Call Me Vi | ONC 2024

Chapter 6 | Edited

"Doing well," I replied. "I'm glad to be back this year."

"We've definitely missed you. You look well."

"Probably this vacation." I laughed. "Seems to look good on me, don't you think?"

"Absolutely." He turned his attention back to the drink table. "What can I get for you tonight?"

"Mango schnapps," I replied, eyeing the colorful array of liquid and jello-filled shot glasses that lined the table. "Two of them.

"Comin' right up!" He grabbed two of the shot glasses that were tinted an orange-y color with a gummy lifesaver on top that had been artfully shaped into a pair of lips. "Whoever you're with tonight, they must be pretty special." He jutted his head toward Violetta.

I turned around, catching her eye. There was no way he didn't know who she was.

Violetta gave me a small wave before ducking her head again. "She's just a friend," I supplied. "It probably wouldn't work out anyway."

"You never know until you ask." He raised his own shot glass in my direction. "Cheers. I'll see you on the dance floor later. Our tradition, right?"

I laughed, remembering the promise I made to him every year. "See you out there." With my alcohol in tow, I walked back to Violetta.

"You looked pretty cozy over there," she commented, studying her nails. "Who was that?"

"Just an old friend." I sat down next to her and handed off one of the jello shots. "Ready?"

She nodded. We tapped our plastic shot glasses against the log before lifting them up. My tongue swirled around the mango and peach flavored jello, scooping it up and savoring the taste of the liquor. The immediate buzz sent a sharp shiver down my spine.

"Mm, now that's some good shit." Violetta leaned back, tilting her head toward the sky. It was still early, but the sun started to set over the mountains in the distance. It produced an orange halo that made the peaks glow as the sky turned from Carolina blue to sunset red to indigo speckled with starlight.

The music thumped around us, keeping in time with my heartbeat. I watched Violetta sway to the music, her eyes closed and her lips mouthing the words to the random pop songs that played from the DJ.

"Her name was Marianne," I blurted. "My ex, the reason I don't...the reason I haven't come out here in two years."

Violetta sat up on the log.

I stared down at my hands. "This is the first vacation I've taken in forever. I don't talk with a lot of people outside of work. Who you saw me talking to over there, his name is Conrad. He's her older brother. The three of us grew up together in a small town not too far from here. I haven't talked to his family in two years."

"Wow. I-I had no idea," she said.

"It wasn't relevant before." I tucked some loose hair from my ponytail behind my ears.

"Jess," she told me. "But you probably already knew that." She laughed. "Everyone knew that. His real name was Jessup Collins, but to me he was just Jess. My Jess."

"It hasn't been that long, right?" I asked. "The breakup?"

Violetta shook her head. "'Long' is a relative term in the celebrity world. We've been over for a while, but I've tried to keep the break-up out of the spotlight for as long as I could. But the minute Jess made his new relationship official, everything went public."

I shuddered. "And that article painted you as the bad guy."

"I do admit, I have regrets," she said. "Still, sometimes I wish for less fame and less attention. Like, you just seem to get along with everyone so well and I'm just...me. I'm not what people expect."