“Let’s at least check out one of the restaurants here at the hotel,” I counter. “The sushi place has omakase.”
Sushi is one of the few foods Sebastian eats other than chicken breast.
He squeezes my thigh. “Sure, babe.”
“I’ll walk over and make a reservation.”
It’s nice to move my legs after an entire day rotting in the sun on a chaise lounge. I always think I like vacations where you do nothing but sit by the pool. And then, after about one day, I start losing my mind.
I make our dinner reservation with the concierge. And then, on impulse, I ask, “Are there any day trips or excursions you would recommend for tomorrow?”
“We’re just at the end of the whale migration season,” she says. “We offer a fabulous two-hour whale-watching trip that leaves at ten in the morning.”
Whales! The marine biologist I aspired to be in fourth grade does a backflip.
“Fantastic. Can you book it for me? Two people?”
“Of course, madam.”
I walk back to the pool, unnerved that a young woman called me “madam,” but pleased with myself for concocting an adventure.
“So we’ve got a table for dinner at eight,” I tell Seb. “And guess what?”
He looks up from his book on crystals, or whatever. “What, babe?”
“I booked us a whale-watching tour!”
He wrinkles his beautiful top lip. “On a boat?”
“Uh … yes.”
“But I get seasick. And I thought you hated boats.”
“I hate sailboats. And even if I didn’t, I’d make an exception for whales. Come on!”
He gives me a kind smile. “Why don’t you go solo and take lots of pictures.”
“You really won’t come?”
“Babe, I’ll puke on the whales.”
He returns to his book on self-actualization, or whatever.
I am speechless. What kind of man will not go on a whale-watching tour with his girlfriend?
A boring one.
Seb, I must finally admit to myself, is chronically boring.
I open my phone and pull up Seth’s number.
Molly: Do you like whales?
Seth: Um, yes, I’m not a monster.
Seth: Why?
Molly: Just conducting an informal poll
Seth: To locate the sociopaths among your acquaintances?
Molly: Yep. So far i’ve only found one
Seth: Is it you?
Molly: I actually just murdered a whale, so
Seth: Presumably an endangered one.
Molly: Yep. A baby
Seth: Always stay true to yourself.
Molly: I’m a woman of principle
Seth: That’s why I admire you.
I laugh out loud. Sebastian looks up from his book on astronumerology, or whatever. “What’s so funny?”
