Page 66 of The Suite Life
I stretch out in bed, my limbs extending into all four corners, as I come to. God, I sleep so well in this bed.
I rub my sleepy eyes before slowly opening them, allowing them to adjust to the light slowly, until I notice someone standing at the end of my bed.
I’m relieved to see that it is Lucy, and that she hasn’t written ‘redrum’ on the wall, but it’s still a surprise.
‘What are you doing in here?’ I mumble, my voice croaky with sleep.
‘A random man let me in,’ she replies.
‘That’s just Donnie,’ I say through a yawn. ‘He’s a friend. He’s sleeping on my sofa.’
‘Because that’s not weird at all,’ she says, raising an eyebrow. ‘Anyway, he’s making us coffee. Throw some clothes on and meet me downstairs. In the meantime, I’ll find out more about this mysterious Donnie.’
She leaves the room, and as I rub the sleep from my eyes, I can’t help but wonder if I’m dreaming. Shaking off the confusion, I stumble towards the bathroom to face the day, starting with my reflection. Grabbing my make-up bag, I gothrough the motions, slapping on the basics. I would never bother for Lucy, who has seen me in various states of disarray plenty of times. I guess it’s for Donnie, technically, because I’m not ready for him to see the unfiltered version of me. Why? I don’t know, years of conditioning by women’s magazines and the unrealistic beauty standards set by the likes of Sunshine Greene on Instagram could have something to do with it. Sunshine once claimed her ‘no-make-up’ make-up routine took a whopping forty-five minutes. When I do the works, it doesn’t take me that long, but I suppose Sunshine always looks stunning, whereas sometimes the best I can pull off is a potato rolled in glitter.
Finally semi-presentable, I head downstairs, my heart racing with a mix of curiosity and sleep-induced delirium. Donnie and Lucy are already sitting at the table, deep in conversation, laughing together like they’ve been friends forever.
‘Gigi, I am in love with Donnie,’ Lucy declares, her eyes sparkling in a way that makes it seem like she really means it.
‘Okay,’ I say with a bemused laugh, because I can’t have been more than fifteen minutes. ‘I don’t know how Rick is going to feel about that.’
‘I think he’s going to be in love with him too,’ she replies. ‘He’s saved the wedding.’
‘Did I fall back asleep?’ I ask in disbelief. ‘What happened?’
‘The guitarist for the wedding ceremony broke his wrist,’ Lucy explains. ‘I was on my way here to share the crisis, and it turns out Donnie’s a professional guitar player. He says he’ll step in, so crisis averted – before I even got the chance to tell you about it.’
‘That’s great,’ I say with a smile. ‘Good old Donnie.’
‘You’re invited to the wedding too,’ Lucy informs him. ‘It’s the least we can do, to say thank you. If you want to come, that is.’
‘I’d love to,’ Donnie replies. ‘I’ve heard a lot about it from Gigi.’
‘Amazing,’ Lucy says. ‘Honestly, I thought I was going to have to walk down the aisle in silence – imagine that.’
‘I’m glad I brought my guitar with me,’ Donnie says. ‘It’s amazing how often it comes in handy.’
‘Back in a sec,’ Lucy says. ‘I’m going to call Rick, tell him to come here so we can tell him the good news together.’
‘Well, you’re coming to the wedding,’ I tell Donnie once we’re alone.
‘I’m coming to the wedding,’ he replies with a grin.
Is it weird that I’m glad that Donnie is coming? Somehow it feels like we’re in this together. And if things don’t work out with Jeff, well, at least I won’t be at the wedding alone. I’ll have a friend.
32
Now that the wedding crisis has been averted, this morning, as promised, is family time.
I have my second date with Jeff, relatively late tonight, and I’ve made plans to meet up and hang out with Donnie after lunch, which leaves me alone with the wedding party and, for better or worse, I’ve invited them all to my private pool area to hang out for a bit.
My parents, Lucy and Rick, and Nathan and Sunshine have all taken me up on my offer and, honestly, watching them all approaching at once is an almost terrifying sight – made no less scary by the fact that my dad is carrying a giant inflatable unicorn rubber ring.
‘Hello,’ I say, welcoming them as warmly as I can – something you think would be easy under the hot sun but, eesh, I can already tell this isn’t going to go well. I can just feel it.
‘Fucking hell, Gigi,’ Rick announces – there goes the neighbourhood. ‘This is unreal.’
‘Wow, Gigi, this is where you’re staying?’ my mum says, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. ‘This is like a resort all of its own.’
