by Zoe Cook
Lucy couldn’t think of anything worse. ‘I’m alright, thanks. I’ll see you back there, unless you just want to come with me now.’
‘You’re so lame!’ Charlie exclaimed, pulling a cigarette packet from her bag. ‘It’s our first night.’
‘I know,’ Lucy said. ‘I’ve got a bit of a headache, sorry,’ she lied.
‘Can I have an ashtray?’ Charlie was leaning back over her chair, asking Jen.
‘I’ll see you later,’ Lucy leant in and kissed them both goodnight.
Tom was by the counter ringing a bill through the till. He looked tired too. ‘I’m off,’ Lucy said. ‘Can you sort them out with a cab? They’re on a bit of a mission and I’m really not in the mood.’
‘No problem. You okay?’ Tom held her eye as she told him she was fine, ‘Just tired.’
‘They’re exactly what I expected,’ he said, smiling at her mischievously. ‘Media wankers.’
‘They’re not wankers,’ Lucy tried to sound cross, but she secretly agreed with him. ‘They’re just drunk.’
‘Okay, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.’ Tom made his way back into the hustle and bustle of the restaurant, brushing past Lucy and sending a shiver down her spine.
‘I need to pay up, for all the wine,’ she said, searching for her wallet in her handbag.
‘I said it’s on me,’ he said, ‘So consider it sorted.’
‘Thanks, Tom,’ she said, embarrassed all over again at the lack of food ordered, and the amount of alcohol. It seemed so rude.
‘I’ll see you later,’ he said. He leant towards her and kissed her softly on the cheek, pausing a moment before he pulled away. Lucy froze on the spot, unsure if she was physically capable of moving like a normal person. She couldn’t look at him, felt herself burn up with embarrassment and mumbled a goodbye, disappearing out the door and onto the street.
33
Nina let herself into Lucy’s room, putting a cup of tea down on her bedside table and sitting on her bed.
‘Morning,’ she said. ‘You okay?’
Nina and Kristian hadn’t returned when Lucy had dragged herself to bed last night.
‘I’m fine,’ she groaned, stretching a yawn out and propping herself up. ‘How was Bristol?’
‘It was good, we stayed an extra night,’ Nina said, pausing. ‘In fact, it was great, we’ve found a place, Luce, it’s perfect – the one I showed you, out by the golf club.’
‘Amazing. I’m so pleased for you guys,’ Lucy said, rubbing Nina’s arm.
‘Plenty of spare room for you to come and stay,’ Nina said. ‘And Tom. I don’t want this to be the last time we all spend so much time together, I’ve had the best summer.’
‘Me too,’ Lucy said. ‘I can’t believe it’s gone so quickly.’
‘You do promise, don’t you?’ Nina said, more seriously than Lucy was used to. ‘You promise you’re not just going to disappear when you go back? I need you, Luce.’
Lucy felt horrible that Nina thought her capable of abandoning her now, after the last month, especially with her being pregnant.
‘I absolutely promise,’ she said.
‘Oh God, are your friends here? Sorry, I meant to text last night,’ Nina looked embarrassed to have forgotten.
‘Yeah, they arrived yesterday,’ Lucy said, remembering how disappointing last night had been and trying to push the thought away. ‘I think we are going to go out for a big walk today if you fancy it?’
‘Sounds lovely,’ Nina said, ‘Warren and Charlie, right? Did you guys have fun last night? What did you do?’
‘We went for dinner,’ Lucy said. ‘It was nice to catch up.’
‘I’m looking forward to meeting them. Tom and Kristian have gone surfing already – amazing waves first thing, apparently,’ she rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll go and make us all breakfast, shall I?’
‘That’d be lovely, thanks, Nin. I’ll get a shower and see you downstairs.’
Lucy left her hair to dry naturally – the sun was hot already and she figured breakfast on the terrace would probably be enough to sort it out. She headed downstairs and out into the garden to the pool house. The door was closed and the curtains pulled. She thought about knocking but let herself in. The smell of alcohol hit her first, wine and spirits, and then cigarettes. They must have been smoking in here. The stench was awful. Anger rose in her chest – it just seemed so disrespectful to smoke in someone else’s home. She knocked on the first bedroom door; there was no answer. She walked to the second bedroom and the door was slightly ajar – she knocked gently and pushed it open to reveal Warren on top of the bed in the same t-shirt he’d been in at dinner and nothing else.
‘Warren!’ she exclaimed involuntarily.
‘Urh, what?’ he replied with his eyes still closed. Lucy picked up a towel from the back of a chair and threw it over him.
‘What time is it?’ he asked. Lucy checked her phone.
‘It’s nearly 10am,’ she said. ‘Are you going to get up soon? Breakfast is ready.’
‘Oh God, no,’ he groaned, ‘We only went to bed a few hours ago. I feel awful. I need to sleep.’
He still hadn’t opened his eyes and Lucy felt a rush of disappointment in him.
‘Fine,’ she said, leaving his room and stepping back into the main living area. She couldn’t let Tom see it like this – it was embarrassing. She set about clearing bottles and glasses. She moved a pile of magazines and found a makeshift ashtray full of cigarette butts. She threw open the windows and the front door and hoped that fresh air would be enough to revive the place.
‘All okay?’ Nina was standing on the terrace with a plate of bacon as Lucy walked back through the garden.
‘Yeah, fine, they’re having a lie-in,’ she said, embarrassed by her friends.
‘Oh right, okay,’ Nina said, possibly sensing Lucy’s suppressed anger. ‘Well breakfast is ready – help yourself.’
They sat and ate. Nina was so excited by the house she and Kristian had found. It cheered Lucy up to see her light up like this. Lucy kept sneaking a look at the time on her phone, willing Warren and Charlie to sort themselves out and join them here for some food, to meet Nina, to just be bloody normal. But it was becoming clear that it wasn’t going to happen. Eventually Nina began to clear the table – she looked at her watch. ‘God, it’s half-eleven,’ she said, looking worried. ‘I hate wasting a day – what are we going to do?’
‘I’ll go and give them a knock in a sec,’ Lucy said, trying not to visibly deflate at the thought. ‘If they’re still out of action, let’s just go the two of us.’
As she’d feared and expected, the pool house was in the same state that she’d left it in, although the stench did seem to be lifting with the flow of fresh air running through the place now. Lucy went to knock again on the bedroom doors, but couldn’t face it. She remembered those hangovers, the comedowns. Warren and Charlie would be terrible company even if they could drag themselves out of bed. She’d go without them, text them to tell them where she was and hopefully they’d be in a better state later on.
Lucy’s phone beeped as she and Nina were walking back towards Hideaway, the cliff path opening up as they turned the corner towards the bay, revealing the island and the beach. It was Warren.
Sorry, all sorted now. Fancy a late lunch? Thought we’d get a taxi into town.
It was 3pm and she’d already had lunch at the pub in Camel Cove with Nina.
Let me know when you’re down there and I’ll meet you at the café, she replied. She should’ve called them, explained that they could take the path from the bottom of the garden down to the town, but she couldn’t be bothered. She was trying to shrug off her anger towards them, but her stubbornness was making it difficult.
She and Nina got themselves a table at the café and ordered lattes from Tara, who hugged them both before they sat down.
‘Tom told me about Tara’s ex,’ Lucy said, remembering with surprise that she hadn’t discussed it with Nin
a yet.
‘What about her ex?’ Nina said, looking at the menu, somehow hungry again despite the huge lunch they’d devoured a few hours ago.
‘He sounds a bit stalkerish,’ Lucy said, surprised by her reaction.
‘Oh right.’
‘Did you not know?’
‘No, Tom’s never mentioned it. Although, come to think of it, Kristian’s said a few odd things about her over the years. I just figured he’d got the wrong end of the stick or something.’
Tara returned to the table with their drinks and Warren and Charlie appeared behind her, both wearing sunglasses and looking very rough.
Lucy stood, ‘Nina, this is Warren and Charlie.’
They shook hands and Warren and Charlie sat down, Warren groaned as he attempted to remove his sunglasses before promptly putting them back on.
‘Nice to meet you,’ Nina said. ‘Big night last night?’
‘Yeah,’ Charlie laughed. ‘I need some food.’
Tara took their orders and Nina began asking them about themselves, about where they lived in London, about their work. Warren and Charlie were polite, but short on conversation, clearly both struggling with their hangovers.
‘I might have a bloody Mary,’ Charlie said.
‘Great idea,’ Warren replied.
Lucy groaned internally.
The late lunch seemed to perk them up a bit. Lucy kissed Nina goodbye as she headed back to the house for a rest. Warren and Charlie wanted to explore the town a bit, so they walked through the cobbled streets slowly.
‘Oh my God, so much shit,’ Charlie said as they walked past a shop selling practical jokes, novelty t-shirts and sticks of rock.
‘It’s kind of cute, I think,’ Warren said charitably.
‘It’s sweet,’ Charlie agreed. ‘But it’s like something from three hundred years ago. I could never live somewhere like this. What do you actually do here?’ she turned to Lucy.
‘I don’t know,’ Lucy said. ‘It’s different to London, but it’s just a different way of life.’ She felt the clichés fall out of her mouth and cringed a little.
‘Hmmm, it’s giving me cabin fever,’ Charlie said. Lucy was beginning to tire of her rudeness.
‘Ere, Lucy, good mornin’, my lover!’ Louie was about to jump into his packed boat.
‘Hiya, how are you doing?’ she called over. ‘These are my friends, Warren and Charlie.’
‘Nice to meet you all.’ Louie outstretched a hand towards them, which they shook in turn.
‘You gang down for the Sundowner, I spose? Well I better geddon. I’ll see you later, my love.’
‘Bye, Louie, have a good one.’ Lucy gestured to his boat, full of passengers applying sun cream and peering over the edges to look at the glistening water.
Lucy turned back to her friends, who were sniggering now. ‘What?’ Lucy said, pissed off now.
‘That was hilarious,’ Warren said. ‘A proper Cornish bumpkin. Oh my God, amazing.’
He and Charlie hadn’t looked so animated since last night, when they were off their faces on coke.
Lucy wanted to hit him.
‘What’s the Sundowner?’ Charlie asked, once she’d pulled herself together.
‘Nothing,’ Lucy said. ‘It’s nothing.’
The group ate dinner together on the terrace. Tom cooked a ham and Kristian made a load of salads, while the girls and Warren chatted and watched the sunset.
‘We’re very glad to be having her back,’ Warren said, smiling at Lucy and then Nina.
‘What, in London?’ Nina said, looking at Lucy. Lucy felt her heart sink. She should have told them all properly about her return to Spectrum. They shouldn’t be finding out like this.
‘No to work,’ Charlie laughed. ‘When do you actually start?’
‘What’s that?’ Kristian was stood by Nina now, one arm draped around her neck, the other holding a plate of Greek salad.
‘Lucy’s going back to her old job,’ Nina said, holding Lucy’s gaze.
‘You’re what?’ Kristian said. ‘Seriously?’
‘Yeah,’ Lucy said, trying to sound breezy. ‘It’s great. I can’t wait.’ She felt sad at how little she meant this. The last couple of days with Warren and Charlie had had the complete opposite effect to what she’d expected.
‘Have you told Tom?’ Nina asked. Lucy couldn’t look at her friend any more, afraid she’d see the truth about her feelings.
‘No, not yet. Can I tell him? Actually, can we not talk about it tonight? I’ll tell him myself.’
Warren and Charlie pulled confused expressions and shrugged. Nina and Kristian didn’t answer.
Dinner was pleasant. Warren and Charlie went easy on the wine and were better company than the night before. They told endless stories about Spectrum, though they didn’t let Lucy’s return slip in front of Tom. Lucy watched her friends graciously listen to one long-winded tale after another about a bunch of people they’d never met, about a world they didn’t know. Lucy wondered whether tonight had done much to counteract the media-wanker label Tom had given them yesterday and doubted it. As they cleared everything away and said goodnight she realised that Warren and Charlie hadn’t asked a single question about anyone else.
33
Lucy was surprised the next morning to find Warren and Charlie dressed and ready for breakfast when she opened the door and stepped into the garden. The pool house door was open and it looked tidy inside. There were cases on the veranda, she noticed.
‘We’re going to head off this morning,’ Warren said, looking a little sheepish.
‘What? You’ve only been here two nights,’ Lucy said, surprised but slightly delighted.
‘We just thought we ought to get back, thinking about it. We should probably be at work tomorrow. They’re really busy there with the new commission.’
‘But you’ve booked it off as holiday,’ Lucy said, confused.
‘Yeah,’ Charlie said, ‘but apparently they’re mad busy there, and…’ She paused as if searching for something to say. ‘Well, we just thought we’d get back, really.’
‘It’s been fab,’ Warren said, hugging her. ‘Seriously, can’t wait to have you back.’
‘Will you have breakfast?’ Lucy asked.
‘No I think we’ll beat the rush hour and head off now,’ Charlie said, flicking her car key in her fingers.
Lucy laughed inside at the notion of a rush hour here, offered to help them to their car and kissed them goodbye. It was worrying how relieved she was to see them drive off, but it felt like peace had been restored as the electronic gate closed smoothly behind them. She thought she could see them laughing as they sped off, but she could only see their silhouettes – maybe she was imagining it.
When she told the others at breakfast they seemed a bit surprised, but not too put out. It had been an odd couple of days and Lucy felt a residual embarrassment from the whole thing. Kristian pulled her to one side after breakfast and asked if she could help him now that she had an unexpected free day, and Lucy agreed, happy for the distraction.
Nina found her sitting on the edge of the pool, with her feet in the water.
‘I’m going in to Truro in a bit – need some bloody maternity jeans. Fancy joining me?’
‘I can’t,’ Lucy said, reaching for her tea and searching for an excuse. ‘Tom’s roped me in for a shift at the café.’
‘It’s going to be fucking hideous in town, isn’t it, in this heat? Oh well, I literally can’t get into my clothes any more, so I’ll just grin and bear it.’
‘`Don’t get angry with people,’ Lucy could picture the scene.
‘I’ll try my best,’ Nina said. ‘I wish you could come. I need to talk to you about Kristian – he is being so bloody weird at the moment. I think he’s stressed about the move, but he won’t talk to me like a normal person,’ Nina got up with a groan.
Lucy sipped her tea and looked down over the beach as the realisation that she needed to tell Tom that she was going back to h
er old job began to weigh on her mind. She tried to tell herself he’d be supportive of her decision, but couldn’t make herself really believe it. He was due to be in the café this morning. She remembered, suddenly, that she hadn’t told Claire yet either; she’d call her on the way down to town.
‘Morning,’ Molly raised a coffee as a greeting in Lucy’s direction. She looked harassed – the café was busy.
‘Morning, Molly,’ Lucy said, looking around for Tom.
Claire had sounded happy enough about Lucy’s plan when she’d phoned her on the walk down to the café, although somewhat nonplussed, maybe. Lucy had heard Tim sounding miserable in the background, trying to get Claire off the phone. She’d asked her what Tom thought, which seemed strange to Lucy, since when was Tom her keeper?
There was no sign of Tom in the café. Lucy checked the terrace, weaving through tables full of people eating and ordering. She reached the stairs at the edge of the decking that ran down to the beach and heard a noise below. Walking down she caught sight of two figures, entwined, against the white wall. She could see Tara’s hair knotted at the top of her head. She was pressed hard into a large, male figure in neon board shorts, whose hands were running all over her body, his face obscured by the angle of the wall. But she didn’t need to see his face to know it was Tom – she recognised the neon-pink shorts, his surfer’s physique. Her heart raced at the sight and she froze momentarily on the spot, praying they hadn’t heard her coming down the steps. She turned, as soon as she had composed herself – how long had it taken? Minutes? Seconds? She walked back up the stairs, her heart pounding, legs jelly. It shouldn’t have been such a shock. She’d known, really, all along, but seeing it with her own eyes – it felt like her heart was breaking.
She walked quickly back through the café, smiling at Jen, trying to look breezy. Please don’t mention I was here, she thought, mortified at the prospect of Tom and Tara bonding over how awkward it all was, how pathetic she was. Back out on the street she realised she was red with embarrassment and wiped the sweat away from her hairline. She tried to push the image of the two of them away. Pulling her phone from her pocket she called Kristian.
