The next couple of days, I wanted nothing more than to scream, “What does it all mean?” I couldn’t, of course. The inn guests would think I was certifiable for sure.
Every time I ran into Justin – which happened only three times, to be exact – he stared me down. We hadn’t spoken in days and it was starting to annoy me. Luckily, the wedding preparations took up most of my time, so I didn’t have to think about what happened at the birthday party all the time.
Layla had even invited me to her bachelorette party, despite the fact that we didn’t know each other that well. She said she was immensely grateful that I was dealing with all the wedding prep, and wanted me to feel included. I think she secretly meant she was elated she didn’t have to work on her wedding with Diane breathing down her neck. I could deal with the neck-breathing knowing it was only temporary, but poor Layla had a lifetime of Diane’s meddling to look forward to.
Diane had asked me the day before to provide some extra space at the wedding to sell her vacuum cleaners. I kindly told her I didn’t think selling vacuum cleaners at her grandson’s wedding was appropriate, but she argued about it in true Diane fashion.
Going to Layla’s bachelorette party would be a nice interlude from Diane’s demands, so I’d gladly accepted.
At four, I left the inn. We would all be meeting outside of Sip’nBean before picking up Layla.
I didn’t know what Layla’s friends had planned, but I hoped it would be something decent. I wasn’t in the mood to peel off some stripper’s underwear with my teeth. Not that I was ever in the mood to do that, mind you.
I had my hand on the doorknob of the coffee shop when I saw a girl running toward me. “Am I too late? My boss wouldn’t let me go one minute earlier.”
She put her hands on her knees, out of breath. Frankly, she looked as if she’d run from a city office all the way to Old Pine Cove.
“I don’t think you’re late. It’s only quarter past four,” I said. “I’m Addy, by the way.”
“Stella,” the girl said in between breaths. “Nice to meet you.”
The door swung open and four other girls spilled out of the building. “The limo should be here any minute,” one them of said. “We decided to wait outside.”
“Is everyone here?” a short brunette asked, looking around the group of girls.
I caught a glimpse of Suzie and gladly joined her. Since Layla was a regular at Suzie’s bookstore, she had been invited as well.
“There,” the brunette shouted.
A shiny white limousine came into view and stopped right next to us. A girl jumped out and yelled, “Who’s ready to party?”
The others – except for me, Suzie, and Olive – jumped up and down, all screaming in delight.
“And guess what I brought with me,” the limo girl shouted.
She waved around a giant inflatable red guitar that looked like a crooked penis. What was she planning on doing with that? For a second, I thought about feigning some rare illness, but I couldn’t do that to the others. Everything had been planned and I didn’t want to be a party pooper.
We all climbed into the limo and Stella proposed an introductory round, as we didn’t all know each other yet.
The inflatable guitar girl was called Ashley. She’d met Layla in college. The short brunette was Brianna, one of Layla’s colleagues, and the other girl was called Jess. She worked as a sales rep for organic food for farm chickens, ducks, and geese. What that meant, I didn’t know, but she was extremely passionate about it. When I told her I had a duck and was planning on opening a petting zoo next to the inn, she shoved a business card in my hands, telling me to call her as soon as the deal to buy the land was done. Then she got out a bottle of hand sanitizer and squirted some of the liquid on her hands.
“The eight of us are going to have so much fun today,” Ashley said, the inflatable toy now at her feet.
I hoped she was right.
“If I ever meet someone and get married, I’ll make you regret it if you dare bring me something like that,” I said to Suzie, pointing at the inflatable toy. “It looks like a faulty penis.”
“You have to admit, it’s a bit funny,” Suzie whispered.
I giggled. “Maybe a little bit, yes. As long as I don’t have to touch it, I’m good.”
The limo stopped once again, this time to pick up Layla. The girls ordered her to strap the penis guitar around her body and popped a bottle of champagne.
Oh boy. At least Layla didn’t look uncomfortable, or she was good at pretending. There was no way to tell.
“So, where are we headed first?” Olive asked. “Or is that a secret?”
Ashley wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “You’ll see. But I can promise you girls it’s something good.”
The limo exited Old Pine Cove, and my thoughts swiveled back to that night when Justin and I left town. I felt dizzy thinking about the look he had given me when he played me that song. Damn, why hadn’t I stayed and listened to it?
“Addy over here partied with celebs a few days ago,” Olive said.
“What?” Brianna called out. “Who? Do you have pictures? Tell us everything!”
She grabbed my shoulders and pleaded with me as if I was a drug dealer and she was running low on heroine.
“It was just a birthday party,” I said.
I didn’t feel like sharing details about my night with Justin. It was something between him and me, and now the world knew about it. Well, maybe not the world, but several other girls. Everyone knew that meant it was only a matter of time before word spread far and wide.
“We need more details than that,” Ashley said.
Layla shot me a smile. “You went with Justin, right?”
I nodded. “That’s right. He’s an old friend.”
“I almost forgot you guys share a hometown with Justin Miller,” Ashley said. “He’s so gorgeous. Is he going to be at the wedding?”
“He’s Asher’s best man,” Layla said, adjusting the inflatable instrument that was strapped around her body.
The others got all dreamy-eyed. Ashley even had to fan herself. “I wonder if he’s still single. I would kill to go out with a guy like that.” Then she turned to me. “Addy, since Justin’s an old friend, why don’t you introduce us?”
She wanted me to do what now?
“Err… I don’t know. We’re not that close.”
Brianna frowned. “But you went to a party with him?”
Thank goodness Suzie cut in. “It’s complicated. Anyway, this day isn’t about Addy or Justin Miller, right? How about a small clue as to where we’re headed?”
Ashley took the bait and I threw Suzie a grateful smile for directing the conversation somewhere else.
I peered at Ashley, feeling not so fond of her. Who did she think she was, wanting me to set her up with Justin? She didn’t even know him – apart from how ridiculously high his score on the hotness meter was.
I didn’t want to act all jealous and I knew Justin wasn’t mine. I just couldn’t help myself.
I spent the rest of the ride trying to take part in the conversation, but it was hard to focus on anything when I knew that others had their arrows pointed at Justin.
Forty-five minutes later, the limo pulled into the parking lot of a fancy-looking building. A big sign read Cloverleaf Spa & Wellness.
We got out of the limo and Ashley took the lead. She walked to the entrance with confident strides, as opposed to Layla who was trying to hide the fact that she had a giant penis-looking toy strapped around her body.
We all stepped through the sliding doors, entering a haven of tranquility. A small fountain surrounded by all kinds of jungle plants stood in the center of the lobby. Soft ambient music consisting of nature sounds drifted out of the speakers and sunlight poured in through the giant glass roof.
Ashley spun on her heel and clapped her hands. “We’re going to get manicures, pedicures, and a makeover,” she said with a squeal. “We want to look all pretty for the… rougher activity I have planned later today.”
The group fell silent at the mention of a rougher activity. I couldn’t blame them for feeling anxious about what that meant, but then again, how bad could it be? Even swimming would be considered an activity rougher than getting manicures.
A lady dressed in white welcomed us to the spa, handing us all a glass of cucumber water. “If you would follow me,” she said, leading us to a changing room decked out with plush sofas and personalized slippers.
“Before the manicures, we’ve got a mud bath prepared for you,” the lady said. “You will have to take off that thing, though,” she said, glancing at the red penis guitar.
“Not a problem.” Layla ripped the toy off as if it was on fire and tossed it on one of the sofas. “There, all set.”
The lady smiled at us. “Great, please head to treatment room B as soon as you’re ready.”
After she left, Jess pointed to the personalized slippers. “I’m not putting those on my feet,” she said, armes crossed in front of her chest like a sulky child. The only thing that was missing was her stamping her feet in protest.
“Why not?” Brianna asked.
She scoffed. “Seriously? There could be bacteria on them. It’s unsanitary.”
“They’re unused,” Ashley said, stripping down and slipping her feet into her slippers before putting on her robe.
Jess let out a high-pitched laugh. “Yeah, that’s what they want you to believe.”
“For god’s sake, Jess, just put them on. They’re wrapped in plastic and there’s a label that says single-person use only on them. Believe me, they are new.”
“So you say, but there’s no way to be one hundred percent sure, is there?”
Ashley sighed. “I’m ninety-nine percent sure and that’s enough for me. Let’s just go and enjoy our mud bath, okay?”
“You know how Jess’s anxiety flares up when something like this happens,” Layla said, trying to calm down the bickering girls. “Maybe she can stay in the lobby while we slide into those mud baths.”
Ashley put a hand on her hip. “This place is the most hygienic one in the state. That’s why I booked it. If Jess wants to be a party pooper, fine, but don’t say I didn’t try to cater to her needs.”
Jess let out a puff of air and rolled her eyes. “Fine, you’re right. I’ll give it a shot.”
The eight of us walked out of the changing room, all looking perfectly normal. Jess was wearing socks in her slippers, her fingers tightly clasped around a family-sized bottle of hand sanitizer.
A brightly smiling girl in a white-and-green uniform led us to a big space. Marble tubs filled to the brim with volcanic mud were placed in the center of the room, separated from each other by a wooden end table where a glass of champagne was awaiting each of us.
“The mud bath is about 100 degrees, so you’ll be nice and comfortable,” the girl said.
After she told us what to expect from this treatment, I took off my robe, sat myself on the edge, and flung myself in, feet first. Instead of sinking into the mud, as I had thought would happen, I lay on top of it and was suddenly very aware of how exposed I was. It wasn’t like the others didn’t know what a naked woman’s body looked like, but I’d rather not have them spot my nether regions. Luckily, the mud-bath attendant came to my rescue, wrapping the thick mud around my body with swift precision.
Once I was settled in the mud, I took a bite of the strawberry that floated around in my champagne and closed my eyes. I could get used to this. Would it be difficult to install one of these at home? Or at work? Now that would be amazing.
I had almost drifted into some peaceful meditative state when Jess started talking.
“This can’t be normal. Is this normal? Hello?” she called out. Oh no, she wasn’t having another one of her anxiety attacks, was she?
Ashley turned her head around, and shot Jess an encouraging smile. “Just relax. I’m sure everything is normal.”
“It’s not. Why is no one coming? Can’t they hear us? What if there’s a fire?” she shouted.
“A fire?” Brianna asked, her brows furrowed.
Jess flailed around in the mud, then put a hand to her chest. “This mud is so heavy, I can’t breathe. Can you guys breathe?”
“Yes, I can breathe totally fine,” Stella said. “Getting yourself worked up is only going to make you feel worse, Jess.”
“I need to get out of here.” Her eyes shot from the door to us and back again. “Why isn’t anyone coming?”
She was right though. Why wasn’t anyone coming? Surely, they must be able to hear the crazy screams coming from treatment room B?
I put my champagne glass down. “I’m sure someone will come to help you real soon.”
“Yeah, try to relax,” Ashley said.
“Relax?” she shouted, as if someone had just suggested she should eat a plate of broken glass. “I’m not having this, you know, I’m getting out.”
“Please, calm down,” Brianna said.
Of course, Jess wasn’t calmed down by Brianna telling her to calm down.
She put both hands on the side of the tub and lifted herself up, the mud slowly dripping down and falling to the ground with nasty thuds, revealing her birthday suit inch by inch. She grabbed a white towel and flung it around her body, then walked to the door with big, wide steps, leaving small puddles of mud behind her. And then she was gone.