Summer Loving

by Lise Gold et al.

  With heels on and a quick final check in the mirror, Freya announced, “Right, let’s get going.”

  The pub was heaving already when they got there. Freya nabbed a spot near the back, while Alex pushed her way to the bar and ordered up two pints. By the time she elbowed her way back, trying desperately not to spill it, she noticed a tall man with long black hair and a leather jacket leaning in and talking to Freya. Her friend laughed at something he said and then her palm landed on his jacket, where it stayed.

  Something about the scene hit Alex hard. She felt jealous.

  As she neared, Freya looked away from him and looked right at Alex. Her face lit up again and she smiled. “Alex, Alex.” She beckoned. “This is Chris,” she called out over the noise. Chris turned to Alex too. He was good-looking, if you liked that sort of thing, she supposed. Bit of a scruff, but handsome in a rugged sort of way.

  “Alright,” he said, lifting a hand in an attempt at a wave.

  “Hi.” Alex half-smiled and then, turning to Freya, she said, “I got a pint, save us trying to get another one later.”

  Freya took the drink and took a gulp. “Lovely,” she said, smacking her lips. “So, Chris is in the band. He plays bass.” She continued on and Alex half-listened, half-watched as Chris became all Freya could look at. “They’re really good.”

  She was pretty sure that there was a whole lot more Freya had said before that, but she had zoned out, wondering to herself what it might be like to kiss Freya.

  “Yeah, so Freya was telling us like, you need a band for the summer,” Chris said, his attention now firmly on Alex, only it wasn’t the same doe-eyed look of awe that he had when looking at Freya.

  “Yes. I do. You need to be versatile, you know? Able to play a bit of everything.”

  Chris nodded and grinned. Alex was reminded again why Freya would be interested in a man like him. “We can.” He looked up at someone waving at him. “That’s Matt, I better go. We’re on in five and I need to finish the sound check,” he said to Alex, but then he turned back to Freya. “Catch up with you later, if you fancy it?”

  Freya was non-committal, but she smiled anyway and watched appreciatively as he walked away.

  “You two seem cosy,” Alex couldn’t help but point out. She kicked herself instantly. Why was she bothered anyway?

  “He’s alright. We hook up now and then when neither of us are seeing someone.”

  “Oh, right,” Alex said too quickly, taken aback at the honesty of the answer.

  Freya’s eyes narrowed, “What’s up?”

  “Nothing, I…” What did she think? It wasn’t her business anyway. It also wasn’t something she had done, or would do either, was it? “So you like him then?”

  Freya shrugged. “In a dry patch he is a welcome relief.” She laughed at the look on Alex’s face. “It’s a mutual transaction.”

  “A transaction? That makes it sound like…”

  Freya’s raised eyebrow made it very clear that Alex needed to be careful with her words. “Don’t Judge me Alex, I get enough of that shit from people around here.”

  “No, no, I’m not, it’s just…” She took a large mouthful of lager and swallowed it down. “I just…It’s not…” She felt a little foolish. “I’ve never…you’re very liberated and that’s great, but it’s also a little terrifying to someone like me,” she admitted.

  “Why?”

  Alex shrugged, but before she could answer the band started up and the noise level amplified. She turned around to face the stage and enjoy the entertainment.

  Chapter 7

  The band were good. Alex offered them the job straight after the gig, and they accepted. So was Chris’s invitation to Freya to “catch up.” It had surprised Alex just how upset she was about that.

  When she got back home, she stomped up the stairs and into bed. She lay there in the dark and she tried to work it out, but every time she closed her eyes, all she saw was him.

  “Sod it,” she said, throwing the covers back and climbing out of bed. It was almost two a.m. as she grabbed her robe and pulled it on, tying it a little too tightly in her anger.

  Quietly, she made a cup of camomile tea and then sat down at the table with a melancholy she wasn’t used to. She had known Freya since they were kids. They were practically sisters back then, always in and out of each other’s bedrooms, running amok among the guests and causing mayhem for the staff. She chuckled at the memory, but she didn’t feel like that anymore. They got on, they had a laugh, but it wasn’t in that same sense as it was when they were kids, was it? It was different now. They were adults, and… “Oh my god,” she said suddenly to the empty room. “I’m…” Before she could answer her own thought, the front door opened and she heard the commotions of someone coming into the house: the soft thud of the door being closed and then locked, followed by slow click-clacks from high heels walking purposefully quietly along the hallway. They stopped outside the kitchen door and for a moment, Alex assumed they would come in, but then they started walking again. One, two, three stairs and so on until finally, Alex heard the gentle closing of a door. She exhaled, releasing the breath she had realised she was holding. “I fancy her,” she finally admitted. “I fancy Freya.” She slumped further down in her chair. Picking up her tea, she sipped it. “This is a nightmare.”

  The rest of her tea went cold. The room was too, and so Alex dragged herself up and started up the stairs. She reached the top, just as Freya’s bedroom door opened. The dress was gone, and now she stood in nothing more than an oversized man’s shirt. “Oh, hey, you are up. I wasn’t sure.”

  “Yeah, couldn’t sleep so…” She let the sentence go; what was she going to say? “Anyway, tired now.” She moved to walk past her, but Freya put out a hand and stopped her.

  “You alright?” Freya asked, narrowing her eyes in that way that Alex now understood she liked.

  “Yeah, lot going on,” she rambled out quickly.

  Freya was still looking at her, head slightly tilted as though she were considering something. “You’re not upset about me and…”

  “No, god, no, that would be… that would… no, it’s none of my business.” Alex made the mistake of looking down. She saw bare legs. Strong calf muscles and muscular, yet curvy thighs.

  Remaining silent for a moment, Freya stepped forward and Alex felt her heart begin to race at the proximity. Finally, she lifted her head and locked eyes with Freya just as she spoke. “Good, because it’s just…I wouldn’t want something like that to come between us.”

  “No, no, why would it?” Alex said, taking the chance to finally move past her. Put some distance between them, that was definitely a good idea. “We should go to bed, I mean, I…I should go to bed.”

  Freya chuckled, enjoying this frazzled version of Alex. “Alright, I’ll see you in the morning then?”

  Alex nodded. “Yes. Sounds like a plan.”

  She ducked inside her room and closed the door firmly before falling against it. “Oh, boy.”

  Three more bookings had come in overnight, and Alex was beaming as she input the information and began calculating the new figures for the coming season. She glanced quickly to her left at the photograph of her dad and wondered if he had anything to do with this surge of good luck. It didn’t hurt to imagine a guardian angel looking down on her, did it?

  “Number four is all done. Just needs a good clean,” Freya said as she stepped into the office without knocking. She never knocked; Alex considered that. How easily they moved around each other.

  “Right, that’s great. How many are left now?” Alex asked, not looking up.

  Freya plonked down in the plastic chair to the right side of the desk. “I have 17, 12 and 42 with essential stuff like plumbing. Then there is 36 and 19, they have décor issues. Not sure when they were last tidied up, but the walls are awful.” She grinned and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees to take the weight of her chin in her palms. “And then I am done, and so should you be, and tha
t leaves us just enough time to go camping.”

  Alex laughed. “I’m not going camping, Freya.”

  “Oh, come on,” she whined playfully. “Alex, it will be fun. You and me, the stars, and a tent. Just like old times.”

  Alex sighed. “We were kids then.” And now I’m an adult, and I don’t want to do kid things with you now, she thought.

  “Where is your sense of adventure?” Freya did the head tilt and grinned. “Please.”

  Sitting back in her chair, Alex groaned. “Fine, one night!”

  Before Alex had finished speaking, Freya was up out of the chair, clapping and grinning. “It will be so much fun, you’ll see.”

  “You think? I think it will be an excruciating night of uncomfortable sleeping, insect bites, and you probably snoring,” Alex snarked, but she couldn’t keep the grin off her face.

  “Charmer,” Freya said before she dived in and kissed Alex on the cheek. “I have to go. No slacking.”

  For a moment, Alex didn’t move, too astounded by what had just happened. But then slowly, her hand moved involuntarily to the spot where Freya had kissed her. “What have I agreed to?” she said to the empty room.

  Chapter 8

  The band arrived one week before the park re-opened. They would be performing four nights a week. Each night would be a different genre in order to cover all bases. It was basic stuff. They went about setting up their gear, and Alex watched from the bar as Lisa put Franco through a cocktail -making lesson. Gin was the in thing right now, and Alex wanted to make the most of that with a cocktail bar that could keep up with trends, but mostly, could create drinks fast. The quicker the staff were, the bigger the profits would be.

  Lisa was using bottles of different-coloured water to replicate the actual drinks until Franco was skilled enough to play with the real deal. It was fun to watch as bottles were spun and held in the air to pour. It would be quite the spectacle once the punters were sitting this side of the bar instead. But Alex had one eye on someone else: Chris.

  He was strutting around with his guitar slung around his neck, organising everyone else. His hair was tied back, but he still looked scruffy, and she wondered what it was that Freya saw in him. He was cocky, a little arrogant, or was that just Alex’s impression because she was jealous? She looked away and back to the bottle tossing just in time to watch Franco miss his catch and juggle with the bottle, being splashed with water. At least that made her laugh.

  As the band struck up, she stood up from the bar stool. “Gotta go. Keep at it, Franco, you’re nearly there,” she encouraged before stomping out of the hall. As she pushed through the doors, she literally bumped right into Freya.

  Alex reached out quickly, grabbing Freya’s arms to stop her from falling as they collided. “I am so sorry. Are you alright?” she asked, still holding both arms. They were inches from each other.

  “Yeah.” Freya’s lopsided grin was followed by the head tilt. “You alright? I didn’t catch you with the door, did I?” She raised her voice to be heard over the music.

  Alex finally remembered where her hands were and let go, easing herself a step away. “No, all good.”

  “I was just coming to see if Chris was here on time. But I can see he is.”

  “Yep, all good.” Didn’t she just say that? Now she was repeating herself. “I mean, yep, they arrived…on time…music playing.” She thumbed over her shoulder and tried for a thin-lipped smile. “Anyway, gotta dash, last minute stuff and then I’m all yours…I mean, you know, for the…uh camping.”

  Alex trudged up the hill with a rucksack on her back and holdall in each hand. She had agreed to meet Freya on the cliff when she had finished her paperwork, dragging it out for as long as she could get away with before finally, she accepted that it was time to get going.

  Why she had agreed to this madness, she didn’t know. Then she shook her head; of course she knew. She wanted to spend time with Freya. She wanted to spend a lot of time with Freya.

  The sun hadn’t quite begun its descent into the sea yet, so the bright blue tent was visible enough. She sped up and as she rounded the top of the hill, Freya stepped out and smiled at her. Alex felt her breath escape in one loud whoosh.

  “About time, I was going to send out the search party.” There was that small tilt of the head as Freya took Alex in and studied her. “Did you bring a sleeping bag?”

  “What? No, I thought you…I brought the food,” Alex said, lifting the holdalls.

  Freya giggled. “Oops.” She reached for one of the bags and took the weight of it, but Alex didn’t let go completely.

  “I suppose I’ll have to go back and get it.”

  “Don’t be silly, we can share mine.” Freya winked and now took the bag, walking away towards the tent. “What did you bring, anyway? I am starving.”

  “Camping food, what else?” Alex grimaced. There was no way she could sleep next to Freya in the same sleeping bag. An image of it filled her head: two bodies, half-naked, pressed closely together. Jesus, it was like a lesbian dream.

  Freya stepped forward, looking at her oddly. “Are you alright?”

  “Ye-yeah. All good.” She fidgeted side to side on her feet. She was definitely not alright. “So, shall I get the fire started?” Looking around, she considered, “Are we allowed a fire up here?”

  The shrugging shoulders were followed by a mischievous grin. “No idea. Who is going to stop us, or tell?” Before Alex could think, there was an arm around her shoulders. “It’s going to be fun. Come on, let’s get a fire going and something to eat and then we can start on this.” She laughed and held up a bottle of wine that Alex had not seen her pick up.

  “You don’t need to get me drunk.”

  Freya’s eyes widened. “No? That’s good to know.”

  As she walked off towards the tent, Alex wondered if she was imagining it, or if they were flirting.

  Chapter 9

  Making a fire up here had its difficulties. The breeze, for one, kept blowing out the matches. It would have taken forever to get enough twigs and sticks together to get it started; they’d never have kept it going.

  When Alex dragged over the other holdall and produced a bag of kindling and four kiln-dried logs, Freya burst out laughing.

  “Only you would think to bring logs.”

  Shrugging, Alex laughed too. “I am practical, what can I say?”

  “An obvious catch.” Freya pulled out a small pan and added a couple of burgers, placing it on top of the flattest log. “This is so nice. Isn’t it?”

  Alex nodded. They were sitting closely together, hip to hip, looking out across the sea as the sun dipped down and began to sink into the water. “Yeah, it is. Really nice actually.” She leaned left and bumped shoulders.

  It was a comfortable silence that settled. Freya flipped the burgers and Alex filled the small camping kettle with water and put that into the fire too.

  “Are you seriously going to make tea?” Freya frowned.

  “I was, why?”

  Reaching over, Freya picked up the bottle of wine from earlier. “This might be the last night off you have in a while. Next week, everything will be different. We should enjoy it.” She twisted the cap off and took a swig.

  “Classy, Freya, classy.” Alex laughed as she folded a tea towel and lifted the kettle off of the flames. “Gimme that.” She giggled, taking the bottle from her friend and swigging too. It was pretty good, and familiar. “Did you steal this from the bar?”

  “How rude.” Freya grinned. “It’s paid for.”

  Alex took another swig and passed the bottle back. “So how’s things with you?”

  “Great,” Freya answered. “I’m kind of enjoying a little romantic chasing.” She smiled.

  Alex felt her heart sink as an image of Chris flickered into her mind. “Oh, right…that’s – that sounds like fun.”

  “It will be once they finally realise and get with the program,” Freya announced cryptically. She passed the bottle back, and
this time when Alex brought it to her mouth, she gulped it down. “Blimey, we’re going to need another.” Freya got up.

  When Freya returned moments later with another two bottles, she found Alex staring out to sea, the open bottle all but empty.

  “Al? You okay?” She sat back down gingerly, but just as close as before.

  “Yeah, of course.” She reached out for the pan. The burgers were burning.

  “Alex, don’t!” Freya shouted, yanking Alex’s hand away from the pan handle. “Jesus, you’ll burn your fingers.” Her hand wrapped around Alex’s. Their eyes met and held. “Too much wine already, huh?”

  “Too much of something,” Alex mumbled.

  “What?” Freya asked, taking the cloth and removing the burgers. “A little bit crispy, but they’re still edible.”

  Alex looked at the charred lumps and laughed. “Crispy?”

  “Well, once I scrape off the black bits…” They both laughed. “I did bring a bag of crisps. We could shove those in the rolls and have a crisp sandwich. You remember your dad used to make us them when we went down to the beach?”

  Smiling at the memory, Alex nodded. “Yeah, good times.”

  There was an empty carrier bag stuffed inside the holdall and Freya pulled it out, tossing the burnt burgers into it. “Right, decision made. More wine, and crisp sandwiches.”

  “I think that is a plan I can get on board with.” Alex smiled sadly. Unlike the one where you are chasing someone, she thought to herself.

  “Chris gave me this too.” Just the mention of his name made Alex feel sick, but she looked up to see what it was that Freya was showing her: a joint.

  “Freya!”