A Date with Fate

by Cathy Cole

  Ollie was standing in the shadows, looking paralysed. Polly’s eyes were wide and haunted. “I swear, we haven’t been seeing each other, Lila—”

  Lila laughed mirthlessly. “I’m not stupid you know.” She looked at Ollie, standing silently in the shadows behind Polly. “Every time I look at you two these days, you’re making big cow eyes at each other. Have you been sneaking around behind my back? Tell me!”

  Polly came to life. “I would never do that to you, Lila,” she said vehemently. “I’ve seen what happens when people cheat. It just causes misery.”

  Eve sensed disapproving eyes turning in her direction. She squirmed, thinking about Rhi and Max.

  Lila looked at Ollie again. Eve could see that Ollie was avoiding her eye.

  “Just hugging, were you? Pull the other one,” she said at last.

  “It’s true!” Polly looked close to tears. “I . . . I do like Ollie but I’d never do anything, I swear—”

  “You like me?” Ollie interrupted, looking astonished. “But you’re always winding me up about how stupid I am.”

  Polly had turned bright red. “Forget I said anything,” she muttered, folding her arms tightly across her body.

  Either the firelight was casting a red glow on his cheeks, or Ollie Wright was blushing as vividly as Polly was. He seemed oblivious to Lila’s furious glaring.

  “You like me?” he repeated. “But . . . I like you too, Polly. I’ve always liked you but I thought. . .”

  He stuttered into red-faced silence. Polly put her hands to her mouth, peeping over the top of her fingers like she’d never seen him before.

  “What do you mean, you’ve always liked Polly?” Lila said, looking more upset than ever. “You’ve been going out with me for months!”

  “You dumped me last week,” Ollie pointed out, tearing his eyes from Polly. “Remember?”

  Lila gave a choking cry of rage and stormed away down the beach. There was a brief silence, then a storm of chattering.

  Everyone loves decent gossip at a party, Eve thought grimly. She realized that she felt sorry for Lila. It was a strange sensation.

  She hurried into the darkness after her former enemy, following Lila’s footsteps through the sand as they zigzagged erratically across the beach. The last flare was some distance behind her, the moon offering the only light, when Eve at last heard sobbing.

  “Are you OK, Lila?” she called, shading her eyes and peering into the gloom.”

  “Do I sound OK?” Sitting on a sand dune with her knees drawn up to her chest, Lila looked utterly crushed. She peered at Eve with red eyes. “Come to gloat?” she said, wiping her nose.

  Maybe it was the conversation she’d just had with Caitlin, but Eve felt as if something inside her had changed. Softened, perhaps.

  “No,” she said honestly. “Although I understand why you might think that.”

  She sat beside Lila. Together they watched the white tips of the waves blooming through the darkness, listening to the soft shush of the surf on the shore.

  “I did dump him, I guess,” Lila sniffed. She glanced sideways at Eve. “Do you think they were seeing each other when Ollie and I were together?”

  Eve thought about the hug she’d seen in the shopping centre. She shook her head. “No. Because they care more about you than they do about themselves.”

  Which is more than can be said for me, she thought.

  “Then what if Ollie was pretending I was Polly every time we kissed?” Lila said in despair.

  “Are we talking about dented pride or broken hearts here?” Eve asked briskly.

  “Pride, I guess,” Lila mumbled after a moment.

  Eve felt wistful. If only her life was as simple as Lila’s. “Then you’ll recover just fine,” she said. “You and Ollie just didn’t work out. It happens. The heart does what it wants, whether we like it or not.”

  “Well, this heart wants a little fun for a change,” said Lila, suddenly sounding decisive. “I’m not going to date anyone for a while.”

  “Not even Josh?” asked Eve, unable to resist.

  Lila looked shocked. “Josh? No! Why do you think I would date Josh?”

  “How the world can change,” Eve remarked, dusting sand off her dress. “One minute we’re at each other’s throats and the next you’re asking for relationship advice. I’m not the best source of advice just now, believe me.”

  Lila stared curiously at her. “You’re a real surprise sometimes, Eve.”

  Eve smoothed her hair. “I hope that’s a compliment.”

  “It is.” Lila smiled. “Thanks for coming after me. Sitting here instead of queening it around your party. It’s a great party, by the way.”

  “I should have parties more often,” Eve mused. “Once a week is about right.”

  Lila laughed. “You know,” she said in wonder, “I never thought we’d be friends.”

  Eve heard the motor boat before she saw it. Engines revving, lights on full beam, it skidded on to the sand, throwing up a powerful arc of water that quenched three of the beach flares. Eve was on her feet at once, running with Lila back up the beach. She pictured robbers, kidnappers, party crashers. . .

  Ryan Jameson leaped off the boat. He stumbled slightly as his feet hit the sand, which spoiled the effect a little. Several people cheered when they recognized him.

  “Lila!” Ryan shouted with a flourish, hunting through the crowds. “I’ve come to claim you. I can’t go on like this! I love you!”

  Eve felt furious. Who did Ryan think he was, crashing her party so spectacularly? I’ll grind him to dust, she thought, preparing to go on the attack.

  Lila caught her arm. “Wait, Eve. It’s OK. I kind of . . . like his style.”

  Eve didn’t like the gleam in Lila’s eyes. “Don’t tell me Ryan is going to qualify as ‘fun’,” she said warily.

  Lila giggled. “Come on, he makes a decent distraction. Don’t you think?”

  Ryan had spotted Lila now, and was striding towards her with his arms extended. Eve cringed. How could he be so embarrassing? Didn’t he know what a fool he was making of himself? He just didn’t know when to stop!

  “Lila,” Ryan declared, going down gallantly on one knee. The crowd watched, agog. “I can’t spend another moment away from you. Kiss me.”

  “You know how to make an entrance,” said Lila, folding her arms and grinning at him. “I’ll give you that.”

  “I want more,” Ryan said passionately. “Much more.”

  Lila rolled her eyes, laughing. “Fine. You want a kiss? I’ll give you a kiss.”

  Ryan looked as if he couldn’t believe his ears. “Seriously?”

  Lila fluttered her eyelashes. “Get on with it or I might change my mind.”

  Ryan scrambled to his feet, almost knocking Lila off her feet as he kissed her soundly on the lips. There was a roar of appreciation from the crowd. Ryan pulled away from the embrace and punched the air as if he’d won some kind of kissing trophy.

  Eve had had enough. Was she the only person around here who remembered Ryan’s idiocy at the shopping centre?

  “OK, so now you can leave,” she said coldly. “Hop back into your little boat and chug away, Ryan. I recall banning you from this party.”

  “Give him a break, Eve.”

  “He nearly gave you a break, as I recall,” Eve hissed. “Legs, arms, back. Skull. This is my party and I want him to leave.”

  Ryan puffed out his chest for the benefit of the watching crowd. “This island is public property. I can be here if I want.”

  Eve wanted to stamp her feet in frustration.

  “My security team might have something to say about that,” she said sweetly.

  Two burly bouncers were heading towards them, talking into their mouthpieces. Ryan leaned towards her, his eyes shining with anger through his fr
inge. “You’re as big a fraud as your father, Eve Somerstown,” he said.

  For a hideous instant, Eve’s entire world stopped turning.

  What did he mean?

  EIGHTEEN

  Eve’s first instinct was to stop Ryan from saying any more. The crowd had already started murmuring, looking at each other and wondering. Instinctively, she threw her head back and laughed as loudly and realistically as she could. She’d had plenty of practice at diverting attention in this way. It wasn’t difficult.

  “You’re such a drama queen, Ryan,” she said, still laughing. “Whatever do you mean?”

  “Everyone knows the construction of the shopping centre has been delayed,” Ryan said nastily. “What has Daddy been doing with everyone’s money, I wonder?”

  Shut up, shut up, shut up. Eve kept her smile pinned in place as her brain clamoured for Ryan’s blood.

  “You don’t understand a thing about business, do you Ryan?” she said in her most condescending voice. “Why would you? You don’t run a multinational business like my father. You’re just the kid from the café.”

  “Stop being so boring, guys,” Lila complained. “Is he staying or not, Eve?”

  Eve pretended to consider. “Fine,” she said, as if it didn’t matter to her either way. “He can stay.” And she waved at the bouncers, who stopped and headed back the way they had come.

  “Now kiss and make up, both of you,” said Lila, rolling her eyes. “This is meant to be a party.”

  Eve didn’t like the smile Ryan gave her. He knew he’d hit a nerve. As she stepped towards him for a loud air kiss, she hissed into his ear: “Keep your big mouth shut, Ryan, or the police might just find something belonging to you inexplicably lying around in the shopping centre. OK?” Then she stepped back again, her smile firmly in place. “There,” she said for Lila’s benefit. “Friends. Come on Lila, I want to dance.”

  Lila slipped her arm through Ryan’s. “I think I’ll stick with Ryan for a while if you don’t mind, Eve.”

  Eve felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. So much for Lila being her friend now.

  “Suit yourself,” she said coldly, turning on her heel in the sand.

  This is meant to be a party. Lila’s words echoed round Eve’s head as she moved among her guests alone, her head held high. All of a sudden, she wasn’t in the party mood.

  “Want to dance, Eve?” said Ollie, jumping around the dance floor like an excitable puppy with his Hawaiian shirt flapping open to his navel.

  “If I wanted to dance with a clown, I’d go to the circus,” Eve snapped. “You dance like a toddler needing the bathroom.”

  “Cheers for that, Eve,” Ollie said, looking offended. “You really know how to make a guy feel good about himself.”

  Eve swept on towards the marquee. Nothing ever worked out the way she wanted it to. Nothing ever went right for her. How could Lila act as if she liked Eve one minute, and then choose to hang out with someone who had said such an awful thing about Eve’s father?

  If it wasn’t for my dad, we wouldn’t even be HAVING this party, Eve thought savagely. He didn’t deserve to have people talking about him behind his back.

  You’re as big a fraud as your father. . .

  Was Ryan right? Was her father a fraud?

  Was she a fraud?

  Fraud. . . Fraud. . .

  She nearly bumped into Polly outside the marquee.

  “Have you seen Ollie?” asked Polly shyly. “I’ve lost him.”

  “You really should keep tabs on that boy,” Eve said harshly, pushing past. “He’s so shallow he’s probably forgotten about you already. You need to hurry up and find him again before he kisses someone else.”

  Polly looked stricken. “Don’t say that.”

  Everywhere Eve looked, people were getting it together. Talking quietly, their heads close. Dancing with their arms round each other. Kissing. So much kissing. The thought of all the romance sickened her. It was her party. She wanted to be laughing, holding hands and kissing too. Instead here she was, alone and confused. She was always alone.

  She stopped dead as she saw yet another couple in a tight embrace. Caitlin’s dark head, Jessica’s fair one. Jessica’s pink hat had fallen off and was lying on the sand at their feet. Eve stared at them in their private bubble of romance, and bit her lip so hard she could taste blood. They made it seem so simple. As if it was nothing at all. She felt more alone than ever.

  Tearing her eyes away, she hurried on across the sand. She was climbing on the rocks now, heading for higher ground, away from the crashing surf and the lazy boom of the music. How was she ever going to feel happy again?

  A lone figure sat a short distance ahead of her, his long legs folded underneath him, his straw hat pushed to the back of his head and a sketch pad on his lap. Eve felt a rush of hope.

  “Hey stranger,” she said, sitting down beside him. “Not dancing?”

  Josh added some cross-hatching to his lively rendition of the party down below their feet. “I dance like a giraffe on roller skates,” he said. “Dangerously. It’s better for all concerned if I stay right here.”

  “The music sounds gorgeous,” Eve said as the steel band echoed on the wind. “Like a Caribbean dream. How would you draw music?”

  Josh thought about the question. “Probably as badly as I dance,” he said at last.

  “Parties aren’t really your thing, are they?” Eve asked, looking at him sympathetically.

  He looked a little embarrassed. “Honestly? No. But I’m very grateful that you invited me.”

  Eve nudged him with her arm. “Of course I invited you,” she said with a laugh. “I like you, Josh. Don’t you get it? I really, really do.”

  And before she lost her nerve, she removed Josh’s hat, put her arms round his neck and kissed him.

  NINETEEN

  Eve felt Josh freeze. He tentatively returned her kiss, but pulled back almost at once.

  “Sorry,” he said, flushing bright red. “You kind of took me by surprise.”

  Eve wanted to die a thousand deaths of humiliation. “It’s fine,” she said, forcing a laugh. “I just thought I’d give it a try.”

  “I really am sorry, Eve,” he stuttered. “I like you a lot, but . . . just not in that way.”

  Eve refused to let herself cry. Her mascara could not take much more punishment. “Honestly, Josh, it’s fine,” she repeated. “It’s good for me to know that I’m not entirely irresistible.”

  She sounded wooden and pathetic. But “you were my last hope” would have sounded a lot worse, she knew.

  “That was probably the worst kiss you’ve ever had,” Josh groaned. “I haven’t had much practice, you see. Beautiful girls don’t jump on me very often. I’m basically an idiot in that department.”

  Eve found that she was already feeling a bit better. “A very talented idiot,” she pointed out.

  “Just not at kissing,” said Josh gloomily.

  “I’m sure you’ll be just fine when you find someone that fits.”

  Eve realized with a little stab of shock that she was echoing Caitlin’s words from earlier. She recalled Caitlin’s other words from weeks ago, about romance coming and going but friendship remaining. Maybe what she needed right now was a friend.

  “You really are beautiful, Eve,” said Josh helplessly. “And kind when you want to be. And funny. And you give great parties.”

  “Parties you don’t enjoy,” Eve pointed out.

  “Parties that are great to draw,” Josh corrected, blushing again. “And you are an awesome business partner. Seriously, I’ll be your business partner any time you want. I like being with you, even though you ask weird questions about flowers when I’m trying to sketch. It’s just—”

  “It really is OK, Josh.” Eve found that she meant it this time. “I can d
o friends if you can.”

  Josh beamed with relief. “I’d love that,” he said gratefully.

  They sat together in the moonlight for a while, and Eve did her best not to interrupt as Josh shaded in the stripes on the marquee. She found that she was feeling more relaxed than she had all evening.

  “Enough,” said Josh, folding up his sketch pad. “Do you want to do something else?”

  The whole island was on a slope, cliffs at the back and a flat shoreline at the front. Guitar music and laughter were drifting down to Eve from above where she and Josh were sitting, mingling with the mellow tones of the steel band below on the beach. It sounded as if a few guests had split from the main party and were making their own entertainment on the highest point of the island.

  “Let’s go and see what’s happening higher up,” Eve suggested.

  It was a steep climb. Eve kicked off her jewelled flip-flops and hitched up her dress, grabbing Josh’s hand for the steeper parts. The music grew louder and more rhythmic the closer they got to the top.

  “Hi, guys!” said Rhi in delight as Eve and Josh scrambled on to the wide, flat plateau at the very top of the island. She laid aside the guitar she was holding.

  “Eve was missing me,” said Max, grinning beside Rhi in the firelight. “Weren’t you?”

  “In your dreams, Max,” Eve responded. She took in the quiet groups of people perched on the rocks around a flickering camp fire someone had built. “Josh and I thought we’d check out the music up here.”

  “Be our guests,” said Brody Baxter, a tall blond guy who played guitar and sang at the Heartbeat on weekends. He took up the guitar and started strumming it, singing softly. His voice was warm and mellow and echoed off the rocks.

  It’s beautiful up here, Eve thought, gazing out at the great glittering moonlit sea far below. So peaceful. All her troubles seemed a world away. Up here it didn’t matter if you were fat or thin, gay or straight, ugly or beautiful, rich or poor. All that mattered was the flickering flames and Brody’s voice pouring through the air like cream.

  Brody switched to a faster song next, tapping his fingers against the body of his guitar. The sound bounced and echoed around the rocks. Eve found herself starting to sway to the hypnotic rhythm. The crowd clapped and urged Brody on.