Page 9 of The Vacation Mix-Up
I laugh. “Sorry, sweetheart. No can do.”
“Neither can I. It was hard enough getting this time off work. I’ll never get the opportunity again.”
“That makes two of us.”
“But….” She hangs her head and bends over, hands gripping the counter as if it’s the only thing keeping her upright.
Fearing she’s about to hyperventilate, I ask, “If we share, how much of a refund do we get?”
“Fifty percent,” the woman answers.
Riley snaps her head up. “I’m not sharing!”
“Could you give us a second?” I clasp Riley’s elbow and gently pull her aside. “That’s nearly eight grand. Each.”
“I don’t care. This trip is… special. It’s personal. No offense, but I don’t want to spend sixteen days sharing a cabin with you.”
“I don’t want to either. But what choice do we have? You won’t cancel, and I won’t cancel. So… what? Are they going to flip a damn coin?” I run a hand through my hair. “Do you like those odds? Because I sure as hell don’t.”
Tears spill from her eyes, and she clutches her bag to her chest as if it’s the only thing anchoring her.
I swallow hard, almost on the brink of caving, when she wipes her cheeks and says, “Okay. If we don’t have a choice,we’ll share.”
Relief sweeps through me, which is weird, because I’mnotrelieved. Far from it. “Are you sure?”
“Not really,” she deadpans. “But if we have to, we’re gettingmorethan a fifty-fucking-percent refund.”
Caught off guard by her sudden I-want-to-spill-blood mood shift, I move out of her way as she storms back to the counter.
“We’ll share,” she says, “but we want free Wi-Fi as well. And the all-you-can-drink package. And separate beds—moved to opposite sides of the cabin. And… And as many shore excursions as we want”—I lift my brows at that.Good idea—“And… a damn apology letter. It’s the least you can do.”
“Rest assured, Ms. Wilson, we can certainly arrange that.”
“Good.”
“Thank you so much for your understanding. And once again, I really am sorry for this.”
“And don’t forget that refund. I want my money back before the end of this cruise, or I’ll…” She squares her shoulders. “I’ll make this ridiculous error public on social media.”
“Of course.” The supervisor smiles awkwardly. “Let me fix this up for you. I’ll send a steward to your room immediately to reconfigure your beds, set all excursions as $0 in your daily schedule on the ship’s app, and I’ll add a drinks and Wi-Fi package to your accounts. Everything will be updated on your sailing card, so you won’t have to worry about a thing.”
I internally applaud Riley’s negotiation skills. Free drinks? Awesome. “I’m impressed,” I whisper.
“I’m not,” she hisses.
The supervisor hands our lanyards back. “All sorted. And if there’s anything else we can help you with, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“We won’t,” Riley grumbles before striding away.
I thank the woman and fall into step beside my marching cohabitee. “Hey, I know it’s not ideal, but it might not be that bad. We now have free drinks, which would’ve cost over athousand dollars each if we actually purchased the package, free unlimited shore adventures, plus more money in our banks. And I’m a good roommate. I promise.”
“Do you snore?” she asks.
Shit.
“No,” I lie.
“Thank goodness.”
