Until I Met You

‘Oh God …’ Jen groaned. ‘Those are the worst.’

‘Maybe not,’ Jasmine said. ‘Why force it? My advice is to let it flow. Friendship lasts longer than any fling.’

‘You may be right,’ Hugo said. ‘Adrian and I started out as friends.’

‘She’s wrong!’ Jen cried, clearly exasperated. ‘Friendship is a total waste of time!’

‘Jen,’ Jasmine said. ‘Is there something you’d like to share?’

‘Chris doesn’t trust that my feelings are genuine. Since I’m twenty-nine and single, he thinks I’m settling. We will never be anything more than friends.’

The shocking revelation was Jen’s age. Samantha blurted, ‘You’re twenty-nine? You don’t look a day older than nineteen.’

‘Thanks, guys,’ Jen said. ‘But high school was a long time ago.’

‘She’s a branch manager,’ Naomi said, putting Jen’s age in context.

‘DM me your skin care regime,’ Hugo said.

‘I drink a ton of water.’

‘That’s not going to cut it, darling,’ Naomi said. ‘We need details.’

Hugo agreed. ‘Product names, preferred tools, routines, etc.’

‘We’ll follow up on that later. Someone add Jen to our group chat,’ Jasmine said. ‘As for Chris, he has some issues to resolve. I suggest you give him space.’

Jen nodded. ‘I think so, too.’

‘Is that it?’ Jasmine asked. ‘Have we covered everything?’

Naomi shyly raised a hand. Everyone turned to her. She cleared her throat. ‘I may have something to gripe about.’

‘Is it the wedding?’ Samantha asked. ‘Do you need help?’

Come to think of it, she hadn’t lifted a finger to help out all this time. Since arriving in Tobago, Samantha had focused on her feelings and her fledgling blog.

‘Is it the missing best man?’ Jen asked.

‘Oh, yeah,’ Hugo said. ‘Where is that guy? His wife was nice.’

Naomi slipped off her sunglasses. Without the stylish accessory, she looked worried.

Jasmine encouraged her to say more. ‘Go on. This is a safe space.’

‘Anthony and Ted are on the outs.’

‘Is that why he’s staying off campus, so to speak?’ Jen asked.

The answer was evident. ‘They had a row the first night and he left the next day. He’s gone.’

‘Gone … as in gone?’ Hugo asked. ‘I thought he and his girlfriend found an Airbnb in the capital.’

‘I thought that was strange,’ Jen said. ‘This place is amazing. Why leave? I didn’t press it because I needed the bungalow to seduce Chris. We all know how that turned out.’

‘They stayed at the Airbnb until they could arrange a flight back to Florida.’

Samantha instinctively wrapped her arms around Naomi’s slender shoulders and squeezed. ‘You’ve been keeping all of this from us?’