King of Sloth

Xavier takes pleasure in cracking Sloane’s icy exterior. Watching her cool professionalism falter, he catches a glimpse of the real woman beneath the mask. The upcoming trip to Spain excites him because he believes that she will benefit from spending time away from her relentless work.

At the gala, Xavier speaks briefly with Eduardo, his father’s best friend since childhood and the interim CEO of the Castillo Group. Eduardo urges Xavier to visit his father’s house because the man’s health is rapidly declining, but Xavier resists. Meanwhile, Xavier notices Sloane’s restlessness. She keeps checking her watch and eventually admits that she has plans to meet someone and must leave early. When she refuses to elaborate, Xavier assumes that it is a date. She makes him promise to behave in her absence. Not long after she leaves, he abandons the gala and heads to a club called Neon.

Sloane rushes to the luxurious hotel suite of her father and stepmother, George and Caroline Kensington. Though Sloane had a disastrous falling out with her family a while back, she secretly visits the one person who still feels like family: her half-sister, Penelope (“Pen”). Ushered in by the nanny, Rhea, Sloane eagerly spends precious time with Pen, who has chronic fatigue syndrome after a lengthy bout of mono. The condition gives her extreme fatigue, sleep issues, and joint and muscle pain, but there is no cure or approved treatment. Her parents have spent exorbitant amounts of money in an attempt to cure her condition, but when nothing worked, they eventually sequestered her at home.

Sloane brings Pen a limited-edition American Sports Doll for her birthday. Together, they watch a soccer game before Pen’s exhaustion takes over, cutting their visit short. When George and Caroline unexpectedly return early from dinner, Sloane is forced to hide behind the living room drapes to avoid being caught. Once she is safely outside, her phone buzzes, alerting her of a new blog post from Perry Wilson’s infamous gossip column. The post criticizes Xavier for partying at Neon instead of staying at the gala to honor his ailing father.

Sloane finds Xavier and his friends at Neon and threatens not to attend the promised trip to Spain unless he leaves the club. During the car ride back, Xavier notices a new bracelet on Sloane’s wrist—a gift from Pen—and assumes that it is from her supposed date.

Rather than heading back to the hotel, Xavier orders the driver to bring them to the airport, where he has also arranged for the hotel to deliver their luggage. Sloane discovers that they are leaving for Spain immediately. At Xavier’s insistence, Sloane agrees to another condition of their deal. She can check her personal emails at any time throughout the trip, but she can only check her work emails to delegate any related tasks to her team. Sloane feels uneasy at the idea of having no buffer to shield her from letting her guard down around Xavier.

Xavier and Sloane arrive in Mallorca and settle into a large villa with separate suites. That night, Xavier dreams that his childhood dog, Hershey, falls through the slats in a bridge. Though, in reality, Hershey died of old age, Xavier knows that the dream reflects his fear of failing those he loves. His dreams’ subjects usually rotate between his dog, his mother, an old friend, or an ex-girlfriend.

In the morning, Xavier finds Sloane on the back deck, practicing yoga while answering emails. Frustrated by her inability to disconnect from external pressures, he drags Sloane out of the villa for a spa day. At the spa, he asks Sloane about the bracelet’s origins, but she avoids the question. When they attempt to leave the spa, the door gets stuck.

While Sloane panics about being trapped, Xavier calmly presses the emergency button, freeing them. They move on to their massages, but Sloane’s mind refuses to relax. She worries that things at work are falling apart without her. Her massage therapist comments on her tension, prompting Xavier to insist that Sloane distance herself further from work. When Sloane defends her dedication to her job, Xavier implies that she just likes feeling needed. Sloane doesn’t disagree because being needed makes her feel good; people cannot leave someone they need, and it’s an acceptable substitute for being loved. When Sloane asks if Xavier ever gets bored of doing nothing, he admits that he does but whimsically says that he sticks to it because he’s good at it. He reasons that it is better than trying something else and messing things up.

When they return to the villa, they find Xavier’s friends hosting a party. He admits to inviting them. To placate Sloane, Xavier promises not to throw another party for six months if she lets this one slide, and he vows that his friends will leave the villa after tonight. At the party, Sloane reconnects with Luca Russo, her friend Vivian’s brother-in-law, who is struggling with a long-distance breakup. When Luca invites Sloane to dance, Xavier grows increasingly bothered by their friendly interactions. Sloane, in turn, feels a pang of jealously when Xavier flirts with other women. Xavier interrupts Sloane’s dance with Luca, offering to teach her to dance because she is so stiff. His teasing irritates her, especially when he remarks that her emotions prove that she’s “not an ice queen after all” (54). She takes offense at this and stalks off.

Xavier spends the night restless with thoughts of Sloane, unable to figure out what he said to upset her. His jealousy over her familiarity with Luca lingers, though he refuses to acknowledge it. The next day, when Luca mentions interest in Sloane, Xavier quickly redirects him to someone else, shutting down the idea. 

Meanwhile, Sloane spends the day in the villa hate-watching rom-coms—a hobby fueled by her belief that the genre perpetuates unrealistic expectations about love. Xavier eventually interrupts her to apologize, assuming that she became upset about his comments on her dancing. Sloane lets him believe this. When she asks about Luca’s well-being, Xavier’s mood sours, and he changes the subject.

Curious about her hobby, Xavier learns about her habit of hate-reviewing rom-coms and stays to watch one with her. His snarky commentary during the movie amuses her. Later, when Sloane attempts to retire for bed at nine o’clock, Xavier pulls her into a spontaneous dance lesson instead.

Xavier tries to teach Sloane how to dance, urging her to loosen up. She fails despite her desperation to succeed. When Xavier asks what Sloane would do if she weren’t a publicist, she settles on being a surgeon—another fast-paced, high-pressure job where she would be needed. Xavier is unsurprised by her choice. Sloane then turns the question back on Xavier, but he gives a vague answer, saying that he would do whatever he’s good at. As they continue dancing, their proximity creates an unexpected moment of intimacy that almost leads to a kiss. However, both pull away, breaking the tension before it can escalate.

Over the next 36 hours, Sloane avoids Xavier, who is unable to stop thinking about her. He convinces her to join him on a yacht trip with his friends. During the trip, he presses her to talk about their near kiss. They agree to proceed as if it never happened and decide that there is no reason to keep avoiding each other.

In an attempt to bond, Xavier asks Sloane what superpower she would want. She confesses that she would like to time travel to fix past mistakes. Xavier points out that changing the past would alter her life in unpredictable ways, but when she asks if he would change anything about this own past, Xavier admits that everyone has regrets.

When Xavier turns the conversation toward family, Sloane avoids discussing hers. Xavier admits that he hasn’t spoken to his own father lately. He feels numb about his father’s impending death; their relationship has been strained since his mother’s passing. When Xavier looks at his father, he sees “disappointment, frustration, and resentment” reflected back at him (77). As they talk, Sloane receives a message on her phone that shocks her, changing her behavior and leaving her visibly off-balance.

Hours later, Sloane sits on her bed, rereading an email from her estranged father, George. Breaking years of silence, he informs her that her sister, Georgia, is pregnant. He demands that Sloane reconcile with the family by releasing “[her] childish grudge against an incident that occurred years ago” (79). Sloane is infuriated that her father is pinning the blame for the family rift on Sloane rather than on his favorite child, Georgia, who is really to blame.

Meanwhile, Xavier and his friends head to the resort’s famous nightclub. Xavier is shocked to see that when Sloane arrives, she is already drunk. She begins dancing unrestrained on a tabletop, looking more natural and carefree than ever. His shock morphs into fury when a man tries to grope her. Xavier intervenes, hoisting Sloane over his shoulder and carrying her out of the club to the quiet beach.

Furious, Sloane accuses Xavier of overstepping his bounds and insists that he stop pretending that he is her boyfriend. While Xavier wants her to loosen up, he doesn’t want their relationship to become confrontational, when their actions are coming “from a place of pain rather than freedom” (87). He knows that protecting her carefully built reputation is worth stoking her anger; he also realizes that she will regret her actions later when she is sober. During their argument, Sloane receives a call and learns that the health of Xavier’s father has worsened; he might not survive the night.

Xavier and Sloane return to the villa to pack. During the flight to Bogotá, Columbia, Sloane answers work-related and personal messages, including persistent messages from her friends Alessandra, Vivian, and Isabella, who tell her about the latest post on Perry Wilson’s gossip blog. Perry’s article covers her night out with Xavier. She shares the story with Xavier, but he is unfazed, being far more preoccupied with his father’s worsening condition.

After attempting to comfort him, Sloane learns about Xavier’s childhood and the close bond that he shared with his father before his mother’s death. Xavier shares memories of being groomed to inherit the family business, attending soccer games, and spending quality time with his family. However, the fire that claimed his mother, Patricia Castillo, changed everything. Sloane knows from the news that a fire took Patricia’s life, but the details on how the fire started have never been confirmed.

Xavier asks if Sloane misses her mother, who died in a freak horseback riding accident when Sloane was 14. She admits that she does. Her parents’ marriage had been loveless, unlike the marriage between Xavier’s parents, but Sloane believes that she and Xavier can more deeply connect over the painful loss of their mothers.

Xavier and Sloane arrive in Bogotà, where Xavier’s father resides. Entering the rebuilt family home dredges up painful memories for Xavier; this edifice stands in the same location as the original and is therefore the place where his mother died. He believes that his father rebuilt the house in the same place as a punishment for Xavier, forcing him to never forget about his role in the tragedy.

Most of the family is gathered around his father already, and when Xavier joins them, he bursts out into inappropriate laughter, drawing outrage and horror from his family members. His Tía Lupe calls him disrespectful, prompting Xavier to lash out and accuse her of only coming around whenever she wanted his father to pay her bills. The comment is hypocritical, given how much of his father’s money Xavier has spent on partying and other useless activities. Sloane deescalates the situation by pulling Xavier into a private room. She advises him on the importance of his father’s inheritance—which is worth billions of dollars—and reminds him that he is the sole heir of the Castillo Group. Sloane also warns him to stay vigilant and act wisely to protect his inheritance from opportunistic vultures.