Page 28 of Roaming Holiday

“All right, fine, fine. Just—stop.”

Anything is better than Nina bouncing like this in front of me. She doesn’t hesitate to push me toward the rental place. “Yay! Come on.”

I spend the next ten minutes filling out paperwork and tampering down panic because Nina is waiting around the corner; the clerk will watch me drive off and won’t allow her to sit sideways. She should be supervised at all times. I only allow it to slide if she sends me fifteen-second updates. The rental clerk looks at me with skepticism at my consistently buzzing phone, but I couldn’t give two shits. Rather than count fifteen seconds between each text—because according to her, “it’s annoyingly specific”—she sends a slew of random shit.

Nina

Still alive.

I haven’t died.

Yet.

I want gelato again.

Get the pink moped.

Wait no, the red one.

Or the blue?

What about a classic black?

No, the cream-colored one.

Fancy and won’t absorb heat.

A lady just let me pet her dog. It was really cute.

I’m hungry.

Can we find a bookstore?

Wait it would probably close soon, right?

It’s not even five thirty, but everything closes early here.

Still alive.

A woman walked by dressed as an absolute icon and I want to be like her when I’m 70.

I want to drive up to Moritzi’s so I can watch the sunset again.

I’m sorry, but I can’t eat their fries again.

Are you done yet?

“Follow me,” the clerk says.

I pick out the beige moped as Nina wished and opt for one with a sissy bar for added protection. After disinfecting the rental helmet twice, I zip off around the corner. If I wasn’t so pissed at myself for caving into this stupid moped, I would have chuckled at her squealing when I roll to a stop in front of her.

“It’s perfect!”

It’s the most excited I’ve seen her since she arrived in Maldana.

I take off the helmet and hand it over. “Get on, then.”

“You expect me to put that thing on my head?”

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