Friends Who Lie

by Paul J. Teague

  ‘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 be
en 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.’

  ‘Good 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.

  ‘You still with Terry?’ he asked. He’d been saving that question. He didn’t really want to hear the answer, yet he couldn’t see her like this without knowing.

  ‘Yes, I’m still with Terry.’

  She watched his face drop.

  ‘It’s not going well though. I think we’re almost there with that particular relationship.’

  ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ he said. He wasn’t and she knew it.

  ‘What happened? Did it run its course?’

  ‘Life didn’t really move on for me after you left,’ she said, half to herself. She’d never said this out loud before.

  ‘Mum died soon after you left, I met Terry a couple of years after and we moved in together way too fast. It was good at first, I needed somebody who didn’t remind me of ... I needed a change. But it wasn’t going to last. Things changed at work, Terry was always distracted by his work and I ... I just became lost really. I’ve been stuck in a limbo of not daring to move. Things are pretty well the same as when I last saw you.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Cait, really I am. Did you marry Terry? Sorry, that’s none of my business.’

  ‘No, we never married. No kids either. I think sometimes in a relationship you just know it’s not right. If we’d have married and had kids we’d have lost our ability to back out. I think subconsciously we both wanted to leave the exits open.’

  ‘What will you do? What’s your plan?’

  ‘Well, that’s why I asked to see you. It just so happens that it’s rather timely that you’re down on your luck.’

  Luke took a sip of wine.

  ‘Go on, tell me more.’

  ‘Remember that Christmas when we were in the office on our own?’

  ‘Do I remember that Christmas? We had sex in the staff kitchen. It was the only place without a CCTV camera. Do you remember trying to figure out where was safe? We were so bored! Why do employers make people work in the run-up to Christmas? Nobody cares.’

  Caitlen had forgotten that part of the story. They were the only members of staff who’d been stupid enough not to book leave. They were a couple then, so they figured that they’d manage to pass the time pleasantly enough. Luke had started talking dirty to her, they’d got all hot and bothered and were desperate to find a place to have sex. They’d been frantically running around trying to figure out which areas weren’t covered by cameras. It was either the toilets, the stationery cupboard or the staff kitchen. They’d had exciting, frantic sex on the round table in the corner of the kitchen. The same place where Mavis Nicholls ate her sandwiches every day. That made it feel even more naughty.

  She’d never had sex with Terry like that. He approached lovemaking like a new cabinet which had to be assembled from a set of instructions. Part A fits alongside Part B. Part C slips into Part D. It was like a deathly version of the Karma Sutra, written by IKEA.

  ‘Try LukeCait2011,’ she said, trying to shake off the thought of it.

  ‘What?’

  ‘The password. LukeCait2011. Give it a try.’

  Luke flipped open the lid on the old laptop. He typed in the password. It worked.

  ‘Jeez Cait, how did you remember that?’

  ‘Remember how we used to laugh about getting one of those sun strips in the car? The type where couples used to display their names? You don’t see it anymore, but quite a lot of people did it in the old days. We always used to make our passwords with what we’d put on our imaginary sun strip. Plus the year that we created it. We broke up in 2012, you got that laptop in 2011, easy! Who needs Sherlock Holmes?’

  ‘So what’s on here that’s so special? I can’t even remember what’s on this hard drive, it’s probably full of all sorts of crap!’

  ‘Do you remember that after we’d had sex, we’d still got a full afternoon to kill? You never did take very long. Don’t you remember our bet? The bitcoin one?’

  ‘Damn, Cait, I’d forgotten all about that. We bought bitcoin didn’t we? Bloody hell, that was ages ago! It’ll be worth a frigging fortune now!’

  ‘Yup,’ she nodded, smugly. ‘At current valuation, just short of half a million.’

  ‘You’re kidding? You’re bloody kidding me, Cait?’

  Luke tapped at the computer frantically, searching through his files. There were things on there that he’d long forgotten. Photos, documents, music. It all seemed so long ago. But he remembered the bet.

  ‘It’s here, it’s just a barcode and a long password key or something like that. Is that it? Is that enough to bring it back from the dead?’

  ‘That’s all you need, Luke. That’s your private key to the bitcoin. We bought $100 each. It’s worth a fortune now!’

  Luke beamed at her. He instantly felt a huge burden lifting from his shoulders. This was exactly what he needed and at precisely the right time. He’d thought he was going under. He feared he might even have to take an office job. In fact, he was going to ask Caitlen that very question, to see if there were any vacancies at his old place of work. The shame of it. But here was the answer.

  ‘Why did I ever let you go, Cait? You just bring good shit into my life. This is incredible, I can hardly believe it.’

  Instinctively he’d reached out to take her hands across the table, in the excitement of it all, immersed in the thrill of being back with her again, he’d forgotten that she was Terry’s now.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, gently releasing her hands, ‘I forgot myself for a moment there.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ sh
e replied, looking deeply into his eyes, reading the signals. ‘I like it, Luke. I’ve missed it. I miss you. Shall we get a room? There are too many CCTV cameras down here? You know how it is with the CCTV cameras.’

  There was that gleam in the eye again. It felt good again to be wanted, really craved by a man. And those soft hands too, she loved the feel of smooth hands on her skin. In fact, she couldn’t understand why she and Luke had ever let it slip away like that.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Benidorm: June

  ‘Caitlen, it’s not what it looks like, luv!’

  ‘It’s exactly what it looks like, Terry. And will you please stop calling me luv? I feel like I’m trapped in a Carry On film. You’ve even got your own bloody Barbara Windsor!’

  Emmy had rushed off into the bathroom with her clothes. She’d missed her knickers which were resting on the coffee table, in plain view of the assembled crowd. Within seconds, the entire situation descended into chaos. Caitlen was screaming at Terry. She was not so much angry that he’d been having an affair. She was more frustrated by the fact that she could have ended it with him at any time, rather than having to mess around and agonise about the best exit point. The affair was a bit of a relief. Porter was banging at the bathroom door shouting at Emmy. If Caitlen hadn’t been so preoccupied with Terry, she might have caught a ferocity in Porter’s eyes which she’d never seen before.

  ‘You slut!’ he was calling. ‘You think you’re better than me, you never slept with me. And all the time you’re screwing Terry! What’s so wrong with me that Terry is a better bet?’

  Matt had taken a run at Harriet’s companion and was now in the midst of his second fight of the night. Harriet was distressed, trying to separate the two men. There was no way that Matt was coming off better in this exchange.

  ‘It’s not what you think, Matt, nothing happened. We were just talking, honestly!’

  Matt wasn’t listening. Harriet’s companion floored Matt with one punch. That set off Becky who was ecstatic at seeing her cheating fiancé getting what he deserved. She marched up the corridor, in her dressing gown, and spat on his unconscious body on the floor.