𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨?
Newly graduated accountant Cordelia Ashling has come to terms with the fact that her life is destined to be absolutely uneventful. That is until her parents gift her wi...
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"Great. The first full day on this godsforsaken island and it looks like there's going to be a hurricane," I groan as I perch on the edge of the bed, rubbing my fists over my eyes.
Glancing at the clock on my bedside table, I see it's 9:30am. I never sleep this late, but after my track and field meet in the middle of the night, I guess I needed the extra rest. But it doesn't look like it's 9:30am; it looks like it's barely daylight out, it's so overcast and cloudy.
I had been ready for tropical island weather, making it hard for me to choose what to wear after I hop out of bed and dress for the day, finally tugging on leggings and an oversized, off the shoulder sweatshirt. Oh well. Today has to be better than yesterday.
I throw all my belongings I need for the day—including my inhaler—into my mini backpack and head down to the sunroom—thankfully a different room from last night's horror show—hoping for something good for breakfast and maybe a chance to chat with Elias.
But when I get downstairs, I find that only one of those things is likely to happen as I grab a pastry from the middle of the table and an iced coffee to wash it down with—Elias is nowhere to be seen. In fact, there are more than a couple people missing from breakfast. And I thought we were supposed to eat all meals together.
Everyone seems to ignore me, not so much as sparing me a glance as they carry on with their meal. I wonder if it's the witch's hat that turned them all off from me. The costume was ridiculous compared to all their evening gowns and suits, but how was I supposed to know that no one would dress up? A petite woman with lavender hair and a button nose locks eyes with me. I take a chance and wiggle two fingers at her in a shy greeting. She lifts one side of her mouth in a smile, and I push my luck further.
"I love the color of your hair. I used to try to dye mine pastel colors, but it never took. I was told it's because my hair is too close to gray."
She tilts her head to the side and with a small voice says, "I've never dyed my hair."
I tuck my lips between my teeth, hiding my shock that she would so blatantly lie to me. Thankfully, she doesn't get a chance to notice my disbelief because Lorelai breezes into the dining room in a bikini under a see-through sarong tied around her hips.
"Good morning, beauties! Who's up for a swim today?" she asks, almost like she is singing the words.
I scrunch up my nose and look around, in shock that anyone is nodding in response to her request. "Umm, Lorelai, have you looked outside?"
"Yeah, why?" she asks, taking a mimosa from the table next to the window.
"Oh, no reason. Just that it looks like it's about to storm. Like, gale force winds, severe weather warning kind of storm." I don't even mention the missing people...most notably, her best friend.
"Nonsense. It's just overcast. It's a perfect day to relax on the beach."
There's no use in arguing because I've received some of my worst sunburns on cloudy days. She has her mind made up. And by the way the others react, they share her sentiment. I don't want to be the one known as the party-pooper. Besides, more than a few of the men in the room are very attractive...almost too attractive. I was too nervous to notice it last night, but every single person here could grace the cover of any fashion magazine. I can't miss out on an opportunity to see if I might mesh well with one of them. It is the reason I'm here, after all.
