Ugh. Did my dad have to do that last night because I was so drunk?
I can feel my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Shit. So much for trying to make my dad proud of me. Hi, I’m Daisy, I’m twenty-eight years old and my dad has to put me to bed.
I exhale slowly and pick up my phone from the bedside table. It’s noon and there’s a text from Laura, one of my friends back home, wondering how the wedding was. But other than that, no one has asked if I’m okay or has tried to wake me up, which makes me feel even more uneasy.
How much of a wreck was I?
I open my phone and go straight to the photos because I’m the type of girl who brings her phone out when she’s drunk and tries to take selfies with everyone.
And there I am, in drunken Daisy mode, just as I thought.
I’m in a selfie with Lacey, whose one eye is half-closed, a sign that she’s drunk too. We look happy though, which is nice. Like real sisters should.
Then I’m posing with Richard, who has somehow slicked his hair off his forehead and is wrinkling his brow like a wannabe De Niro. It’s creepy.
I’m also in a photo with my parents, with Eaton, with Jana, with Eaton and Jana together, all of us drinking wine at once, then I’m with Tai’s parents, then I’m with some of Tai’s friends, then I’m with someone’s grandmother doing a funky dance, then I’m back with Richard and Lacey yelling happily about something. I’m getting progressively drunker and sloppier in each photo, but then again, so is everyone else.
Then I come across a photo I hoped I wouldn’t see.
A photo of Tai.
I’ve taken a picture of him from the side. He’s got a drink in hand, the bow tie on his tux has been loosened and the collar unbuttoned, showing a nice slice of dark skin. He’s laughing at something someone has said off-camera and his expression takes my breath away. There’s something so loose and freeing and…happy about him here. For a moment I wonder what it would be like to be the one that makes him laugh like that.
I pause on that picture for a long time, studying it.
Then I flip to the next one.
In this picture Tai is looking at me and, naturally, his expression has totally changed. He’s frowning, lips pressed together as if he must not ever smile. The Great Extreme Grump. Guess I really must do that to him.
I sigh and scroll to the next one on the roll.
It’s a blurry selfie of the two of us.
My arm is around his neck, holding him down to my height.
He’s looking deep into the camera, frowning to the extreme.
My mouth is open, smiling, all teeth, loving this.
The next photo my arm around his neck is even tighter and I’m pressing my thumb between his brow as if to stop him from frowning. In this photo, his eyes are dancing and it looks like he’s trying not to smile.
Then there’s the next photo, where I’ve pulled him right to me, like literally right on top of my boobs, and he’s laughing and I’m kissing the top of his head.
Oh my god.
This photo.
Not only did I get him to laugh, I’m actually kissing him, with his head on my boobs. Granted it looked to be in a non-intimate kind of way considering there are people in the background of this photo. But still.
Then there’s the next photo, which is a selfie of just me, making a dramatic sad face, my hair all messy, my lipstick smeared.
Oh wait, I can see Tai in the background, walking away.
That was the last photo.
Thank god.
I put the phone back down, feeling that guilty, shameful and anxious mix of feelings that you get the day after you’ve had too much to drink and have made a fool of yourself, but can’t quite remember. I just hope that the photos were the worst of it and I didn’t do anything stupid.
I sigh loudly and decide I can’t hide in my room any longer.
I get dressed into a simple white sundress and then head over to the bathroom across the hall to do my business and apply a little bit of makeup. I don’t hear anything in the house, which is strange. Perhaps they all went somewhere and left me here.
Oh, I know what it is. They probably took Lacey and Richard to the marina to see them off. Shit, I would have liked to have at least said goodbye.
After I’ve done my best to cover up the hangover on my face, I step back into the hall. I poke my head into my parent’s room and see all their luggage. The door to the Wakefield’s bedroom is open and when I call out, no one answers. There’s one more room that has always been shut and I’m tempted to open it, but instead I look inside Lacey and Richard’s.
To my puzzlement, all their luggage is still here. In fact, one duffel bag is on the bed, half-packed.
That’s weird.
I head downstairs, still finding no one, and then finally head out the back.
Sitting at the patio table in the backyard are Lacey and Richard, with Tai leaning against the house, a beer in hand. There’s a laptop open in front of them, and everyone’s phones are out.
“Hey,” I say to them. “I thought you left without saying goodbye.”
Lacey looks up at me, tears running down her face.
Oh shit.
“Oh my god, what happened?” I ask her, quickly coming over. My heart jolts in my chest, thinking the worst. “Are mom and dad okay?”
“Your parents are in town getting provisions,” Richard says calmly. “We’ve had some unexpected bad news.”
Then both Richard and Lacey look at Tai.
He gives them a chagrined smile. “I’m telling you, we can work this out.”
“So, what happened?” I ask, pulling out a chair and sitting down. I have to remember that Lacey does cry over the slightest thing. She has two moods: resting bitch face, and crying.
“Intrepid, the boat that they were supposed to charter,” Tai explains with a long sigh, “has a problem. A big problem. The last people who chartered the boat put in bad fuel. Meaning, water got in the tank. And I wasn’t here to check on them, so now the boat is fucked and draining the tanks is going to take a few days, at the least. Might even need to bring it out of the water.”
“My honeymoon is ruined,” Lacey wails, throwing her head back and sniffling into a tissue.
“It’s not ruined, angel boo,” Richard says, and I cringe inwardly at the nickname. “We’re still going to go sailing.”
“Isn’t there, like, a shitload of other boats you can charter?” I ask. “I mean, what about all these boats.” With a bold sweep of my arm I gesture to the bay, which has at least a dozen of them at anchor. “They’re everywhere. And they aren’t being used.”
“Those are private boats and they’re out of the question,” Tai says. “Unless you feel like being arrested for theft. As for chartering, it’s peak season right now, all over the country. Everyone is trying to get their last trip in before autumn comes. Some are available later in the week but…”
“But we need to leave today or tomorrow in order to make it to Fiji, and then fly back to Dunedin in time for work,” Richard explains. “It’s just not feasible otherwise.”
“Well, shit,” I say, crossing my arms.
“But there’s a solution,” Richard adds, eyeing his new bride. “Lacey isn’t too sold on this particular proposition.”