JULY 1 - Seven days (1)

It was 6 a.m. 1st of July.

My eyes were still puffy from sleep while I drank my latte.

"I don't know how you drink so little coffee in the morning." He said to me, wearily leaning his back against the uncomfortable chair in the café.

"Are you on your second?" I asked.

"Yeah, and it's only 6 a.m." He replied, crinkling his eyes.

His blue eyes were red and veined with violet hues, a sign that he was tired too from the sound the alarm clock made at 4 a.m.

Last night, we had a quiet dinner in front of the tv, then he fell asleep on the sofa and stayed there all night.

I slipped into bed, but pre-departure anxiety had gotten the better of me and I practically didn't sleep at all.

It was now 6:30 a.m. when we got up from the airport bar to head to our gate.

Number 6, Hawaii.

More or less a five-hour flight from California.

As we got in the line, he wrapped his arms around my chest and pulled me close. "We're almost there...this is going to be great." He smiled as the line for the plane ahead of us grew shorter and shorter.

As we reached the aisle, I stared at the plane that would take us to one of the most beautiful islands America could offer us and to one of the most beautiful resorts on the coast.

What more could I have wanted? I had everything a 23-year-old girl could ask for.

Still...

We finally sat down in our assigned seats.

I let him take the window seat because I knew he'd soon be staring out at the clouds.

He took my hand: "Shit, I am as excited as I've ever been in my life!"

I smiled, hiding my face in the crook of my neck: "I can see it in your eyes that you are happy..."

"Are you too? Tell me yes, otherwise, I will lose my mind..." He asked.

Joe had this habit of anticipating my answer so that I would say what he wanted.

"Yes." I answered, short and to the point.

His phone lit up in his hands and he read the text: "Leo wished us a good trip."

"Out of your friends, he is the only one I like... when did you say he's coming?"

Joe snorted, but laughed under his breath. "His girlfriend is coming too... you'll see, we'll have a great time. They will arrive tonight."

"If you say so," I replied tightening my belt under my belly as the steward admonished us.

Joe turned to me impatiently:

"Look, I know you're a lot more shy than I am, and you don't make friends right away but... we'll be just a couple having fun together with another couple in a resort... for this week."

The couple Joe was talking about and with whom we would spend that entire week, were his best friend Leo and his girlfriend.

When Joe had first proposed it to me, I had not been all that enthusiastic...

Leo was his best friend, the person with whom he had bonded both professionally and amicably for these past 10 years.

They were also partners in a society that they practically created from scratch.

So I understood why Joe cared about it so much, and I went along with it...

So we would stay a week with them, just the four of us...

And on the seventh day,

the last day,

there would be our wedding.

Joe was surrounded by friends and colleagues, because he's very outgoing.

On the other hand, I had like two friends...

July, my friend since middle school, and Delilah, I met her 6 years ago during a party.

I was alone and annoyed having a drink, and she started talking to me out of nowhere, from that day on she became my best friend.

She's probably the only one I've ever truly opened up to, she knows all my insecurities and fears.

The plane had taken off, and as we were holding hands, I looked out the window.

The sunlight was spreading through the sky of that already fiery day.

I looked at my hand and stared at the ring with the little diamond set on it.

One week, seven days; on the seventh day I would be married to Joe.

~

The idea of having a big wedding and especially moving from California had come from him.

I would have preferred a small and private ceremony, inclined with my shy personality.

However, Joe knew how much I loved the tropical sea and summers, so he proposed Hawaii.

He literally said: "You know, I'm more of a cold weather person, and I know you would have preferred an intimate wedding, so let's go party in Hawaii and we'll make both of us happy."

I'm not sure if this is going to work out like he said, but I didn't mean to kill his vibe...

I definitely kept him from inviting everyone from California to our wedding. We had already reached a decent number of guests, but if I had left it up to him, it would have been way more.

Five hours had passed quickly, and now we had to take another small helicopter that would fly us to the island where the resort was.

It was basically an oasis in paradise, with the clearest water I had ever seen.

The sea was like the only place where I could actually breathe and be myself.

When we reached the island Joe bought two beach hats, when he put on his, he really looked like a local boy: his always-tanned skin, his blond hair, his blue eyes, his shirt already unbuttoned.

All the way through the resort, I did nothing but point to the beauty of the sea.

Joe was more focused on the fact that the hotel had at least 4-5 bars and even a disco.

He likes to drink and having party...

We finally reached our room, Joe threw himself onto the double bed while I decided it was time for a bath.

The room had probably the largest tub I had ever seen, two people could easily fit in it, but the most spectacular thing was the view of the sea.

I stared mesmerized at that endless horizon.

I took an hour-long bath, and I felt reborn.

~

It was already afternoon and time was passing too quickly.

I put on my usual makeup: pinkish lipstick, some blush, a bit of mascara.

My wavy dark hair reached my shoulders.

I wore a white linen top with black embroidery, and a pair of black silk pants.

"How about we go watch the sunset at the beach?" I asked Joe as we were walking to the hotel lobby.

"I knew you would say that..." He replied monotonously.

He got a cocktail, I got toast and a bottle of water.

The sea was as crystal clear and blue as the google images had shown me, but seeing it in person was a whole different story.

The sun was going down slowly, Joe had already reached his second cocktail.

"Don't push it." I squeezed his cheek with a pinch.

"I promise. Besides, you know I can handle that." He said as he took the last sip as well.

Sure...

"Hey, they're here!" Joe exclaimed as he stared at his phone.

"Leo is telling me they are gonna take a shower and come down." He added.

I sighed again.

My body was getting nervous.

"Listen... how is Leo's girlfriend? I've seen her very few times and I never had a chance to talk to her." I asked Joe.

Gathering news about someone I knew so little was typical for a shy person like me.

I was always looking for some kind of reassurance. I had to know at least a little about someone's personality before approaching.

The four of us were supposed to be together for this week in this resort... and still I didn't know this girl at all, although our boyfriends had been best friends for years.

"I still don't know her either ... she seems like an outgoing girl, though." He replied in a strange tone.

I don't know what it was, but he kept talking about her ambiguously.

One thing I remember from that party I probably saw her at: she was talking to everyone. She was definitely one of those extroverted types.

However, I'd never actually talked to her, I'd just seen her around.

Honestly, I didn't even remember what she looked like...

Plus, Joe never introduced me to her, which is weird, now that I think about it...

I mean... I'm definitely not the life of the party, if there were a lot of people I didn't know in a room, it made me uncomfortable.

That is exactly why I was afraid to spend that week with them... they were basically just strangers to me.

A/N

Hi! Hope you like this first chapter! Please, feel free to comment if you see any errors.

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