“Who has what blessing?”
But he just shook his head.
Then he started down the hallway, waving goodbye, before remembering: “Mrs. Kim has some homemade kimchi for you! I’ll bring it up tomorrow.”
“I can come down and get it!” I offered.
But he waved the idea away, like Pshaw.
Just as he disappeared into the elevator, my phone rang.
It was his daughter.
“Hey, Sue,” I said. “Your dad was just here.”
“Don’t tell him I’m on the phone!” she said.
“He’s gone already,” I said. “Why do you sound freaky?”
Sue regrouped. “I’m calling with news.”
“Good news, I hope,” I said.
Sue didn’t comment on that. “I know I’m supposed to come over tonight—”
I checked the time. I’d completely forgotten about her. “Yes! And you’re an hour late!”
“But I have a conflict,” Sue said.
“You cannot have a conflict,” I said.
“But I do,” Sue said, in a voice that was just begging me to ask her what it was.
I sighed. “What’s the conflict?”
And so she burst out, “I’m eloping!”
“You’re…？”
“Eloping!” Sue said again—because it was so fun to say.
“Eloping?” It didn’t compute. “With Witt?”
“Guess what he got for us?”
Did she really want me to guess?
“Transcontinental railway tickets! Across Canada!”
Guess not. “What does that mean?” I asked.
“We’re traveling from one side of Canada to the other!”
“On a train?” I asked. Did they even still have those?
“Vancouver to Halifax, baby!” she said, in a voice like we were about to high-five.
But I refused to validate this madness. “I don’t understand.”
“We’re eloping. On a train. Witt bought the luxury package,” Sue said. “He used up his savings.”
“Okay, that’s a red flag, right there.”
“Hush. It’s romantic.”
“I don’t know if you know this,” I said, “but Canada is really big.”
“Yeah!” Sue said.
“So this isn’t like a weekend jaunt or anything. It’ll take at least…” I paused to calculate.
“Fourteen days,” Sue supplied.
“Fourteen days!” I repeated. Then, to confirm: “That’s two weeks!” Then, just to make it sound even more ridiculous: “That’s a fortnight!”
“It’s sixteen days with travel time.”
“What about work?” I demanded, grasping at straws. “Don’t you guys have jobs?”
“We figured it out. Don’t worry about it.”
“What about your parents? Won’t they be pissed?”
“He got their permission beforehand. Which made them love him even more.”
She sighed like the resistance in my voice was excitement. Like we were going to swoon about this together. “It’s a sleeper train,” she whispered.
Why was she whispering? “Don’t people get murdered on those?”
She paused. “Wait. Are you not excited for me?”
I backtracked. What kind of friend wasn’t excited for her best pal when she eloped with a former college track captain? “I am very excited for you,” I said, worrying again about my acting.
“That’s a relief,” Sue said.
“When do you leave?”
“That’s the thing,” Sue said then. “We’re at the airport now. So if you have an issue, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“You’re eloping—right now? As we speak?”
“It was a surprise,” Sue offered meekly.
“But—” I said. Was it unsupportive of me to point out that she was abandoning me during the one week—the only week—when I needed her the most?
“I know,” she jumped in, not making me say it. “We’re supposed to do the portrait this week.”
“I—”
“I should have called you sooner—but it was all so dramatic. He kidnapped me. Isn’t that cute?”
I drew the line at kidnapping. “Not really.”
“The point is, I had no idea.”
“Wait—” I said then. “Are you calling me from the airport in Canada?”