I sighed. “I think all the time it was just lukewarm. I mean, yeah, he was kind of handsome. He had his look, you know? You’ve seen him, right?”
“Yeah. I remember.”
“And not a bad body, either.” “Bit thin.”
“I don’t mind them thin.”
“Bit flaccid. In personality, I mean!” “Come on, don’t be like that, Scar.”
“You’ve got to admit, Maya! I mean, the last time I saw him, he
seemed to have all the backbone of an earthworm. Or a noodle! Admittedly, you had just started dating him. Maybe he was holding back.”
I sighed. “He wasn’t. Don’t laugh! Okay, so he wasn’t very forceful.
That wasn’t his style. Well, until he got defensive. Then it was battle
stations, or something.” I flashed a look of irritation. I didn’t want to have these memories dredged up. Scarlett caught it. She always had a high EQ.
“Sorry, Maya.”
“No, it’s fine. The wound is still a bit fresh. Anyway, we weren’t, you know, super-hot the whole time or anything. I mean, yeah, we were close sometimes. But-”
“It was never spectacular.”
I shook my head slowly. “No. But this is life! You don’t always get the spectacular.” But even the words sounded unconvincing and hollow to me. “I don’t know, Scar. I’m looking back at the years we spent together… and I’m just asking myself, ‘Why?’ you know? Why did I stick it out? I can see now all the signs that pointed to us not working. We grew apart. We stopped having sex. We just… shared a place. We were like housemates for the last year! I mean… can you believe that? He used to look at me when I got out of the shower, slap my bum while I tried to put on my clothes, all those little annoying things that you don’t realize stop happening until you look back at it, and realize that… well… they just stopped.” I bit back an outburst of emotion. “I don’t know. I’m such an idiot. The signs were all there. Everything changed. We held hands, but out of habit. We faced away from each other in bed. We didn’t even cuddle on the sofa when we watched films together.” “Maya-”
“God, I sound so naive. I know that these things fade. Just… well, I don’t know how to explain it. But looking back, it was so, so obvious. Why didn’t I see it, Scar? Why did I let things go where they went? I could have focused more on my career, or even gone traveling! I’ve always
wanted to travel, but Bradley never did, and-”
“Maya! From where I’m standing, you ditched a man who was no good for you. And that’s something a smart person does. So, in my book,
you’re no idiot, Maya.” She touched my arm, and I forced a smile. “You did the right thing. Don’t worry about the timing of it.”
“I did ditch him, didn’t I?”
“He was a prick. He cheated on you. He tried to blame you for it, too!” Scarlett huffed. “And so you chucked him into the rubbish. Right?”
“Right,” I said.
“And now we’re about to go to a private restaurant and be a part of some very rich, very exclusive company. Well, exclusive for out here,
anyway.”
“Any hotties?” I asked, half-joking.
“There may be,” Scarlett said. “One time I went, there was a whole group of male models. You know, the mixed-race boys who are all pretty? They do underwear stuff and shoots for local clothing brands, and stuff like that. All speak English, too. Educated in America and Canada, or even born there.”
I sat up and looked my sister dead in the eyes. “Well, why didn’t you say so earlier? Tell the driver to crank up the engine! Let’s go!”
She laughed. “They were like… eighteen or nineteen!”
“Still.” I took a deep breath. “Wouldn’t mind spying on some eye candy. I don’t mind a pretty boy. Especially if he’s got a good body.”
“Oh, they have. You’d like ’em if you like the lean body type. You know, like Brad Pitt from Fight Club.”
I grinned at Scarlett. “He’s better in Snatch, even with that awful accent.”
Scarlett hummed. “Myself? I prefer someone with a bit more meat on them.”
“You did always go for the beefy ones in school. Rugby players, was it? Can’t remember now.”
“I dated a boy who was on the shot-put team, too.”
I snorted. “What? Seriously? We even had a shot-put team?” “Course we did, Maya. Track and field.”
“Oh, yeah. I hated P. E.”
“Anyway, enough talk about the past. My point is, who knows who we’ll meet? I mean, you could get lucky.”
“Right,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’m not like that.”
“No, stupid. I meant get lucky meeting a nice man, not get lucky like get a bit of di-”
“Shush!” I cried, putting a finger in front of my lips. “Keep that to yourself.” I got up and remembered that I was still in my bikini. “Damn.”
“What?”
“Are you going to the restaurant in your bathing suit?” Scarlett jerked her head back a bit. “Of course.”
“Is that what they do?” “Well, yeah, sort of.”
“Nah, I think I’m going to put my shorts back on, at least.”
“Maya, little sister, just do whatever makes you feel comfortable. I mean, we’re going there for lunch. That’s all! You’re not going on a blind date or anything. This isn’t some match-making club or a swinger’s secret meeting or anything. Relax, would you? Besides, you look great.”
“No I don’t.”
Scarlett got up and gripped me by the shoulders. “What happened to your confidence? You’re a beautiful, young woman, and you’ve got a thick ass, and men love that!”
“Bradley didn’t.”
“I knew I should have forced you two apart before I left. It was obvious he was no good for you.”
“You left because you fell out with Mum. That’s on you.”
“I left because Mum couldn’t handle me dating what she thought was a bad boy just because he had a tattoo, a tongue ring, and wore baggy jeans.”
I nodded. “Point taken.”
“Come on, let’s go do something. Want to get into the big rubber ring and let the boat pull us?”
My eyes lit up. “Hell, yes!”
*