“Yeah!” both kids squealed in unison.
“We’re the vacation house on the other side of the island,” he said.
“I remember,” Morgan said. “The one with the waterslide.”
“You can come down it too,” Daniel said.
The look on his adorable face was too much to say no to.
“Thank you for the invitation,” I said with a smile.
“But you have to wear floaties,” Sydney said.
“Then I’ll make sure to bring them,” I said, giggling.
“Would you guys like to come over around eight?” Kevin asked.
“But that’s bedtime,” Daniel said, pouting.
“We wanna play, too,” Sydney said, her bottom lip sticking out to match her brother’s.
“I’ll let you guys stay up late. How does that sound?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah!” his kids said.
“See you then,” Morgan said.
Then she dragged me away as I stumbled over my own two feet.
“What the hell was that?” I asked. “Cake and wine? Are you insane?”
“Look, if you want to make him drool then this is a prime opportunity,” Morgan said. “We’re gonna get dressed up, go eat his food and drink his alcohol, he can stare some more, then he can watch you walk away. Over and over again. Like you had to watch him. Besides, you’ve been complaining about writer’s block. Maybe a change of pace will help you finally get your creative juices going again.”
“But—” I started before Morgan cut me off. “Woman, I want wine and cake. And since you won’t stop gawking at him, I think I did you a favor,” she said.
“So, wait. Do you want me to stick it to him or do you want me to sleep with him?”
“Which gets me to wine faster?” she asked.
“If you want wine, I can buy us wine.”
“But he’s rich. Did you see that vacation house? He’s got the good wine.”
“You’re absurd, you know that?”
“And you still have some writing to do. Come on. We’ve got a couple of hours to burn,” she said.
We headed back across the island and walked down the pier to our private hut. It had taken all the money we had saved up while at college, but this trip was worth it. Not only was I g
oing to rid myself of my cheating ex, but I was going to get my creative juices flowing again. I had a book I wanted to write and market to publishers, but I’d hit a mental block that wouldn’t let up ever since my ex and I had started having relationship issues.
I sat down at the small desk in my room that overlooked the ocean. I was hoping this vacation would prove to inspire me after my broken heart and ugly break up. I stared at the blinking cursor in front of me, hoping that the words would flow from my fingers. There was a time in college where I could write an entire manuscript in under a month. Where I could sit down at my laptop with just coffee and my glasses, whittling away until an entire world was in front of me.
But even the beautiful sea surging in front of me didn’t inspire me past the first line of text.
Her fate was determined the moment she arrived on the island.
I scoffed and shook my head before I closed my laptop.