Page 13 of One Week in Paradise
‘Oh. My. God. Bailey, is that you?’ a high-pitched voice calls out.
‘Hi, Lacey,’ I manage to get out between her shrieks.
Lacey Lou (@LaceyLouXo) is a titan on the influencer scene. She has over a million followers and the power to make or break a brand with just one post. I wouldn’t saywe’re friends, but we’ve met a few times at PR events, and she’s always been nice and friendly to me. Standing to the side is her rugby player boyfriend, Danny. He occasionally shows up in her posts – usually the ‘pranking my boyfriend’ type ones.
I look around to see who else is here. I see two women who I vaguely recognise. Meera and Sara. They run the popular vlog,Vanilla and Spice, documenting their interracial and queer relationship to hundreds of thousands of fans on YouTube. I’ve never met them personally, but I’ve seen a few of their videos, and they seem adorable. They also get bonus points for the fantastic name ‘Vanilla and Spice’.
Standing close by Meera and Sara is another face I recognise. Beatrice Rose, also known as @ItsYourGirlBea. I wouldn’t call us rivals because I truly believe there’s enough space for everyone to shine, but we do have a very similar audience base. She leans a little more toward high fashion than I do, but her hair tutorials are phenomenal and nearly always go viral. Today, she’s got her hair in intricate straight-back cornrows, and she’s wearing a colourful (and probably) designer tracksuit with a pair of Fendi slides. She’s here with a man I don’t recognise. She’s definitely not posted him before.
Bea turns to look at me. I watch as her quizzical gaze slides from me to Cash and back to me again. Her lip twitches.
‘I didn’t know you were coming,’ Lacey coos. ‘I feel like I haven’t seen you on my feed in forever. Where have you been?’
Hm. Has Lacey not seen The Video?
‘And where’s your man?’ she asks, dramatically swivelling her head this way and that to peer through the crowd. She’s searching for Ethan.
I glance up at Cash. He’s glaring at a spot on the ground, but I don’t have time to worry about him right now. He knew what he was signing up to.
‘He’s right here,’ I say, pointing to Cash. To his credit, he looks up and offers Lacey a weak and brief smile. ‘This is my boyfriend, Cash.’
Bea’s perfectly plucked brows shoot into her hairline, and both Meera and Sara exchange a loaded look between them. Danny and Bea’s so far unnamed boyfriend barely look up from their phones.
‘Oh!’ says Lacey, brows furrowing. It’s clear that she was expecting to see Ethan. So she definitely hasn’t seen The Video. That provides me with a little bit of comfort. Maybe it didn’t go as viral as I thought it did.
‘When did that hap—’ Lacey begins, but she’s interrupted by a smartly dressed woman approaching us. I take the opportunity to stand next to Cash.
‘Sorry about that,’ I mumble. He doesn’t respond, and I don’t even know why I bother.
‘Hello, my lovelies!’ the woman says brightly. ‘I’m Penelope. It’s lovely to meet you all in person. We don’t have long before the flight, so let’s get you all checked in now.’
As soon as she says that, Lacey, Meera and Bea all whip out their cameras, ready to start making content. I watch as Lacey sends Danny ahead of her in the line so she can get a clip of him walking towards the check-in counter.
I take my phone out tentatively. Should I be filming this too? I hate how I’m second-guessing myself. Where has my confidence gone? I decide against filming and stick my phone back in my pocket.
‘You all right?’ Cash murmurs to me as we shuffle forwards in the queue.
‘You done ignoring me?’ I ask. I know it’s petty, but I’m already tired of the moody act. ‘Listen, I know you don’t want to be here with me. You’re just in it for the holiday. I get it.’
We inch forward in the queue. Ahead of us, Bea is taking a photo of her and her boyfriend’s passports.
‘But you knew what you were getting into when you agreed to come,’ I continue. ‘If you’re not going to play the part, tell me now. I’d rather cut my losses right here than have this all go to hell in Jamaica.’
He looks alarmed by my outburst, which brings me a sense of satisfaction. Did he really think I was going to spend the whole week letting him ignore me and treat me likedirt? Though, to be fair, he has been doing it all our lives, so why would I expect any different now?
‘Sorry,’ he mutters after a beat or two of stunned silence. ‘I wasn’t ignoring you.’
I scoff. ‘All you do is ignore me, Cash. And you can get right back to it after the trip.’
‘I told you, I’m not—’
‘Save it, Cash,’ I say abruptly. I’m in no mood to hear his excuses. ‘I know you don’t like me, and that’s fine. But I just need this to go well.’ I hate how needy and desperate I sound, but it’s true. ‘I need my life back.’
Cash looks like he wants to say something, but instead, he shakes his head. Wavy curls fall in front of his face, and again, I’m struck with the urge to run my fingers through them.
‘Got it,’ he says curtly. I know that he probably wants to say more. That there are probably insults on the tip of his tongue, but I’m impressed by his restraint.
After we check in, Penelope informs us that we’ve got about an hour until we need to be at our gate. She leads us over towards the British Airways lounge and tells us to relax and that she’ll come and find us when we need to leave.
