“I’d like a mimosa, please,” Amelia said.

“Drinking two days in a row?” Julian asked.

“Care to join me?” she asked. It was weird sitting with him now. He was her companion for no reason. It was different when she thought it was suggested by Pam. She could think he was a nice guy indulging her sister and feeling bad about Michael’s actions. Now, he was a weirdo who came up with the idea on his own, and hid it from her until the last minute.

She was on a honeymoon trip with her ex-fiance’s brother. The trashy soap opera wrote itself.

“Why?” she asked after downing her first drink. “There’s so many ways you can make up for what Michael did, if you feel responsible. Why decide on coming with me? You know there were other people I would rather go on this trip with. You know this is to some degree, going to be awkward.”

“I felt bad,” Julian said. “You were stood-up at the wedding. I didn’t want you having to do the honeymoon alone. That just seemed too much for one person to deal with in two days.”

“Fine.”

It was understandable. He pitied her. It was exactly the thing she was hoping to avoid.

“I know what it’s like, to feel that way,” Julian said. “I’ve gone through something similar. It’s not at the same scale as you, but I went through it more times. I know what it’s like to think another person cares about you as much as you care about them, and find out they don’t.”

She wanted to ask who it was, but it didn’t seem the time to pry.

“I wanted to show you that someone will show up for you when you need them,” Julian continued. “Even though I’m not the person you want or need, I’m something.”

Julian reclined his seat while Amelia took the time to look out the window. As they agreed, Amelia had the window seat. She watched as the flight arched over the Atlantic and reached enough altitude to rise above the clouds. When there was nothing more to see, she turned around. Julian was sleeping. She wished she could fall asleep as well. The other night, she’d been aided by alcohol and exhaustion. She was well-rested now, and the mimosas were watered down.

Instead, she chose to open her laptop. She was slowly catching up to work, but what was more concerning was the email at the top of her inbox. It was a message from Michael.

It was strange that it was an email, not even a text or a voicemail.

Dear Julia,

I’m just messaging you to make sure you’re doing alright. I’m sorry for how it ended between us, but I hope this won’t get in the way of work. I know you’re a professional and can separate our personal life from this. I’ll reach out to you in a few weeks, after our families have come to terms with this.

Michael.

If she wasn’t on a plane, with sleeping people all around her, she would’ve thrown her laptop. The audacity of the piece of garbage. And she had considered marrying him. He just wanted to reduce how much trouble he would be in with his parents when he eventually came back. If Amelia played nice, Michael’s father might not fire him from their company. His concern and politeness was just a mask for self-preservation.

Julian turned around in his sleep to face her. The two brothers were so different. Amelia had moved to her father’s company after working independently for years. Michael had no other career outside of the family company. He had little ambition and no dreams.

Each compromise had felt like just one thing, but altogether she had given up so much in her desire to please her parents and get married. Maybe it was because most of her friends were married, some having kids. It felt like she was falling behind in some way, and she hadn’t liked the feeling. There was no one in her life, and so she’d accepted the arranged marriage, and it was an arranged marriage at the end of the day, treating it like it was a project she could work on and make profitable.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Julian mumbled in his sleep. He probably got less rest than he did. His family, to the best of her knowledge, didn’t know where Michael was. Their side of the family would have been asking the same kind of questions as hers. Amelia’s entire family would work together to get over the crisis, but with the Holloways, Michael was gone, Mr. Holloway was in denial, and Mrs. Holloway was too weepy to be of much help. So it was Julian who’d dealt with the immediate fallout, found time to take care of her, and was now dropping everything because he didn’t want her to be alone.

She didn’t even know what he did for work, what city he lived in, or why he was so distant from the rest of his family. Maybe it was better that he was so distant. He didn’t really remind her of the rest of the Holloways, especially Michael.

When the air hostesses came out with their meals, she woke him up.

“Sorry, I’ve been up all night. We had a lot of things to cancel on our end too. My relatives all had a lot of questions. Some were planning on staying for a few days after the wedding, and we had to book them new flights. I helped Rachel a bit with some stuff, too. She called while you were asleep yesterday, and I gave her my number.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“There wasn’t much left to do. Rachel took care of most of it. She said everything was wrapped up, and she managed to get partial refunds for a few things. She said she’ll give you the check once you’re back from Santorini.”

“She knew I was gonna go?”

“Everyone did. You’re very utilitarian, Amelia. Everyone who meets you sees it.”

Amelia nodded. Some people might have retreated to their homes after a failed wedding. They might hole themselves up in a comfortable place and let their wounds heal with time. It was probably a better coping mechanism than hers. She was going to be thousands of miles and several time zones away from the people who cared most about her in the world.

And she was being selfish, to a certain extent. Pam needed her at the moment. She had Adam, and their parents, but Amelia was her best friend. Amelia was her usual confidante when it came to all the things she couldn’t tell Adam. She was just out of the hospital, and probably had a hundred worries she was hiding from Adam. A hundred worries she was hiding from Amelia too.

“I’m glad you’re not married to Michael,” Julian said. “You would have been miserable with him.”

She knew that too. Amelia liked challenging projects, and that’s what she thought Michael was. He wasn’t a challenge though, he was a lost cause. Like an idiot, she’d fallen into the sunk cost fallacy the further they went.

“It’s a good thing in the long run,” she said. “But it’s a real bitch right now.”

“Did you love him?” Julian asked.

“I liked him,” she answered. “I’m seeing all the worst things about him now, since it’s easier to. But he was nice, he was respectful, he trusted my judgment. As far as people go, he wasn’t the worst. You know this whole marriage was just convenient. Our companies wanted to work together, our parents liked each other, we both were a good match on paper. My mom didn’t say it outright, but she was starting to send me messages about good egg freezing clinics she knew.”

“That’s supportive, at least.”

Amelia raised her eyebrows at him. “It was passive aggressive. She’d say things about how by the time she was my age, she had two kids in elementary school. That I must look so young because I didn’t have kids.”

“I didn’t know you were so negative.”

“It was part of the reason why I was okay with all of this. The rush for the marriage. For some reason, no one told me I was being an idiot. Maybe because this kind of thing works sometimes, for some people. All my friends thought I was doing things in this picture-perfect way. Maybe they thought it was love at first sight or some other bullshit. Michael was handsome, his family was nice, all of the wedding plans went off without a hitch. I was able to get a venue some people only dreamed of.”

Amelia paused before continuing. “It all seemed too good to be true. It never really was that great, though. I was having this great wedding, and I wasn’t thinking about Michael at all. He was just ‘generic husband’, in my head.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Julian said. “You thought he was just as invested in this as you were.”

“I miscalculated though. I should’ve seen that he had one foot out the door from the beginning.”

“No. Michael miscalculated. He had a good life ready for him, with a good partner. He threw it all away, because he thinks he’ll be happier with Kate.”

“He might be happier with her,” Amelia commented.

“I’ve seen this game play out a dozen times. Michael never wins.”

Julian settled back into his seat and faced ahead. “Michael’s always had life set on easy mode. It’s not his fault either. He was the baby, and my parents babied him. They got him everything he ever wanted, and he sometimes thinks the world will treat him the same way. He probably thinks that if he comes back and acts sorry enough, he’ll still have a chance with you. Because mistakes happen, but where will you find another guy like him? He’s not a bad person, but he might as well be.”

Amelia wondered what would really happen if Michael came back expecting a second chance. Her father had a hobby of climbing, and there was an ice axe in the garage. Her mother was no doubt already maligning his reputation to the entirety of Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs. If he came back expecting anything, he was an idiot.

“Now, try to go to sleep. We should be well-rested before we land in Athens.”