A long drive ahead.

So Friday came, the day I’d be leaving for my weekend vacation with the girls. After going to bed extremely early, I was up by 4:30 am. Why? Well, to start with I had to go pick everyone up, but even after that we still had a three hour trip ahead of us. We wanted to be there early, so we all agreed to leave in the early morning.

Cake didn’t seem happy to see me up. She’d been sleeping on my bed and began to meow at me when I got up as if telling me it wasn’t the time yet. Honestly, it’s moments like these where it’s the most painful that animals can’t understand the human language. I’d be going away for a weekend, but I had no way to explain that to Cake. Instead, she’d feel like I left her alone while the two new arrivals kept pestering her every moment of the day.

“You have to be patient with the puppies, okay?” I told her as I got dressed. “They’re your… siblings? Cousins? Anyway, you’re the older one, so act like it.”

Her response? Hiding under the covers of my bed, running away from responsibilities and social interaction. No, it doesn’t remind me of anyone, why do you ask?

Cake followed me all the way to the front door, meowing at me non-stop. She wasn’t making it easy, but I still ended up leaving. I threw my backpack inside the van, sat on the driver’s seat and let out a heavy sigh before taking out my phone to text both Isabelle and mom.

-Oliver: You’re allowed to spoil Cake this weekend. Just don’t feed her three times her weight in junk food.

It was still dark out, and quite chilly despite being summer. With my route all planned out, I went to pick up the girls, starting with Diana, who lived the furthest away, and ending with Sarah, who also lived far away but her house was in the direction of the hot spring resort we were going to. By 6:00 am we were all set and ready to go.

“Alright, here we go!” Noelle said, giddy and excited. She was practically bouncing on her seat. “I almost couldn’t sleep last night.”

“I was out like a light,” Mila said before a big yawn. “Almost couldn’t get up. This is too early…”

Diana was beside me in the copilot seat. She looked back at the girls with a sympathetic smile. “Why don’t you take the chance to sleep some more? I’ll be sure to keep Oliver company.”

“I’ll take you up on that…” Alice said, surprisingly. She rubbed her eyes and yawned as well. “I couldn’t sleep early, either, so I started reading a book. It was a bad idea. Ate up like six long chapters before I noticed.”

“You’re not tired?” I asked Diana. “You didn’t have a night shift yesterday, did you?”

“No, I was out by five. I went to leave Red with Maria, then went back home and slept pretty well.”

“Cake was screaming at me while I got ready,” I told them. “Almost made me want to bring her with us.”

“Aww! Poor thing…” Noelle pouted.

“With the dogs running after her, she may not even have time to miss you,” Grace told me with a little chuckle.

“I hope so.”

“Alright…” Alice yawned again. “Seat belts everybody…”

“We’re in your hands, Oliver,” Sarah said, getting comfortable with a neck pillow. “Diana, make sure he doesn’t doze off.”

“Don’t worry, I’m good. We’ll make a stop at the convenience store at the gas station, so we’ll wake you up there.”

“Thanks…”

As we hit the road, the girls fell asleep before long. Even Noelle, excited as she was, ended up falling asleep against Mila’s shoulder. It was a good thing considering we’d have a long hike ahead of us as soon as we arrived.

No didn’t put on any music, of course, so that left me alone with Diana. We were silent at first, but not in an awkward way. We were past that. No, we were just naturally quiet people, so more than anything else we’d just point out interesting stuff we saw along the road to each other. The further we got from the city, the more rural it all became. Then, along a large plain beside the road…

“Ah, horses,” I said.

Diana grimaced. “They didn’t look very healthy.”

“You can tell at a glance?”

“Maybe I didn’t see them well, but they looked too skinny. Happens a lot. Taking care of horses is a lot of work, and a lot of money, too.”

“Do you wish you could have horses again?”

Diana chuckled. “Sometimes. I do love horses, but they’re not really pets. They’re working animals.”

“Mmm. And you’re way too tall to be a jockey.”

Diana giggled. “That too. And my chest would drag the poor thing down, not to mention ruin the aerodynamics.”

“True.”

We laughed, trying our best to keep it down for the sleeping beauties in the back. After that we went back to being silent, taking in the view as we drove. Until…

“Hey, Oliver? Why haven’t you told us much about your new coworker?” Diana asked casually, but the underlying question was clear.

I sighed. “It’s not like I’m hiding anything.”

“I know. Not like you can, anyway. I have the inside scoop.”

“See?”

“No, what I mean is… You feel awkward even talking about her, don’t you?”

“...” I pursed my lips and tightened my grip on the wheel ever so slightly. “A bit. I’m trying not to think about her, but…”

“But?”

“Fernanda… She’s not well, I can tell. It’s not just a matter of anxiety or being an introvert. Now I understand why her dad asked me to look after her.”

“Oliver…”

“I know,” I told her reassuringly. “Look, let me put it this way. The last thing she needs right now is a boyfriend. I just want to help her if I can, and I’m in a position to try. Is that okay?”

“...” Diana sighed through a resigned smile. “I couldn’t tell you it isn’t even if I wanted to. Not after how much I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything. And if you ever did, you already paid it back with interest.”

“I don’t agree. I still have more to pay you back for, and I’ll be sure to keep doing just that in this vacation.”

“Speaking of… Do you know what Grace and Sarah bought the other day at the mall?”

“Oh. No, actually. Do you?”

I shook my head.

Still a mystery.

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