Today's Reading
"Shay, you good?" Caleb asks suddenly through the door. His voice is loud; he must be standing just on the other side.
"Yes," I call back. "Can I have a minute?"
"Of course. Sure."
I hear his footsteps as he drifts away from the door. Am I imagining it, or is Caleb acting strange? I put back the lotion and then peek in the shower.
"Sorry about the mess," he calls again.
Yep. Something's definitely off. I open all the drawers. They're empty, except for the bottom one, which contains Caleb's toiletries, shaving kit, and several prescription pill bottles. Next, I shake out the towels in the tub and, frowning, catch sight of the trash can beneath the sink. There's an empty bottle of Pacifico, tissues, and a half-eaten packet of the organic, gluten-free vegan seed chips Caleb loves.
I crouch down to get a better look, and my heart catches in my throat when I spot the "mess" he clearly doesn't want me to see.
The condom.
When Caleb calls out my name for the third time, I wash my hands and leave the en suite. He's sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows on knees. He blushes easily. His forehead is the color of a stop sign.
"Have you read through the program?" His voice is unusually high, and he won't meet my eye as he gestures at a stylishly decorated booklet on the bedside table. "Radhi was explaining some of the rituals to me." His eyes flit to the en suite and then back to the nbooklet. "Indian weddings are pretty elaborate, huh?"
He laughs awkwardly as I stare back at him blankly.
"And then they're doing it all over again in India..."
Caleb continues prattling on about the wedding: how this all-inclusive Cabo vacation is only for immediate family and Raj and Radhika's closest friends, and the even more upscale wedding—with a two-thousand-person guest list—will take place in Mumbai in the fall. I already know all of this, but still I don't say anything, curious to see where Caleb will steer the conversation.
I've just arrived at my boyfriend's best friend's destination wedding, there's a used condom in his bathroom trash, and all I feel is numb.
I'm aware this isn't a normal girlfriend reaction. I find out Caleb cheated on me and I should be—what, exactly? Irate? Heartbroken? Vengeful? Violent? I spot a sea-glass vase in the corner. It looks heavy, not to mention expensive. Right now, that's the type of thing I should be chucking at his head.
"It's going to be an epic weekend," Caleb continues, standing up from the bed. He draws closer, sneaks his hands into mine.
"Are you—"
Caleb's voice changes as he suddenly tugs me closer and stares suspiciously at the wall to my left.
"Do you hear that?"
Huh? "What are you—"
Midsentence, my mouth falls open when I hear something too. It's muffled, and I can't be sure, but it sounded like a scream.
"What was that?" I whisper.
Goosebumps prickle my arms as we both approach the window. Beyond the terrace, all we can see is ocean and sky. There's nobody back there.
"Someone's television?" I suggest.
Caleb doesn't answer as he takes my hand again, leads me to the other side of the villa, and opens the front door. We go outside, and at first, I don't see anything. Caleb's villa is the last one on the row, just a thicket of palm trees and greenery to the west, an empty villa to the north. I turn to face the villa east of us, and that's when I see Daniela. She's on her knees, shaking, bent so far forward the end of her ponytail brushes the pavement.
"Daniela?" I call out.
There's a charge in the air, even though the forecast is pleasant. My ears ring as time slows down, my heartbeat nothing but a dull vibration in my chest.
Daniela's screaming now. Hysterical. Her speech garbled and incoherent.
I'm next to her, my hands holding her quaking body when I finally understand her words.
They're dead.
She's telling us the bride and groom are dead.
...
