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The coach and the rest of the team seem plenty happy to have another round on Andries, and the harried restaurant employees slowly manage to get a new drink in everyone’s hand. Andries toasts to us, his message nice enough but his words slightly slurred from all the alcohol. This makes me pause with my drink halfway to my mouth and really examine my best friend. Has he been drinking more than I thought? I don’t want to bring him back to Roxanne in a blackout drunk state.
“A toast to my two amazing friends, Johan and Dan, who have been by my side all day. You both are incredible. Sorry my sister has to come between us all. Cheers!”
There are a few confused looks exchanged from the rest of the team and other people around us, but no one seems too bothered by his odd toast. Or maybe they’re all just too drunk to understand what my friend is on about. Johan, though, is immediately embarrassed and goes to get Andries away from the toasting crowd to keep him quiet.
“Maybe we should slow down,” Johan tells him with a stiff laugh. To make his point across, Johan tosses back the rest of his beer and gives the glass to a passing server. “That’s definitely my last drink, anyway.”
“What!” Andries exclaims, shaking his head. “No way, man. You need to drink with me tonight!”
“I’m just not a big drinker is all,” he explains.
“Are you sure you’re not just a lightweight?” I tease, but Johan shakes his head. I notice that he’s keeping a hand on Andries’s arm, as if he doesn’t want to lose him in the crowd.
“Let’s leave him alone, Dan,” Andries cajoles. “It will be good to have someone here that’s sober, since I intend to get wasted tonight.”
I exchange a look with Johan, who is frowning now, his grip on Andries growing tighter. There’s something about the way Andries is acting that is setting off alarm bells in my head. He usually isn’t like this at all, and this goes above and beyond the normal way that alcohol loosens someone up and makes them more comfortable in the crowd. Andries seems like he’s drinking to be self-destructive, not to have fun. All at once, I have a rush of memories about how dark his drinking habits had become when he and Roxanne split for the first time. I had never seen my friend like that before, and Elise and I had been truly scared for him until he put himself into self-imposed exile at his family’s estate to detox. I’m seeing shades of that Andries tonight, and I don’t like it one bit.
“Why do you want to get wasted?” I ask as carefully as I can over the din of the restaurant. “You know that’s bad for you, man.”
Andries brushes Johan off dismissively and waves his hand at me. “Because I’m in Capri and I want to enjoy it! Stop trying to babysit me, both of you.”
Johan catches my eye and jerks his chin toward the door leading back inside. I get the hint and follow the taller man through the crowd and to a quieter corner of the bar inside. I take one look back at Andries as we go, but I don’t think he’s likely to leave the group of sailors, so at least he won’t get lost while we’re gone.
“What’s up?” I ask Johan as we reach a quieter area. “Andries acting like an asshole.”
“About that…” Johan leans against the bar, looking stressed. “I don’t know if I’m even supposed to tell you this or not, but Elise called me earlier. She told me to keep an eye on her brother and to make sure he didn’t drink a ton. She was being oddly vague so I’m not sure what is going on, but she seemed really worried.”
Guilt churns in my stomach knowing that Elise had to call Johan and not me. My phone is weighing itself down in my pocket now. I know she’s tried to call, but I’ve ignored her all night… now it turns out she might have really needed me.Fuck.
“Does he usually drink like this?” Johan asks when I don’t answer him right away.
I rub the back of my neck, a headache threatening to build in my skull from the stress of all of this. “Not so much anymore. The last time he got really drunk was at his engagement party, and I sort of wrote that off because it was a time to celebrate. But before that…” my words trail off, as I hesitate whether or not to open up to someone I barely know.
“Share whatever you’re comfortable with,” he says, noticing how torn I am.
“Let’s just say when he and Roxanne split up some time ago––which is a long story in itself so don’t ask––he got drunk almost every night. We were all pretty worried about him, but I really thought we were past all that.”
Johan looks over his shoulder at the patio area where Andries still is. He doesn’t look convinced by what I’ve told him. “I see….” He nods, his expression is thoughtful. “I think he might have just had one too many and things are getting out of hand. Let's just try to get him home.”
“That’s where you and I are in agreement.” Despite telling me that, I can’t shake off the fact that Elise had specifically wanted to make sure that Andries didn’t get wasted, and she hasn’t ever been overly concerned about what her brother was doing until now. It makes me think she’s up to something sinister, which means that either way we need to get Andries home. Both for his own good and so I can see what scheme she is cooking up.
“Something tells me that he isn’t going to be thrilled about leaving.”
My phone pings with a new text message. This time though, I decide to retrieve it and check it out. “Give me one moment.”
Turning around so Johan can’t see my screen, I pull my phone out and wince when I see how many calls I’ve missed from Elise. There is a barrage of text messages too, but it’s the most recent one she sent me that strikes the hardest.
Elise:Of course Johan picked up his phone. He’s a gentleman. Not like you! Have fun!
I’m such a dick. She needed me, reached out to me, and I failed her. Of course, Johan answered when she called and provided her with the help that she needed. He continues to prove that he’s the right man for her and that I am anything but.
And yet… on the other hand… I can’t help but get a little bit of enjoyment from how annoyed Elise must be from having me ignore her all day. It gives me an ego boost to know that she misses me enough to continue to reach out even before she made the call to Johan about Andries. I wonder if she called him at all before that, or if he had been her last resort. If she wants to play with my heart so badly, then she can deal with a little taste of her own medicine.
I can feel Johan looming behind me, waiting for me to join him in wrangling Andries outside so we can take him back to the villa. My friend might be drunker than he needs to be, but he doesn’t seem to be getting into too much trouble, and thinking of Elise calling Johan for help is making me feel on edge. He’s a good person, I’m sure of it now after he helped me with the sailing all day, and I think I need to set some things straight with him. The sailing team can babysit Andries for a little longer.
I turn around to Johan’s expectant face, and he immediately makes to go back out onto the back patio to grab Andries. I grab his upper arm to stop him. “Hey, man, can we go out front and have a conversation? I think it’s long overdue.”
“But Elise said her brother—” Johan protests, obviously not keen on the idea of the two of us having a private chat.
