‘Come on then,’ Jaddi said. ‘I’m sure they’ve got sunloungers at the motel in Vegas.’
CHAPTER 47
Jaddi
It had taken the white stretch limo longer to negotiate its way through Los Angeles traffic and drop them at the private airfield than it had taken them to fly to Clark County, Nevada. For most of the flight, all they’d seen from their windows was an expanse of orange desert. It stretched for endless miles in every direction. Even as the aeroplane began its descent it seemed as if they were dropping into the middle of nowhere. Finally, the familiar icons of the city had appeared in the distance – a replica Eiffel Tower, a black, glass pyramid and a giant sphinx, and a long strip of road with hotels on either side, each one more impressive than the last.
She’d been wrong. They weren’t staying in a motel, but rather a five-star hotel with its own casino, right in the centre of the city. Although, as far as Jaddi could tell, every building was a casino of some kind. Even the corner diners advertised slot machines inside.
The Wynn Hotel was built in a long, slim curve that reminded Jaddi of a flat-screen television that looked like it reached all the way to the sky. The lobby was as big as the entire LA motel complex, and dotted with thick red rugs and an entire garden of indoor flowerbeds, and trees decorated in fairy lights. It was comically extravagant and luxurious in equal measure.
‘This way, this way,’ Caroline said. There was something childlike about the producer’s excitement. It zigzagged in the air and whipped around them all. The three of them grinned at each other as they followed Caroline to a corner of the lobby.
One of the cameramen ran ahead and stopped by a collection of high-backed armchairs.
A buzz danced around Jaddi’s body. She loved surprises. For a fleeting moment she wondered if Caroline had arranged for Guy Rawson to spend the weekend with them. That would be a surprise to remember. Then she saw Suk, and the buzz stopped dead, and with it her feet.
She couldn’t move. The entire lower portion of her body had frozen in a catatonic state. Questions pelted her mind, but her eyes remained fixed on Suk.
From the periphery of her vision, she saw Lizzie rush forward and dive into the arms of her parents and Aaron. From the other side of her, Samantha moved too. She strode towards David, accepting a rose and a kiss before pulling him away.
Then Ben stepped towards the seating area and started shaking hands with Lizzie’s dad. All the while Jaddi remained immobile, studying Suk’s face. Her smile, how she’d missed that smile. Suk’s long hair, tied in a loose side plait. How she’d missed winding her fingers through that hair. Suk’s lips, her perfectly delicious lips.
Jaddi’s mind willed her feet to move, to charge forward and taste those lips, yet the reality of Suk’s presence had rooted her to the floor. She was out. They both were out.
It wasn’t that she’d expected to live a lie for her entire life – that was Suk’s plan – or it had been – find two nice Sikh boys to marry, and continue their relationship in secret indefinitely. She just hadn’t expected to tell the world in one all-encompassing swoop that she was gay.
She’d planned to tell Lizzie and Samantha, and her parents, when the time was right. That time just hadn’t arrived yet. She’d tried once, to test the water with her mum. In hindsight, it hadn’t been the best time. They’d been in the kitchen preparing a family dinner with her nan and the usual assortment of aunts, cousins and neighbours.
Her mum had been speculating about a wedding between two Bollywood actors.
‘I’m not sure they’ll be getting married,’ Jaddi had said. ‘I read somewhere she was gay.’
A silence had filled the kitchen. It was as if she’d accused the actress of drowning puppies in her spare time. Finally, her nan had tutted and replied in a matter-of-fact way, ‘Indian women can’t be gay.’
It wasn’t a ‘can’t’ because a culture steeped in tradition wouldn’t allow it, but rather an impossible ‘can’t’. Like saying, ‘you can’t be a dog, because you’re a cat.’ That had been the end of the conversation, and the end of Jaddi’s attempts to broach the topic with her family.
Their images flashed like snapshots through her mind – her parents and her nan, her brother Ravi, and her sister Halima. Nothing would ever be the same again. What had Suk done? Her legs no longer felt frozen, but stuck in a quicksand that she would never free herself from.
Jaddi’s breath caught in her throat as her eyes darted to the two cameramen. One was filming Lizzie’s reunion with her family. The other had moved over to film Samantha. A brief moment of relief swept through her. How much could her parents possibly know? The footage from today wouldn’t be aired for another week. She could speak to Caroline, beg her to keep Suk out of it. Maybe it wasn’t too late to salvage her secret.
She glanced back at Suk.
‘Hi.’ Suk mouthed. A small smile pulled at the corner of Suk’s mouth, whilst a lone tear ran down her face, and just like that Jaddi’s feet responded to her commands. Whatever happened next, they were in it together.
Jaddi ran the distance between them and pulled Suk into a quick embrace.
‘I can’t believe you’re here,’ Jaddi said.
‘Me either.’ Suk shook her head.
‘I have so many questions,’ Jaddi said, her eyes darting around them.
Suk’s body tensed. ‘Me too.’
‘Let’s get out of here.’
‘Really?’
Jaddi frowned and glanced around the lobby. ‘Come on.’
CHAPTER 48
Samantha
‘Hi, baby.’ David stepped forward and kissed her cheek.
Samantha coughed as the scent of his aftershave choked her senses. ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, dragging him away from the cameras. Everyone was focused on Lizzie, wrapped in her parents’ embrace and chattering away at one hundred miles an hour.
‘Channel 6 arranged it.’ He grinned. ‘Great, huh? You look amazing, by the way.’
‘But …’ Her eyes scanned the group and the film crew, but no one had followed them. ‘What are you really doing here?’ she asked again.
‘I told you.’ He smiled, ‘Channel 6 invited me to come. They wanted to surprise all of you by flying in the people you love for a weekend in Las Vegas.’
She shook her head. ‘Yes, but …’
‘By the way –’ he leant towards her and lowered his voice ‘– you never told me Jaddi was gay.’
‘What? She’s not.’ Samantha shook her head again and shot a glance behind her, noticing for the first time a lone, Indian woman, about their age. She had long black hair tied to one side and wide, startled eyes, but she was smiling. Samantha followed her eye line to Jaddi.
‘I’m sure that must be a cousin or someone.’
Even as she spoke, doubt began to gnaw its way into her conceptions of Jaddi. Jaddi’s comment in the rainforest ran through her head. I know I’m a massive flirt. It doesn’t mean anything. Had Jaddi been trying to tell her something?
A movement shattered her thoughts. David’s face loomed in front of her, and before she could stop him, his plump lips pressed against hers.
A noise escaped her throat. She pressed her hands against his chest and yanked her head back. ‘David, what are you doing?’
‘Er … kissing my girlfriend, who’ve I’ve not seen for two months.’
‘I’m not your girlfriend.’ Samantha shook her head.
‘What?’ A single line creased David’s forehead. His eyes searched hers.
‘I broke up with you. I sent you a text, I blocked your number.’
‘No, you didn’t.’ David shook his head. ‘I never received a text like that. Look, I know I was a being a tad needy for the first few weeks, and I probably shouldn’t have been texting you so much, but I never meant to upset you.’ Her body tensed as he wrapped his arms around her.
‘But I … but we … we haven’t spoken for a month,’ Samantha said, stepping back. ‘What did you thin
k that meant?’
‘I thought you just wanted a bit of space or maybe your phone had been stolen. It happens all the time. I certainly never imagined that you broke up with me. I’ve been watching the documentary. You didn’t say anything.’
Tension wound around Samantha’s shoulders. ‘After what you did, can you really tell me you’re surprised?’ She coughed, masking a sob that caught in her throat.
‘Samantha, if I’d have thought for a single second that you’d wanted to end things between us, would I be here right now?’ he asked, ignoring her last comment.
Samantha rubbed the palm of her hand across her forehead. She scrunched her face, her mind suddenly blank.
All of a sudden David shrank back. ‘But, we love each other, don’t we? At least, we did before you left. You’d all but moved in with me last time I checked. Isn’t that the plan? You’ll come back to London and we’ll live together?’
Her head spun. Since being on the trip she hadn’t thought about returning to London, or where she’d live.
David picked up her hand and held it in his. ‘Baby, I’m sorry. I’ve been jealous and rather horrid since the moment you told me about the trip. Please. Don’t ruin what we have together because of one stupid mistake.’
She hesitated as confusion wound through her. Was he talking about his game or her decision to end their relationship? She caught a movement from the corner of her eye. One of the cameramen was stepping towards them.
‘I’m sorry, David,’ she said before dropping her gaze to his hand, entwined in her fingers. ‘I’m sorry you’ve come all this way for nothing, but it’s over between us. Being apart has made me realise that we’re not good for each other.’ She pulled her hand free.
It wasn’t the ‘Fuck off, you wanker’ she’d practised in her head all the times she’d fantasised about seeing him again, but considering their location and the camera aimed at their faces it would have to do.
‘Oh,’ he said.
She held her breath and waited for his temper to flare.
Instead he nodded. ‘I’m sorry too. I’ll get my bags and check into a different hotel. See you back in London at some point, I guess.’
He kissed her cheek and spun towards a bay of lifts.
Her body slumped against the pillar as she waited for her heartbeat to return to normal. Despite the hurt and anger she felt, it was relief that overwhelmed her. She’d stood her ground, she’d told him it was over and he’d accepted it. But something wasn’t right. The kind of guy that David was just didn’t fit with his reaction. Where was the explosive temper? The unreasonable demands? The manipulative behaviour? Was this all for the cameras?
It was over … and yet, at the same time, it wasn’t. Would she ever be free of him?
CHAPTER 49
Lizzie
Lizzie hugged her mum tighter as she felt her throat closing around her airway.
‘Surprise!’ her mum said. Lizzie could feel her mum’s shoulders shuddering inside their embrace.
‘I can’t believe you’re here. Aaron.’ Lizzie touched her hand to his wrist. ‘I thought you were injured. Didn’t you have a competition to win this week?’
Aaron rotated his wrists around and grinned. ‘If I’d have said I was pulling out of the competition for personal reasons then you might’ve guessed the surprise. This was way more important than any competition.’
Hot tears burnt at the corners of Lizzie’s eyes. ‘I’ve got so much to tell you. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff we’ve done.’
‘We have been watching, you know,’ Peter replied with his ‘dad chuckle’, which made Lizzie’s heart swell. It sounded like a mix between a Father Christmas ‘ho, ho, ho’ and a dog barking, but it was her dad’s laugh, and it always made merriment dance through her.
‘I forgot.’ Lizzie grinned.
‘Tell us anyway,’ her mum said, dabbing a tissue under her eyes. ‘I want to hear it.’
‘Oh, Evelyn.’ Her dad rolled his eyes. ‘She’s only watched every episode ten times. She probably knows more about what you’ve been doing that you do.’ Peter stretched an arm around his wife and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
‘And you haven’t?’ Her mum smiled. ‘Which reminds me, where’s Ben?’ She dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘Is he filming? Are we allowed to say hello, or is that not cool?’
Lizzie laughed. ‘They can still hear you, Mum, even if you whisper. Ben’s not filming this weekend.’ She spun around and waved him over.
‘Hello, Mr Appleton, Mrs Appleton. It’s nice to meet you,’ Ben said, shaking their hands, which for some reason made Lizzie laugh again.
‘Nice to finally meet you, Ben, and call me Peter,’ her dad replied.
‘We’re so grateful for everything you’ve done for Lizzie,’ Evelyn said, ‘and for calling us when you did. It means so much to us to know that Lizzie is being looked after.’
‘You’ve been calling my mum and dad?’ She fixed her eyes on him and felt the familiar lurch in her stomach, urging her to move towards him.
Ben furrowed his forehead. ‘I was hoping you wouldn’t find out. It was just the once, whilst you were in hospital on the Gold Coast.’
‘Why?’
‘Because that idiot Harrison had called the papers and was standing on the steps of the hospital telling anyone who’d listen that you’d lost your sight. I knew it wouldn’t be long before it hit the British media, so I thought your parents would want to know you were OK.’
‘Oh.’ Lizzie stared at Ben. He smiled at her. ‘Thanks, I guess,’ she said, her stomach turning in somersaults.
Aaron stretched his hands above his head and opened his mouth in a long yawn. ‘Not that it’s not great to see you, sis, but I need to close my eyes for a minute, or have a shower or something, if I’m going to be awake for this helicopter ride later.’
‘What helicopter ride?’
‘Caroline’s arranged it,’ Ben said. ‘For all of us. You’ll be watching the sun set over the Grand Canyon from a helicopter tonight.’
‘And,’ Aaron continued, ‘we’re all staying in a massive suite on the forty-second floor. It even has a kitchen and a private butler,’ Aaron said. ‘You can pick up the phone, day or night, and ask him for anything.’
‘Wow.’ Lizzie cast her eyes around the lobby, searching for Caroline. She needed to say thank you, but the producer had disappeared, along with Jaddi. She caught sight of Samantha and David huddled in the corner.
‘I think we’ll go for a quick shower and change too,’ her mum added. ‘We set off for the airport at a ridiculous hour this morning.’
‘OK, Mum. Good idea. I’d better just say hi to David, then I’ll come up.’
‘We had a nice chat with him on the plane. Didn’t we, Peter? And Jaddi’s friend, Suk; she’s very nice too.’
‘She?’ Lizzie frowned, her mind reeling. Had she missed something?
‘That was her name, wasn’t it, Aaron? Jaddi’s … er … friend?’
‘Yep.’ He nodded.
‘See you upstairs in a bit,’ Peter said, before kissing her cheek.
Her eyes followed her family across the lobby. Pain gripped her chest. She thought she’d made peace with it – only having three months left. Now though, she wasn’t so sure. Seeing her family made the enormity of her situation wash over her again. Maybe she should have stayed at home, soaking up every last minute of her time with them.
‘I told you that you’d like it.’ Ben’s words startled her. A dizzying uncertainty clawed at her thoughts. She felt herself nod and turned in search of Samantha.
‘Hey, where’s David?’ Lizzie said, stepping towards the pillar Samantha was leaning against.
‘I … er … we broke up,’ Samantha said, her eyes wide and staring.
‘What? Just now?’
‘Sort of. I’ve known for a while it was over. Spending time away from him, and with you guys, has made me realise that he wasn’t good for me, you know? He came here expecting
us to still be fine.’ She shrugged as if it was no big deal, but Lizzie could tell by the pale colour of her complexion that Samantha was masking her emotions, or trying to at least.
‘Why didn’t you say something?’ Lizzie stepped forwards and hugged Samantha’s rigid body.
‘I didn’t want to spoil your trip,’ Samantha said. ‘It’s not like you haven’t got enough to worry about.’
‘Oh, honey,’ Lizzie said, throwing an arm around Samantha’s shoulder, ‘I knew something was wrong in Vietnam. You were so quiet. Anyway, you breaking up with Mr Control Freak isn’t bad news.’
‘I thought you and Jaddi liked him?’
Lizzie tilted her head and gave a wry smile. ‘Probably about as much as you liked Harrison.’
‘Oh.’ Samantha frowned.
‘I’ve really missed you at the flat, you know. Jaddi never makes me a cup of tea in the morning and leaves it by my bed. When we get back to London, it will be just like it—’ Lizzie stopped and bit down on her lower lip. She dropped her gaze rather than stare at the anguish crumbling on Samantha’s face. Nothing would be as it was. There would be no going back.
A silence grew between them.
‘I can’t think about going back yet,’ Samantha said. Fresh tears welled in her eyes.
Hurt jabbed at Lizzie’s chest. What could she say to help Samantha, or herself? Nothing.
‘Where’re your mum and dad?’ Samantha asked, drawing in a long breath. ‘I haven’t said hello yet.’
‘They’ve gone for a shower. Caroline’s booked us all on this sunset helicopter thing over the Grand Canyon.’
‘She’s really pulled out all the stops,’ Samantha said.
‘Tell me about it. She’s even booked us all a suite, according to Aaron.’
‘Seriously? You mean I won’t have to put up with your night mutterings and Jaddi’s snoring for two nights?’
‘Looks that way.’
‘Talking of Jaddi –’ Samantha scanned the lobby ‘– did you see where she went?’
‘I’m not sure. Suk’s here. Maybe they went to look around.’
One Endless Summer Page 22
