Tulip Tattoos

June 1 — 8:19 PM

Maya : okay don’t kill me but hear me out. We get the tulip tattoos the first night we land.

Me: omg. like before even checking into the airbnb?

Maya : YES. full chaos mode. jetlag and ink. they’re gonna be so cute. little, but not like… timid

Me: I’m so in 🌷🌷🌷

[screenshot: Pinterest board — “TULIPS & TRIP VIBES” — shared with Maya]

June 4 – 11:30 AM

Maya: You get your passport photo yet?

Me: Not yet. How do I get one?

Maya: CVS. Wanna get lunch w me? I’ll pay

Me: Sure :)

3:03 PM

Me: I still can’t believe we’re going to Amsterdam. I can only imagine the sh*t we’d do.

Maya: I really wanna do a bike ride, but damn I never exercise lol. You might have to slow down for me

Me: A nice, slow ride next to the canals sounds perfect

Me: What else are we doing??

Maya: Hang on I’m looking

[screenshot: Google Images — “Anne Frank House”]

Me: We could never miss it. I wanna buy the book as a souvenir too.

Maya: Grandma says she wants to come. She loves to travel.

Me: Even better! Someone’s gotta look after us 😂

Maya: She already downloaded Duolingo to learn Dutch. All I hear is weird noises from her side of the couch

[photo]

Me: She’s my favorite. Note to self: download Duolingo

June 7 – 11:02 AM

[Google Calendar invite from Maya]

Day 1: tulip tattoos + relax @ airbnb

Day 2: bike rides / canal boat rides

Day 3: museums — Anne Frank House, Van Gogh

Day 4: train ride to Belgium

Day 5: PARTYYYYYY! night on the town 🥳

Me: brb dreaming of this. Ugh is it time yet??

Maya: Almost.

Maya: Stacey’s not happy we’re both going. She was brutal this morning. I don’t understand her.

Me: She’ll come around. We never take PTO. And you’re still going to that work training anyway. She needs to chill.

Maya: I get so exhausted.

Me: All the more reason for this trip. It’s happening whether she likes it or not.

Me: Wait — a train ride? That sounds amazing but… what’s all this going to cost?

Maya: I’ll look at tix tonight

Me: ok

10:45pm

[Cash App payment requested from Maya: $300]

June 9 – 10:05 AM

Me: Are you okay? Everyone’s worried — you didn’t show up to the meeting. Stacey’s furious. I don’t know what to do…

Maya: My phone stopped working, so sorry! Ugh. I had a rough night. Tell her I’m on my way — I’ll make it up to her

Me: It might be better coming from you at this point

Maya: What’s wrong? I’m already having a bad day

Me: I don’t know… you’ve been distant.

I haven’t heard anything about the tickets since we talked, but you requested money on Cashapp.

$300 is way more than a train ticket, Maya.

Maya: I tried to message you the cost breakdown and that’s when my phone got all messed up. I’m sorry :(

Me: Okay… so what’s the money for?

Maya: It’s for the train tickets and museum admissions. Unless you want to do something else?

[voice note from Maya]

"Hey. Figured it was better to send a voice note. I’m sorry — I can see how the money request felt weird without context.

I never would’ve sent it if I’d known my phone was going to malfunction.I think I’m just overwhelmed with everything.

Between planning and getting Grandma ready to leave the country — not to mention pressure from Stacey and the workload — I’m barely hanging on. You’ve been the only thing keeping me going. Forgive me?"

Me: We’ll talk more about it later. Just send me the receipts so I can keep track of my budget. Won’t be able to pay ’til Thursday though. Lunch?

Maya: I’ll get them so they don’t sell out. Just pay me Thurs. Yes lunch! Pizza or Chinese?

June 16 – 6:17 PM

Maya: Wanna come over? Grandma has a surprise for you and she’s driving me crazy about it. I’ll make us tacos.

Me: Perfect — I’m starving. Oh lord, what’s she up to now??

10:41 PM

Me: Thanks for the food! Grandma outdid herself — I adore her.

Maya: She feels the same way about you 🥹

Maya: Did you actually like the anti-theft bag or were you just being nice?

Me: I’ll wear it every day on the trip — for her. But I might have to take it off for pics lol

Maya: That’s what I thought. Her heart’s in the right place 😂

Me: I feel lucky to have both of you in my life.

Maya: I don’t know what either of us would do without you.

June 18 – 4:02 PM

Me: Long day… wanna binge-watch travel vlogs and order in?

Maya: I can’t.

Me: Oh. Is everything okay?

Maya: Yeah, I’m just going through a lot right now.

Me: I can come to you if you want

Maya: No, that’s ok. Grandma’s taking a nap.

Me: I’m here when you need me.

Me: Hey, you ready to talk? I’m bored and can’t get much done online anyway. Internet’s out.

Maya: Yeah… I needed a minute to reset. Grandma had a meltdown over the medications she’s bringing and it made me question bringing her at all.It threw me for a loop — I didn’t know what to do.

Me: Whoa. That’s not like her. Sorry you’re dealing with that. What do you think it is?

Maya: idk, maybe just nerves about being that far away.

She’s also made comments about this being the last trip she’ll ever take. I broke down when she said that.

Me: Oh no. That’s so sad. It probably is just pre-travel jitters — at her age, there’s a lot to be concerned about.

Maya: I’ve been trying to cheer her up… that’s kinda why I haven’t texted as much.

Me: I understand. You’ve gotta make her a priority.

June 19th 11:30am

[Facebook notification: “Doris Hammond commented on Maya’s post.”]

Maya’s Post:

“Packing chaos but it’ll all be worth it 🇳🇱🧳✨ #AlmostTime”

Grandma’s Comment:

“Have you told your friend yet that the trip’s off? I hate secrets! 😬💞”

[Seen by: Me]

11:33 AM

Me: Maya.

Me: What is your grandma talking about?

Me: “Have you told your friend yet that the trip’s off?”

Me: What trip?? Please tell me this is a misunderstanding.

No reply

Me: Maya. I need you to answer me. Right now.

[Incoming call from Maya]

Maya (voice shaky): “Hey.”

Me: “What is going on?”

Maya: “I was scared to tell you. Grandma had a health scare on top of everything else, so I decided not to go.”

Me: “Is she okay?”

Maya: “Right now, yeah. But traveling would be a different story. I want to go with you so badly, but if anything were to happen…”

Me: “I see. When did you cancel it? She obviously knew.

Maya: “Don’t do that. Especially now.”

Me: “You know I love your grandma more than anything. It hurts me to know she isn't able to go and is going through alot right now. It doesn't change the fact that I'm concerned with whether you knowingly withheld this. Because if you knew ahead of time and waited until two days before leaving the country to drop this… that’s a huge problem for me.”

Maya: “I know how excited you were and—”

Me: “So answer the question.”

Maya (voice tight): “I can’t do this right now.”

Me: “You owe me an explanation.”

Maya: “I didn’t think it would get this far. I didn’t think you’d take it so personally.”

Me: “You planned a trip with me. You asked for money. You made me believe we were doing this together.”

Maya: “It’s three hundred dollars.”

Me: “That’s not the point.”

Call ended

June 22 – 12:28 PM

[Facebook DM to Grandma Doris]

Me: Hi Mrs. Hammond. Sorry to message you out of nowhere, but I just wanted to ask — is everything okay with your health? Maya said there was a scare. Just been worried.

1:01 PM –

Grandma Doris: I’m perfectly fine, sweetheart. No scares here. In fact, I just got my annual bloodwork back and everything looks better than last year. You’re so thoughtful to ask.”

Me: Thank you for letting me know. That means a lot.

2:15 PM

Me (to Maya): Your grandma is fine. She told me herself.

Me: You lied.

Me: You had no intention of going, did you?

No reply

Me: Are you going to refund me?

“Seen”

No reply