‘He’ll be asking her what her favourite song is next!’ Gina said.
‘Do you think so?’ Caitlen replied. ‘I’m just pleased that he’s with Becky. I’m not sure that I could deal with it right now. What a night this has turned out to be.’
‘You can say that again!’ Naomi replied, ‘Some bloody holiday this is. You’d have been better off not being such a tight arse and just giving us the money!’
‘Naomi,’ Rhett said, as if warning her off.
It was too late.
‘And what do you mean by that?’
Caitlen sprang to her feet and turned to face her sister directly.
‘Nothing. Just that you’ve made a right mess of this bloody holiday. We’re all at each other’s’ throats and you’d have been better off just giving us a couple of thousand each. You’ve got enough fucking money to last a lifetime, after all. God forbid you should fritter any of it away on us!’
‘Jesus Naomi, I’ve only just found out about it myself! I don’t even know what I’m going to do with it yet, let alone how I can help anybody else out. I thought you’d be pleased for me, but all you can do is resent me for it. For once in your life can’t you just be pleased that I’ve had a bit of luck. It’s about time!’
‘All it’s caused is trouble! Look at us all, you call this a holiday? It’s driven us apart already, we’ve barely been here five minutes. If it wasn’t for your bloody bitcoin, none of this would have happened!’
‘You think so? You think Matt and Harriet wouldn’t have got together? You think Terry wouldn’t still be an arsehole? You think you and me still wouldn’t be at each other’s throats like a couple of stupid schoolgirls? All this shit was here all the time Naomi, we were always like this. The only thing the money has done is make everybody show their true colours. And it turns out my own sister is one of the biggest shits of them all!’
Naomi slapped her hard around the face. Caitlen was stunned. Rhett intervened.
‘Okay, that’s enough ladies. Naomi, come with me. We’ll see you back at the apartments when we’ve all had time to cool off. She didn’t mean it Cait. I know you didn’t mean it either.’
Rhett took Naomi’s hand and walked her away. Caitlen didn’t know whether to scream or cry at her sister.
Gina put her arm around her. It shook her out of her shocked state.
‘It’s okay, Caitlen, everybody’s just a bit highly charged tonight. Let them go off, give Naomi some time to calm down.’
‘Is this my fault?’ Caitlen asked defensively, ‘Did I create this mess? I was just trying to do something nice for my friends. It’s turned to crap.’
‘It’s not your fault, none of it is,’ Gina reassured her.
‘None of this would have happened if I’d just kept my mouth shut and made a secret of it. Now I’ve gone and screwed everything up.’
‘It’s not your fault, honestly,’ Gina said. ‘People can be funny when it comes to money. You’d be surprised at how far they’d go to get their hands on it. It really does bring out the worst in people.’
Chapter Twenty
Benidorm: June
‘Let’s head for the Old Town, try and salvage the rest of the night. You could do with some cheering up.’
Caitlen looked over towards Wes and Becky. They were laughing now.
‘Will she be okay with Wes, do you think? She can be a bit fragile at the best of times.’
‘Well, you know my thoughts about Wes. But to be honest with you, he’s probably just the kind of distraction Becky needs right now. Everybody’s had a fair bit to drink. You lot are going to have to work through a lot of difficult conversations tomorrow morning. Once you’ve all slept off your hangovers.’
‘I’m dreading it already. What made Naomi speak to me like that? We have our ups and downs – every sister does – but ... she seems to hate me. Did you see how angry she was? This money seems to have made everybody go crazy.’
‘Let it go tonight. I know it’s the last thing you want to do right now, but it’s best left alone. Matt and Harriet will have to sort themselves out. Wes will take care of Becky, at least she’ll get home safely. Rhett will talk Naomi down off the ledge. As for Porter, he’s stuck with his sore arse!’
Caitlen burst out laughing.
‘Oh, poor Porter. We shouldn’t laugh. But he walks around sucking on that e-cigarette like he’s a hi-tech Gandalf. Stuff like that always seems to happen to Porter.’
‘He’s married to Emmy, right? They are married?’
‘Yes, I don’t know why. Same as me and Terry. I guess sometimes relationships just ... happen. You end up in one and sometimes wonder how you got there. Do you have anybody?’
Caitlen looked at Gina, who said nothing.
‘I’m sorry to pry, I didn’t mean to. Don’t answer that question. Unless you want to.’
‘No, it’s okay, honestly. Shall we start walking towards the Old Town, it’s a bit of a walk from here, but it’s well worth it, I assure you? We can taxi back.’
They started walking.
‘There’s nobody special. I’ll be honest with you, I like my life as it is. It seems to run quite well on its own without men.’
‘Oh you’re not ... are you?’
‘No, at least I don’t think so! I like men – but not all men. People like Wes, I know his type. I got hurt by one once. I guess it’s made me a little more cautious. I have enough money, I’m not particularly interested in having kids. This life suits me. It’s freedom I crave most.’
Caitlen felt the pang once again. It had started within five minutes of getting to know Gina. There was something about her which made Caitlen see the possibilities in her life.
‘Doesn’t the beach look lovely at this time of night?’ Gina asked.
‘I love this place,’ Caitlen replied. ‘It’s how it makes me feel – I love the sensations I get here, the warmth, the light and the breeze. It makes me feel alive – free – unburdened. I love it.’
‘What about Terry?’ Gina asked, probing.
‘Who knows?’ Caitlen sighed. ‘It just feels so difficult to end it. The house, the money, the fallout. I know that it has to be done, I just don’t know when I can face it.’
‘You don’t have to go back home, you know.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, who owns the house? Does it even matter? Naomi can move your stuff out. You could just stay over here. Break it off with Terry, you can use my spare room. We could work together while you get established. We’d have great fun!’
Caitlen looked out towards the sea and could just make out the dark shape of Peacock Island in the distance. To their right, the sounds of the bars and clubs, to their left the gentle swishing of waves kissing the golden sand of the beach.
‘It’s so tempting,’ Caitlen replied, her mind drifting off into the possibilities. ‘But I can’t just abandon everybody. We at least need to get to the end of the week. It can’t go much further downhill after tonight. I don’t want it to end like this.’
‘That’s fair enough, but please give it some thought.’
‘I will,’ Caitlen said, ‘I just need to get it all sorted out in my head. And me and Naomi have a difficult day ahead of us tomorrow. I can’t remember the last time we screamed at each other like that. I seriously felt like we were both out of control.’
‘Do you run? Gina asked, out of the blue.
‘Not much,’ Caitlen replied, taken aback by the sudden change of topic.
‘Come and jog along the beach with me. It’s wonderful at this time of night. Feel the wind in your hair and the softness of the sand. I won’t go fast, just a slow trot, I promise.’
Gina jumped over the short wall that separated the sand from the promenade and waved Caitlen over.
‘What the hell!’ Caitlen said, joining her friend on the sand.
‘Over by the sea, the sand is wet there, it’s easier to run.’
They took off their shoes and held them in their
hands. Gina set off at a slow pace, but with the sound of the bars and loud music now drowned out by the waves, Caitlen felt like she was lost in another world. It had been years since she’d gone to the gym, but she still felt like she was in reasonable shape. As she started to trot alongside Gina, she felt an exhilaration and freedom that she’d forgotten. She began to run faster, the wind blowing her hair back, sometimes catching a wave and feeling the water splash up her legs. It made her feel completely alive with a vigour that had been rinsed out of her several years ago.
She reached the end of that part of the beach and stopped, breathless and sweating, but elated.
‘Where did you learn to jog like that?’ Gina asked, struggling to regulate her breathing. ‘You gave me a run for my money there!’
‘I haven’t run in years. It just felt so ... right. I feel so good right now. How did you know that?’
‘I’ve lived here a while. You’d be surprised what a run along the beach can do. I’ll bet you feel better for it? Get your breath back, we’re almost at the Old Town now, it’s a bit of a climb to finish off with.’
In Gina’s company it was all too easy to forget the life that she had back in the UK. Gina knew the bars well, the acoustic music was much more to Caitlen’s taste and it allowed them to speak and get to know each other better. By the time it was three o’clock in the morning, Caitlen was exhausted.
‘They’ll all be in bed now, right? I’ll be able to sneak in without setting them all off?’
‘I would think so,’ Gina replied. ‘You can stay over at my place if it’s still sounding a bit lively. If we sneak up the stairs, nobody will hear us if we’re quiet. I’ll sort us out a taxi.’
As they made their way through the lobby, Caitlen began to feel more tense. Her bright idea of taking everybody on holiday had completely backfired on her. She wondered if things could ever be the same again.
They took the stairs instead of the lift, but heard sobbing as they neared their floor.
‘No chance of sneaking in then,’ Gina whispered.
They walked up the final step into the long hallway. Slumped outside Harriet’s door was Matt, bloodied and exhausted, his head bowed and weeping loudly.
To his side, the door to Caitlen’s apartment was slightly ajar.
‘Well, at least Terry left the door open so we can all get into the apartment,’ Caitlen said, ‘We must get some more key cards, this is ridiculous having to make do like this.’
They walked over towards Matt.
‘You okay?’ Caitlen asked. Truth be told, she didn’t really want to know.
‘She’s in there. With him!’ he shouted.
‘Shhh,’ Caitlen said, ‘You’ll wake everybody up.’
‘I’ll take him into my place for a coffee,’ Gina whispered, ‘You coming?’
‘I’m just going to check the apartment first and let Terry know I’m back. And Naomi too. I might be cross with her, but I still want to make sure she’s okay.’
Caitlen pushed the door open and walked into the room. There were empty cans on the table and no sign of Rhett and Naomi. There was a groan from the couch, the unmistakable sound of Terry snorting in his sleep.
Caitlen moved over towards the sofa to assess what state he was in. She peered over the back of it expecting to see a drunken Terry crashed out after a heavy night’s drinking. She got more than she bargained for. Terry was lying naked with Emmy wrapped up in his arms, also with no clothes on.
‘You bloody bastard, Terry!’ Caitlen shouted at him. ‘I’m hanging on all this time trying to do the decent thing, and you’re fucking Emmy! You’re a piece of shit Terry, you really are!’
She was furious at him, she saw straight away that this had been going on under her nose all the time. She’d been there agonising about how to end it and at any time the piece of crap would have been happy for her to walk away.
Doors were opening along the hallway. Terry and Emmy were awake now, Emmy had grabbed a cushion to cover her modesty, Terry was seriously groggy from the beer.
Porter had come out of his apartment along the corridor and was standing at the door, in boxer shorts, his leg bandaged.
‘What on earth ... Emmy? For fuck’s sake, Emmy, really? Is this what you were doing when I needed you in the hospital?’
Behind them, Harriet’s apartment door opened.
‘You alright, Caitlen, it sounds like somebody died out here?’
‘These two – these two have been sleeping together for God knows how long!’
Gina stepped out from across the corridor, closely followed by Matt who had been lured by the sound of Harriet’s voice. He walked out of Gina’s door directly into the path of the man Harriet had met earlier in the pub. And then, while he was still taking in the situation, Becky emerged from the room they were supposed to be sharing at the other end of the hallway, looking shocked. Followed moments later by Wes, wearing a pair of back-to-front boxers.
Chapter Twenty-One
Caitlen and Luke: April
‘You look good!’ Luke said, ‘How do you do it? You look no different from when I last saw you.’
Caitlen gave him a warm hug and a peck on the cheek.
‘You’re not looking so bad yourself. You’ve lost a lot of weight. I don’t mean to be rude, you know that never bothered me. It’s just an observation. Are you working out or something?’
‘Cycling!’ he smiled. She’d missed that smile. His face lit up. Terry’s was more of a sneer.
‘Well, it suits you. You look lean and fit. If I didn’t know you, I’d say you were at least five years younger.’
‘Well, I’ll go out for a drink with you again any time. Nobody else flatters me like that.’
Luke indicated a free table and they sat down in the hotel bar. They ordered drinks and began to catch up on the years that they’d lost since they last saw each other.
‘We should have kept in touch Cait, I’m sorry. It was just too painful for me at the time. You know, I’ve regretted what we did ever since I left. Is it too late to say that I’m sorry?’
The glasses of wine arrived. Caitlen took a sip, then held up her glass.
‘Cheers, Luke! To our good fortune!’
‘That sounds ominous,’ he replied, chinking her glass.
‘You brought the laptop, I take it?’
‘Yes, I’ve got it. It’s a good job you reminded me about it. It was still in my storage unit, it hasn’t seen the light of day since I went to Thailand.’
His words brought Caitlen back to a time and a place. Luke’s last day at work. The cake that they’d made him, with an icing model of him lazing on the beach with his laptop. Off to set up a digital business on his own. But it had since gone bust. All it had taken was a bug in a corporate software rollout and his reputation was shot. Thousands, if not millions of dollars were lost as a result, his career was over.
‘Does it still work? I take it you checked it before you came?’
‘Yes, it powers up. I can’t remember the password though. I thought you might be able to help with that. You used it virtually as much as me when you were staying over.’
‘I used to play World of Warcraft: Cataclysm on it, do you remember? It probably wouldn’t be able to run a game like that now.’
There was a moment of silence as they thought back to how things had been. In spite of the horrible break-up and the fact that Luke had been a complete tosser at the time, it felt good to go back there. If they’d managed to end things better, she might not have run off into Terry’s arms so readily. It was like chalk and cheese with Luke and Terry, they were completely different. Luke still had soft hands.
‘It’s good to see you, Cait, it really is. I didn’t think you’d ever speak to me again. You know, I didn’t delete that old Hotmail account I had. I left it there with the specific aim of picking up any email you may or may not send me. I ditched that crock of shit email service years ago but I set up a forwarder ... just in case.’
‘Go
od job you did, you’re difficult to find online.’
‘Yeah, I’ve gone dark. I had to close the business. I narrowly avoided bankruptcy, I’ve got just enough cash to hang on in there. I’m what actors would describe as resting. That means I haven’t got a fucking clue what I’m going to do next. Sorry, you do still swear like a trooper don’t you?’
Caitlen laughed.
‘In the right company,’ she smiled at him, a gleam in her eye. He caught it and wondered, for just a moment, if the old spark was still there.
‘So, what did you do after I headed off to Thailand like a filthy rat leaving you to your own devices and to take care of your mum? How’s life?’
‘Well, mum died, I assume you know that.’
‘I guessed. I heard, in fact. From Mike in the office. I sent flowers, but I didn’t put my name on them in case you felt too angry with me. I’m sorry Cait, I loved your mum.’
‘So you sent those flowers? We assumed that the tag had got lost somewhere. Thank you, that was lovely.’
She reached out and touched his hand.
‘Mum loved you too. You know she was so upset about us going our separate ways. I think she blamed herself sometimes.’
‘I should have stayed, I know that now. But we were younger then, it felt like there was no time to lose. I know you couldn’t have left then. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed you. I should have supported you.’
‘You don’t need to keep saying sorry, Luke. It’s water under the bridge. We make the best decisions that we can and usually they’re a bit flawed. That’s life, we have to live with it. The trick is to turn life’s turds into gold.’
He laughed, leaving his hand where it was, luxuriating in her touch. It felt electric. He thought he’d never feel that touch again, not so welcoming and friendly. The last kiss he’d got from Caitlen was tense and angry. It was a dismissal more than a display of affection.
Two Years After ; Friends Who Lie ; No More Secrets Page 27
