by Sandie Jones
‘You are a good person,’ she says to her. ‘Don’t ever feel you have to lie or make excuses for the person you are or the person you once were.’
Ali shrugs her shoulders pitifully. ‘But everyone’s going to see that picture,’ she whispers.
‘So what?’ says Rachel, taking hold of her arms and turning her to face her. ‘The only people who really matter are here with you right now and they know what you’ve been through because they’ve watched you grow up. Anyone else who’s got a problem with it can go swivel on this.’ Rachel sticks her middle finger up and Ali laughs.
Rachel looks to Maria, who’s nodding and sobbing into a tissue. From one mother to another, Rachel can see that she’d rather have gone through it herself than have her daughter hurt so much, that all these years later, she still feels the effects.
‘Will!’ Ali calls across the terrace to where he’s standing with his back to them.
Rachel can only imagine the turmoil going on inside Ali’s head as she reconciles how best to tell her new husband that she’s not always looked the way she does today.
He turns around with a concerned expression, as if knowing just by the way his name was called that his new wife is upset.
‘Will, have you got my phone?’ asks Ali, unable to keep her voice steady.
He comes towards them, rifling in his inside pocket.
‘Yeah,’ he says, handing it over. ‘Is everything all right?’
Ali unlocks it and her face instantly crumples. ‘She’s sent it to me too. She must have sent it to everyone.’
‘I’m going to see what she’s got to say for herself,’ says Maria, heading back in the direction of the restaurant.
‘Er, what’s going on?’ asks Will.
Ali looks at Rachel in exactly the same way as Josh did in the park that day, unable to comprehend why someone would be so horrible.
‘It’s Chrissy . . .’ she starts. ‘She’s sent this picture to everyone’s phone.’
Rachel waits for him to ask who it’s of and what it’s got to do with Ali. But as he squints at it, all he says is, ‘Why would she do that?’
‘I don’t know,’ cries Ali. ‘But now everyone will know.’
He takes hold of her face with his hands and smiles. ‘What does it matter who knows that you used to look like that?’
Rachel lets out the breath she was holding. He already knows. Of course he does. That’s why they’re a couple who are going to survive. Because they have no secrets from each other.
‘When are you going to get it into your head that being the person you were back then has made you the person you are now?’ he asks, smiling. ‘The way you handled that made you the strong, incredible woman you are today.’
It doesn’t sound like the first time Will’s had to dispense this speech, and Rachel’s heart feels as if it might burst.
‘Their weakness made you strong,’ he says in between kissing her. ‘Their jealousy made you selfless. Their bitterness made you sweet.’
Ali’s sobs dissolve into whimpers as his wise words sink in.
‘Ali!’ calls out Chrissy, breathlessly, as she runs towards them. ‘I don’t know how . . . I’m so sorry . . . it doesn’t make any sense.’
‘I can’t even look at you right now,’ cries Ali, her tears returning. ‘After everything we’ve been through together . . . how could you?’
‘But I didn’t . . .’ pants Chrissy. ‘I swear to God . . .’ she says, looking as if she’s about to pass out. ‘This wasn’t me. I would never have done this to you.’
‘It came from your phone,’ says Ali accusingly.
Chrissy shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head, speechless.
‘Well, if you didn’t do it, who did?’
An uncomfortable, but not altogether unsurprising thought begins to whir around Rachel’s brain.
Ali’s looking at her, as if she’s asking herself exactly the same thing.
If she’s capable of sleeping with her best friend’s husband, then she’s capable of anything.
‘I saw her,’ says Rachel, as if to herself. ‘She was looking at Chrissy’s phone.’
Chrissy looks from one to the other, desperately wanting to be let in on the conspiracy theory that’s gathering pace. ‘Who?’ she asks.
‘Paige,’ says Rachel. ‘The friend I was with earlier.’
Calling her a friend already sounds so alien now.
‘She was with you at the bar a little while ago and you were both looking at your phone.’
‘Yeah,’ says Chrissy, not seeming to grasp what’s being suggested. ‘She wanted to see the photos I’d taken of the wedding.’
‘Jesus,’ says Rachel, exhaling. ‘She must have sent it without you noticing.’
Chrissy thumbs through her sent messages and looks up ashen-faced. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she says to Ali. ‘She’s sent it to everyone on my contact list.’
‘Wait, Paige has done this?’ asks Will, his face clouded with confusion. ‘Why would she do something like that?’
Ali looks to Rachel, as if seeking permission to tell him. Rachel nods.
‘She’s not quite who you think she is,’ says Ali.
His perplexed expression is wiped off by an icy spray of sea water that washes over the side of the terrace – an ominous warning of how high the tide’s come in.
Yet whilst he and everyone else yelps in shock, instinctively turning away, Rachel finds herself stepping closer to the edge. She looks into the swirling water just a few metres below as it batters the underside of the terrace. What had it done with the beach they were sitting on this afternoon? The caves they’d stood in? The staircase they’d walked down? Even the sign warning about falling rocks that had seemed so high when she was down on the beach is now about to disappear just below her. It’s as if, one by one, they’re being magicked away, lost in the depths of the choppy waters, only to reappear when the ocean feels ready to give them back.
She wonders if the waves have ever reached the restaurant, which is just a little higher, and, if they have, whether the lobsters in the tanks were able to set themselves free. She entertains the bizarre idea, as she knows it’s the only way she can hold off having to decide what she’s going to do about her husband sleeping with her best friend.
Because there’s no doubt in her mind that Ali’s telling the truth. Yet, instead of feeling hurt or angry, Rachel feels stupid. How could she have allowed herself to be deceived by two people she thought cared for her? How had she lived the life she thought she should live, when deep down she knew she wanted the life she gave up? Now that she really asks herself the question, she thinks that if she hadn’t have fallen pregnant so quickly, she and Jack most likely wouldn’t have made the cut. But family is everything, and she’d vowed to do whatever she could to ensure they stayed together. But what was it all for? Why had she suppressed her feelings for the man she truly loved? Spent years beating those emotions out of herself, so that every time she saw Noah, she wasn’t taken back to that night, with a yearning that threatened to tear her apart. The thought that Josh may be Noah’s son, and they could have been together as a family for all this time, makes her want to throw herself into the swell of the waves. She’d done what she thought was the right thing to do by everybody. Why couldn’t Jack and Paige have demonstrated the same respect?
A tremendous bang makes her jump, as the night sky is set alight with a flash of pink and white. The million coloured sparkles burst out from their cardboard rockets, reigniting again and again, before falling into the inky abyss.
As the sky falls black again, Rachel can see the streams of smoke weaving their way through the darkness, leaving floating grey wisps. But within seconds, another telltale whistle of a burnt-amber light soars up from what she can only imagine is a boat out at sea. It resembles a weeping willow tree as it explodes, reflecting itself in the water below.
In that split second, the ooooh’s that are coming from behind her, turn into strangled screams that sli
ce through the air. Rachel instinctively turns around and is blinded by a dazzling light that seems to be heading towards her. Her brain goes into overdrive as it battles to catch up with what others are already beginning to work out. The beam is definitely moving, and fast, but there are people in the way, she can see their outlines in the headlights.
Headlights? So it’s a car, and it’s showing no sign of stopping. She wants to scream, but it’s as if she’s trapped in a nightmare and no sound is coming out. She wills it to veer left, so that the restaurant takes the brunt of the impact, but she freezes as she thinks of the staff and DJ who are no doubt still inside.
The engine screeches, stuck in first gear, and Rachel prays that it won’t have enough power to reach the terrace. But it’s already here. She can hear the thud of bodies hitting the unforgiving metal, see them being spun up into the air. It’s all happening in slow motion, but yet she can’t seem to reach anyone before they’re hit; can’t save them from this faceless horror that is picking them off and taking them out, one by one.
The revving is deafening, competing against the roar of the waves, as the machine gets ever closer. What looked like a single beam, separates into two round circles of light as it nears, blinding Rachel to anything beyond. She can’t see what car it is, what colour it is, or, more importantly, if anyone’s in it.
It’s almost upon her now, but there’s nowhere for her to go, other than diving over the side of the terrace and into the sea. But it’s rocky and she’s likely to be taken by the ocean without trace if she gives it the chance.
She thinks of Josh, pictures his smiling face, and wonders how he’ll cope without her. She doesn’t want to leave him, miss out on seeing him graduate, get married and have children of his own. In that moment, she is comforted by the fact that he’ll still have his dad by his side, but then terror rips through her as she realizes that Jack might already be lying somewhere, mown down just a second before her. Where is he? When did she last see him?
She cries out in fear for Josh, more than herself, as the car reaches her. She moves, but not fast enough, to stop it from slamming into her, sending her spiralling out of control. It feels like she’s flying through the air, oddly serene as she floats above everyone else already on the floor. She’s sure she catches a glimpse of Noah’s pale-linen suit as she spins and she searches frantically for his face, knowing that if her eyes are going to be forever closed from this point, his face is the last thing she wants to see.
She tenses everything, squeezing every muscle tight, waiting for the impact to come. When she crash lands, she’s sure she must be dead, as there is nothing but a pain-free silence all around her.
But the whirring scream of the car as it goes airborne brings her around, and she watches as it’s momentarily suspended in mid-air before plunging into the sea.
There are cries of pain and calls for help all around her, but as much as she feels compelled to go to them, she takes a second for her own self-assessment. She tentatively moves her arms up towards her head, waiting for the agony to manifest itself in whichever limb has been struck. She doesn’t quite believe that her head is still on her shoulders until she feels it with her hands. Working her way down her body, she pats herself, checking that everything is still where it should be. Her fingers instinctively recoil from a warm, wet patch at the top of her leg, and as she allows herself to focus, a deep, rhythmical throbbing starts beating from her hip.
She winces as she pulls herself up into a sitting position, looking around at faces wearing expressions identical to her own; none of them yet believing what they’ve just witnessed and in too much shock to move.
Rachel’s buoyed to see that there are more people standing than on the floor, though Ali’s mum is the only one she immediately recognizes. ‘My baby, my baby,’ comes a blood-curdling scream, as she reaches a figure lying motionless on the floor. Rachel can see the white dress literally turning red in front of her eyes.
‘Noah!’ Rachel calls out, her tears mixing with the salty sea spray, stinging her face. ‘Noah!’
Like a celestial being, he emerges from the open-mouthed crowd, running towards her and falling to his knees. ‘Oh my God,’ he cries. ‘Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.’
She nods. ‘What the hell happened? Have you seen Jack? Where’s Paige?’
He shakes his head. ‘I don’t know,’ he croaks. ‘It came out of nowhere. I don’t know where they were. I don’t know where they are.’
Rachel’s aware of frantic movement all around her, as staff emerge from the restaurant with their hands on their heads and the wedding guests begin to call out in disbelief.
‘Kimberley!’ comes a desperate voice. ‘Ali!’ cries another.
‘Will?’ Rachel shouts. ‘Will, is that you?’
She sees him stumbling around, disorientated. ‘Go to him,’ she says to Noah. ‘See that he’s okay and find Jack and Paige.’
‘The serviços de emergência are coming,’ calls out one of the waiters. ‘Please, be calm. They are here quickly.’
‘Stay where you are,’ says Noah, squeezing Rachel’s hand. ‘Help is on the way.’
Rachel nods as he leaves and she looks around, trying to match the bloodied outfits, that just a few seconds ago had looked so glamorous, to their owners.
A man, just a few metres away from her, groans as he comes round. Seeing the colour of his trousers, and having made the observation earlier that it was only Will and Jack in dark suits, Rachel goes to get up, desperate to get to him. But she screams in pain as her leg buckles beneath her and she falls heavily to the ground.
‘Jack!’ she says, wanting to shout, but forcing herself to stay calm. He looks to be a minute or two behind her and she wants to give him the same moment she gave herself, to feel for what hurts and assimilate what has just happened.
As Jack rolls himself over, Rachel has to stop herself from recoiling in shock. One half of his face is covered in blood; the flesh that normally covers his cheekbone is flapping and his front teeth look to have gone through his bottom lip.
‘Don’t move,’ says Rachel, using her arms to drag herself along the floor towards him. ‘I’m here and help is on its way.’
He groans. ‘Please,’ says Rachel. ‘Please don’t try to talk. You’re going to be okay. I promise.’
Those that had been floored by sheer terror and shock begin to stand, as if not quite believing they can. They pat themselves down and sob as they hug one another, the adrenaline that had coursed through them just seconds before, now dissipated, leaving them drained and emotional.
‘Paige!’ calls out Noah, as he moves, ever more frantically around the terrace, turning people to face him, as if he wouldn’t recognize his wife from behind. ‘Paige!’
‘Aqui, bebe um pouco de água,’ says a man kneeling down next to Rachel. She gratefully takes the bottle of water that he’s offering.
Blue flashing lights descend down the hill, the noise of the sirens piercing the eerily quiet atmosphere. As men in red jackets, with Bombeiros written across their chest, race onto the devastating scene, Will breathlessly explains in broken Portuguese what happened. It’s only as he uses his raised hand to describe the car going off the terrace and into the sea that Rachel acknowledges that if the car is now underwater, so is whoever might be in it.
Rachel looks out to the black thrashing ocean, which offers up no clue whatsoever to what’s just happened. A chill rushes through her as she imagines the submerged vehicle sitting on the seabed, the water rising second by second as the driver thrashes to get out. It would be impossible to see, the cold and the dark so disorientating that even if the car had landed the right way up, you’d never know it.
No, Rachel tries to convince herself: it was a runaway, it had slipped off its handbrake and come hurtling towards them in a million-to-one freak accident. It couldn’t have had a driver because that means that person is still in there.
‘Paige!’ calls out Noah again, increasingly desperate.
‘Precisamos de saber quem está presente,’ says the bombeiro.
Will rakes a hand through his hair. ‘Yes, I can give you the guest list, but we need ambulances. My wife . . .’ His shoulders collapse as he kneels over Ali, lying motionless on the ground. ‘My wife is unconscious . . . inconsciente.’
‘Okay, okay,’ says the bombeiro, issuing instructions to his crew and gesticulating towards the sea.
‘Jack,’ says Rachel, pulling herself up beside him. ‘Can you hear me?’
Jack groans as he slowly brings one hand up to his other arm.
‘I’m here, Jack,’ she says. ‘But please try not to move, okay?’ Relief floods through her as she looks up to see men carrying stretchers running down the hill towards them. ‘The ambulances are here, but you must stay still.’
He makes an inaudible noise that sounds like he’s gargling blood.
From the shocked stillness of just a few minutes ago, there is now a palpable sense of panic. For every limp body that is on the floor, there is someone by their side, comforting them. But then Rachel catches sight of a shoeless foot, twisted at an unnatural angle, with no one there to show they care.
‘Chrissy!’ she breathes, then calls out to the men in hi-vis jackets. ‘Hey! Over here.’ She crawls towards Chrissy, dragging herself along on her elbows, like an enemy in combat. ‘It’s okay,’ she says, grimacing as the pain in her leg shoots through her consciousness. ‘Chrissy, it’s Rachel. Can you hear me?’ There isn’t even a flicker of movement and Rachel cries out, unable to help herself. ‘Chrissy, stay with me. Please, somebody! Over here!’
Two men lean down beside the stricken woman, checking for her pulse. Rachel can only presume that they can’t find one, as they start talking loudly and quickly. ‘Chrissy!’ she calls out again, as tears stream down her face.
She shuffles out of the way as more paramedics move in like worker bees around honey, each of them working in synergy in an attempt to revive Chrissy.
