On impulse, I got up and gave her a hug. It was a little awkward, because she was sitting and I was standing, but when you feel a wave of love for someone, you should act on it.
“Okay, that’s our cue,” said Jae.
“You don’t have to go,” I said. Yes, I needed sleep, but now I had something else to fret over. I’d be staring at the ceiling for hours.
“I’m beat,” Jae replied. She stood and stretched her clasped hands behind her, like someone who did yoga all the time, or a ballerina. “I’m taking this with me,” she said picking up her glass.
“Right behind you,” said Dani, even though she looked like she wasn’t going anywhere.
Jae left our room and Dani sipped her wine. “Uh, Dan? Is everything all right?” I asked.
“Mm-hm.” She drank some more wine and pulled at a thread hanging off the bottom of her cigarette pants.
I shared a look with Lou and she was clearly as baffled as I was. “Is it Jason?” Lou posed the question lightly, then took a sip of wine. I saw her close her eyes for a second as she savoured it.
“What? Oh, no. That’s old news. He hooked up with that girl, Joanne. You know, the one from New Zealand?”
“How did I miss that?”
“You’ve been busy,” said Lou. I wasn’t sure if that was a dig or not.
“But when?” I asked.
“At the last stop,” said Dani matter-of-factly. “Didn’t you see them at the party last night?” I hadn’t, no. My “good friend” karma was going into deficit, and fast.
“And you’re okay with it?” Lou sounded dubious. I was dubious. They’d been so cute together, and how on earth did Jason have time for two romances on such a short tour?
Dani waved it away, as though shooing a fly. “No,” she said with a laugh. “I really don’t care. He wanted to sleep with me and I was like, meh. I mean, he’s cute, and I liked him enough to kiss him, but how would we even do that? It’s not like we get private rooms.” She’d mentioned that before and I had to agree. “Anyway, he was totally cool about it and then he moved onto Joanne.”
“Huh.” Lou and I said it at the same time. I caught her eye and we shared a smile.
Dani stared at the carpet. “Dani, spill,” I said. “It’s not Jason, so what is it?” Mama Lou was not the only one who could dish up tough love.
She sighed. “I don’t want to bug you guys. It’s nothing, really.”
“You’re literally sitting on our floor sighing. Out with it.”
She looked up at me with those big grey eyes with the precisely drawn eyeliner flicks. Then she looked at Lou, who nodded encouragingly. “It’s Nathalie, my best friend.” I knew her best friend was Nathalie, because I surrogate-hated Nathalie for what she’d done to Dani.
“And?” Even Lou was getting impatient.
Dani’s bottom lip starting quivering. She bit it and took a breath. “There are wedding photos on Facebook.”
“Oh. Well, that sucks,” I said, “Sorry, Dani.”
She shook her head. “That’s not why I’m upset. Well, yeah, I mean the photos are upsetting, but the worst part is that it wasn’t only the two of them—at the wedding.”
“Wait, but you said she was eloping? That still means the same thing, right? Going somewhere to get married, just the two of you?” Lou and I telepathically communicated over Dani’s head; I wasn’t the only one who was confused.
“That’s what she told me.” Bitterness crept into her voice. “But no. Her mom and dad were there. Her brother and his girlfriend were there, and they only just started going out! And there were two other couples there. People I don’t know, and I know all her friends and all her family, so I’m not sure why Nathalie was completely fine with strangers being at her wedding, but she didn’t want me there.”
Her lip had stopped quivering. She was no longer upset—she was furious—and I couldn’t blame her.
“And the worst part is, I’m going to have to see her and say congratulations and all the other things you’re supposed to say, like, ‘Oh, how was it?’ and smile and suck it up! It’s fucking bullshit. I bet she doesn’t even know the photos are on there, because she didn’t even post them. Someone else did, then tagged her. So, not only do I have to be all nice about her eloping, which is a super shitty thing to do to your best friend since high school, I’m going to have to ask why there were random people at her fucking wedding when I wasn’t allowed to go.”
“Sorry, Dan,” I said again, putting my hand on her shoulder in solidarity. There was no moral ambiguity in the situation. Bitchface Nathalie was lucky we’d never meet, because I would berate her until she cried.
“Dani, it totally sucks that she did this to you. You don’t deserve that,” said Mama Lou, channelling Counsellor Lou. “We love you. You have us, okay?” Dani chewed on the inside of her mouth.
“Dani?” She looked at Lou. “I know we don’t live in the same cities or anything, but we’re your friends now. And that’s a promise. You need me—us …” She looked at me for confirmation and I squeezed Dani’s shoulder. “… We’re here for you. Okay?”
“Okay.” She’d lost a bit of her steam.
“And Jaelee too,” added Lou.
“Oh.” Dani seemed uncomfortable.
“Hey, are things all right between you and Jae?” I asked.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s just, I felt kinda dumb telling her about all this. It’s like, so minor and—”
“No way. This is not minor. I swear, if my sister pulled something like this, I would have her guts for garters.”
Dani’s eyed widened and she started laughing. “What expression is that?” she asked through her laugh.
“You haven’t heard that one?”
“No.” Still laughing.
“Well, I think it’s Australian. Could be English. Anyway, it means—”
“Oh, no, I get what it means. I am totally stealing it.” She started to get up. “Oh, crap, my foot’s gone to sleep.” She sat down heavily on the bed next to me, spilling some of her wine on the carpet. She handed the glass to me and started massaging her right foot. I put her glass on the bedside table.
“I’m going to have to go to bed too.” She shook her foot and tested standing on it. She would have to limp, but she was only going next door. She leant down and gave me a hug. “Thank you.” Then Lou. “You too. I’m glad I could talk about it.”
“Sure,” said Lou patting her on the back like she was a colicky baby.
“Okay.” She straightened up and hobbled to the door. “See you in the morning.”
“Night.”
“Goodnight.”
When the door closed and she was out of earshot, Lou turned to me and said, “I hope I never meet that Nathalie girl. I don’t think I could stop myself from smacking her one.” Mama Lou was one formidable chick.
***
I woke with a surprisingly clear head around seven, and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Dani’s unfinished wine. The second was the letter. Lou was still sleeping when I propped myself up against the bedhead and picked up the letter. Without waking her, I took it out and unfolded it. I took my time, reading between the lines like Jean-Luc, a boy with a crush, would have done.