Page 27 of Dan.
“Poor baby Andries,” I coo, poking him on the top of his head, mirth bubbling up in me. “Did you have a little too much to drink last night? Are you a lightweight now, brother?”
“Fuck you, Elise,” I hear coming from his folded arms, his voice muffled.
“He really is exhausted,” Roxanne tells me gently, stroking her fiancé's back. Soon enough I think I hear snores coming from his direction. “I wouldn’t have brought him out here except I knew if I didn’t get him moving he’d just sleep the day away and then be pissed that he wasted a day of vacation.”
I shake my head, chewing on a piece of croissant while I observe my brother. As introverted and private as he is, seeing him like this around all his friends is really out of character. Even when he had a drinking problem before, he’d spend his time drinking all on his own. This tells me that Andries didn’t intend to get so inebriated last night, and if I wasn’t already mad at him for how he has been treating Dan and me, I might even have some sympathy for him.
“Is he sleeping!?” Dan yells from the water, his tone filled with amusement. “That’s bullshit! This is his bachelor trip. Wake him up!”
“As if I care that he’s asleep,” I scoff. “He’s the most tolerable like this. It’s much worse when he can talk.”
I watch, holding my espresso cup in front of my lips to hide my smile, as Johan and Dan talk quietly among themselves in the water, the volleyball game all but forgotten. There’s an empty juice glass sitting on the edge of the pool that Robin has just finished, and when I see Johan grab it and fill it with pool water, I already know what is about to happen.
I slide a glance over to Roxanne. “You might want to move.”
“What?” She leans to the side to see past me, and her eyes go wide. “Oh, no. No no. Do not do that!” She admonishes the two other men, but they aren’t listening to her at all. In seconds, Dan and Johan have poured water down on my sleeping brother, who shoots up, sputtering and wiping pool water from his eyes. He’s vibrating with anger, cursing them up and down while he tries to peel his wet shirt off over his head.
To add insult to injury, Dan calls out, “It’s a wet t-shirt contest!” and everyone but myself and Roxanne join him in whistling and cat-calling Andries as he gets his shirt off.
“Take it all off!” Johan laughs, and Andries launches the wet shirt at him, stomping towards the door leading inside. Roxanne rockets to her feet, pointing a finger at her husband to be with her other hand planted on her hip.
“Absolutely not, Andries. Do not take your soaking-wet self to our suite and get everything damp.” Her voice is stern, and to my surprise, Andries obeys, muttering in annoyance as he chooses a random lounge chair and throws himself down on it, rolling onto his stomach and hiding his face in his arms. Within seconds, he’s asleep again, much to everyone’s amusement.
With a frustrated sigh, Roxanne sits back down, pouring a cup of coffee out of the carafe that Andries will obviously not be using now. Something about her manner makes me smile fondly, and with a start, I realize that I’m not just tolerating Roxie anymore. Ilikeher, and because of that, and the way she both bosses my brother around and loves him at the same time, I’m also starting to warm up to the idea of them getting married. Not just because it will make Andries happy, which is what I’ve been telling myself for weeks now, but because I think they’re good for each other. I genuinely wouldn’t mind having Roxie as my sister-in-law. If I can feel this way, even though there is so much of me that is more like my father than my mother, I just know Mom will be able to see the idea of the wedding from the same point of view I am now. She just needs to be exposed to the idea more. Putting my chin in my hand and glancing over at my passed-out brother, I wonder how much pain he’s hiding from the rejection of our parents, and how all of this will play out once we get home and it becomes clear that he and Roxanne aren’t splitting up.
As I ruminate on all of this, the other four resume their volleyball game, leaving me and Roxanne at the breakfast table. She nibbles on a piece of buttered sourdough bread, slathering it in grape jam between sips of strong black coffee.
“At least he made it through the night,” I joke, jerking my chin towards Andries.
“Don’t repeat this, but there were moments where I was hoping he wouldn’t,” she laughs. “What an absolute monster he was to deal with! At least we finally got him to sleep.”
“Was he in good spirits all night at least?”
She nods. “For the most part, when he wasn’t whining about how bad he felt. Other times he was trying desperately to hit on me even though he couldn’t even keep his eyes open.” She snorts, thinking about it all, and shakes her head in disbelief. “I am never letting him live this down, I’ll tell you that right now.”
“So he wasn’t angry or upset about anything?” I prod at her gently, wanting to gauge if Roxanne has come clean about the cabaret. I don’t think she would do so when he was intoxicated, but there’s the chance she told him before breakfast.
Roxie’s amusement fades from her face, and her expression turns stony. “No, Elise, he wasn’t mad about anything. I know what you’re getting at, so drop it. Now.”
Exasperated, I still try to push. “He might not know yet, but when he sobers up and gets his phone, there’s no way he won’t find out. Don’t you want to get ahead of the story?”
“Look,” Roxanne exhales, shoulders falling. “I talked to my manager this morning, and the investigators that law enforcement sent found traces of cocaine in the backstage area. Now they might just close the entire cabaret down, all because a dancer might do a line before performing. It’s ridiculous, and it also means that I’m dealing with way too much right now to spend any extra energy talking to Andries about it. So please, can we change the subject?”
My mouth has been hanging open since she first said the word cocaine, and it takes me a moment to find my words. “Cocaine? How can that be?” My mouth is running faster than my brain, and my next words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. “Do you have a bunch of junkies working there?”
Roxanne’s expression turns thunderous. “How dare you? They aren’t junkies, El. A few of them just do the occasional line before going onstage for a show. If you had ever worked in the industry, you would know that it’s a pretty standard thing to do, so get off your high horse.”
“How am I on a high horse for being shocked that you have employees doing illicit drugs backstage while other workers suck off customers?” I ask her, keeping my tone as low as I can so that no one else can hear us. “It sounds like way more trouble than it’s worth. Maybe you should just let the place close down and wash your hands of it.”
She barks a sarcastic laugh. “Get real, El. This is how the world operates. Get high up enough at your dad’s company and you’ll see way more than a few lines of coke, I can guarantee that.”
I can feel the blood rushing to my head at her words, and I slap my hands down on the table in front of me. “Don’t you dare talk as if you know how our family business works, Roxanne. We aren’t some sleazy cabaret, so no, I’m not worried about any of us doing lines of coke before a business meeting!” My voice is becoming shrill, and I struggle to keep it down. “Why are you so defensive about this, anyway? Haveyoudone cocaine before a job?”
Roxie’s cheeks turn pink, and she avoids my eyes. “Worry about yourself. There’s plenty there to keep you occupied.”
Her immediate avoidance makes my head spin. Here I had just been having such warm thoughts about this woman, and now she’s all but admitting that she’s done cocaine before!
“Holy shit,” I breathe, unable to look elsewhere but at her. “You have, haven't you?” Repulsed, I reel back in my seat.