amazing with their funky, unique style that anything in my closet feels dull in comparison.

I finally find a pair of old jeans and grab a vintage-looking black T-shirt from my favorite deep-dish pizza joint in Chicago.

It used to be my lucky T-shirt, actually.

I wore it anytime I had an exam. So maybe it will help me today.

I grab a green bomber jacket and run downstairs.

The night is warm, and I decide to bike to the restaurant.

At this point in the summer, traffic can be pretty bad with tourists making their way through town.

Biking will be easier and faster. When I cycle into the restaurant parking lot, my friends are already there, looking like they walked over from where they parked their RV by the lake.

The two women rush over and wrap me in a huge bear hug before I can even lock up my bike.

Both of them look gorgeously relaxed and happy.

Piper has gotten some sun and is wearing a collared shirt and chino shorts.

Sarah’s hair looks freshly braided and her black skin glistens in the afternoon sun.

In their presence, the anxiety I have felt about our conversation melts away, and my heart feels like it’s going to burst. I hadn’t realized how much I missed them.

“You guys look amazing! I missed you so much.”

“We missed you more,” Sarah says. Sarah and Piper have been together for years, and she has become one of my dearest friends. “But also, I’m starving, so let’s chat inside.”

The restaurant is just so Colorado. Skis and hiking gear hang on the walls atop mountain murals, and the tables are painted like old state flags.

Despite how cheesy it is, it does feel like home.

I order my favorite item on the menu—BBQ pulled pork on a gourmet brioche bun with honey-tossed sweet potato fries.

We spend the first chunk of dinner talking all about the couple’s RV adventures. I desperately want to ask them to save me from myself and help me get ready for this trip—it burns at the tip of my tongue. Instead, I shuffle my feet and listen to their stories.

They’ve recently been making their way west across the bottom of the United States.

“There we were on a boat in the swamp of Louisiana,” Sarah goes on.

“And the tour guide started bringing a baby alligator around. The second that little guy was in my hands, all I could picture was the momma alligator lurking in the waters outside the boat, ready to climb aboard and devour me. I nearly wet myself.”

They both make eye contact before erupting into laughter. Their joy is intoxicating, and I wish for the millionth time that I could be as sure of myself as they are, instead of constantly second-guessing myself.

Finally, after we order dessert, Piper pulls a sheet of paper out of her shoulder bag. The time has finally come.

“And now the reason for our detour north,” she proclaims. “Let’s get you to Greece! Sarah drove today, so I could research everything we need to do. You have your passport, right?”

Sarah gives Piper a look and interjects. “Piper, she’s not a child. Of course she has her passport.”

Clearly, no self-respecting adult would lose their passport. I really am that pathetic. Both women look at me expectantly.

“Yep! I have my passport. Found it last night.” I give them my most convincing smile, hoping they don’t see right through me.

They don’t have to know I haven’t found it yet.

I will. I think. “But I’d love your advice on anything else.

” Like, do I need to learn Greek? Will my credit card work over there?

There are probably a dozen other things I haven’t even thought of yet.

Piper slides the paper she’s been holding across the table toward me and I pick it up. It appears to be a long handwritten list of action items and things I need to buy and pack.

“Of course, we’ve got your standards—packing cubes, travel pillow, external battery packs—but with what we know of your travel history, we also took the liberty of making a list of clothing, accessories, travel hacks, et cetera.”

My eyes make their way down the list.

“And you’re getting a makeover.”

My eyes spring from the list to Sarah, who is brimming with excitement. You’ve got to be kidding me. This isn’t a rom- com. I don’t want or need a makeover montage that is going to magically change my entire outlook.

“Like what, exactly?” I ask, hesitantly. Please don’t?—

“Well, we thought maybe a haircut, some new clothes, and makeup? You’re going to need to look the part of a sexy international marketing exec,” Sarah says.

I stare at her with pursed lips.

“We all know you are brilliant, capable, and beautiful, but I looked up this hotel, and it’s the definition of luxury. We just want you to feel comfortable,” Piper declares. “When was the last time you took those hiker’s feet for a pedicure?”

I know she’s right. I thought the same thing last night when I looked up the hotel. It’s incredibly swanky—or at least, it was. I’m not sure how much the new owner has changed, but I’m guessing he hasn’t downgraded it to an economy-level hotel. I won’t fit in without major help.

Sarah feverishly swipes through her phone. “By the way, I looked up the general manager, and he is hot .”

Piper and I both tilt our heads at her. She isn’t usually one to ogle.

“Seriously! Look.” Sarah reaches her phone across the table. “He’s so dreamy. I can see it now. You’re going to fall for him and never come back to us.”

I take Sarah’s phone and study the photo staring back at me.

A dark-haired and olive-skinned man is smiling casually in a gray suit, posed outside of the Omorfiá Hotel.

He doesn’t look much older than us, maybe thirty at the absolute most. Sarah’s not wrong; he is gorgeous—but in that untouchable, too charming for his own good and knows it kind of way. Definitely not my type.

“First of all, I do not need to date anyone right now, thank you. Second of all, do I need to remind you that he is going to be a client?”

Piper rolls her eyes. “Who said anything about dating? You can hook up and not date. I mean, I wouldn’t know, but that’s what everyone says.”

Piper and Sarah have been together since we were all seventeen. Sarah grew up a few cities over, and the two of them met while rock climbing. It was love at first sight, and they’ve never looked back. I’m only a tiny bit jealous.

“It’s true,” Sarah says as I hand back her phone. “Haven’t you seen literally any television show in the last ten years? Everyone dates at work or through work. Half our couple friends met at work. How else are you supposed to meet people?”

I met Malcolm at work and that didn’t turn out too well. I don’t bring him up because they are both so happy, and I love hearing them laugh. Bringing it up would only bring down the mood.

“Well, it’s not going to happen, either way. A guy like that would not be interested in me.”

“Yeah right,” Piper chimes in. “Of course he would. You’re hot, you’re brilliant, you’re funny. I’m calling it. You’re getting lucky on this trip.”

I spit out my soda. “Piper!”

“What? Why not? It’s been months since Malcolm, and you shouldn’t have grieved that steaming pile of bear droppings anyway. It’s time to get back out there. And you definitely aren’t meeting anyone here in Pineview Springs. You deserve to have fun!”

As if I don’t have enough on my plate with the work aspect of the trip. Now I have to have fun, too? They really don’t get it.

“Girls, there is no way. I have too much riding on this trip professionally. I am absolutely not going to hook up with the client.”

“Fine, it doesn’t have to be this Niko guy, but someone. You need to find someone to have a little vacay fling. ”

They are still joking around, but suddenly, it’s all just too much to handle.

The makeover, the shopping list, the missing passport, talking about dating—it’s too much.

I will never succeed. I’m having flashbacks of freezing in conference rooms, being talked over, and pushed around.

What makes me think this time will be any different?

Steaming hot tears brim my eyelids, threatening to overflow. I squeeze my tongue to the roof of my mouth to prevent a sob from escaping.

I try to look away and buy myself a minute, but it doesn’t work.

“Oh, Jenni! Don’t cry!” Piper asks. “Forget we said anything. We were just messing around.”

“I don’t think I can do this.” My voice comes out as a whisper, but inside, it’s a scream.

Everything is wrong. The tears are flowing now, and there is no stopping them.

I can feel the dampness running down my hot, blotchy cheeks.

I hate crying in public, but somehow being with my friends again makes it so I don’t care all that much.

I want their arms around me. I want them to tell me everything is going to be okay.

“Talk to me,” Piper begs. “This is clearly about more than being nervous to travel.”

“I just feel so inadequate.” My voice cracks as I speak. “If I go on this assignment, I’m going to fail. I know it deep in my bones.”

I know it, because I have spent years being told I’m not good enough. I know it, because Malcolm’s voice is still in my head, making sure I remember my place. As much as I want to prove him wrong, what would be even worse would be to prove him right.

“I’m just broken. I don’t fit in my life. And I can’t figure out where I’m supposed to be.”

Sarah gets up from her seat and joins me on my side of the table. She gently rubs my back. “I think it makes perfect sense with everything you’ve been through.”

“What do you mean?” They couldn’t possibly know, could they? I’ve never told anybody about how weak I really was in that relationship. They would never look at me the same way again if I did.

Piper sits forward, taking over from Sarah.

“We watched how much you struggled in Chicago. We saw you wither away and lose all of your light. I don’t know if it was the job or Malcolm.

You never really gave us details. But I’m guessing both.

Then they all dropped you like a hot potato with no explanation or recourse. ”

The waitress saves me from having to respond by checking to make sure everything is okay. We haven’t touched our chocolate cake. Sarah says something to her, but I’m not listening because I’ve buried my tear-streaked face in my hands.

“You don’t understand. It was all my fault. I just wasn’t good enough.”

Piper puts her hands down on the table and leans toward me. “Listen, Jenni, I don’t know exactly what happened, but I can promise you that it was never your fault. Malcolm was controlling and abusive and took advantage of you. That’s all on him.”

“I—” My lips quiver and the words get caught in my throat.

Malcolm never hit me. Not really. He left fingerprint bruises on my arm a few times and I thought he pushed me when I was getting into the car once.

He acted like I tripped and was so worried about me that I doubted my own perception of the event.

I still struggle to call it abuse because it was always so confusing.

I usually ended up being the one apologizing after every fight.

“We know,” Sarah murmurs. “It’s okay to not be okay. We’re here.”

I want to believe her. I don’t want to feel broken anymore. I hate this. I don’t want to be the girl living in her parents’ house that everyone feels sorry for. I want to be the girl everyone is proud of. I just don’t know how.

“So what do I do?” I ask in a quiet voice, afraid to admit it’s time for a change.

“Let us help you get back out there. Career-wise,” she adds when Sarah side-eyes her. “I know you can nail this and then, maybe, you’ll find your spark again.”

Could that really be it? Faking it until I make it to a new life? Maybe or maybe not. But surely, it’s the only opportunity I have to fix my mistakes and prove him wrong.

“Okay ...” I finally say, giving Piper and Sarah the answer they want. “You’re right. I’ll do anything you tell me to. Except dye my hair.”

Both women look at me with giddy expressions, like they are about to roll up their sleeves and get to work. I just hope their plan pays off.