by Lacey London
‘You sure about that?’ Gina scoffs, waving her wine glass around erratically. ‘Just wait until you’ve had three kids and things start going south…’
‘Just ignore her.’ Eve tuts and confiscates Gina’s glass.
‘That’s easy for you to say.’ Retrieving her lip gloss from her pocket, Gina makes a poor attempt at topping up her lip colour. ‘Even I fancy you.’
Eve’s cheeks blush pink as she brushes off the compliments. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
Breathing in my muffin top, I roll off the couch and grab a bottle of water from the fridge. A warm breeze drifts in through the open patio doors, enticing me out onto the veranda.
‘I’m going outside for some air.’ Lianna announces, as though reading my mind.
Fastening the cap on the bottle of water, I follow her through the living room.
‘I’ll get more drinks.’ Gina yells, making her way into the kitchen and nearly falling several times in the process.
Clearly not wanting to let Gina loose in her prized drinks cabinet, Eve dashes after her and hides a bottle of luxury rum under the sink. Swallowing the laugh that is growing in my stomach, I abandon my sandals and slip outside. Scanning the veranda, it takes me a moment to realise that the white rock down at the water’s edge is actually Lianna. The warm air smothers me as I wander across the soft sand, making me want to curl up right here on the beach front.
Dropping down next to her, I stick my toes into the water and I’m surprised to discover that it is still rather warm. Lianna shakes her hair back in the breeze and frowns when she realises that I haven’t brought any drinks.
‘I think we should save ourselves until tomorrow, don’t you?’ Tucking her hair behind her ears, I can’t help but notice that she is rather intoxicated.
Letting out a little snort, she drops her head onto my shoulder and sighs. ‘I’m getting married.’
‘Yes, Lianna. Yes, you are.’ I look out at the shimmering ocean and think about just how much has happened on this holiday. ‘You aren’t having second thoughts, are you?’
Shaking her head furiously, she stretches out her legs on the sand. ‘Nope. You know, you have asked me that same question a thousand times, are you hoping that I will change my mind?’
‘Not at all.’ Looking down at my knees, I dust the sand off my shins and sigh. ‘I just want you to know that you don’t have to do anything that you aren’t one hundred percent comfortable with.’
Li rubs her nose and succeeds only in getting sand all over her face. ‘I want to tell you something, but I don’t want you to get upset…’
Her words trail off as she looks away guiltily. What the hell has she done now?
‘What the hell have you done now?’ My mind races with all the dreadful, or rather stupid things that Lianna has done over the years and a bead of sweat crawls down my forehead as I wait for her to spill the beans. ‘Spit it out!’ I yell, not being able to stand the anticipation for a second longer.
Rubbing her eyes, she stays silent for what seems like forever before finally relenting. ‘It’s Stephanie.’
I screw up my nose in confusion. ‘What about Stephanie?’
‘It was her.’
‘What was?’
‘Everything!’ Li throws her hands in the air angrily. ‘Everything that went wrong at The Hangout, it was all her.’
Twisting my hair out of my face, I try to process what see is saying, or rather trying to say in her drunken state.
‘The kitchen errors, the guest list incident, the prawn hidden in the fish curry...’ Her voice trails off into inaudible mumbles as she shakes her head furiously.
‘Fish curry?’ I look at her as though she has lost her mind and wonder if I should fetch a sick bucket.
‘She was intentionally trying to sabotage things, Clara! That’s why she took the job in the first place. She was only there to ruin The Hangout!’
‘No way!’ As I gaze back at her, the words finally sink in. ‘Bloody hell! She came across so well too. That’s crazy.’ Staring out at the ocean, I remind myself that she was poached from a rival bar, some people would say that if you play with fire, you’re probably going to get burned.
‘Vern fired her…’ She mumbles, her voice suddenly small.
‘Well, I guessed that.’ Secretly feeling a little relieved that her big revelation isn’t something more catastrophic, I wiggle my toes in the sand and exhale slowly.
We sit in a comfortable silence for a moment, both of us drawing patterns into the damp sand.
‘I’m going to take her job.’ She suddenly announces, causing me to burst into laughter.
Hiccupping loudly, she nods vigorously to show how serious she is. ‘I know you think it’s the rum talking, but it isn’t.’
‘OK…’ She has clearly had more to drink than I first thought. ‘Let’s talk about this tomorrow, shall we?’
Not wanting to get into a drunken rambling with a tipsy Li, I decide to ignore her and attempt to change the subject.
‘Are you looking forward to…’
‘I’m not that drunk, Clara.’ Furrowing her brow, she reaches over and takes my hand. ‘I am going to stay out here.’
‘You can’t just stay out here. It doesn’t work like that.’ Pursing her lips defiantly, she twirls her ring around her finger, an unreadable expression on her face. ‘Even if you’re married, you still need to apply for a visa. Plus, you’ve got a thriving business back in London. Not to mention a house, a car…’ My words drift off into babbles as my heart rate picks up. ‘You can’t just stay!’
Laughing loudly, Lianna throws herself back onto the sand rolls onto her stomach. ‘I know that, but I am going to live here. You know, when I have sorted out the legalities.’
‘But… but… but what are you going to do about Periwinkle? You have put years into building it up. You can’t just walk away from it.’
‘Of course I’m not going to walk away from it!’ She looks up at me as if I am stupid and rolls her eyes. ‘I’m going to sell it.’
‘Sell it!’ I squeal, feeling like my heart is going to pound out of my chest. ‘Lianna! You can’t!’
‘I can and I shall. I am going to use the money to buy into The Hangout. That way I will still have a business and an income, so you can stop worrying!’ Pulling my arm so that I tumble down beside her, she rests her head on my shoulder. ‘You don’t need to babysit me anymore. I appreciate you looking out for me, I really, really do, but I am a big girl now.’
Not taking my eyes off hers, I exhale slowly and shake my head. I have lost count of the amount of times that Lianna and I have had this same conversation in the past. Each and every time Li has one of her crazy, spontaneous ideas, we have the same heart to heart that always ends in the same way. I tell her that she is far too impulsive and makes life changing decisions without putting any thought into it and she tells me that I have to stop mothering her and let her live her own life. In the end, I give in, she makes a decision that I don’t agree with and when it all inevitably falls apart, I pick up the pieces.
‘This isn’t like all those stupid decisions that I have made in the past. I know what I am doing this time.’ I let out a laugh and tear my eyes away. So, this is what deja-vu feels like. ‘Don’t you think I want what you and Marc both have? Don’t you think a part of me hates seeing my two best friends so happy when I know that I haven’t even come close to finding happiness myself?’
‘Lianna…’
‘When you met Oliver, you didn’t know how important he was going to become to you. If I would have told you back then, seven days after meeting him that he was going to be your husband, the father of your child and your one true love, you would probably run as fast as you could in the other direction.’ Not being able to argue with her, I rub my temples as she continues. ‘That is how I know that this is more right than anything ever has been before. What did I say to you when I returned from Barbados last year?’
A smile plays on the corner of my
lips as I recall picking her up from the airport. Her skin was golden, her eyes sparkling as she dived into the passenger seat of my car. Before I could even say hi, she burst into a fit of giggles and clasped her hands over her heart.
‘You said that you had met the man that you were going to spend the rest of your life with.’
‘And that, Clara is exactly what I am going to do…’
You can never cross the ocean if you don’t have the courage to lose sight of the shore…
Chapter 17
‘To Lianna.’ Eve takes her glass of bubbles and holds it high in the air. ‘I wish you and Vernon a lifetime of happiness together.’
‘To Lianna.’ Gina and I raise our glasses and clink them against Eve’s as Li’s cheeks turn pink.
Smiling as I take a sip of the ice cold bubbles, I pull my robe tightly around my body and look down at my glossy nails. For the past couple of hours, the four of us have been holed up at a luxury spa on the west coast. After a rather fabulous top to toe beach front massage, we have been treated to a relaxing pedicure and my once unloved toenails are now sparkling like crazy under the bright lights of the salon. Looking over at Lianna who hasn’t stopped smiling all day, I can’t deny that this hen do has gotten off to a superb start.
When we left the villa this morning, the boys were more than a little worse for wear. It would seem that a night out drinking rum and God knows what else until the early hours of the morning results in one hell of a hangover. Eve and I spent an hour quizzing Owen and Oliver, trying to get the gory details out of them. Despite our mammoth efforts, all we got were that Marc threw up, Owen lost a load of money in a game of dominoes and Oliver fell asleep on the way home. I think it’s safe to say that Lianna’s party won’t be anywhere near as crazy.
Taking a sip of bubbles, I thank the lovely ladies who have been beautifying us and stretch out on the padded lounger. This time tomorrow, Li will be getting ready to walk down the aisle. Well, down the sand. After our drunken conversation last night, I woke up more than a little concerned about my best friend, but looking at her now I couldn’t be happier for her if I tried.
‘How do you feel?’ Eve asks, placing her glass down on the wooden table in front of her.
Exhaling loudly, Lianna shakes her head and smiles. ‘I don’t know! Excited, happy, thrilled, ecstatic…’
‘I remember the night before my wedding.’ Gina muses, running a hand through her black locks.
‘How did you feel?’ Lianna looks down at her pretty pink nails and smiles.
‘In a word… drunk!’
I let out a laugh and down the contents of my glass. I don’t think there has a been a time in Gina’s life where she hasn’t felt drunk. Checking my watch, I pull the towelling headband out of my hair and push myself to my feet. If I sit here any longer I am most definitely going to drift off.
‘What’s next on the agenda, bride to be?’ Holding out a hand to pull her up, I slip my mobile phone into my robe pocket.
Lianna scratches her nose and takes out our room key. I say our room key because we are all in the same room. Well, to call it a room isn’t really fair, the enormous, ocean front suite is almost as big as Eve’s villa. I’m kind of gutted that I only get to spend one night in it.
‘Well, we have dinner booked for seven and then I thought we could have cocktails on the balcony?’
Gina and Eve nod in agreement and follow Lianna out of the spa. Tagging along behind, we pad along the corridor until we come to the lift.
With the marriage ceremony due to take place late in the afternoon, us girls are staying here tonight before heading back to the villa to get ready in the morning. Despite our efforts, Li still protests that she will only need an hour to prepare for her nuptials. Not wanting to argue with the future Mrs Clarke, I decided to take a back seat and let her take charge. As far as I am aware, she hasn’t let Eve and Gina in on her plans to move to Barbados. After my not so positive reaction, she is probably going to be a little more careful with who she divulges this information to. I must admit that I expected her to wake up this morning and tell me that she didn’t mean what she was saying last night, but it was much the opposite. Over our delicious bacon and eggs courtesy of James, Li threw back two pain killers and made it very clear that she was just as determined as she was last night to go through with her plans to sell Periwinkle and flee the UK.
I must admit that I did let Oliver in on her life changing decision and surprisingly, he thought that it was the right thing for Lianna. The way that he sees it, is that Lianna is now a rather wealthy young woman with no responsibilities. With her having a house, a car and a business I beg to differ, but he has opened my eyes to his way of thinking. Apparently, Vernon had opened up to Oliver on his stag do about Stephanie’s shady antics and he is ecstatic that Lianna has decided to sell up and join him here in Barbados.
‘It’s such a shame that Cora didn’t want to join us.’ Eve sighs, stepping into the lift and immediately checking out her reflection the mirror.
‘After listening to Gina’s stories the other day, I’m not surprised that she decided to give it a miss, are you?’ Shaking my head at Gina, I break out in a fit of giggles as I remember Cora’s face when Gina revealed all about Lianna’s crazy, single girl antics.
The lift doors ping open and we pile out into the corridor. As we wait for Lianna to work out how to use the room card, I pad over to the window and look down at the scene below. Barbados is quite possibly the most beautiful island that I have ever visited. A few beach bums stretch out on the sand, desperate to soak up the last of the afternoon sun. Resting my head against the glass, I watch a flock of birds dance around in the sky before swooping off into the sunset. I can’t quite believe that in a few short days I shall be back in England, back in my city centre apartment in lively London.
For a split second a wave of jealously washes over me. This is going to be Lianna’s home. Her home. The place where she returns to after a long day at the job. I am suddenly reminded that Li’s work is going to involve, a beach, rum punch, flying fish burgers and not much else. A pretty big change to darting around London all day with a clipboard and a headset. She’s going to be living the dream. Why haven’t I seen that before now? Most people would chop their legs off for a chance to make this their reality. Tearing myself away from the window, I throw my arm around Lianna’s neck and plant a kiss on her cheek. Suddenly her decision to move out here doesn’t seem so ridiculous after all…
* * *
‘Today has been… perfect.’ Lianna gushes. ‘Honestly, really, really perfect.’
Looking out over the still black water, I can’t help but agree with her. If I could have my wedding day all over again, this is exactly how I would do it. From the laid back arrangements to the chilled out hen do, I really would copy every single detail. No one has stressed out about the cake, the flowers or the seating plan. No one has had a break down about the missing rings, the uncontactable caterer or the fact that we have had a few drops of rain, it really has been more perfect than perfect could be.
Resisting the urge to call Oliver again to check on the babies, I slip my phone into my handbag and kick it under the table in front of me. After a delicious three course meal, more glasses of bubbles than I can care to remember and the world’s best massage, all I can think about is crawling into the huge bed that is waiting for me inside.
‘This time tomorrow, you will be a married woman.’ Gina muses, stretching out her legs and almost tippling over in her chair. ‘You will be one of us.’
‘One of us?’ Li asks, frowning as she tips her glass upside down and realises that it’s empty.
‘A wife.’ Eve laughs. ‘Welcome to the club!’
We clink our now empty glasses together and fall about laughing. The moon shines brightly down upon us as we drop into a comfortable silence. I think we can safely say that we are all completely beat. Resting my head on my shoulder, I take a deep breath and inhale the salty sea air. The noise from
the bar below comes to a sudden stop and I am about to suggest that we call it a night too when Gina speaks up.
‘So, how is this going to work then?’ Gina asks, letting out a rather unladylike burp. ‘You and Vernon, how is it going to work?’
Bloody hell, Gina. We were so close to getting through the night without any awkward moments. Mentally cursing Gina, I lock eyes with Li and bite my lip. Holding my breath, I chew the inside of my cheek anxiously and look out over the water.
‘Well…’ She pauses for a moment, as though choosing her words carefully. ‘I am going to sell Periwinkle and move out here as soon as possible.’
Gina shoots me an alarmed look as her brow furrows in confusion. Not wanting upset Lianna, I decide to stay out of it.
‘What about your house?’ Eve asks, tucking her hair behind her ears. ‘And your car?’
‘I’m going to sell those too.’
A few questions arise as to why and how she came to this decision. As Lianna tells the story of Stephanie’s shady behaviour once again, I find myself strangely mesmerised. A few gasps escape Gina’s lips as she takes in the fact that Stephanie deliberately sabotaged The Hangout. Even now on my second time of hearing it, I still find it hard to believe, but as Eve is quick to point out, hiring from a rival company is not the brightest idea. As Lianna finally stops for breath, I look around the group and prepare myself for the chaos. Surprisingly, it doesn’t come.
‘I think that’s fabulous.’ Eve breathes. ‘Seriously, I think it is amazing. Well done, Lianna. I think you and Vernon will be extremely happy here in Barbados.’
‘I second that.’ Rolling onto her side, Gina smiles broadly and touches Li’s arm. ‘You deserve it.’
Lianna looks around the balcony as her eyes fill up with tears.
‘Don’t cry!’ I let out a little laugh and throw my arms around her neck. ‘Those better be happy tears!’
