The Time of Our Lives

by Portia MacIntosh

  ‘What do you need it for?’ I ask, stroking his face.

  ‘This,’ he says, scooping me up. ‘It’s tradition I carry you across this car park.’

  ‘Well, I can’t argue with tradition.’

  Tom carries me up the steps to my room and gently places me down outside the door.

  ‘OK, well …’

  ‘Well,’ I reply. ‘You didn’t carry me inside this time.’

  ‘I didn’t. Given recent developments, I didn’t want you to think I was inviting myself in. I didn’t want you thinking I was trying to have sex with you – you could probably do without another person trying to have sex with you, right?’

  ‘Maybe,’ I say. ‘Or maybe what I need is for someone who I actually want to have sex with to try and have sex with me. Did you think of that?’

  ‘To be honest I’ve thought about nothing else since I saw you earlier,’ he says, biting his lip. ‘You looked amazing in that dress – and you look incredible in my shirt. I think the towel was my favourite though.’

  ‘Yeah, I saw you peeping,’ I laugh.

  ‘You were staring at my body first,’ he points out. ‘I was just levelling the playing field.’

  I smile as I unlock my door.

  ‘Thomas Oliver Hoult,’ I start, in my most formal of tones. ‘Would you like to join me in my hotel room?’

  ‘I would like that very much, Miss Wade.’

  Unwilling to wait another second, I throw myself at him – literally. I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as we kiss. Tom walks through the door, completely unable to see where he’s going. As I feel him about to place me down on the bed, I call out for him to stop.

  ‘What? What’s wrong?’ he replies.

  ‘Twin beds,’ I say breathlessly. ‘Remember, they’re twin beds.’

  We both peer down at the gap between the beds where Tom was just about to try and put me down.

  ‘That would’ve been the fourth thing, for sure,’ he jokes.

  Tom places me down gently.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I’m pushing the beds together,’ he says.

  ‘Now?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘It’s late and you’re kind of drunk,’ I point out.

  ‘That just means I’m motivated and blind to any strain it’s going to put on my back,’ he replies as he finally shoves them together.

  ‘You think that’s going to put strain on your back …’ I say.

  I push Tom back onto the Franken-bed and climb on top of him.

  As I lean forward to kiss him, my hair falls in front of my face and I catch a powerful whiff of the pond smell.

  ‘I’m going to have a shower,’ I tell him. ‘Because I don’t want to smell like sewage for our first time.’

  ‘Maybe that’s what is doing it for me?’ he jokes.

  I begin to climb off him before pressing back down on top of him.

  ‘You tease,’ he says.

  I shrug my shoulders.

  ‘OK, I really am going this time,’ I say. ‘Make yourself comfortable, put the TV on if you like – I watched Kitchen Nightmares around this time last night, it was actually really good.’

  Tom laughs.

  ‘I’ll wash all this junk off me, and I’ll be right back.’

  ‘Don’t be long,’ he calls after me. ‘I miss you already.’

  I take off my shirt, run a wipe over my face to remove my smudged make-up, and finally step into the shower. Now that it’s a little cooler, the warm water feels amazing and it’s just so nice to feel clean finally.

  I hear a knock on the bathroom door.

  ‘Erm … come in.’

  ‘I was just thinking,’ Tom starts. ‘Maybe I’ll join you.’

  ‘You’ll join me?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he says, pulling back the shower curtain before stepping into the bath with me. That’s when I realise he’s naked. ‘I thought I could wash your back for you or something.’

  Tom carefully ushers me back under the rainfall shower before we pick up where we left off.

  ‘Plus, I’ve been waiting ten years to get my hands on you,’ he adds. ‘I don’t want to waste another second.’

  Chapter 35

  Waking up, being spooned by Tom, with the speaker outside my bedroom window playing Elvis’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ – I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven. I don’t know when it happened, maybe it was in the pond, or maybe it was in the lift, but this isn’t my life. This has to be a dream.

  I reach over to the bedside table and grab my clutch. I carefully take out my phone with one hand, making an effort not to wake Tom. I still have a little battery luckily, and I can see that Clarky sent me a message last night.

  Compo breakfast at 10 a.m. Whole gang. Meet in the dining room.

  I smile at my phone.

  I could carefully lift Tom’s arm, wiggle out from under it without waking him, but I’ve waited ten years for this – the last thing I want to do is move.

  ‘Mmm,’ Tom says as he squeezes me tightly.

  I roll over to face him. Of course he looks amazing on a morning, even with his hair sticking up in all directions and red lines on his face from resting on his arm.

  Tom opens his eyes slowly, adjusting to the light in the room.

  ‘Morning,’ he says.

  ‘Morning,’ I reply. ‘So … last night happened.’

  ‘You noticed it too?’ he replies with a grin.

  ‘I did,’ I say. ‘I just wasn’t sure if I’d hallucinated …’

  ‘From the head injury?’ he replies.

  ‘What head injury?’ I joke, acting confused.

  Tom smiles.

  ‘Would you be offended if I got up and left?’ I ask.

  Tom’s smile drops.

  ‘Oh, no, not like that,’ I insist. ‘It’s not you.’

  ‘It’s not me, it’s you?’

  ‘It’s Clarky actually,’ I tell him. ‘He’s arranged for us all to have breakfast together.’

  ‘You’re all getting together in a room with knives?’ he jokes.

  ‘I’m going to take my chances,’ I reply. ‘I think maybe we all need this.’

  ‘I understand,’ Tom says, stroking my cheek. ‘I hope you guys figure things out, you’ve all been friends forever, it would be a shame.’

  ‘It would,’ I reply.

  I would love to stay here, wrapped up in Tom’s arms, enjoying the music drifting in from outside, talking about what happens next. But in twenty minutes my friends – practically my family – will be gathering in the dining room and, even if I didn’t think I needed to be there to referee, I want to be there. I want to figure all this out. If we don’t, the best-case scenario is that Fi and Zach’s wedding will be incredibly awkward but, worst-case scenario, Fi and Zach might not be getting married at all.

  I begrudgingly climb out of bed, self-consciously wrapping one of the duvets around my body because now that I’ve got Tom in my bed (or these two hotel beds pushed together, at least), I don’t want to scare him off with my squashy bits – which is silly really, because he probably saw everything last night. I was terrified when he got in the shower with me because we’re all capable of a little strategic positioning when we’re lying down, but when we’re standing up, there aren’t too many shapes you can make to disguise a combination of an average thirty-something body and gravity.

  I grab a long black sundress, split up to the thigh on both sides, a pair of black caged heeled sandals, and a pair of sunglasses. Well aware I’ll have to take the glasses off inside, I layer on the make-up to disguise my tired face. Unfortunately there’s no amount of priming, foundation-laying, concealing, baking, or highlighting that can hide the raised cut on my cheek, but I do them all anyway, to try and overcompensate for my injury – my injury, and the fact that going to bed with wet hair has left me with inconsistent natural waves. A quick of spritz of perfume and I’m ready to face the world.

  ‘
You look gorgeous,’ Tom says when I finally emerge from the bathroom.

  ‘So do you,’ I reply.

  He’s still lying in bed, watching TV. He has the covers pulled up to his waist and as much as I want to get back in with him, I need to go and do this.

  ‘I’ll try make it quick,’ I tell him.

  ‘Don’t worry. I think breakfast finishes at 11, so I’m going to pop down anyway. See you there?’

  ‘Sure,’ I reply.

  ‘Good luck,’ he calls after me as I walk out the door.

  ‘Thanks.’

  I’m going to need it.

  Chapter 36

  The hotel dining room boasts the same round tables we sat at during the reception yesterday, expect this time, it’s just us. Me, Clarky, Ed, Zach, Fi and Matt. I appreciate Matt being here, given that it’s the morning after his wedding, but Kat looks more than happy at another table, having breakfast with her bridesmaids – including the one I replaced in the ceremony, who has brought her baby for everyone to meet.

  Clarky stands up.

  ‘Good morning, thank you for coming,’ he says formally. ‘As breakfast is on me, I thought I’d take point.’

  ‘Breakfast isn’t on you,’ Zach points out. ‘It’s free.’

  ‘Yeah, thanks to me,’ Clarky reminds him. ‘So …’

  No one actually has any breakfast in front of them, which is a real turn up for the books. There’s a glorious smelling breakfast buffet at the other side of the room – normally, this lot (myself included) would’ve been all over it the second we walked through the door.

  ‘I’ve been rehearsing this, so just let me get it all out before anyone says anything,’ Clarky says. ‘I want to start by saying that I’m sorry. Zach, I am sorry for what happened back at uni. I could try and make excuses – I’m not going to. There’s nothing I can say. We shouldn’t have done it, we should’ve told you … whatever, we didn’t do the right thing. Fi, I’m sorry for saying I loved you. I thought I did. It’s easy to feel things for people when you don’t see them everyday but I’ve been an idiot. Look at the two of you. You’re getting married, you’ve got a kid on the way. Now that I can see that, I don’t know what I’ve been clinging on to all these years.’

  With Zach and Fi apologised to, he turns to Matt.

  ‘Matt, I’m sorry this came out at your wedding. I hope we didn’t ruin your day or get you in trouble with the missus.’

  He turns to Ed.

  ‘Ed, I’m sorry you had to see what you saw, and that you’ve been carrying it around all this time. It sounds like you were having a shitty night, you didn’t need us adding to your problems.’

  For the first time in forever, I see a softer side to Clarky. He’s being mature, he’s taking responsibility for his actions – things I’ve never seen him do before. It’s nice to see because he can be a real arsehole sometimes. Maybe there is a kind, understanding, sympathetic human lurking in there after all.

  ‘Luca …’ I raise my eyebrows expectantly as Clarky turns to me. ‘I have nothing to apologise to you for.’

  Everyone laughs.

  ‘But sorry anyway, just in case,’ he says quickly before sitting down.

  ‘I’ll go next,’ Fi says. She seems way more comfortable with the conversation, not feeling the need to stand up and address people one at a time. ‘Zach has always been the love of my life … when I thought he didn’t want me, I was devastated. That’s no excuse for sleeping with someone else … but when Zach did show up that night, I felt so guilty that he’d been in an accident, I didn’t dare tell him what I’d done. I comforted myself with the fact that it happened before we got together, but that’s no excuse. The more time went by, the harder it got to tell him, but the less I thought about it. I’ve been so preoccupied with the wedding and then I found I was pregnant and … I was too scared to tell you.’

  Fi is looking at Zach now, holding his hand.

  ‘I was going to tell you this weekend but you said something to Ed about going back to misery, meaning his wife and kids, and you said you were pleased there were no kids at the wedding because kids were annoying. It occurred to me that, even though we talk about having kids, that you might not actually want them, and I panicked.’

  Zach squeezes her hand.

  ‘I overreacted,’ Zach says. ‘I’d had too much to drink and I let my ego get the better of me … but as soon as Fi said she was pregnant, nothing else mattered. It snapped me out of my rage and reminded me just how much I love her, and how much I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her – and the bump. The future is all that matters.’

  It’s amazing really, how a cold dip in a pond and a night spent sleeping on it has allowed everyone to see things in a new light. Last night, I felt like we all could’ve kept arguing forever, today we’re all figuring stuff out. Time passing does change everything …

  My attention drifts away as I start thinking about Tom. I’m wondering if, after a night sleeping on it, he feels differently about me this morning. I’m not sure how I feel. After ten years of foreplay, sleeping together felt like something that was inevitable, like we had this unresolved tension between us, but can we really just be together? Tom said what happens next is as easy as we want it to be, but do I want it to be easy?

  ‘Luca,’ Ed says, snapping me from my thoughts. ‘I’m sorry I tried to kiss you – I barely remember it. I don’t know what I was thinking. I think just, being around everyone again, it all came flooding back.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ I say. ‘I totally get it.’

  ‘And I’m sorry about what happened that night. I was a young, stupid idiot, and you guys – whether you knew it or not – saved my life. Not a day goes by I don’t think about that poor dog that I killed.’

  ‘You didn’t kill him,’ Zach says.

  ‘What?’ Ed replies.

  ‘Yeah, he was fine, think he broke his leg or something – I’ve got him on Facebook.’

  Ed exhales a lifetime of relief.

  ‘Mate, I wish you’d told me that years ago.’

  ‘We said we’d never talk about it,’ Zach reminds him.

  ‘Well, I’ve learned my lesson regardless. I’m still learning – I need to drink less. When I drink too much, it always seems to end in tears.’

  ‘I’m sorry I didn’t let you bring your kids, mate,’ Matt tells Ed. ‘If I had, Stella would’ve been here, and you would’ve behaved. You’re terrified of her.’

  Ed laughs. ‘Perhaps.’

  ‘I’m sorry for any part I played in any of this,’ I say sincerely. ‘And I’m sorry I didn’t do more to get things under control last night.’

  ‘You were doing a great job until I upset you,’ Matt says. ‘I’m so, so sorry I gave your costume to Cleo.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ I tell him. ‘I think there might have been more to it than just a costume.’

  ‘I think you’re right,’ he replies. ‘But I’m Tom’s best mate, remember. He didn’t think he was good enough for you – he probably never will, he worships you. Always has.’

  I give him a half-smile.

  ‘Honestly,’ Matt persists. ‘He’s asked me about you constantly for the past ten years. I think he thought he was doing you a favour … he always kept one eye on you though. He never quite let go of you.’

  ‘This is nice, isn’t it?’ Clarky says. ‘All friends again.’

  ‘It’s a little late but … Fi, congratulations,’ I say. ‘I can’t believe you’re pregnant!’

  ‘It’s not mine, is it?’ Clarky jokes, in the most inappropriately timed inappropriate joke of the occasion.

  ‘Too soon, mate,’ Zach tells him, wincing.

  ‘We should get some breakfast,’ Clarky says, changing the subject.

  ‘How did you blag this?’ Matt asks him.

  ‘Compo, for the bridge,’ he says. ‘Apparently it was supposed to have signs on it, saying no more than two people at once. And, hey, I didn’t just get breakfast, I got that receptionist
bird’s number too.’

  ‘How did you blag that?’ Matt asks.

  ‘Well, when I walked in on him, she was down on her knees, drying his legs for him,’ I say.

  ‘Do you think Little Clarky swayed her?’ Ed asks.

  ‘Can’t be that little if she gave you her number,’ Matt laughs.

  I notice that Zach is being tactfully quiet in all of this. It must be weird for him. Then again, he just seems so over the moon to be becoming a dad, I don’t think he cares.

  ‘Well, we’re not far from Cambridge,’ Clarky points out. I hadn’t realised that’s where he was living now. ‘So we’ll see.’

  I can’t help but smile. I feel like my kids are finally growing up.

  ‘OK, food,’ Clarky says.

  ‘Just don’t spike it this time, mate,’ Zach says as they head for the buffet.

  Matt and I hang back for a second.

  ‘Have you seen Tom?’ he asks me. ‘He disappeared last night, and when I knocked on his door this morning there was no answer.’

  ‘Don’t worry, he’s in my room,’ I say.

  ‘Luca,’ he sings. ‘Did you …?’

  ‘We did,’ I say, feeling my cheeks flush a little.

  ‘It’s about bloody time,’ Matt says, and he smiles like he means it. ‘So are you two a thing now?’

  ‘I don’t know what we are,’ I admit. ‘We haven’t really spoken about it.’

  ‘Well, if we’ve learned anything, it’s that we should grab happiness where we can find it,’ he says.

  ‘Erm, I don’t think that’s right,’ I point out. ‘People grabbing happiness where they could find it is pretty much the reason we all fell out.’

  ‘Oh. Maybe it’s that everything happens for a reason?’

  ‘I’m not sold on that one either,’ I laugh.

  ‘No … you’re probably right. I’m going to go and get a sausage.’

  ‘I’ll be right behind you.’

  ‘You might want to wait a bit,’ he says nodding at something behind me.

  I turn around and see Tom. He must have been back to his room and got changed because he looks amazing. He’s wearing a pair of black jeans and a crisp white shirt.