Gretchen
I had just finished cooking breakfast the next morning when there was a knock on the door. I smiled a little to myself and wiped my hands off on a dishtowel, going to answer the door. The smell of greasy meat and cinnamon filled the air. It was a good scent. One that calmed me and left me feeling like there was no place quite as great as home.
I opened the door to find Mina standing outside with a big smile on her pretty face.
“Hey girl, get in here,” I said, giving Mina a hug.
“Hey,” Mina said, returning the hug. “Thanks for inviting me over for breakfast. I just have nothing in the house at the moment. Except for pineapple! I always have pineapple, and I’m happy to share. I’ve tried just about every recipe known to man with the fruit.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I can imagine that must get old after a while. Come on in. I have to get to work by ten for an appointment, so I don't have a ton of time, but we can at least chat a little.”
“I can't believe you have work even on the weekends,” Mina said. “I think I'd go crazy. I need my downtime, you know?”
“Don’t I. But it’s all good. I only do special requests on the weekends,” I reminded her. “This one is for one of my regulars who travels a lot for business. He's only back in town for a couple of days, and then he jets off again, so I told him I'd be flexible with his schedule.”
“You're too nice,” Mina said, shaking her head. “What happened to putting yourself before your work?”
I laughed. “It's only a one-hour appointment. And then I've got three more today, but it's nothing too busy, and I know all of them, so it's not like I have to suss out what they need or anything like that. They're easy appointments, and then I'm free the whole rest of the weekend, actually, unless someone calls last-minute and wants to book me for tomorrow.”
“What are your plans for the rest of the weekend, when you're not working, then?” She made a plate and sat down with me.
I shrugged and slowly chewed a bite of eggs. “Don't really have much on the schedule.”
“So, you're only planning on going for a 50-mile run or something like that?” Mina asked, rolling her eyes.
I laughed again. “Don't be silly. I'll probably go for a run this evening. It's good to keep active. Maybe I'll go over to the gym tomorrow, or go for a swim or something. I may try to go surfing; I've heard the waves are starting to get really good again. But I don't have any plans; I just kind of want to chill. I haven't had a chill day in a while.”
“You're not up to anything in particular tonight?” Mina pressed, and I could tell from the glint in her eye that she had some sort of plan, probably one that I wasn't going to be interested in.
I groaned. “Mina, I'm not going clubbing again,” I told her. “If you want to have a nice night in with a movie and a bottle of wine or something like that, I could probably be down, but-”
“What about a luau?” Mina asked, her smile widening.
I sighed. It could be fun. “Mina, I've been working hard all week,” I told her. “I've had an insane number of appointments. And I have four of them today. By that point, I'm going to be ready to just be off my feet and not trying to socialize with a bunch of random strangers.”
Mina pouted a little. “But you almost never take whole day off. This would give you plenty of time to go out and let your hair down a little tonight, maybe meet a guy, and not have to worry about work tomorrow.”
I laughed, of course that was what this was about. “Mina, I'm not trying to meet a guy,” I reminded her. But she wasn't going to take no for an answer. “Look, I'll think about it, okay? Thanks for inviting me. I'll let you know how I'm feeling after work.”
“Fine,” Mina said, although I could tell she was a bit disappointed by my reluctance.
“We’ll see.” I hated to disappoint her. “Maybe something will shift in the day and I’ll feel differently.”
“Yay!” She wagged her eyebrows and clapped like a small child.
I chuckled. “I said maybe.”
As it turned out, my two afternoon appointments both canceled, and I found myself unexpectedly with a whole free afternoon and evening. And the whole next day as well. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a day and a half off that I hadn't been on vacation. I didn't know what to do with myself.
I went for a swim, and I took a nap, and then I called Mina. “Fine,” I told her. “I'll go to this luau, but I’m not staying there all night. We can go for a little while though.”
Mina cheered on the other end of the phone. “I'll swing by to pick you up at seven,” she told me. “And thank you, Gretchen! I’m so excited.”
“Me too.” Lies.
Later that night, when we got there, I had to admit that I was glad that I had agreed to go to go. I looked around at the crowd and smiled. I knew most of them; that was what happened when you lived on an island for your whole life. Sure, there were a few tourists who had managed to find their way out there, but for the most part, it seemed to be a local affair. It had been a while since I’d come to one of these things.
“How have you been, Gretchen?” Jenny asked me, giving me a warm hug. “I've heard business has been good over at the shop.”