Page 14 of The Last Sunrise

“What?” I ask, tilting my chin to her.

“Let’s have some fun tonight.”

“Don’t you have to work?” I ask her, looking around the nearly empty lobby.

She points to the clock on the wall behind her. “I’m off at nine.”

“Nine? Isn’t that late to go out?”

She looks at me like I have three heads and twenty eyes.

“That’s early here. So try to stay awake.” She smiles.

“Ha. Ha.” I roll my eyes at her, knowing good and well I’m usually in bed by then.

By the time eight comes around, I’m getting sleepy. I scroll and scroll on my phone, growing bored to death. My mom has some dinner with Lena that I declined so I can go out, without her knowing. I end up pacing around my room, jumping up and down a few times, splashing cold water on my face, anything and everything to keep my energy up. I open the minibar and wonder how my body would react to a Red Bull, but decide against it. At eight forty-five, I’m restless and go down to the lobby early. Amara’s on her phone, scrolling, looking bored out of her mind, just like I was in my suite.

“You’re awake!” She claps her hands.

“I am.” I lean against the cool stone counter between us.

“I’ll just leave early. No one will care and Marian just got here, so I’ll sweet-talk her to clock in a few minutes early.” She winks at me, noticing my hesitation.

Why do I care? It’s her choice and her job. I need to lighten up, live a little, and do what I promised I’d do this summer, which is step out of my comfort zone as much as I can.

“Come on. Let’s get you changed, and I’ll introduce you to some of my friends here and show you why I found it impossible to leave this island since I came here on holiday.”

I look down at my gray tank top and jean shorts, wondering what she expects me to change into. “Not Julián, though, right?”

She shakes her head. “No. He never comes out on a weekday,” she assures me.

He did last night, I want to say, but I just nod, and we head up to my room.

“What’s it like to stay in here?” she asks, looking out the window. “I’ve only helped guests bring their luggage in and bring them ice and stuff. It must be so different sleeping here, especially for the entire summer. I think the Obamas are the only ones who have ever stayed that long, them or one of the Kardashians.”

“They stayed here?” I ask, pulling out a couple shirts from my closet.

“Yeah, tons of famous people have, but a lot of them were rude and entitled, except the Obamas, and ironically whichever Kardashian it was. I think it was Khloe. Anyway, it must be so nice to have this view every day. My flat here is the size of your bathroom. Oh, to be rich!” She twirls around, into the bathroom and back out, smiling.

“It’s really incredible, honestly. Staying here, I mean. Not being rich. I’m not rich, my mom is.” I stare out the window at my view of the expansive sea.

“Well, my mother only calls me to borrow money that I don’t even have so she can buy a liter of scotch. Wanna trade?” Amara’s tone is light, not bitter.

I try to imagine her family, how warm her mother must have been, addiction or not, to raise such a sunshine of a daughter.

“My mom’s entire personality is her job, so I might take you up on that,” I tease back, kind of meaning it.

I use the reflection of the window to pop out my contacts and turn around to grab a new pair.

“What the! No shit! Your eyes, oh my god.” Amara’s petite hands wrap around my shoulders as blood pools in my cheeks.

Here we go. There have been times when having heterochromia felt cool and unique, but having people constantly commenting on my appearance, whether it was positive or not, got old quickly, and I eventually just wanted to fit in. That, and I have other medicaluniquenessthat’s enough for one woman. “I know, they’re—”

Her hand zips up to my mouth, gently covering it. “Don’t you dare say anything except they’re cool, stunning, beautiful, rare… and don’t even think about putting those brown contacts back in.” She eyes me, lowering her hand from covering my mouth. “At least for one night, be you. Don’t cover them, and if people annoy you about them too much, I’ll fuck them up. I love a good bar fight,” she says, making both of us laugh at the idea of her in such chaos.

I don’t know how to react, but man she’s good at convincing me. I look back out the window and she claps her hands, proud that I’m not protesting. If only she knew that I came here to be anything but myself, to live a temporary fantasy life.

A few boats are in view, and for some reason my mind goes back to Julián. What a small world that Amara, the only person I know on this side of the earth, knows him. I can’t seem to get his face out of my mind, but she’s good at distracting me.

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