Page 45 of D.I.E.T. (Did I Eat That?)

From there, he ordered a car, which took us down to the shopping district of the village. Although not packed, more people roamed the sidewalks here, popping in and out of businesses along the strip. Sinjin held my hand and I leaned my head on his shoulder as we meandered into the different shops browsing in some, purchasing little knickknacks in others. I absolutely couldn’t believe that we were here, that we were doing this.

We ended up at the beach again. But this time, the cold didn’t bother me one bit. Not with the stars twinkling above our heads and Sinjin’s warmth. We dropped our bottoms down to the dry sand and Sinjin surprised me by asking, “Where do you want to travel now that you’ve popped your international travel cherry?”

“Wow,” I said laughing. “How eloquent of you.”

“Well, you know me and Shakespeare have a lock on this poetic language stuff.” He threw his head back laughing. I did too.

“I really don’t know,” I replied. “To answer your question. You’ve traveled everywhere. What was your favorite?”

“Even though I’ve traveled extensively, I’ve never really seen anything.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When you travel for business, you’re either stuck inside a hotel room or in a conference room until the work gets done. Then it’s off to the next location. There’s not really any time for sightseeing.”

“That’s really quite sad,” I said. “So, where would you want to go back to? As a tourist, I mean. See the sights that you didn’t get to see you when you were there the first time?”

“Japan. I’d love to visit Japan. There’s so much cultural history. Anyway, that’s a start.”

“I’d love to visit, I don’t know, I think the land of Vikings and anywhere that the Vikings landed, like outside of York in England, where they had a high presence. You know me and my history.”

“Yeah, that I do.” Then he sighed. “What about Celtic lands? Or ancient Roman towns in England?”

“Yes and yes,” I said. “If it’s historical, I want to be a part of it.”

“You know, Geet, I wasn’t expecting to meet you. I never actually saw you coming. Then there you were, the opportunity to change certain things in my life.” His admission did something to me. I felt it deep. We both fell silent after that… that… probably the most beautiful thing anyone had ever said to me.

I was his opportunity for change? Maybe our time apart had done its job. Maybe it got him thinking about the important aspects of life. Mergers helped people get rich, but they weren’t going to hold you after a long, stressful day. At the end of the day pretty words were just pretty words until he proved them true. Jealousy never really was a good look on anyone, but secretly, I was jealous of Vanessa. She had all of him and let him go. Now, years later, she’d shown up on his timeline trying to take what was supposed to be mine. I hated it. I sort of hated her, but I was going to have to let that go. These issues belonged to me and me only. He was here with me now. Our relationship might not have been perfect, but every relationship had its ups and downs, didn’t it?

We made our way back to the hotel and although I loved him baring his heart to me, I wasn’t ready to give myself over to him again. And being Sinjin, he didn’t push it. Instead of nighttime nookie, we drifted off to sleep holding each other, and I slept so soundly that when I woke the next morning, I was in the exact same spot that I had been.

He woke not long after me, bending down to kiss my forehead. “Got a busy day ahead of us,” he said.

I yawned and stretched. “Yeah. Yeah, we do.”

“I think we should shower, head down to breakfast, and then we’ll come back up to get ready for the trip out to the monument. That sound like a good idea?”

“You don’t want to just order room service again?” I asked.

“I really would love to try that restaurant downstairs. I’ve heard great things about it from a couple of people in the shop while you were busy trying on those hats yesterday.”

“Okay, then let me shower and we’ll go downstairs, grab our breakfast, and then will come back up to start getting ready.”

“Perfect,” he replied.

I shot off a quick text to Kami.

Me:Happy wedding day! Can’t wait to see you. Going down to breakfast then it’s go time!!!

Kami:Love you Geet! Getting married today! SQUEE!!!

While he let me shower in the master bath, he took one of the other smaller ones to get cleaned up, and I smiled the whole time. My best girlfriend was tying the knot today. Seeing as we still had to get ready for the wedding, I didn’t spend too much time on my hair and I went makeup-free. We wandered downstairs, me dressed head to toe in black yoga pants and a T-shirt, Sinjin in light navy-blue sweats and his U of M Alumnus T-shirt. I didn’t know if what we were wearing was appropriate for the restaurant in the hotel, but it wasn’t dinner service and I had a feeling they didn’t refuse their suite guests too often. As I sat eating my eggs and some kind of sausage full of spices, Sinjin kept looking over to a table across the room from us.

“Oh, hey,” I said. “Is that the Lowensteins?” Although I’d never seen Brandon Lowenstein before, I’d seen several pictures with Meredith in them, and I had met her the day Len had brought her into the shop. Come to think of it, Ihadseen photos of Brandon Lowenstein before, but he’d always worn sunglasses and some kind of hat, so I’d never actuallyseenBrandon.

“Yes, please excuse me for just a second,” Sinjin said, glaring at the man while removing his linen napkin from his lap and setting it on the table.

Seventeen:

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