Plus One

Dinner was at one of the hotel’s beautiful restaurants. It was by the pool and overlooked the beach, so we were able to see the sun setting over the water. I was seated towards the end of the table, in between Jude and Leanne, with Marcus and Hana on Oliver’s side, who was sitting on the other side of Leanne. I took one look at him nuzzling her cheek and making her giggle and signaled for the waiter. “Keep the drinks coming, please.” Jude rolled his eyes, but didn’t object to the cocktails that were being served.

We managed to get through appetizers and salads without any incidents, but as we were waiting for our entrees, Hana said, “So, Michaela, tell us! How long have you and Jude been dating?”

Everyone on my end of the table heard and looked up, listening with interest. I almost choked on my margarita. I glanced up at Jude and saw he was waiting for me to say something. “Um,” I said after a moment. “Four months, I think. Right? Four?”

Jude raised an eyebrow at me. “Yeah, I think so,” he agreed. “Four months seems right.”

“How’d you guys meet?” my friend Kim asked.

“Leanne introduced us,” Jude answered before I could come up with some over-the-top explanation. I nodded wordlessly, secretly impressed. After all, it wasn’t a lie.

“Such a great friend,” Hana commented.

“True,” Leanne said with fake modesty. I watched as she got that look in her eyes. “I knew they were both desperate, so I invited the two of them out for drinks, and then never showed up so it was just them meeting each other. Remember, guys? You hit it off instantly.”

“Yeah,” I said, trying to look cheerful but also send her a death threat with my eyes. “Good times.”

“They stayed there all night,” Leanne told everyone. “You should’ve heard the phone calls I got the next day; they were both thanking me non-stop!” She laughed to herself. Oliver nudged her gently.

I expected Jude to be just as irritated as I felt, but to my surprise, he had an easy grin on his face, his arm around the back of my chair. At first I was confused, but then I realized: he’s acting. Of course. He was even better at this than I was.

So I plastered a smile on my face too. As the night went on, I actually began to enjoy myself. Jude and I had fun making up strange, outlandish tales of all the things we got up to in our supposed time together. They got more and more ridiculous each time and with each drink we had, but thankfully my friends were all too drunk to do anything but laugh while I tried not to focus on the fact that he was rubbing small circles into my shoulder with his thumb the entire time.

Even though everyone was finished with dinner, we all stayed out, talking and laughing and ordering drink after drink until it was well past midnight and Hana’s mother started scolding everyone, saying we all needed our sleep in preparation for the big day ahead. “Can you believe we’re getting married tomorrow? Officially?” I heard her whisper to Marcus, but I was too drunk to even feel sad.

We walked to the elevators, Jude holding my hand and whistling a happy tune, and he didn’t let go until we were inside our hotel room. He kicked off his shoes and sighed contentedly. “Boy, oh boy, am I sleepy.”

“That was fun, right?”

He smiled. “Yeah. It was.”

“I liked the part where witnessed a bank robbery and had to help the cops catch the robbers,” I said, laughing.

“Nah, the one you told where we went to a medieval fair and I had to pretend to fight a dragon to save you was the best,” Jude disagreed. We both cracked up some more. “You know, I never thought I’d enjoy this, but I am,” he said thoughtfully.

“Me too,” I said, and he smiled at me.

We were both too giggly to really properly change and get washed up, but when it came time to go to bed, I said, “Share the bed with me. The couch doesn’t look very fun.”

“You sure?” Jude asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “It won’t hurt us.” Jude hesitated before he climbed in next to me. We positioned ourselves back-to-back so I could feel his spine pressing against mine, and I could tell he was trying very hard not to touch me. And once again I was reminded of the fact that this would all be over very soon.

✿ ✿ ✿

When I woke up the next morning, it was to my phone’s alarm and a splitting headache. I shifted, trying to sit up, but found I couldn’t due to the pair of arms that were locked around me.

I slowly turned my head. Jude was spooned up behind me, his arms around my waist. He looked peaceful and serene in the early morning sun.

“Oh God,” I said. Jude stirred and slowly opened his eyes, and when he realized what was happening, he quickly let go of me, jerking backwards and nearly falling off the bed. “I’m sorry,” he said, sitting up and scrambling to get away from me. “That was ‒ I ‒”

“It’s okay,” I said, and by now both of us were bright red. “Let’s just ‒ not talk about that.”

He nodded vigorously. “Um, I think everyone is downstairs eating breakfast.”

“Okay,” I said, and we both awkwardly slipped our shoes on and went downstairs, not speaking the entire elevator ride down.

Everyone was eating breakfast together, sharing a table, and they waved us over. Jude and I quickly made our way to the food. I grabbed a bagel and a banana while Jude got eggs and bacon, making both of us our coffee as well. I mumbled “thanks” as we joined our friends.

“So, what’d you two get up to last night?” Leanne asked Marcus and I. It was meant to be a joke, but we both stammered and didn’t answer. She raised her eyebrows at us, confused, but I refused to meet her eyes.

“Well, we’ve all got the day to ourselves, but remember to be ready around five again so we can go to rehearsal,” Hana said. “It should be done around six-thirty, seven, and then we’ll go to dinner, and then the rest of the guests will be arriving tonight and tomorrow.” A smile crept onto her face. “And then, well. You know what tomorrow is.” Marcus squeezed her hand and I forced myself not to projectile vomit everywhere.

“What are you guys gonna do?” Leanne asked as we finished breakfast and began making our way back to our rooms.

“I’m not sure,” I said, casting a sideways glance at Jude. “What about you?”

“I’m thinking the beach,” Oliver said, gazing longingly out a nearby window at the lush, white sand.

“Good idea,” Leanne said, high-fiving him. “Maybe we’ll see you guys down there?”

“Yeah, maybe,” I agreed.

We bid Leanne and Oliver good-bye before going into our room. “I don’t want to go to the beach,” Jude announced, following me as I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

“Pool, then?” I suggested.

He rolled his eyes, jumping up and sitting on the sink counter. “No. I mean, we’re in Mexico. Who knows when we’ll get to come back here? I say we do some exploring.”

“Exploring,” I repeated.

“Yeah. Why not? We could go hiking, or zip lining, or I read that they let you swim with dolphins and stuff.” He raised his eyebrows at me invitingly.

“Just the two of us?” I asked, trying to be casual as I rinsed my mouth out.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Why, is that okay?” He raised his eyebrows at me.

“I mean, yeah,” I said, trying to save face. “I was just wondering.”

He didn’t look convinced, but didn’t push the matter. “Okay . . . so what do you want to do?”

“Zip lining sounds like it could maybe be fun,” I said hesitantly. Truthfully, I was not a big fan of heights, but there was no way I was going to let Jude know that. I knew he would just make fun of me.

“Yeah, maybe,” Jude said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes but said nothing else as we got changed; me in the bathroom, him in our room. When I came out, he eyed me and snorted. “Your tank top and sneakers match, I hope you know that.”

I glanced down at myself. Both my tank top and sneakers were light blue, while my pants were just black spandex. “I like things to match,” I said calmly.

“Only you would be anal about whether or not your shoes and shirt are the exact same color,” Jude said with another eye roll.

“Fuck off,” I snapped, tying my hair back into a ponytail. All the affection I’d gained for him last night vanished again.

“Seriously, I noticed that about you; you like everything to be perfect, and if it’s not you like . . . twitch.”

“I said fuck off.”

“Oh. Someone’s touchy today,” he noted, smirking. God, he was such a jerk.

“No, you’re just an asshole.”

Jude scoffed. “Oh please. You’re so fucking sensitive, you know that? I try to joke around with you, get that stick out of your ass, but nope, it’s wedged up there pretty far. You never have any fun. No wonder you couldn’t get a date to this thing.”

I spun around to face him, feeling boiling hot anger bubbling inside me. “Thank you. Thank you so much for reminding me that I’m too uptight, too bossy, too anal to get a fucking date for my fucking ex-boyfriend’s wedding. You know why he broke up with me, Jude? Because I was, in his words, ‘a control freak.’ It just wasn’t working out because he ‘couldn’t breathe’ with me around. So yeah, considering the fact that the stick up my ass is what caused someone I truly loved to dump me, I do know that I’m a little sensitive. So thanks.”

Before he could even respond, I threw open the door and left the room, slamming it behind me. Leanne, who was standing in the hallway in her bathing suit, gave me a confused look, but I ignored her.

I rode the elevator alone down to the lobby, which was where Jude found me a few minutes later. “Michaela ‒” he started to say, but I held up my hand.

“I don’t want to talk about this. The shuttle is coming in five minutes.” Jude nodded and sat down next to me. The shuttle that would take us to the hiking trails pulled up not long after. Jude boarded first and sat down in an empty row, but I chose to sit next to a guy in his 40’s who was asleep with his face smushed against the window. I made eye contact with Jude, who looked like he was going to snap at me, but merely said nothing and turned away, his face stony.

The shuttle dropped us off at a park called Canopy Costa Azul Eco-Adventure, which had both zip lining and hiking. Before we could actually go up to the zip lines, we met our instructor, a friendly guy named Javier, who went over safety rules and helped us put on our equipment. “So, are the two of you, uh, together?” he asked, pointing between Jude and me.

I didn’t answer, and after an awkward pause Jude finally said, “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Ah,” Javier said, and he seemed to understand not to push it because he said, “Okay, ready to go?”

He led us to the trails and we began to climb all the way up a steep mountain and onto a high platform that jutted out from a tree. The zip cable was tied to a branch and stretched all the way across the valley. I could barely see the platform on the other side. Swallowing, I stepped back a little and bumped into Jude, who had just climbed up behind me.

“Alright, who’s first?” Javier asked. Jude looked at me expectantly, but I shook my head.

“You okay?” he asked, quietly so Javier wouldn’t hear. “You look kinda green.”

“I don’t think I can do this,” I murmured.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t like heights. Actually, I really, really don’t like heights.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” Jude said, slightly louder.

“I don’t know.”

“You are such an ‒” he started to say, but Javier called, “Everything okay? You want to go back?”

“No, we’re fine,” I answered, flashing a weak thumbs-up.

Jude huffed. “Look, I’ll go first, and then I’ll wait for you on the other side. Okay?” When I didn’t say anything, he said, “Michaela, that’s the best I can give you right now. I promise I’ll catch you.”

Eventually I nodded. Jude stepped up to where Javier was waiting. “I’ll go first.”

Javier hooked his harness up to the cable. “You remember what to do? Hold onto the harness so you don’t turn in a circle?” Jude nodded, and Javier said, “Okay. Let me know when you’re ready.”

“Ready.” With one last look at me, Jude pushed off the platform, and I watched as he zoomed down the cable, going impossibly fast. As he got closer to the other side, I heard him let out a loud whoop.

“Good?” Javier shouted.

“Good!” Jude called back. Even though he was shouting, his voice still sounded so far away. I swallowed again.

“You’re up,” Javier said, oblivious to my dilemma. I stood there helplessly as he hooked my harness up to the cable, giving it a tug to test it. “You know what to do, yes?” I nodded. “Okay. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Could you, um,” I said, nodding to the harness. He looked at me for a second before he laughed and gave me a little push that sent me flying down the cable.

I was going much, much faster than I’d imagined. The valley flew by me in a blur as I spun in a circle. I grabbed the harness and held onto it tightly, trying to anchor myself, kicking my feet. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I could only squeeze my eyes shut as I zoomed down the cable, waiting for it to be over.

Suddenly, my feet were hitting solid ground and I was slamming into Jude’s chest. “Whoa,” he said, stepping backwards. “I got you. You did great. You’re fine, see?”

I nodded, trying to catch my breath. I was glad to be on solid ground, but I still felt a little sick. “You okay?” Jude asked.

“Yeah,” I answered. “Just ‒ my legs.” It felt like everything was made of Jell-O from my torso downwards. I squeezed Jude’s arms tighter.

“Good?” Javier called from across the valley.

“Yeah!” Jude shouted. In the distance, I watched Javier push off from the platform and come zipping towards us, looking more graceful than me and even Jude. As he got closer to us, Jude gently let go of me and stepped back. At first, I was hurt, but then I remembered I was pissed off at him. I looked away and tried not to care.

“You guys did great!” Javier congratulated us when we landed. “Ready to keep going?”

“Definitely,” Jude said. I nodded.

We spent the next few hours zip lining, and while I never really got comfortable with it, Jude did catch me every time, like he said he would. At the end, Javier asked if we wanted to go rappelling down the side of the valley, but I decided that I’d had enough adventure for one day.

We waited for the shuttle together, not speaking, but when we boarded, Jude sat down in a window seat and I sat next to him. He looked at me for a minute, but said nothing.

We got back to the hotel and went back up to our room. “I need to take a nap,” I announced. I was still feeling a little nauseous from the day’s events. Jude went to go shower while I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.

I dozed for a little while before a hand lightly shaking my shoulder woke me up. Jude was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at me almost tenderly. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” was his answer, but it wasn’t in his usual snarky tone. “Why’d you agree to zip lining if you don’t like heights?”

I shrugged. “You seemed excited.”

He let out a sigh and shook his head. “For what it’s worth, I’m, um, sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean it.”

“I’m sorry too, for being a bitch. And it’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“That doesn’t excuse it. You brought me to fucking Mexico with you and I’ve been an asshole the entire time.”

“You seem to be forgetting the circumstances,” I said dryly. He laughed.

“Yeah, but still. I think it’d be a bit more believable if we actually liked each other in real life, too.”

I smiled. “Good point.”

“So, what do you say? Friends?”

“Yeah. Friends.”