Best Friends & Other Liars

by Heather Balog

  I do have one little tiny inkling of care.

  We pull up to the boat dock and Jeremy wrestles the haphazardly strewn suitcases out of the trunk while I pay the cab driver.

  “Hi.” I feel a firm hand on the small of my back and my breath catches in my throat. My shoulders tense up and I order them to relax before spinning on my heel and offering the owner of that hand a genuine smile.

  “Hi,” I reply, leaning in for a chaste kiss on the cheek. I hope he realizes that I truly am happy to see him, despite my initial protest to his coming on this cruise with us.

  “Hi, guys,” George says, waving to the kids. He doesn’t dare offer them anything more than that. The boys keep their distance, but Samantha, the emo chick with the cheeriness of a Muppet, throws her arms around him for a hug. At first he appears taken aback by the hug, but then he relaxes and pats her on the back.

  “How you doing, kid?” he asks, still a little awkwardly. I can tell he’s worried about what she thinks of him. He need not worry because Samantha has already moved on—kneeling and enveloping the two kids at his side in one of her hugs.

  “You remember Andrew and Alexis, my kids?” he asks Samantha.

  Obviously she remembers Andrew and Alexis. She only met them once, but you would think she had personally been assigned to taking care of them the way she has already taken over and is shuffling them toward the check-in area. They follow her like she’s the Pied Piper and she’s promised them candy. Come to think of it, she may have actually promised them candy.

  I roll my eyes. “Of course she remembers them. Samantha loves little kids. You probably won’t see them for the rest of the cruise because she’s busy mothering them.”

  “That’s a relief and a disappointment at the same time,” he says as he pulls several duffel bags onto his shoulders. “I don’t get to see them very often, but then again, when I do, I’m not so sure what to do with them.”

  “Don’t worry,” I assure him. “It’ll give you time to relax during the day, but you’re on your own at night.”

  He cringes. “I think that’s the witching hour. That’s exactly when I don’t want to be alone with them.”

  “Tough luck, mister,” I reply jokingly. “You got yourself into this mess.”

  When I told George I was going on this cruise (which took the same route as our cruise last year, but fortunately, was not a divorce cruise), George suggested he join us. We aren’t officially dating yet, but I can feel our friendship slowly moving into a different sphere, especially when he invited me and the kids to his house for Thanksgiving. They met him several times during the summer—George came to the beach with us, bringing Alexis and Andrew with him since it was his week to have them. Samantha took over that day, too. Thank goodness, too. They were quite the handful.

  George also joined us for Matthew’s birthday party a few weeks ago, despite the fact that Richard and Vic were there. And actually, Vic and George got along quite well. The jury is still out on Richard’s feelings toward George. Despite the circumstances of our split, Richard has been a little unwelcoming toward George, and told me he wasn’t sure how he felt about him, as if he had any say in his replacement. I mean, not that I’m even thinking about marrying anyone ever again, but...well, you know what I mean.

  Even without Richard’s blessing, I want to take it slow with George. As much as I like him, and as much as we have a lot in common, I don’t trust my emotions after coming out of a two decade long relationship. And I definitely don’t want George to end up being a rebound relationship. I’m not really ready to get back into dating, but I can’t deny that George is a good fit for me. Hence, why I am still holding him at bay.

  I told him he could come on the cruise with us, but he definitely needed to stay in his own cabin. That’s when he proposed that his kids might come along. It had been a monstrous struggle with his ex, but he eventually won out when she decided that a ski vacation for the holidays with her new husband was just what she needed to calm her nerves from “raising his children all by herself”. George had sucked up the insult without a single word and she had shipped off Alexis and Andrew the day after Christmas as promised.

  We enter the building and join the line that immediately assaults us. It starts at the door and snakes around the entire lobby. There are hundreds of people on it already, including Samantha and George’s kids, several people ahead of us.

  “Samantha!” I wave my hand to get her attention. “Come back here,” I say when she notices me.

  “Why? I have a better spot on line.”

  “Alexis and Andrew need their tickets. And their dad,” I inform her. “And you need everything that I have right here.”

  “So, give it to me,” Samantha demands, with her hand outstretched in front of her.

  “Samantha,” I say sweetly. “Please come back here.” Can’t I have one day where none of my children challenge me? “I need you with me.”

  “Why don’t you come up here then?” Samantha inquires, not giving up.

  “Because that’s cutting people.” I can’t believe I have to explain this concept to my intelligent child. If it were her brothers, I could see that—Samantha has always been my hope for the future. Now it appears that being a teenager has indeed rotted her brain, just like it has rotted theirs.

  “Well, I was here first, so they shouldn’t mind.”

  The couple in front of us now collectively turn their heads, probably wondering if I’m going to try to cut them as suggested by my rude child. It takes me a few seconds to register the woman’s face.

  “Francine!”

  Her eyes light up as she also recognizes me. “Vi!” She drops her bags and throws her arms around my neck, startling me. This is very unlike the Francine I knew. We had exchanged numbers, but never contacted each other. Too much was going on in my life at the time to try to nurture a friendship. A few months ago, I had tried to search for Francine on Facebook until I realized that I didn’t remember her last name.

  Needless to say, I have no idea what’s been going on in Francine’s life, but this bright and cheery woman standing in front of me is a total change from the one I met last year. She’s literally beaming as she releases her grip on me.

  “I got married!” Francine squeals as she wiggles her left hand in my face. Her very important finger is sporting a rock the size of hefty blueberry. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a massive ring in person.

  “Holy moly, Francine,” I gasp, taking hold of her outstretched hand. “That’s incredible!”

  It’s especially incredible considering when we parted at the end of last year’s cruise, Francine was even deeper in a state of despair than she had been at the beginning of the cruise. She had come to the realization that there were no men out there for her and she really didn’t care because they were all jerks anyway. At least that was her take on the situation at the time. Obviously her opinion has changed.

  “This is Fred,” she says as she waves her hand toward the silver haired, somewhat overly tanned man at her side. “He’s my husband. Fred, this is Violet.”

  “Um, hi, Fred,” I reply, taking his hand. I am treated to a firm and warm handshake—I immediately like Fred. He reminds me of my grandfather. Not that I would tell Francine that.

  “Pleasure to meet you. Francine has told me a lot about you.”

  My eyebrows shoot up. I can’t imagine what she could have possibly told Fred about me. We barely know each other, and we haven’t seen each other in a year. I’ve changed a lot in the past year, and obviously, so has she.

  Fred sees my eyebrows raised and quickly adds, “All good, I assure you. Actually, if I’m honest, all Francine told me was that she met you and your friend on a cruise, and you were very kind to her. She appreciated it immensely.”

  “The feeling was mutual. Francine made the whole trip much more bearable,” I tell Fred.

  I hear uncomfortable throat clearing next to me and I realize that I have forgotten that George is there. Al
ong with the boys and our bags.

  “I’m sorry. Do you remember George? He also made the cruise much nicer.”

  “Why, of course!” Francine says with that smile that hasn’t left her face. She pulls a startled George into an embrace. “George was wonderful! Although I wouldn’t have recognized him. He looks...younger.”

  George colors with embarrassment. He has taken to dyeing his hair…a chestnut brown. He said he felt like it was causing people to think he was older. I argued that “older” for a psychologist might be seen as a positive thing, like older means wiser or something, but he disagreed. Ever since he started dyeing it, his practice has picked up considerably. I kind of have to admit, it does make him look a little sexier to me. Not that I am looking at him in a sexy way or anything.

  “Wow, this is such a crazy coincidence, seeing you on this cruise!” I say brightly, trying to steer the subject away from George’s hair.

  Francine nods. “Well, it’s our honeymoon! And I wanted to do a cruise again and actually enjoy it this time!” She quickly adds, “Not that you weren’t good company! I was in such a bad place last year, so unhappy. And Kendall, bless her heart, thought she was doing me a favor by making me go on the cruise. She had no idea how miserable she was making me. Those people weren’t the type of people I wanted to hang out with. Some of them were plain despicable. Um, present company excluded, of course.”

  “Next!” The ticket agent waves her hand in the air—Samantha is next.

  “Mooommmm,” she whines. “I’m next!”

  I sigh as I hand her her passport and ticket. “I’m sorry.” I apologize to Francine and her new husband as I reach across them.

  “Don’t apologize,” Francine says with a wave of her hand. “She was there first. You guys go ahead.”

  “Are you sure? There’s quite a few of us.”

  “Absolutely. The kids probably want to sit down.” She raises her eyebrows at Alexis and Andrew running in circles around Samantha’s legs.

  “Well, I appreciate this. Thank you.”

  I step up next to Samantha and within a few minutes, my family and George’s family are all checked in and sitting in the waiting area, ready to board when our group is called. I am actively searching the lounge with my eyes when Francine plops down in the chair next to mine.

  “You okay?” she asks.

  I nod. “Yeah, just looking for someone. Leah, actually.”

  “Oh wow! Leah’s coming on the cruise, too? This will be like a reunion of sorts,” Francine says excitedly.

  “Oh, is Kendall coming as well?” I ask. “I know Leah would love to see her.”

  Francine’s face drops and I immediately sense that Kendall is a sore subject.

  “No, Kendall and I actually had a falling out. I haven’t spoken to her since my wedding.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I say sympathetically. “That has to be difficult. I know that the two of you have been friends for so long.”

  Francine shrugs indifferently. “Sometimes hanging on to unhealthy relationships isn’t the best thing for us.”

  “Kendall can be a bit toxic,” Fred offers as he slips his passport back into his bag.

  “Fred’s a psychiatrist,” Francine volunteers. “He was actually my psychiatrist, and then he told me he couldn’t treat me anymore because he would prefer to take me out to dinner.” Francine blushes and flutters her eyelashes.

  “Really?” I’m kind of taken aback. I didn’t have Francine pegged as the type of person who would fall for her doctor.

  “I’m a psychologist,” George pipes up excitedly. I almost forgot he was sitting next to me. “I also write novels. Not about psychiatry, though.”

  “I do as well! Sci-fi novels!” Fred says excitedly. “I find it’s a welcome diversion from my everyday work.”

  “That’s exactly how I see it!” George’s crystal blue eyes are sparkling. He loves to find people that share his enthusiasm for writing.

  Fred and George begin to animatedly discuss their mutual careers as I spy Leah leaving the check-in line. I consult my watch—it is five minutes until boarding. She’s scanning the crowd with a wrinkled brow.

  “Over here!” I call out, waving my hand in the air. I catch her eye and she rushes toward our group.

  “Hey!” Leah says when she is a few feet away. “Sorry, I’m late but there was a little miscommunication with me and...Francine?” Leah’s jaw drops open when she sees Francine sitting next to me.

  “In the flesh,” Francine exclaims, leaping to her feet and pulling Leah into an obviously unexpected hug. Leah makes a noise like all of the air has been pushed out of her body from the force of Francine’s hug.

  “What are you doing here?” Leah inquires when Francine finally releases her death grip.

  “I’m going on my honeymoon!” Francine squeals, causing everyone around us to cringe from the ear-piercing decibel level that she reaches. “I got married!” She waves her rock under Leah’s nose with flourish.

  “Oh wow, that’s—” Leah starts to reply, but Francine cuts her off, pulling Fred to his feet.

  “This is my husband Fred.”

  Fred straggles to his feet unwillingly, yet manages to stick his hand out to shake Leah’s with a smile. “Pleasure to meet you.”

  “I also met Leah on the cruise last year. I can’t believe we’re all going on a cruise again! This is going to be so much fun!” Francine is so excited that she’s nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet. If I didn’t know that her joy was related to her recent nuptials, I would have thought she was high.

  “We will definitely all need to have dinner together some night,” Fred says, just as an announcement is made that our group can start boarding. Fred and Francine are in a different boarding group since they’re located in a different part of the ship.

  “Definitely,” I exclaim, making a note of their cabin number in my phone. I instruct the boys to gather our bags and Samantha to wrangle the little kids before we head to the boarding door, waving.

  Leah is dragging behind me, sulking.

  “What’s the matter?” I hiss as we enter the doors side by side. “Where is—”

  She cuts me off. “We won’t have time to have dinner with them, Vi.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because of the thing,” Leah informs me matter-of-factly.

  “The thing, as you so elegantly call it, isn’t even until we get to the island, Leah. We have three days on the ship first. And speaking of the thing, aren’t you missing—”

  “Well, I don’t want to have dinner with mopey old Francine,” Leah interrupts with a huff.

  “I don’t know if you noticed, Leah, but Francine seems to have reinvented herself since we last saw her. I would say she’s not her old mopey self.”

  “Humph,” Leah complains as she stomps up the ramp. If I didn’t know better, I would think she was having a hissy fit. Actually, I do know better...she is having a hissy fit. And I know exactly what it’s about.

  “Leah, you know that you are my best friend, right?”

  “Um, hmmm,” Leah mumbles, not looking at me.

  “And even if we have dinner with Francine, or I hang out with Francine, nothing changes between us?”

  I can’t believe I have to have this conversation with a forty year old woman. When Leah gets jealous, my kids are more mature than she is.

  “I know that, Vi,” Leah snaps, still stomping as she enters the main lobby of the boat. I gaze upward, my kids actually lowering their phones to follow my eyes.

  “Wow, this place is awesome,” Samantha says.

  “Cool,” Jeremy agrees, while snapping a picture of the grand staircase—most likely for his Instagram account. Even Matthew’s eyes grow wide.

  I smile to myself. It isn’t often that I can impress my children. I have to admit, the main lobby is quite impressive, especially for the children who haven’t ever been on a cruise before.

  George’s children, who have been on a cruise before, are
not impressed. Unfortunately. Instead, they both have the bright idea to climb on the banister and try to slide down. George’s face turns purple as Samantha attempts to scoop them off the banister and return them to the floor.

  “Thank you,” George stammers as he collects his wayward children under his arms. I quickly gather up his belongings so that he doesn’t have to let go of them until they are safely ensconced in their room. Maybe then he can tie them to the nightstand or something to keep them in one place.

  We all pile into the elevator and press the button to get to our floor. When the elevator opens, all the kids dash out, in search of the rooms—George has unfortunately let go of Andrew and Alexis, and they are on the loose again. He runs after them as Samantha has given up on them and is opening the door to our room.

  George’s room is next to the one that I’m sharing with Samantha. The boys are in the next room. Leah is at the other end of the hall.

  I stop at my door and discover that Samantha has already claimed her bed and is removing her clothing from her duffle bag.

  “Are you okay?” I ask Leah. “What happened to—”

  “Well, he got here an hour earlier,” Leah says, forgetting about Francine. “He wanted to get to the suite before I did! I think there’s a surprise involved! I gotta go!” she says wheeling her suitcase toward the suite at the end of the hall. She slides the keycard in and I catch a glimpse of the room—I can see the sliding glass doors revealing a balcony overlooking the sea—and I’m slightly jealous. But then I shake it off. Leah deserves that suite. Just like she deserves the guy on the other side of the door, the guy that she’ll be marrying in less than three days.

  “Hi, Vi,” he says, waving to me from the doorway. He scoops Leah into his arms, planting a kiss right on her lips. Leah giggles and is swept into the room, the door slamming before I can even reply.

  “Hi, Nick,” I say to the closed door, before stepping into my own room. I shake my head—this is going to be one interesting cruise.