Chapter 64

• There were already two other couples on board who would be making the trip with us. One couple was a close friend of Ryan’s mother and her husband. The other couple included a younger girl, nearer my age. Her name was Nicole. We hit it off right away. She, like me, seemed awestruck at all the trappings of wealth. She was with a somewhat older guy, whom she just referred to as "just a friend."
• Nicole and I would lay out for hours on the deck laughing and sharing stories, mostly of the "if our friends could only see us now" type. She and I would talk about our future aspirations and goals. That was kind of silly, seeing that we were lying on a yacht headed for Italy, so "Like, how do you really top this?"
• During the trip over, I was constantly dragging Ryan away from his phone. I was becoming seriously agitated at his inability to leave work behind. He took calls constantly and had reports faxed to him. I was becoming livid.