The following morning, I wake up when the sun kisses my eyelids slightly. I feel the bed next to me. Logan is gone. He said that he was leaving to go golfing with Liam this morning. I look at the time. It’s after ten. I really slept late. I can’t remember the last time I slept in this long! I wrap myself in a bathrobe and make my way to the patio. The smell of the ocean calls to me. After doing a few sun salutations and one very stiff downward facing dog, I go back inside and change into a bathing suit.

I practically run into the water. Unlike the Pacific Ocean, which can be bone chilling even in August, the water temperature here is much more to my liking. It’s lukewarm, and I don’t shiver once getting in.

“Oh my God, this is amazing,” I exhale jumping into the waves. I dive under the water. When I open my eyes, I see a school of colorful yellow and black striped fish swarm around me. They nip at my hair and give me little kisses on my hands. I dive down over and over and let the movement of the ocean rock me into a state of utter relaxation. About an hour later, I finally get out of the water, reluctantly, and head back to our room.

“Hey!”

“Oh my God!” I jump back a few feet, clenching my chest. “You scared me!”

“I’m sorry,” Kora says, sitting down on the bed. The room is perfectly put together again. The bed is made. The fruit bowl is refilled. Pillows are plumped. How the maid managed to get it all done so quickly, I have no idea.

I don’t have a towel, and I’m dripping water all over the place. I head to the bathroom and wrap myself in a towel.

“What’s up?” I ask, coming back out, It’s only now that I notice that Kora’s already wearing her wedding dress.

“Oh wow, is this your dress?” I ask the stupidest question on earth. No, she just walks around in beaded white dresses for the hell of it.

“Yes,” she nods. Kora’s dress is formfitting, strapless and with a long, delicate train. I’m sure it looks gorgeous spread out, but pooled at the bottom of the bed, it looks like she’s drowning in a cupcake.

“I love the lace,” I kneel down before her and examine the intricate work.

“It’s all hand sewn,” she says. I expect her to stand up for me and model a little, but she doesn’t move.

“I don’t want to get it all wet,” I say, standing up and moving away.

“It’s okay. I’m not even sure if this wedding is happening.”

“What?” I drop my towel. Kora doesn’t even notice. I pick up my towel, secure it around myself again and sit down on the bed next to her.

“What are you talking about?” I ask, putting my hand around her shoulder.

“I’m just not sure about this whole wedding. Liam and I have been together for so long. What if it’s the wrong thing to do?”

“How could it be?”

She looks at me. Her makeup is a total mess. One of her fake eyelashes is falling off. Both eyes are blackened all around from the smeared tears. In movies, the brides always cry in a delicate, non-eye makeup smearing sort of way, but this is real life, and it’s not a pretty sight.

“I was just thinking about this all night,” she says in between sobs. “I’m pretty much pushing him into this. And after seven years, maybe it’s the wrong thing to do. Maybe he’ll regret it in a few years and then what? I’ll be even more heartbroken.”

“So, this isn’t about you having second thoughts?” I ask.

“No, not entirely. Well, yes, perhaps,” Kora says, wiping her eyes. The back of her hand is dirty and she looks for a place to wipe it off. I guide her away from the lace on her dress and onto my towel.

“How do I know that I actually love him? I don’t feel butterflies anymore. What if I’m not in love with him anymore? What if I’m marrying someone who’s a stranger?”

“Well, the one thing you know for sure,” I say squeezing her hand. “Is that you’re not marrying a stranger. You and Liam have been together for a long time. You know him. And you know that he loves you.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’ve never seen anyone look at a woman like he looks at you. He oozes love for you.”

“Really?” Kora’s eyes light up.

“Yes,” I nod. “And those butterflies. You’ll feel those again when you walk down the aisle.”

“And what if I don’t?”

“If you don’t, then you can just write them off to something you feel when you don’t really know someone. Relationships are different in the beginning than they are later on. But what you two have is so much more solid and strong. Butterflies come and go.”

“But what if I never feel them again?” she asks.

What the fuck is with these butterflies? I say to myself. But I can’t just leave her hanging. I have to convince her, not remind her, of who they are as a couple and how much love they have.

“You will feel them again when you two do something that you’ve never done before,” I finally say.

“Like what?”

“Like when you buy your first house together. Like when you find out that you’re pregnant. Like when you decorate your nursery. Would you like to do those things with Liam?”

“More than anything,” she says through the sobs.

“See. That’s my point exactly! Butterflies are just things that happen when something is new. In the beginning, it’s the relationship itself. Everything about it is new. Everything you do with that person is magical, because you haven’t done it with anyone else. And later on, you’ll get those same butterflies when you do new things together. Experience something exciting.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Kora mumbles, wiping her tears.

“Maybe? Maybe? No, I am right,” I say confidently. She cracks a smile.

“I think I should head back. The makeup people have their work cut out for them.”

I nod. She doesn’t even know the half of it. I give Kora a warm hug and watch her walk away.