Bon Voyage

by Michelle Betham

  ‘Oh, good. She’s gone. Didn’t want her to see me.’

  Aimee turned round to see Brendon sliding into Marcie’s just-vacated seat, placing a bottle of Carlsberg down on the table, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper.

  ‘Why don’t you want her to see you?’ Aimee asked, wondering if he ever just wanted a cup of tea first thing in the morning.

  ‘Because I’ve been playing Bergerac.’

  Aimee frowned. ‘What?’

  ‘Detective… Did you never watch Bergerac? Me late wife, bless her soul, she loved that man, she did. Can’t begin to tell you how many holidays we had to take on Jersey because of that show…’

  ‘I know who Bergerac is, Brendon. I just don’t know why you don’t want my mother to see you. What’s going on?’

  Brendon laid out the sheet of paper he’d taken out of his pocket on the table in front of him, flattening the corner down with the bottle of beer.

  ‘Engelbert Askwith is not who he says he is.’

  ‘Tell me something I don’t know,’ Aimee sighed. ‘So, who is he then?’

  ‘Well, that’s what I’m busy trying to find out, me darling. I’ve been sat in that internet café in the main atrium for hours trying to see what I can come up with. I’ve also e-mailed me old pal Alan – he works for the police he does, fraud squad mostly. There’s nothing he doesn’t know about the con men and cads of this world…’

  ‘You think he’s a con man?’ Aimee asked, quickly scanning the piece of paper Brendon had brought with him.

  ‘I think he might be. But, I’m waiting on an e-mail reply from Alan, then I’ll know for sure.’

  ‘Brendon, thank you. I’ve tried talking to my mam but she’s having none of it. It’s almost like she’s been brainwashed by him and no matter what any of us say to her she’s just not going to believe us. If we can just get something concrete, some proof…’

  ‘You leave it with me, me dear,’ Brendon smiled, taking a quick swig from his bottle of beer. ‘I’ll make sure she knows the truth about that man before she leaves this ship. Don’t you worry about that.’

  She leaned over and kissed him quickly on the cheek. ‘You’re a star, do you know that?’

  ‘Get away with you. I just care about your mammy, that’s all, the silly old bat. Looks at life through those rose-tinted glasses of hers far too much she does.’

  ‘Tell me about it,’ Aimee sighed again, draining the last of her tea. ‘You’ll keep me up to date, won’t you? If you find anything else out?’

  ‘It’ll all be sorted by the time we get round to this ridiculous engagement party tonight… Oh, I’m sorry, me darling. I didn’t mean your engagement was ridiculous…’

  Aimee smiled, pushing her chair back under the table. ‘I know, Brendon. This engagement party tonight it’s… well, let’s just say, it’s going to be interesting. See you later.’

  With something almost resembling a spring in her step Aimee bounded out of the Lido Café, waving to Barbara and Bob outside on the Lido Deck – Barbara enjoying her new favourite breakfast of croissants and coffee whilst Bob smoked a cigarette and perused the latest copy of Cruise News – on her way for a walk around the pool deck before she headed back to her cabin to get ready for the shore excursion to La Manga later on.

  The sun was shining out of another beautiful, clear blue sky, the blue punctuated only intermittingly with the smallest dots of tiny, fluffy clouds that resembled miniscule balls of cotton wool. All around her was the chatter of people enjoying themselves, the air heavy with the smells of breakfast and sun lotion and the sea, which today was – as it had been for most of their cruise – calm and peaceful. Aimee felt almost serene as she leaned over the side of the ship to take in the peace and quiet for a few seconds. Serene, yet excited. A nervous excitement, because today could go one of two ways, and even now – even though things were a lot clearer in her own head – she still didn’t know exactly how it was all going to turn out.

  Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she started walking past the rows of sunloungers arranged around the pool side – a few people already lying on them, catching the morning sun – up onto the deck above, which was a bit quieter. For now. It never usually got too busy up there until all of the loungers pool-side were taken. But, as she walked towards the door that would take her back inside the ship, she noticed a couple deep in conversation right beside that door. And, certain she’d recognised a Geordie accent, she took a couple of steps back and squinted slightly as she looked at the couple, the woman waving her arms in the air as she talked animatedly to the man with her – Robbie! She was talking to Robbie… Was that Davina? It was! It was Robbie and Davina. What was going on there?

  Aimee took a few more steps back, down onto the staircase she’d just come up, deciding it was a much better option not to let them know she’d seen them. She’d get back inside via the pool deck. So, slightly confused by what she’d just seen, she walked quickly back past the pool and back onto the Lido Deck, where she found Jemma sitting at a table with a copy of Celebrity Secrets, a cup of coffee and a bacon sandwich.

  ‘You’re up then,’ Aimee said, sitting down at the table and grabbing Jemma’s sandwich off the plate, taking a bite out of it.

  ‘Oi! That’s mine, you greedy cow! You’ve had your breakfast.’

  ‘Yeah, because I don’t lie in bed all day wasting time,’ Aimee teased.

  Jemma stuck her tongue out. ‘I haven’t been lying in bed all day, it’s only half past eight, Missy. And anyway, I certainly was not wasting time.’

  ‘I don’t want to know,’ Aimee said, taking her sunglasses out of her bag. Even at this hour the sun was really strong. ‘It’s been a weird enough day already without having to listen to your sex secrets.’

  ‘Like I’d tell you anyway,’ Jemma smirked, taking a huge bite of her sandwich. ‘I have such an appetite at the minute, you wouldn’t believe… What do you mean, it’s been a weird enough day already?’

  Aimee looked at Jemma, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head. ‘Well, apart from Brendon going all Inspector Morse on us…’

  ‘Huh?’ Jemma asked through a mouthful of bread and bacon.

  ‘I’ll tell you later. Apart from that, I’ve just seen Robbie and Davina in the middle of a pretty heated discussion up on the deck above.’

  ‘What? Up there?’ Jemma mouthed, looking skywards.

  ‘Yes. Up there.’

  ‘What were they talking about?’

  ‘I didn’t exactly get close enough to hear that, Jem. I didn’t want them to see me, y’know, awkward question time and all that.’

  ‘So, what did you do?’

  ‘I came back down here. They looked like they were arguing about something, and it looked very much like she had the upper hand.’

  ‘Well, they do know each other, don’t they?’

  ‘Yeah, but they’re hardly close friends, Jemma. He used to go out with her ages ago, that’s all. And even that was only a rumour. It’s not like they kept in touch regularly or anything, in fact, the whole time me and Robbie were together he never mentioned her once. Oh, I’m probably just reading too much into everything today. Got a lot on my mind.’

  ‘Yeah. I’d gathered that.’ Jemma finished her sandwich, wiping her hands on a paper napkin. ‘What’s going on, Aimee? You’ve been acting a bit weird yourself since last night. What are you up to?’

  Aimee looked at her, smiling as she pushed her sunglasses back down over her eyes, getting up out of her seat. ‘You’re just going to have to wait and see, aren’t you?’

  ‘Aimee! Come on, that isn’t fair, I’m your best friend. You can tell me anything, can’t you?’

  ‘I can. And I will. Later. I promise. When I’ve made doubly sure I’m doing the right thing.’

  8:35am

  Vegas Show Lounge

  ‘Jesus, Danny, come on! Put some frigging effort into it, will you?’ Andy sighed, leaning back against the wall. ‘This is our biggest sho
w tonight, the finale, the final chance to prove ourselves…’

  ‘So you keep telling me… For Christ’s sake, Barry, can you keep that frigging camera out of my face for five frigging minutes?’

  ‘Don’t take it out on him, Danny, mate,’ Cal said, trying to smooth things over before another row erupted. Ever since Davina’s arrival on the ship, the atmosphere between Danny and Andy had soured even more, and the last thing the band needed was a major blow-up on the final night. ‘He’s only doing his job.’

  ‘I know,’ Danny sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. ‘I know. Barry, mate, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay. I’m just a bit tense, y’know?’

  ‘Yeah, well, you being tense isn’t helping things,’ Andy said, bending down to fasten his laces. ‘These rehearsals should be going smoothly. We’ve been here a bloody fortnight, you’d think we’d know what we were doing by now.’

  ‘Yeah, well, maybe I just don’t have this frigging reunion at the top of my list of things that matter the most to me right now,’ Danny said, unscrewing his water bottle and taking a long drink.

  ‘And that’s been the whole problem, really, hasn’t it?’ Andy sneered, digging his hands in his pockets as he walked over to Danny. ‘You, not being interested in this band.’

  ‘And we all know why you are, don’t we?’ Danny sneered back, now almost nose-to-nose with Andy. ‘You just couldn’t take being out of the limelight, could you? Andy Crabtree, centre of attention once again, and he doesn’t care who the hell he steps on to get there, does he?’

  ‘Okay, okay, that’s enough!’ Cal shouted, almost throwing himself between Andy and Danny as Frankie and Ross held them both back. ‘Pack it in, the pair of you!’

  ‘Fuck this!’ Danny spat, pulling free of Ross’s grip, storming out of the Show Lounge, out onto the deck. He needed some space, some air. Some time away from the rest of them before he said something he shouldn’t. Or, maybe he should. Christ! He didn’t know what he should be doing anymore. His head was back to being all over the place and he hated that feeling. He hated not really knowing what he should do next.

  ‘Hey, you okay?’

  He swung round to see Aimee standing there behind him, cute as anything in white denim shorts and a strapless top, her eyes covered by dark glasses. And he so wished he didn’t feel the way he did, but he really didn’t know if he could fight it any longer. It was too bloody exhausting.

  She walked over to him, joining him as he looked over the side of the ship, staring out at the Mediterranean stretched before them.

  ‘You certainly picked the quietest deck, didn’t you? Top of the ship, huh? I take it you didn’t come up here for a game of shuffleboard though?’

  He looked at her, smiling slightly. ‘I knew it would be quiet up here, I mean, nobody actually plays shuffleboard on cruises, do they?’

  She laughed, pushing her hair back off her face as the breeze blew her fringe over her eyes. ‘Danny – yesterday, when you said you weren’t sure if the band was what you wanted anymore… what did you mean?’

  He shrugged, still staring out ahead of him. ‘I don’t know, if I’m being honest, Aimee. I just don’t feel able to give it 100% of my attention, y’know?’ He turned to look at her, those ice-blue eyes of his boring right into hers. ‘Too many other things on my mind.’

  She said nothing for a few seconds, just looked at him, searching his face for a reason why she shouldn’t do what she intended to do later on today – but there was nothing that made her think her decision was wrong.

  ‘What do you really want, Danny?’

  ‘Well, I’m not all that bothered by the lure of a second stab at fame, and I know that I can’t carry on with this marriage to Davina…’

  There it was! The words she’d wanted to hear him say. Oh, Danny. Why couldn’t you have just said those words earlier and saved us all a lot of heartache?

  ‘You’re going ahead with the divorce then?’ she asked, her heart beating ten to the dozen.

  He looked away again, staring out to sea as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. ‘Probably, yeah.’

  Probably?

  ‘Danny…?’

  But she was stopped from asking him what she really wanted to ask him by the sound of Robbie’s voice shouting her name, getting closer by the second.

  ‘Aimee! Aimee, where the hell are you? I’ve been…’ He stopped at the top of the stairs he’d obviously just ran up, clutching his side as he tried to get his breath back. ‘What’re you doing up here?’

  ‘Practising me street dancing, what does it look like? What’s the urgency?’

  ‘I’ll see you later,’ Danny whispered, quickly squeezing her arm before he left her and Robbie to it. Aimee felt a flood of disappointment as she watched him push past Robbie and run back down the stairs. She’d had a chance there. She should have taken it, but then, she’d never really intended to do this quite so early in the day anyway, had she? She was waiting until tonight, that was the original plan, and she should stick to it. But that conversation there, no matter how brief, had given her hope that what she planned to do was definitely worth the risk. In fact, she should have been brave enough to do it a damn sight earlier.

  ‘What was he doing here?’ Robbie asked coming over to her, but he made no attempt to touch her, hold her hand, anything. In fact, over the past few days – whenever they’d been alone – the amount of times he’d held her hand or given her a hug, kissed her – or even made love to her – had become less and less. She’d just never really thought about it, until now.

  ‘We were talking, Robbie.’

  ‘What about?’ he asked, pulling his phone out of his back pocket as it started ringing, checking the caller ID, then rejecting it. But Aimee didn’t miss the brief, fleeting expression of panic that had passed across his face.

  ‘About the band, if you must know,’ Aimee replied, wondering why she should tell him anything. It wasn’t any of his business really, was it? ‘He’s not sure this reunion is what he wants anymore.’

  ‘Huh?’ There was that expression of panic again. ‘Why not?’

  Aimee shrugged. ‘How should I know? He didn’t say.’

  ‘But… I mean, why wouldn’t he want the chance to… the chance to be famous again? Surely… surely nobody in their right mind would turn that down?’

  Aimee looked at Robbie through slightly narrowed eyes. ‘Why are you so concerned about whether Danny sticks out this reunion or not? Why should it bother you?’

  ‘No reason,’ Robbie replied, his phone going off in his pocket again.

  ‘Oh, just bloody answer that, will you?’ Aimee said, walking away from him. ‘I’m off to get ready for the excursion. I’ll see you later.’

  There was something very strange about Robbie’s behaviour. Things just weren’t adding up the way they should be, and Aimee planned to find out just what the problem really was before this party tonight. And then she could begin to put things right.

  2:20pm

  La Manga

  The temperature was almost thirty degrees, the sun was still beating down from a now clear, cobalt blue sky – even the tiny, fluffy, cotton-wool clouds had disappeared – and Bob, Barbara, Jemma and Aimee were taking refuge under a large canopy of a beautiful little restaurant, enjoying the break from the searing heat the shade was giving them.

  Lunch had been a lovely meal of grilled chicken and prawns, green salad and fresh bread, all washed down with a couple of bottles of local wine – or, in Bob’s case, a couple of bottles of the local beer – and so far it had been one of the most relaxing days out Aimee had experienced on this cruise. Even if her head was still spinning with the thoughts of what she was going to do later. And how certain people would react.

  Robbie hadn’t wanted to join them on this day out, and Aimee had actually been slightly relieved about that. She had no idea what he was up to and if she was completely honest, she didn’t care. Not anymore. She had other things to worry about, including ju
st what Brendon was going to unearth about Engelbert, but while she had the chance, she was going to kick-back and enjoy this last, wonderful excursion that this cruise-to-remember was affording her.

  ‘You okay?’ Jemma asked, breaking into Aimee’s thoughts with a gentle nudge. ‘You look miles away. Thinking about tonight’s engagement party?’

  Aimee smiled at her friend. ‘You could say that, yeah.’

  ‘What you gonna wear?’

  That question suddenly made Aimee realise that that had been the last thing on her mind as far as this party was concerned. There’d been so many other things to think about that she hadn’t even thought about an outfit, but she wanted to look as good as she possibly could – for so many reasons. She needed to look good for what she planned to do.

  ‘Do you know, I haven’t really thought about it, Jem.’

  Jemma let out a gasp of shock. Real shock, not mock shock, because if there was one thing Jemma was an expert in it was planning outfits well in advance of big nights out. She always found it hard to believe that others didn’t do the same.

  ‘Aimee! This is your engagement party – granted, it’s engagement party take-two, but still, you want to look good, don’t you?’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Aimee said, taking a sip of cold white wine as she stared out ahead at the white sandy beach and the calm, blue sea. ‘I want to look better than good.’

  ‘Then wear that off-one-shoulder white dress. It’s simple and it looks stunning on you. Wear it with those little black ankle boots, you know, the ones with the killer heels. And wear your hair up – I’ll do it all messy but styled, if you know what I mean. You’ll knock ‘em dead, I promise you.’

  Aimee smiled at Jemma. She loved her best friend so much, she really did. And it was good knowing she was going to be there for her – whatever happened tonight.