Two Years After ; Friends Who Lie ; No More Secrets

by Paul J. Teague

  ‘Yeah, yeah, sure luv.’

  He backed off and returned to the table.

  There were sniggers and Caitlen caught the tail end of a ‘time of the month’ comment. It wasn’t the best time to test her. She was feeling furious enough at her own stupidity, losing the precious device. She could see her new fortune going up in flames already. So when she heard the comment, the chuckling idiots were just the sort of target that she needed to vent. Before Gina could stop her, she ran towards their low, wicker table – on which were placed eight pint glasses and various discarded plates on which the debris from fry-ups had been left – and she flipped it over, sending everything crashing to the ground.

  ‘And this is what happens when a woman is on her period and she has to listen to a bunch of tossers like you sniggering away.’

  Caitlen’s face was pressed right up to the man’s, as if it was a face-off. Observing the owner of the establishment head directly for the phone, the group of young men decided to back down. They each quickly placed a ten euro note on the table next to theirs and made their exit.

  Caitlen was charged with adrenalin, but seeing them walk away made her burst into tears. Gina walked directly over to her, stunned at what she’d just witnessed.

  ‘Hell, Caitlen, remind me never to piss you off. I take it you’re not on your period, by the way? You never get to see scenes like that in the Bodyform adverts, do you?’

  Caitlen burst out laughing, a stream of mucus shooting out as she half-cried and half-shrieked. This is why she loved this woman. Gina was just the type of friend she needed in her life. Her new life. The one she’d just screwed over because she couldn’t keep a small electronic device safe.

  A police car drew up outside the beachfront bar.

  ‘Shit, Cait, that’s for you I think.’

  Caitlen’s focus had been entirely on her immediate environment, it was only when Gina said those words that she began to take in the impact of what she’d done. For starters, there was the mess on the floor. Several of the older people had stood up and backed away, scared that they were about to witness violence of some sort. The owner was used to English idiots kicking off on the beachfront, so he had the local police on speed dial.

  ‘Oh, I am so sorry everybody ...’

  Caitlen looked around, horrified at what people must be thinking.

  She moved over towards the upturned table to begin to start clearing up, but one of the police officers had now taken her by the arm. The second officer was speaking to the owner, who was nodding in Caitlen’s direction.

  ‘It’ll be alright, Cait, don’t worry, they’ll just take you to the station.’

  Caitlen nodded, aware now that she would have to take any punishment on the chin.

  ‘English por favor?’ Gina spoke to the first officer.

  He shook his head.

  ‘You go to the station with them, I’ll find an interpreter. I’ll settle up with the owner and pay for the damage, it’ll be okay Caitlen, honestly, they’ll just do the paperwork and you’ll be on your way. I’ll meet you at the police station, okay?’

  Caitlen was crying again now. She despised herself for what she’d just done. The thought that people might have been scared of her horrified her. The damage that she’d done to somebody else’s property was unforgivable. And it was all because of her own stupidity. How could she have been such an idiot?

  ‘I’ll pay you back for the damage,’ Caitlen said as she was gently guided over to the police car. And please pay for everybody’s food and leave a big tip too. And say sorry to the owner ...’

  The car door was slammed before she could finish off her list. Gina had got the gist. She was sorry.

  The second police officer had closed his notebook now and looked like he was finishing off with the owner.

  ‘English por favor?’

  Gina tried her luck again. She felt quite capable of dealing with everyday Spanish requirements, but lacked the lingual confidence to shoot for a legal conversation in Spanish.

  ‘A little,’ the owner said, as the second officer shrugged.

  ‘Will you press charges?’ she asked.

  The owner shrugged, he didn’t understand what she was asking.

  ‘Will my friend be in a lot of trouble?’ she rephrased. ‘We would like to apologise and give you some euros.’

  ‘It is okay,’ the owner continued. He explained something in Spanish to the officer, who nodded.

  ‘Your friend is – how do you say it – sad, I can see. The policeman he must write the papers – do you understand?’

  ‘Do the paperwork, yes, I understand,’ Gina nodded.

  ‘But she will not be in trouble, she is very sad – upset, I think you say – I can see.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Gina said, touching his arm and genuinely grateful for his compassion. ‘I will come back today with some money to pay you for all this ...’ She gesticulated to make it clear what she meant. The owner nodded, getting the gist of what she was suggesting.

  ‘I have sixty-four euros now, let me pay for all these meals,’ she continued, speaking much louder now. There were about eight people in the beachfront area, she reckoned that would take care of most of it.

  There was general approval all round. Only the English would consider a free morning coffee a fair exchange for a fight breaking out right next to their table.

  Gina shook the hand of the owner, handed him the euros, thanked him profusely then walked over to assist the waiter who’d come out to start clearing up the mess. The police officer surveyed the scene, nodded, exchanged a few words with the owner and walked over to the car. Caitlen was staring through the rear window, looking very sorry for herself. She gave a half-hearted wave to Gina as the car moved off.

  ‘Where is the police station?’ Gina asked.

  The owner gave her directions and she was relieved that it was a reasonable walking distance. It was not a service she’d had to engage with since arriving in Benidorm. Having managed to put the table back and assist with the clearing up of the mess, Gina was about to leave the bar when she noticed that Caitlen had left her phone at their table.

  She walked over to pick it up and put it somewhere safe. Gina did a double-take when she noticed what time it was, then saw that Caitlen had not yet adjusted the time to take account of the one hour difference with the UK. The phone was unlocked still, so instinctively, Gina opened up the settings and manually changed the settings so that it displayed the correct Spanish time. Not wanting to interfere any more, Gina locked the phone so that it couldn’t be tampered with any further.

  ‘She’ll thank me for that later,’ Gina thought as she walked off, ‘I can’t believe she put up with it like that for so long.’

  As Gina walked along the beachfront, she pulled out her own phone and found the number of an interpreter that she’d used on a couple of occasions to sort out the contract on her apartment and take care of a few basic banking issues. Fortunately, the interpreter was available, and Gina arranged to meet him up at the police station. They’d have Caitlen out of there in no time. It was one of the joys of being in Europe, she’d get a rap on the knuckles, a short cool-off time in the cells and she’d be out of there by mid-afternoon.

  It was a twenty-five minute uphill walk to the police station, Gina reckoned she’d manage it in twenty if she got a move on. She considered how anxious Caitlen must be feeling with all those Spanish voices and little idea what was going on around her. She took a left turn off the beachfront to begin her journey, winding across the town to her destination. The streets were becoming busy already, the sun had reared its head and was threatening a punishing day of heat and brightness.

  It was not so busy though that she didn’t do a double-take as she walked across the road from one of the many, large Chinese Bazaar stores that lined the resort’s streets. It was difficult to tell, because whoever it was wore a cap and sunglasses. But it was the broad, muscular shoulders that she recognised, rather than the face. If she wasn
’t mistaken it was Wes. And he seemed to be out early spending his first wages from Erin’s Bar. By the look of it, his bags were filled with all sorts of new purchases.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Benidorm: June

  ‘I’m so embarrassed about the whole episode, I just want the ground to swallow me up.’

  Kasey squeezed Caitlen’s arm, Harriet felt compelled to come in and give her a hug.

  ‘I’m so grateful to you, Gina, for sorting everything out. You’ve been such a gem out here, a true friend. That interpreter fellow was great. I hadn’t got a clue what he was saying, but they released me fast enough.’

  ‘Will there be any repercussions?’ Kasey asked.

  ‘What, other than being on Benidorm’s Most Wanted list?’ Gina laughed. ‘No, she’s safe, the owner was ecstatic that we’d gone out of our way to pay him for the damage and said that we’re welcome back any time. Can you believe it? The Incredible Hulk here wrecks the joint and they invite us back!’

  There were laughs all round and even Caitlen was shaken out of her gloom by Gina’s reference.

  ‘I was a bit of a cow, I can’t believe I kicked off like that.’

  ‘Well, I think we need to concern ourselves with finding your bitcoin device,’ Gina said, changing the subject to more pressing matters. ‘Have you any idea where you might have dropped it?’

  ‘I had a good think about it during my long incarceration,’ Caitlen smiled, her sense of fun returning now she was back among friends. ‘I thought I had it in your apartment Gina, I have to have lost it there, I’m as sure as I can be that it wasn’t lost in the street.’

  ‘Well, I did ask while I was waiting for you to get released. Nobody had handed it in to the police station, I’m not even sure they’d know what it was if they did find it.’

  ‘It has to be in your apartment, Gina. Is it possible somebody could have sneaked in this morning? The door was ajar for – what – five, ten minutes or so?’

  ‘Well, I didn’t see anything,’ Harriet said. ‘I crashed out last night after all the fuss. Emmy was asleep too. It was only Kasey knocking on the door that woke us.’

  ‘Wes was out early,’ Kasey interrupted, thinking through the events of the morning. ‘I didn’t hear him go out, but I heard him come back in. He went straight to the shower. He’d been for an early morning run on the beach, I think. I guess you have to do something to stay in good shape like that.’

  ‘No, it wouldn’t have been Wes, the door was only slightly ajar, he wouldn’t have even been able to see it from your end of the hallway. I wonder if it was a cleaner or something like that?’

  Caitlen was baffled by the incident. She kept running through that morning’s events. They’d woken, had the text exchange with Kasey, taken turns to shower and gone out for breakfast. She hadn’t been thinking about the contents of her bra when she placed her clothes on the sofa, waiting for her turn to freshen up. It seemed improbable that anybody could have sneaked in in that time.

  ‘Let’s check your apartment and the bins and everywhere else one more time,’ Caitlen said.

  ‘Is it still safe to go out in the hallway?’ Gina asked Kasey.

  ‘Yes, you’re fine. Emmy and Terry went off together ... sorry Caitlen ...’

  ‘It’s alright, Kasey, Terry is the least of my problems right now. I’m quite grateful for my short spell with the local police. It gave me some time to clear my head. I’ll try to make it as painless as possible for everybody tonight. But I think we all know it’s over for me and Terry. And truth be told, I’m relieved.’

  ‘Well, good, I’m pleased you’re okay,’ Kasey said. ‘I asked Wes to get lost for the day. He seemed pleased to do so, he wanted to check out some more bars and see about some work. I thought it was better if he made himself scarce, bearing in mind what happened with Becky. There are bound to be a lot of mixed-up emotions today.’

  ‘Matt’s over in my apartment now,’ Harriet interjected. ‘He has a sore head and he looks like he’s been beaten up badly. Well he has, I suppose. He’s very embarrassed and humiliated by last night, but he’ll survive ...’

  ‘I know that feeling,’ Caitlen quipped.

  ‘He and I have some serious talking to do. In fairness to Becky, we need to clear the air with her too. It’s just a horrible situation.’

  ‘How about Naomi?’ Caitlen asked, recalling the terrible words they’d exchanged.

  ‘Rhett was badly hungover this morning. In fact, they were the last to leave the apartments. They headed out for breakfast and to spend the day sleeping it off on the beach.’

  ‘So who does that leave? Becky and Porter?’ Caitlen ran through a checklist in her head. ‘I’d forgotten all about poor Porter. Talk about the holiday from hell. Not only does he catch on fire, his wife leaves him too. I’ll look forward to reading his TripAdvisor review.’

  ‘Talk about The Odd Couple,’ Kasey said, laughing. ‘They kind of figured out there was nobody left, so they went off on their own. Porter didn’t seem to have much trouble walking, but he did make a bit of a meal of it at first. Becky was being remarkably patient with him. They went off shopping, I think.’

  ‘How is Becky?’ Harriet asked, her cheeks colouring.

  ‘She seems more annoyed with Wes than she does with Matt. I don’t know what happened between those two last night, but she seems mighty pissed off with him. I barely spoke with Wes today, he was showered and out like a shot. Maybe those big muscles conceal a tiny manhood.’

  There was laughter all round. Porter and Becky were certainly an unlikely couple, but at least they’d got company for the day.

  ‘So we’re safe to come and go now until people start to gather for the meal?’ Caitlen asked. ‘Only I don’t want us to run into Terry and Emmy by chance. I know we’ve got to thrash it all out, but I think we both need to be prepared for it first.’

  ‘No, Naomi, Becky, Terry and Wes are on a warning. They’ve got strict instructions to text me before they enter the building. I don’t want anybody having any more fights like we had last night. And we’re all going to hammer this out before we go out tonight, so we can make-up, have a great night out and go and get pissed. And anybody who won’t behave, isn’t invited. Sound fair enough?’

  ‘Thanks for doing this, Kasey,’ Caitlen said, kissing him on the cheek. ‘You know, I just wanted us all to have a lovely time together. It wasn’t too much to ask, was it?’

  ‘You and I need to speak to Terry,’ Harriet said to Kasey. ‘You know what about.’

  ‘What is it about?’ Caitlen asked. ‘Don’t tell me Terry is having an affair with Kasey too?’

  ‘No, nothing like that, don’t worry,’ Kasey replied, giving Harriet a stern look. ‘It’s nothing, Cait, honestly. Just a bit of outstanding business that Terry and I have to sort out. Nothing that you need to worry about, it doesn’t affect you at all.’

  ‘Okay,’ Caitlen replied, not at all reassured. If Terry was so adept at hiding his affair with Emmy right under her nose, she wondered what else he’d been up to.

  ‘So, a final search of my apartment, a look in your apartment while Terry is out, and then the last couple of hours in the sun before we all start gathering for the showdown?’

  ‘Don’t call it a showdown Gina, please!’ Kasey urged. ‘I prefer to think of it as a reconciliation. Please God, don’t let it all kick off again. Right, you lot buzz off, I’m going to get a table booked for this evening. Seven o’clock alright? Or later?’

  ‘Seven is fine,’ Caitlen confirmed, looking to Harriet and Gina for approval.

  The three women spent the next half hour searching high and low for Caitlen’s USB device. They had no luck, in either of the apartments.

  ‘It’ll turn up,’ Gina reassured her, and besides, even if somebody has picked it up, they can’t do anything without the passwords. At least you had the good sense to hide that from prying eyes.’

  ‘Do you know what, I just want to forget about it for a couple of hours,
Gina. I hope you girls have both been waxing regularly, because I fancy a nice sit out in the sun until it’s showdown time. Sorry, reconciliation time. I just want to forget everything and sit out in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. Are you coming or not?’

  ‘I’m not sure about the waxing bit, but I’m on!’ Harriet replied, glad of the escape. ‘I’ll check in on the wounded hero next door and get changed. Meet you by the pool?’

  Gina walked across the hall to her own apartment to get changed and Caitlen pulled her own door shut behind her, so that she could do the same. Thankfully, Kasey had thought to take the key cards from everybody as they left their apartments for the day.

  Seeing Terry’s clothes spread out on the bed already made it feel like he was a million miles away. In her head, they’d been separated for some time. It all seemed so easy now, he’d actually done her a big favour. This removed all the drama. She could make a clean break and move on. If only she could get her hands on that missing device, she could kick herself for being so careless.

  There was a tap at the door, it was Gina in her bikini and Harriet in a one-piece. Being the older woman in the group, Caitlen had opted for the more modest one-piece with sarong. She had no intention of taking on her companions in a swimsuit contest.

  As it turned out, she had nothing to be afraid of. There were all types of sizes and shapes gathered around the poolside, it did Caitlen’s ego the world of good. They managed to lay their hands on three sun-beds and before long, they were frying in the afternoon sun, protected only by the wisdom of Gina, who’d thought to bring along some sunscreen.

  The chatter had long since died down and the three women were enjoying the semi-comatose state that only fierce sunshine can create. Gina was staring idly into the distance, watching the world go by and not taking notice of anything in particular as she did so.

  All of a sudden she shot up on her sunbed, like she’d been stung by a wasp.