To Sweden With Love

I did not remember driving home after talking to Carl. I was even in a daze when I walked in the house past Derick.

“What is going on with you? Your team won, aren’t you supposed to be celebrating or something?” He asked as I started up the steps.

I waved him off. I wasn’t quite in the talking mood.

When I got to my room, I did some last minute packing and set my alarm before I climbed into bed.

As soon as I got comfortable, my phone rang.

I groaned as I answered.

‘This better be good.’

I heard Ian laugh. ‘So I heard you had a run in in the parking garage.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Oh God.’’

‘Oh yeah, he came in pissed off at Patric, I don’t know what they said cause it was all in Swedish, but it didn’t sound too pretty. What all did you tell him?’

I gave him a brief rundown of what was said.

‘Uh, Liv, problem. You are leaving in the morning.’

I sighed. ‘I know.’

‘God damnit Olivia. Don’t do this to him. Not again.’

I sat there and stared at my blankets for a minute.

‘I need to find myself before I fall even harder for him, Ian.’

He sighed. ‘At least let him know you’re leaving in the morning. The last thing we need is a pissed Haggy.’

‘Okay’ I said softly.

‘Alright. Go get some sleep, and let me know when you land in paradise.’

When we got off the phone, I went and tapped on Carl’s name to start a message to him.

But I couldn’t find the words.

I closed out of the window and put my phone back on the table and scooted back down in bed.

Within minutes, I was asleep.

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At 3 am, my alarm blasted, waking me up.

I moaned as I climbed out of bed and got ready.

I snuck downstairs and left Ellie and Derick a note and walked out into the warm morning air.

After getting to the airport, and finally getting through security, I decided to stop and get some breakfast and a cup of coffee from the food court. As I got my food and turned from the counter, I ran right into someone.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry!”

“Liv?”

I finally looked to see who I had bumped into., and my heart sank.

“M-Michael?”

“I’ve tried calling you and-”

I shook my head. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what to say.”

He ushered me out of the crowd.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me if you were having doubts before the wedding?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t know I was.”

He let out a short laugh. “Then what happened in the 15 minutes before our wedding that made you run?”

I sighed. “Michael, look, I am truly sorry. The reasoning really does not matter at this point. I am sorry I ruined your life. I really did love you. But my plane is getting ready to board and I really need to go.”

I ran away from him as fast as I could.

This vacation has already started out like crap.

Twenty minutes later, I was in my seat on the plane, getting ready for takeoff.

As I went to go shut off my phone, it buzzed with a message from Carl.

I am happy that I got to see you last night, and I cannot wait to see you today.

My heart dropped into my stomach as I turned my phone off.

This was going to be a long flight.

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Sixteen hours later, I finally landed in Hawaii.

As soon as I got off the plane, I turned my phone back on and dropped it into my purse as I walked towards the baggage claim.

As I waited for the baggage, I felt my purse constantly buzzing.

3 voicemails. 9 text messages.

Oh this should be real fun.

I looked at the messages first. Six of them were from Carl, asking where I was and why did I run again. The other 3 were from Ellie, Derick, and Patric.

From Ellie:
You’re a dead woman walking Liv

From Derick:
RIP

From Patric:
We need to talk.

I rolled my eyes at Derick and sighed at the other two.

After I grabbed my bags, I found a bench and listened to my voicemails.

Message from Ellie: ‘So uh, Carl showed up at the house earlier. Care to explain?’

Message from Ian: ‘I cannot believe you didn’t tell him you were leaving. You done fucked up now Liv.’

And then, from Carl: ‘What the fuck Olivia. What are you trying to do to me? You make plans with me then disappear again. I just don’t understand you. I’m to the point where I am done. You want to talk. You know my number.’

Yeah okay, I deserved that. But it shattered my heart.

I gathered up my bags and went to go grab a cab to my hotel.

About forty five minutes later, we pulled up in front of the Four Seasons.

After checking in, the bellboy took my bags and escorted me to my room.

I soaked in the view of the ocean from my window before grabbing my phone and shooting a couple texts to Ian and Patric before calling Ellie.

‘So when were you going to tell me about Carl?’ she answered the phone.

“Hey Ellie, why yes my flight was long. Oh no, the view from here is gorgeous!”

“Olivia Jane. Start talking.”

I opened up the door to my balcony and walked outside. “He followed me into the parking garage. I told him everything. Including the fact that I wasn’t married and I have been in Pittsburgh this entire time.”

“Shit Liv, no wonder why he called us all liars when he came by the house.”

“Yeah sorry about that. I think everyone is mad at me now. Carl pretty much said he was done.”

“Well Liv,” she said with a sigh “Put yourself in his shoes.”

I nodded. “I would have done the same thing. I know.”

“Look, we will talk more later. But it is almost 11 here.”

“Yeah I am gonna go take a walk on the beach I think. Have fun in San Jose and tell the boys good luck for me.”

We said our goodbyes and I changed into one of my swimsuits and some shorts. After i threw on a long sleeve cover up, I walked out onto the beach.

As I sat down and watched the tide roll in, I took a deep breath.

Finally, in paradise, I felt anything but calm.