Page 256 of Steeling Her
“Your face says you want to say something.” Danielle points at her with a smirk.
“Just say it.” I laugh, repeating Ted’s words from that day.
“What? I don’t know what you are talking about.” She flips her hair and looks back at the ocean we were once admiring.
“Okay then.” I smile and lay back down, but Danielle and I continue to watch her and wait for her to cave. I know she wants to say it.
Feeling our eyes on her, she peers back around at us. She’s trying to suppress a smile on her face, but she’s so terrible at it that she grins widely. “I’m so glad you dumped that asshole!” She leaps up and starts dancing on her own.
“And there we have it, ladies and gentleman!” Danielle laughs along with me as we watch the bride-to-be dance with pride.
“Champagne!” Haley calls for a staff member to fetch us some drinks. I roll my eyes at her antics, I knew she’d be like this. “This calls for a fucking celebration, ladies!” We both roll our eyes as she runs after the staff getting us the bottle. “I want your best one!” she yells after him.
We’re met with another round of silence. Another hand rests on my leg. It makes me look at my best friend.
“You knew that was coming.” She giggles and then stops.
“We both did.” I nod, grinning back at her and fixing my hair that fell across my face due to the breeze.
“How are you, though?” she asks. “Like, how are you really doing?”
I sigh to myself and the journey that I’ve had. “I knew I had to do it. I didn’t want to, but I knew I had to. I didn’t want to hurt him either, but I knew I did. It wasn’t as smooth as I thought it would be. He wasn’t happy, but I felt better leaving his house after I broke it off,” I reassure her. “It’ll take time, but I’m getting there.” I nod just as we hear rushed footsteps coming back out. Haley bounces back on top of the bed in her orange bikini in excitement as the waiter brings out a bottle of champagne on ice and three flutes a few seconds after her return.
We were each handed a crystal flute before the bottle was popped open. We poured a generous amount into each of our glasses.
“Cheers to us!” Haley says and we all clink out glasses before taking a sip of the nice, bubbly beverage.
A few hours into the day trip, the two girls had jumped off the side of the yacht and into the water while I watch from the side, knowing I wouldn’t be comfortable getting into the water. Each having their hair wet, we were in high spirits due to the champagne we were drinking.
“I don’t know how I’m going to drive us back!” Haley laughs as she chugs the rest of the champagne in her flute back into her mouth.
“Um, you are not driving us back, no fucking way. Your driving skills are bad without the alcohol and it’ll be way worse with it. I’ll call an Uber to get us home. You can collect your car in the morning instead. That’s much safer than you driving!” Danielle warns her only for Haley to pout.
“My driving isn’t bad!” she scoffs playfully.
“Uh, yes it is!” Danielle and I say in unison, making the three of us drunkenly laugh together like we did at parties in college when we all went to them.
We never left each other’s side, we always shared everything. After our first year, we moved into a small home just outside of the college campus and we lived there for the next year. Danielle left us to be with Chris and to give birth to Taylor, but Haley and I stayed in the house. She came to visit us every so often with my brother and niece. We have been close ever since we met back in freshman year of college. Joined at the hip even when Danielle moved away. Nothing got in between us.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever, bitch.” Haley sticks her tongue out playfully, making Danielle throw a grape at her.
“Your entrées.” We were greeted at the table with delicious appetizers that had been especially made for us. A shared platter of Italian delicacies ranging from olives, bruschetta, a caprese salad, and some crabs cooked in garlic butter.
Our eyes widen in delight at the carefully made food just for us tonight. The mains were even better, and don’t get me started on the dessert. I now found myself waddling on deck as we move from the dinner table to the back of the yacht to continue our conversation and drinking for the night. We were given blankets to keep each other warm as night begins to fall while we were out on the open water.
A sigh of content echoes around the water from the three of us. The day couldn’t have went any better. No guys, no kids, and no bothers.
Except for one. It’s the one that keeps niggling in the back of my mind, wanting to make it to the front. The same old thought.
“What’s on your mind?” Danielle asks while fixing the super soft blanket they had given us around her body until she settles down.
I lay my head back and look heavenwards at the beautiful, shining stars above us. The moon brighter than any light around us.
“Nothing,” I lie, not wanting to talk about it, or him.
“Bullshit.” Haley snorts, knowing me all too well.
“What’s on your minds then, huh?” I tease them and take the limelight off me for now.
