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She raises her eyebrows, leaning back on her chair, her arms crossed over her chest. “Is that a challenge?”
“Fuck no, it isn’t,” I grumble. “I’m only inviting you because your brother truly seems to like you, no matter how much terrible shit you do. Hell, even Roxanne seems to be warming up to you. I have no idea how these people keep forgiving you after everything you do to them.”
“Because that’s what good people do,” she says simply.
It stops me in my tracks. She’s right, but I can’t admit it. “Yeah, but you aren’t one.”
She looks hurt, and I curse myself internally for being so petty, but I’ve said my piece. I walk away, and I’m almost out of earshot when I hear her say.
“Thank you for the flowers, Dan. They’re beautiful.”
I pause, close my eyes, and prepare to say something to her. Nothing comes to mind, though, so I just continue on until I’m out of her sight, and finally, out of the cafeteria itself.
Afterward, I go meet her brother at another campus cafe, this one located near the English department, right as he finishes class. I try to put her out of my mind, but as soon as I see Andries, I’m reminded all over again why I’m here to speak with him. Everything is about Elise. She is all over my life, and in every nook and cranny of it.
My friend walks in and sits down, not even bothering to stop and order anything from the counter. He seems tired from class but glad to see me, nonetheless. Lucky for him, I already ordered for both of us, and slide his cappuccino in a cardboard cup across the table.
“Here you go. Now, I’m here to tell you that I invited that harpy you call a sister, and she’s officially coming to Capri as far as I know.”
Andries grins, standing halfway and slapping me on the shoulder a few times affectionately. “I knew you’d make the right call.”
I scowl. “If you wanted me to invite her, why not just say so?”
“Because if I made the decision for you, you’d be pissed the whole time. Now, if she gets on your nerves, you only have yourself to blame.”
“Oh, fuck off Andries,” I huff, and he laughs.
“One more question. Can Lili and Robin come too? Roxanne mentioned it and Lili got all starry-eyed. She’d love it, I know.”
I sigh, sliding down in my chair. I fucking knew it. I’m glad I held off on the invitations for the guys I had in mind. “If you wanted a family vacation, you should have warned me. But yes, that’s fine. We have plenty of room.”
I inform him of the itinerary and the delicate process that will get us to our eventual destination of Capri. I’m mentally switching things around to fit the more family-oriented style that the trip has now taken on, annoyed but amused. Leave it to Andries to make things as complicated as possible.
“We will have a private jet waiting at 1 pm, and we’ll be arriving at Napoli around 3 pm. Then things are a little rushed from there, unloading everything onto the private boat that will get us to Capri, which is forty-five minutes away.”
Andries listens intently, becoming more visibly excited by the minute. Despite how much his sister drives me crazy, in more ways than one, I’m so happy I can do all of this for my best friend. I know it must be hard for him to be disowned just because he’s marrying who he loves, but I’m determined to make up for what he’s lost, and then some.
I know it’s near to impossible, but maybe showing him how far I’m willing to go for people I love, like him, will change his mind on how he feels about Elise and me dating. A far-fetched fantasy, but one I hang on to, nonetheless.
“Should we invite Yao, too? Maybe we can do some knitting on the coastline?” I joke, but I half expect him to agree. Thankfully, he shakes his head.
“Yao hates the heat, so she’s out.”
“Perfect. Now, one more thing,” I lean forward across the table, a mischievous smile creeping across my face. “I’m also organizing a party to celebrate the end of the semester Friday. Something chill, but with plenty of herbs, if you catch my drift.”
He groans. “Come on, man. That’s so much.”
“I don’t care. It’s on.”
He rolls his eyes, not at all fond of my idea of a pre-trip party. “Okay, well… we’ll see on Friday how I feel about it.”
29
Amsterdam, July 1, 2022
Elise
The restof the week has seemed to drag on forever, but at the same time, there aren’t enough minutes in the universe to make sense of everything going on in my life right now.
