Night to Remember

Paradise

- Victoria -

"That was close. I don't know how to prepare myself to explain it to my parents at all." I admitted not looking up at Harper.

I wanted to be brave and call my mom back, but the embarrassment won whenever I thought about the call. It's been a few weeks since I spoke to my parents the last time, and at that time, I was discussing my bakery plans with them.

Their support and faith in me were everything I wanted and needed to get the courage to talk with Tom finally. I sighed, stood off the chair, and walked to grab some water from the kitchen. Harper's phone pinged, and I heard her sharp inhale.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sipping the cold water.

"Pff," She scoffed, "You think talking to your parents is hard? Tell me, how will you prepare for this?" She mocked as she held her phone up to show me the message.

Intrigued, I returned to the living room and checked the screen with pictures of an extremely luxurious SPA resort. I knitted my eyebrows in confusion.

"What's that?" I asked.

"That, my dear, is a two-weeks spa vacation on an exotic island." She informed me with a forced smile, "WE BOOKED YESTERDAY!" She screamed, and I spit the water I was drinking.

"What?" I asked, wiping off the water from my face.

I opened my mouth in shock. We got drunk yesterday, and God only knows what we did last night. I covered my mouth and blinked a few times in disbelief. Harper only nodded in confirmation as she scrolled down on her phone.

"Hmm. That's right, girl. We did it. And now we have only four hours to board the plane. So, hurry up and pack your bags because I'm not wasting five hundred on a trip and not attending it." She turned on her heels and almost ran back to her room.

I was standing like a deer caught in the headlights, unsure of what was happening. One minute I debated breaking the news of my divorce to my parents, and the next, Harper told me to pack for some spontaneous and way-too-expensive trip I had no recollection of paying for.

"TORI! PACK YOUR f*****g BAG. YOU HAVE AN HOUR!" Harper's voice boomed through the entire apartment.

That sobered me up, and I took off from the living room and barged into my room. I pulled the biggest suitcase from the closet and threw it open on the bed. With no time to fold or choose, I grabbed the first things that caught my attention and threw them into the suitcase.

I have never packed in such a hurry. Well, maybe I have. The day I found Tom cheating, I went to our house and packed all my belongings in an hour. With Harper's help, we cleared the damn house of all my things and filled the five suitcases and ten big boxes.

Now packed randomly and fueled with adrenaline, I picked up my passport, phone, and wallet and met with Harper in the living room. Both slightly panicking, we left the apartment, grabbed a cab, and headed to the airport.

We arrived seconds before the assistant closed the gate for the trip participants. Showing our passes and passports, we panted our apologies before we were urged to board the charter plane for our unexpected vacation to an unknown destination.

Once seated, we fastened our seatbelts, and after receiving the welcoming flutes of champagne, we toasted for the best adventure of our lives before drifting off to sleep, hoping to make our hangover evaporate completely.

'Adventure, here we come.'

We woke up hours later to an announcement of reaching our destination shortly. Excited, I peeked out the window and gasped at the exotic views. It was breathtaking. The variety of colors satiated my eyes. The blue of the ocean surrounding the island was almost magical.

Harper joined me, and we watched as the plane approached the beautiful island together. My excitement grew when we touched the ground, and our plane was taxiing to its final stop. For the first time, I couldn't wait to jump into the unknown and explore its offerings.

I was in heaven when the doors opened, and my feet touched the apron. But what I was assuming was our final destination turned out to be only a stop on the way. Reaching the picturesque harbor, we boarded the fast boat, which moored in less than forty minutes in a place that left me speechless.

I dragged my suitcase without paying attention to anything except the breathtaking views, inviting scents of freedom, and promising leisure and pleasure offers of the mysterious Indonesian island.

The walk to the resort was truly royal. With suitcases taken care of and a delicious and refreshing drink in hand, Harper and I enjoyed the warm weather and admired the views. The resort spoiled us with the amount of goods we unintentionally paid for, but it was the break I definitely needed.

The bungalow we were accommodated in was perfect. The moment we were escorted to our little heaven, I was in another shock. The magical view of waves crashing at the shore and the small hut on the stilts digging into the water touched my heart. It was way better than my honeymoon with Tom in Italy.

Accommodating to the bungalow took us minutes before Harper and I stormed out of the place to explore the extent of the resort. It was huge, private, and filled with all the necessary extras to take your mind off real-life problems. The perspective of sleeping in a bed, accompanied by the sound of the ocean, was the most pleasant thing I could dream of.

"How about a drink, a quick call to update my assistant, and chilling over the pool?" Harper suggested, and I nodded, already imagining myself on the sunbed.

We ordered two Blue Heavens and made ourselves comfortable on the deckchairs under the palm tree. The drink was a delicious combination of fresh milk, ice cream, and vanilla-raspberry-flavored syrup and rum, which we enjoyed too quickly for our liking.

Making sure that the next drinks would be delivered successively, we exposed ourselves to the sun's rays, taking full advantage of the charms of our drunkenly purchased divorce-celebrating trip to paradise.