Premonition

JESSICA

“Come on, babe. Hurry up. You don’t want to keep them waiting.” Charles calls up to me from downstairs. He’s talking about a very nice couple from Africa that we met some days after we arrived here, and became friends with. Charles had actually been the student doctor who was assigned to the doctor who treated the wife years ago when she had cancer. Now, she’s in remission.

We have dinner planned with them this evening, as we have had for several nights, but this night, I’m not just feeling it. Unlike other nights when we had dinner at the resort, this night, we had planned to have dinner in town in town (the resort is about an hour and a half away from town), and the thought of driving all that way just doesn’t appeal to me. They’re a very interesting older couple, with whom we’ve spent hours discussing on several nights, and I always enjoy their company, but something feels very off about this night.

Still, I shrug into presentable clothes and apply a little makeup and then