ISOLATED

c h a p t e r 3 6

Chapter 36

Dinners continued on the yacht, but love life hasn't been a topic. Obviously, the guys have been mentioned in conversation, but never in depth. Genesis couldn't help but feel guilty for all of that but every time she says something, Hannah's immediately moving the conversation from the guys to anything else.

"So I'm taking Gael to Hawaii," Genesis explains, "At his dad's cost." Hannah's eyes widen and her face transforms into a smile. "His dad tricked us and got some type of weekend getaway with Gael and I bought it," Genesis says, her eyes beaming with pride.

"For how much?" Natalia asks. "Half a million," Genesis admits, immediately breaking eye contact in embarrassment. "Genesis!" Natalia calls out between laughs. Genesis laughs and she shakes her head. "I had to get my man!" She jokes and she shakes her head.

"I talked to Jackson," Natalia suddenly changes the topic. The words my man seemed to have triggered something inside her that she wants to talk about it with the girls. "You girls are my friends and I can't ignore this, I need to get it off my chest and talk about it," she says, reading the look on Hannah's face.

Hannah's not someone to ignore personal issues, she always wants people to talk about everything. But if it starts issues, then she's out. Genesis is planning a whole different approach, if Natalia wants to talk about it, she should and Genesis shouldn't judge her for whatever decision she makes.

"We decided to stay together, but I did set boundaries," she continues, "I guess this was kind of a wake-up call for better communication." Genesis pushes her lips together, after a relationship of 5 years she's unsure of how communication can still be fucked up.

"That's good," Genesis says, smiling warmly. Natalia seems to get on really well with Ginny's reaction to her statement. "I agree," Hannah says, "I'm glad this is working out in your favor." Natalia smiles wide and she leans back in her seat. "Genesis, you're changing the dynamic of everyone here," she says, looking directly at Ginny.

"Hey!" Hannah calls out, offended that she wasn't mentioned. "It's true! This chick comes and changes everything within a few months," Natalia defends her statement.

Hannah laughs.

Genesis looks around the group and suddenly she realizes that they're finally back to their old dynamic again. Yet now they feel closer than before and Genesis is realizing that she's finally part of the group.

"So you were talking about Hawaii," Hannah changes the subject again, "What were you thinking?"

"Officially we got a weekend, but nobody's saying how long that weekend's supposed to be," Genesis explains, "So we're leaving Thursday night, come back on Monday night."

"Where?" Natalia asks. "I saw this hotel," Genesis answers and she grabs her phone, searching for the reservation. When she finds it, she slides her phone screen up to the girls. They scan the photos, taking in every single detail and making sure that it's up to Gael's standards.

But no matter how hard they search, they can't find anything worth complaining about. "It looks amazing," Natalia says. Hannah's been Gael's friend for the longest, and she gives Genesis an approving smile while giving the girl her phone back. "It does?" Genesis asks, taking a deep breath.

"He's going to love it after the trips Gael has taken with you," Hannah jokes. Genesis gasps, her eyes big as she slams her hands on the table. "What the hell does that mean?" She asks. Hannah chuckles and sips her cocktail, her eyes glued on Ginny. "You know what I mean," she finally answers Genesis.

Ginny obviously knows what she means, the previous trips were filled with Gael looking the other way because they weren't up to Gael's standards. There wasn't a car in Bermuda, the boat with captain and dog wasn't a fancy yacht, and the rain – it wasn't a fancy guy rich trip like Gael's used to.