Nathalie’s phone vibrated in her pocket for the third time in less than fifteen minutes. She took off her sunglasses and sighed. She was not checking her phone on purpose, but it was getting increasingly harder to ignore it.

She was sitting on the outdoor patio of a restaurant in the tourist area of Barcelona. Her boss, Elise, had gone to the bathroom. Nathalie was enjoying a few minutes to herself before they ordered lunch.

The morning had been insanely busy. Yesterday had been even worse. This lunch was the first time they had more than thirty minutes between meetings since they had arrived in Barcelona.

There was only one meeting scheduled this afternoon. Elise had promised her they could spend some time relaxing and see the city afterwards. Tomorrow, they’d spend the day at the company’s Barcelona office until it was time to fly back.

Nathalie’s phone vibrated again. She pulled it out of her pocket reluctantly. Raising a hand to block the sun, she squinted at the screen.

“Huh,” she mumbled when she saw that Kim had called her three times. There was also a new voicemail message from her best friend.

She tapped to listen to the message, frowning. Nathalie hoped Kim was okay. It was unlike her to call three times when she knew that Nathalie was busy.

“Hey, bestie,” Kim’s voice sounded through the speaker pressed against Nathalie’s ear. Nathalie immediately knew something was off. She could tell from Kim’s voice.

“Look, I need to tell you something and I hope you won’t be angry with me. I didn’t tell you before because I thought you’d freak out. I know this is bad timing with you being in Barcelona, but….”

“I wouldn’t recommend going to the bathroom any time soon,” Elise said, plopping down in her chair.

Nathalie quickly lowered her phone. “Sorry?”

Elise wrinkled her nose. “There’s a long line. A group walked in and it seems they all need to use the restroom!”

“Oh,” Nathalie said and forced a smile. “I’m in no hurry.”

“Did you check the menu?” Elise asked, pointing at the papers on the table.

“No,” Nathalie said and ended the call to voicemail.