The curtains were doing their job, holding back the insistent sunlight. She lay there and let the morning be.
No alarms. No schedules, sort of. No routines. No one waiting on her. She lay there for another few minutes and then hustled to the bathroom. When she emerged, a note had been slipped under her hotel room door.
Meet in the lobby at 10 for beach outing and lunch.
T&L
“So, I guess I gotta figure out breakfast,” Monique said, opening the blackout curtains over the French doors that led to the balcony. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if Maurice was awake.
He probably was. With the way he checked his watch, it wasn’t a stretch to believe Maurice was as reliable as a Swiss timepiece. She liked that about him.
Standing at the balcony door, Monique tried to maneuver to catch a glimpse of the neighboring balcony. To catch a glimpse of him.
She shook her head. What was she doing? She wasn’t a teenager anymore, putting herself in the path of a boy she liked. She was grown. If she wanted to talk to him, she could just pick up the phone, or better yet, knock on his door.
“And if he wanted to talk to me—” She stopped herself. It was eight in the morning.Girl. Stop.Monique reminded herself not to read anything more into their encounters than routine niceties—the “getting to know you” part of blending families.
She sat on the edge of the bed and picked up the room service menu. Her phone buzzed. The Baddest Baddies group chat.
CHICKIE
Good morning sunshine!!! How’s paradise???
ELEANOR
We want a full report
VANESSA
Details, Mo. DETAILS.
Monique smiled and typed back.
MONIQUE
Y’all’re up early for a Saturday
CHICKIE
Some of us never went to sleep The oxygen machine is loud tonight
ELEANOR
Chickie stop. You’re supposed to be resting.
CHICKIE
I’ll rest when I’m dead. Right now I want to live vicariously through Mo’s vacation romance
MONIQUE
There is no romance
VANESSA
Sure Jan
Monique laughed despite herself.