The Heat Is On

by Helen Bridgett

  ‘Hi there,’ she says.

  While Robert is replying with a polite ‘hi’ and an outstretched hand, Elliott grabs Patty in a bear hug.

  ‘I knew we’d find you one day,’ he says through the tears.

  ‘You look a bit different from the photo Dad gave us,’ adds Robert, holding out a faded black and white picture of a five-year-old Patty on the beach with the Jimmy Dean lookalike we saw back at her house.

  White Wedding

  Time has flown, as it has a tendency to do when there is an awful lot to do in a tiny number of days. Nevertheless, I’ve checked my notepad time and again and for the life of me, I can’t think of anything I’ve forgotten to do.

  ‘Are you happy with everything?’ asks Charlie.

  ‘Yes,’ I reply. ‘Even if we’d had months to pull this together, we couldn’t have done it better. Honestly Charlie, I think this is going to be the most perfect wedding.’

  In fact it’s looking so perfect that the Mercurians are lining up in their dozens to watch it online. How on earth Josie has pulled this off I don’t know, but Patty will have more people watching her take her vows than Will and Kate – OK that bit was a slight exaggeration. Ooh, but what if I get the Pippa Middleton reputation? I take a quick peek at my backside in the mirror – not too bad but I could have done with a few sessions in the gym if I’d thought of it earlier.

  I’m collecting the dresses and suits. In fact I’m making sure everything that has to be worn on the day is checked and double-checked leaving the bride and groom to focus on their holiday clothes. I never thought about it before but the other benefit of an island wedding is that you don’t have to pack again for your honeymoon. I’ll have to remember to put that in our sales brochures. I can’t help having one side of my brain focused on the business end of this trip, after all we’ve pulled together something wonderful in three weeks. We have a menu, flowers and a magical yacht trip that we could easily offer time and time again – as long as it all goes well.

  The other side of my brain can’t wait to see Michael again. He’s been out on the island for a month now and although we’ve spoken every day, it’s not the same (oh, hang on a minute, it’s not just my brain that’s looking forward to seeing him). It hasn’t been all sunsets and sea breezes for him. There’s been a bit of a storm out here recently and we wouldn’t have been ready without him. During his last call he assured me that everything was in place and ready to host the wedding of the decade.

  It’s funny how you get used to having someone around and then when they’re not there, it’s like a piece of you is missing. I’ve felt like this ever since Michael left. Although I’m with my closest friends, the people I love most in the world, something is definitely missing without him. Getting on to the plane brings it home even more. I should have guessed that any plane travelling to a romantic island is of course going to be full of couples. Even the couples in our group are giddy with excitement. Before boarding, we all go into the lounge for a glass of champagne. While Josie and her true-love Matt feed each other the raspberry in the glass, Patty and Jack interlink arms to drink from the other’s glass, and the two guys simply kiss for longer than is necessary, I toast them and drink my champagne on my own unnoticed by this loved-up lot. Yep, I’m definitely looking forward to making up for lost time.

  Patty and Jack turn left as we board – they’ve upgraded their seats for the flight. The rest of us turn right and find our rows. Matt and Josie get a whole three seats to themselves while I’m on the aisle beside Charlie and Peter. After a little glass of wine I relax and feel Peter’s shoulders gently rocking with laughter as they both watch an ancient romcom together. I start to fall asleep imaging that my head is lying on Michael’s chest, as it shortly will be.

  Landing after a few hours sitting down in the plane and then the ferry over here, my body feels so stiff, but the first sight of Formentera relaxes every muscle in my body. The sky seems endless. The blue is barely punctuated with picture perfect clouds. The breeze is warm and as I watch the bougainvillea swaying at the edge of the road, I know Michael will have loved his time here and that we will be back.

  The resort more than lives up to my vision of it: Charlie’s beach bar stands on the whitest sand – as if someone has just sprinkled icing sugar everywhere. With the candy-coloured tropical flowers and marshmallow clouds, this could be Willy Wonka’s second home. As we arrive, Michael rushes out followed by Lucille and the rest of the team. I run towards him and he picks me up in a Dirty Dancing kind of way (let a girl dream, please).

  ‘I have missed you so much,’ he says kissing me.

  Lucille shakes everyone’s hand and then gives me a big hug. ‘I’ve heard so much about you from your wonderful man and now I meet you I can see how he’s so in love,’ she says genuinely and I wonder how I could have been jealous of this lovely woman.

  She greets Charlie and Peter like old friends and then turns to the bride and groom. ‘You ladies will be in the main hotel,’ she says, ‘and other guests on the beach. You’ll have blissful relaxation before the wedding.’

  ‘I’m happy with that but I think you’ll find Angie would rather be on the beach,’ says Patty smiling at me. I give her a dig – I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer for Michael.

  Patty and I are in adjoining rooms with a balcony looking over the bay. Tomorrow we check everything is ready for the wedding, and the day after the celebrations begin. I lie back on my glorious bed wondering whether everything is going according to plan downstairs. The real reason Patty and I have been banished to the main hotel is that I have a surprise in store for her, so she can’t be allowed to wander around on her own. We have a private dinner in our room and are both worn out soon afterwards. After checking that Patty has actually gone to sleep, I lie down, too, and drift off very quickly.

  I wake up to see the sun rising on the picture-perfect horizon, then bounce out of bed completely refreshed and head down to breakfast. Exotic fruits of every colour greet me and I pile a plate with them, dying to taste everything – especially those I’ve never seen. I’ve never been this excited about fruit before. Full of virtue and vitamins I meet up with Lucille and Patty to go through the schedule for tomorrow. She shows me the planting Michael has done over the past few weeks and the safari tents he has built. These are the bridal suites and tomorrow night there’s a part of the beach that will be exclusively reserved for the bride and groom. A shiver of excitement flows through my body – this really is wonderful. Behind us, Josie appears with her tablet: she’s shooting a video of the preparation day, showing everyone back home where the wedding will take place.

  ‘Is it everything you dreamed it would be?’ she asks Patty for the camera.

  ‘It’s more than I could ever have dreamed of,’ she replies. ‘Everyone can see how beautiful the island is but when you get here and smell the sea, the air and flowers, when you feel that warm breeze… It’s just magical. What do you think Ange?’

  ‘Honestly, I can’t imagine anywhere more perfect to marry the man you love,’ I say to camera.

  With everything in place, there’s nothing for us to do but relax. Josie gives me the nod that all is OK and stays with us girls. I’m told the guys are out diving – rather them than me. Lucille doesn’t seem to relax at all; she checks up on us frequently but afterwards rushes off to attend to something or the other.

  ‘Are there other guests staying at the moment?’ asks Patty.

  ‘Dunno – probably,’ I say, trying to sound nonchalant and hiding beneath a wide-brimmed hat that I have balanced over my face.

  ‘We should get out of this sun,’ advises Josie. ‘Can’t have you Poms glowing bright pink on your big day.’

  ‘Not again, anyhow,’ I sigh.

  Memory of my tanning mishap is all the incentive I need to retire to the beach bar and sample one of its legendary cocktails.

  In the distance I see the diving boat coming back.

  ‘I can’t wait to hear if Charlie act
ually got into the water. Shall we go down and meet them?’ says Patty.

  Josie starts choking on a chunk of pineapple – so it’s not the drink that does you damage, it’s the fruit that comes with it.

  ‘I thought we’d have a guy-free day,’ I say slapping Josie on the back.

  ‘What about dinner?’ Patty asks.

  ‘I’ve ordered us a private dinner on my balcony – just us three,’ says Josie. ‘The three lady Mercury musketeers – I hope that’s OK.’

  ‘I’m OK with that,’ replies Patty. ‘It’s been one hell of a year. A quiet evening of counting my blessings is probably just what I need.’

  Lucille arrives with the flowers for tomorrow: cascading sprays of delicate lilac blooms.

  ‘Do you like them?’ I ask Patty as she poses in front of the mirror with hers. She simply nods choking back the emotion.

  ‘I adore them,’ she replies.

  Lucille takes them back to be stored until the morning and as she leaves, a waiter arrives with our evening meal and a chilled bottle of wine. The three of us sit down and Josie pours the wine. We raise a toast to friends, family and lovers then clink glasses cheerily.

  ‘To those we love, those we have loved and those we have still to get to know,’ adds Patty.

  The musketeers end the evening very contented with life and looking forward to the big day.

  * * *

  You know those times when you wake up and for the briefest moment you can’t remember what’s going to happen today but you know it’s important? Well, that happened to me this morning. Precisely ten seconds before Patty burst through our adjoining doors and pounced on my bed.

  ‘I’m getting married!’

  Ah yes, that’s what’s happening today.

  ‘Come on old maid – sorry, maid of honour. We’ve got to start looking even more gorgeous than we do now.’

  I feel like a pampered princess in her high tower as beautician follows hairdresser follows manicurist follows man bearing a tray of champagne. Throughout the morning Josie films our activities giving anyone watching a commentary. Our virtual viewers even choose Patty’s lipstick colour.

  ‘Julianne or JLO Nude,’ says Josie reading out the colour options. ‘Vote now.’

  Our audience of sixteen decides she should wear JLO Nude.

  We slip on our dresses and the flowers arrive. We look at our reflections in the mirror and we’re as ready as we can be.

  ‘Are you OK?’ I ask Patty. She drains the remains of the champagne from the glass.

  ‘I am. I just wish my brothers could have made it today.’

  ‘Me, too,’ I reply. ‘But it was short notice and I’m sure they’re watching online.

  I send Josie ahead, then Patty and I check each other over one last time and head for the lift. We say nothing as it descends but my heart is pounding – please let this go well. The lift bell tings and the automated voice announces that we’ve reached the ground floor. The doors open slowly and we step out.

  This is the surprise I’ve organised for Patty. I’ve arranged for Robert and Elliott to be waiting at either side of the lift as we arrive and they’ll walk Patty down the aisle. On cue, her brothers step forward and I step aside. Patty’s jaw drops and she looks from me to them and back again. Of course we’re all grinning like madmen. Then from further down the corridor more people start to emerge, her new sisters-in-law, her nephews, and her nieces dressed as flower girls. One of them still sporting her feather boa.

  Robert steps forward: ‘We hope you don’t mind, but the kids wanted to gatecrash the wedding of their new aunty.’

  The unintended consequences of my actions are that both Patty and I are starting to cry. Fortunately, Lucille has had the foresight to make sure the beautician is on hand to fix our blubbering eyes.

  ‘I’ll get you back for this,’ says Patty smiling through her tears and looking directly behind me. I turn and see Zoe and Jamie heading towards me.

  ‘You made it!’ I cry. ‘Oh I’m so pleased, how did you get the time?’

  ‘It was all a ruse conjured up by this woman,’ Zoe replies nodding at Patty. ‘She wanted to surprise you.’

  ‘Thank you, you gorgeous creature,’ I say to Patty, squeezing her hand and hoping there aren’t any more mascara-ruining moments in the offing. Robert tells us that it’s time to begin, so Zoe goes to her seat beside Mum, Dad and Michael and I take my place behind Patty.

  The curtains open on to a scene from a movie. Honestly, it really could be. A pergola covered in flowers stands at the end of an aisle lined with seashells. The gloriously blue sky and the sea are seriously competing with Patty to be the star attraction and the sunlight shines down on the party from just the right angle. Everyone looks incredibly glamorous rather than blinded by the light. Josie goes ahead of the bride filming the event and then turns to catch Patty coming down the aisle. As the vows start, I sit between Zoe and Michael holding both their hands. They’ve written their own vows and Patty starts.

  ‘…we’ll follow every stream, we’ll chase every rainbow…’

  ‘Is she quoting the Sound of Music?’ whispers Zoe, and I nod, giggling at my friend. It’s Jack’s turn next.

  ‘…if you fall, I will catch you…’

  I can’t stop myself this time, I burst out laughing and Charlie does the same. Jack and Patty look at us, glad that someone has spotted it. Jack’s vows are the lyrics of ‘Time After Time’, one of Patty’s favourite songs.

  They are pronounced man and wife. I was expecting a full-on Patty-style crowd-pleasing snog but instead Jack kisses her hand very tenderly and I see Patty swallow back a tear. She takes a deep breath and turns to us.

  ‘Come on guys, it’s time for a party.’

  We follow the bride and groom down to the shore where the yacht is waiting to take us on our early-evening cruise. We’re served our colourful cocktails as we sail around the island seeing the romantic little coves, the glorious foliage and spectacularly coloured birds that our guests will soon be enjoying.

  ‘I can’t imagine not having this place now,’ I say to Charlie.

  ‘Me neither, I think it’s going to be very good for us,’ he replies.

  ‘Well, thanks to the web-stream, we’ve already got our first booking,’ says Josie.

  We all drop our jaws in a silent scream and clink glasses. It’s fabulous news but this is Patty’s day not Mercury’s. The yacht returns to the harbour and we disembark; Patty is going to throw her bouquet from the bow. We politely gather around and she throws, directly at me. In a slow-motion moment, I realise that every other woman has stepped away from the flying flowers, so if I don’t reach out to grab it, a stunning arrangement of orchids will land in the water. I reach out and catch it just in time. The wedding party cheer and I blush. I try to give it to one of Patty’s young nieces but it seems that even they’ve been briefed.

  ‘I guess it’s your turn next then boss,’ says Josie.

  ‘I’m sure Michael might have something to say about that,’ I reply, struggling for words.

  ‘Bring it on,’ he replies, kissing me.

  Perfect Day

  The celebrations go on into the evening. Patty’s new family love to show off as much as she does, so there are a few duets taking place. Well, if you can’t bond over ‘You’re the One that I Want’ what can you bond over?

  My mum and dad have already retired to bed when Zoe comes up and says that they’re heading up, too.

  ‘It was a wonderful day Mum,’ she says and I nod, it really was. I kiss her goodnight.

  ‘Shall we go up?’ asks Michael. ‘Leave this lot to their own version of The X-Factor?’

  Patty’s words ‘be more spontaneous’ have been gathering momentum as this lovely day has gone on and I think the time is right. I gather up all my bravado and say, ‘Come with me first. There’s something I’ve always wanted to do.’

  We sneak away from the table and then through the hotel, giggling like schoolchildren. The front door c
reaks as we try to open it quietly and then we run along the beach as if escaping from the crowds. The moon and stars are lighting up the beach and the tide is gently lapping against the gleaming white sand. The last cries of birdcall seem louder and more exotic in the quiet of the night.

  I walk along until the hotel is out of sight and we’re in a little cove that I spotted while out on the yacht earlier today. At this hour, the moon seems to shine on it like a spotlight on a stage. I turn to Michael and kiss him.

  ‘You remember I said in the furniture store that I wanted our first time to be perfect?’

  He nods.

  ‘It was memorable at least,’ he laughs.

  ‘You can say that again. So why don’t we try for a perfect moment here on the island. I found this place yesterday and well, it looks pretty perfect to me,’ I whisper coyly.

  I pull Michael towards me and kiss him.

  ‘Our own private From Here To Eternity,’ he murmurs, stroking my hair and smiling into my eyes.

  We lie down on the sand and I run my hands down the muscles in his back. He nibbles my neck.

  Ouch that bite was a bit sharp.

  Ouch, so was that.

  ‘That’s not actually you is it?’ I cry, sitting up and brushing the sand off my body.

  ‘No it isn’t, something’s biting me, I think it might be sand flies,’ he replies, leaping up and pulling his shirt half off.

  At that point a heron or gull of some sort takes fright from all the commotion. It swoops from the cliffs down over the sea nearly taking my head off and leaving a healthy deposit on my hair.

  ‘Oh no!’ I yell, not wanting to leave it there but not wanting to touch it.

  ‘Angie, watch out,’ yells Michael, pointing to the sea.

  Too late, a small gathering wave smacks me right in the face. I sit there in my beautiful chiffon dress, covered in bird poo and soaking wet. Behind me Michael just starts laughing; soon he’s uncontrollably doubled up with laughter. I look at him as he stands there wearing half a shirt, scratching away on our perfect island paradise. What do we look like? I start laughing, too, and we put our arms around each other to make our way to the hotel. He takes off his shirt properly to wrap it around me as the night breeze turns chilly.