Cocktails, Rock Tales & Betrayals

by Archer, Julie

  She answered on pretty much the first ring. “Where the hell are you?”

  Alik checked around him, looking for some kind of sign post or identifying landmark. “Um, somewhere in London,” he said. “I think.”

  “When did you last speak to Caro?”

  He had a vague recollection of leaving her another rambling voicemail at some point during the previous evening. Although he couldn't be one hundred percent sure of the content. “Last night, maybe early this morning. I needed to tell her something.”

  “What time?”

  “Sorry, Olivia, I don't remember.”

  He could almost feel her breath in his ear as she huffed down the line at him. “What's happened?”

  “She's gone, Alik.”

  “Gone where?”

  Again, the exasperated sigh pierced his eardrum. “If I knew that I wouldn't be asking you! Just let me know if you hear from her.”

  After Olivia ended the call, Alik found Caro's number in his recently-dialled contacts and pressed ‘call.’ It went straight to voicemail. He tried again. And again. The same result. Trying her work landline, he was frustrated to get an identical answer. It took all of his patience not to hurl the phone into the road.

  The thought that he might have lost her for good, combined with the previous night's excesses building up in his system, made him turn around and vomit into the nearest garden.

  Chapter Sixty

  Caro knew it was early, but she couldn't help pounding on the door of the apartment. No doubt the neighbours would start complaining at any minute, but she really didn't care. Just as she was about to begin hammering on it again, the door cracked open a couple of inches and Mariella's blonde head peered out.

  “What the hell are you doing back here? Are you okay?” she said, flinging the door open wide and ushering her friend inside. She apologised in Spanish to the elderly gentleman who lived in the apartment next door and had come out to see what all the noise was about.

  Caro shook her head, a fresh wave of tears engulfing her. She allowed Mariella to lead her into the living room and collapsed on the sofa, pulling her knees up to her chest.

  “What's going on? Everything alright?” A muscled Adonis with an Australian accent wandered in from the bedroom, naked, and Mariella scurried over to him.

  “Might be best if you head back to bed, babe,” she said, tactfully covering him with a t-shirt that had been draped over the back of the sofa. “I've got this.”

  He kissed the top of her head, yawning, and did as he was told. Mariella went to the kitchen to put the kettle on, coming back shortly with two very strong cups of coffee, one of which smelled distinctly alcoholic. Caro blew on the steaming mug of coffee, inhaling the brandy fumes. A weak smile crossed her face at Mariella's thoughtfulness. Her friend curled up on the opposite end of the sofa and waited until Caro was ready to talk. They sat in silence, sipping their drinks, listening to the sounds outside as the island started coming to life.

  “Okay,” Mariella said. “The last time you were here, you were with Alik and now you're here on your own, so I'm guessing that it must be something to do with him. Am I close?”

  Caro nodded.

  Taking a sip of the disgustingly strong alcoholic coffee, she began to talk, the whole story tumbling out about how she had wound up where she was now.

  “I didn't know where else to go,” she said.

  Mariella reached out and hugged her. “You are always welcome here, we can go back to how things were.”

  She was true to her word. Within a few days, Caro was back working at The Roca Bar, the easy familiarity and the constant cheerfulness of the tourists a welcome distraction from everything that had happened.

  It almost felt like home again.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Alik arranged to meet Olivia at The Green Tree, one of North Ridge’s most popular cafes, a couple of days after his London bender. After repeated fruitless attempts to get hold of Caro, he desperately hoped that Olivia knew where she was. He ordered a coffee and waited, trying to evade the looks of the customers who were staring at him, knowing that he looked dreadful. Whatever he’d done on that night out was still having an after-effect on him. He browsed on his phone, scrolling through pictures of him and Caro, reminding himself of the good times they had, the happiness he felt when they were together. Something that had certainly been missing of late. Edie had been trying to reach him and had left him several messages begging him to talk to her. He had ignored all of them, scared by the depth of disgust he felt towards her. And scared that if they talked in person, he would do something that he would deeply regret.

  The door finally swung open and Olivia entered. She looked full of purpose and determination as she strode across the floor. Alik was filled with confidence that she would know something. But as she dropped down into the chair opposite him, that confidence evaporated.

  “Before you ask, I still have no definite idea of where she is,” said Olivia. She waved at the waitress and ordered a latte. “It’s possible she’s gone back to Mallorca, but I can’t get hold of Mariella.”

  Alik sighed heavily. He had suspected the same thing and wanted to go out there himself to look for her. Caro needed to know the truth. And although she deserved to hear it first, he also needed to confide in someone else before he burst.

  “I found something out a couple of days ago,” he said, “that changes things. Again.”

  The waitress placed Olivia’s latte on the table and she immediately reached for it. “Go on.”

  Alik decided not to bother with the detail and went straight in. “Edie lied. The baby is Billy’s. She’s only about seven weeks pregnant, so it can’t possibly be mine.”

  Olivia’s jaw dropped and Alik watched her take several sips of her drink, trying to digest the news. “I knew she was capable of some deceitful behaviour when she told me she was seeing Billy, but this?” Olivia hung her head. “Alik, I’m sorry, I should have told you about the affair when I found out.”

  “Yeah, you probably should have,” agreed Alik. “We wouldn’t be sitting here now having this conversation, but I can’t blame you for what she did. Although I guess you probably kept Caro’s involvement with me a secret from Edie too.”

  Olivia nodded. “I got stuck in the middle of the two of them, a bit like you did.” She took another sip of her latte. “I’ll try Mariella again. And maybe you should just head on out there.”

  “You’re right. I don’t know why I’m sitting here just talking about it.” Alik drained his coffee. “Would you talk to Edie? Maybe she needs to speak to Caro, too. Explain herself and why she did what she did. I don’t trust myself around her at the moment.”

  “Of course. I’ll head over there now. Call me when you know anything.”

  Alik watched Olivia leave, a sense of urgency suddenly kicking in. He grabbed his phone and fired off a few texts before turning his attention to flights.

  * * *

  Edie settled down on the sofa, a mug of ginger tea on the table in front of her. Apparently morning sickness wasn’t confined just to mornings for her. She’d been shopping for baby stuff in Henlake for most of the day before meeting Minty for a catch up. Her friend had wittered on endlessly about what diet she was trying, which Edie was far too polite to mention didn’t seem to be working. Minty asked her loads of questions about the baby, her plans for decorating the nursery, what she was going to call it and how she was getting on with Alik. It had been exhausting. That was before the awful traffic coming home. She ran her hands over her stomach.

  “You’re tiring me out already,” she said. “And you’ve not even been born yet.” Her eyes wandered to the baby magazines scattered next to her on the sofa, wondering which one of them had the best tips on sleeping. Idly, she flicked through the TV channels, trying to settle on something mindless enough to keep her attention for a little while before it was an acceptable hour to go to bed. An old Sex & The City re-run was just starting, so she settled for
that, snuggling back into the cushions and half closing her eyes.

  When she heard knocking, she thought it was on the programme, but when the knocking became more insistent, she realised that it was her own front door. She wondered who would be coming to see her at this time and hauled herself up off the sofa. Checking the door spy-hole before opening it, she saw Olivia standing on her doorstep.

  She opened the door. “Hi, what are you doing here?” she asked.

  Olivia didn’t reply and barged straight past her into the living room, sitting down in the armchair. Closing the door behind her, Edie resumed her place on the sofa.

  “I was with Alik this afternoon,” said Olivia.

  Edie felt the colour drain from her face. She thought she might throw up.

  “He told me everything. How could you do that to him? And to Caro? I know you were jealous of what they had, but you were screwing around with Billy. You didn’t need to take it any further, it was done.”

  A single tear crept down Edie’s cheek and she swiped it away. She didn’t want Olivia to see how upset she was, she needed to stay strong. “Caro had everything, didn’t she?” she said. “The successful career, the man that wanted her. Her, not me. If I couldn’t have him, then I didn’t want her to either.”

  Olivia shook her head. “And to think I covered for you over your affair. I didn’t realise just how vindictive you could be, although I should have guessed after you did that article on Caro.”

  Edie laughed through her tears. “Jealousy works in mysterious ways.”

  “You’ve destroyed my best friend’s happiness. Not to mention my trust. Just like that.” Olivia clicked her fingers.

  Neither of them spoke any further. Somewhere in the distance, Carrie Bradshaw was championing the merits of strong female friendships and how lucky she was to have Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte. Listening to the words, Edie knew she had a choice. She had to do the right thing. For once.

  “You need to make this better,” said Olivia. “You need to tell Caro the truth.”

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Caro stretched, adjusting the tie string on the bottom of the minuscule turquoise bikini that she'd just bought. Fleeing North Ridge late at night had meant that she hadn't packed properly and simply thrown a few clothes into a bag. Clothes that were not necessarily appropriate for the late summer weather of Mallorca. Having been persuaded by Mariella that she needed to give herself a break and not just be holed up in the apartment when she wasn't working, she had packed a bag and headed to one of the nearby hotels to pretend to be a tourist for the day. Behind her sunglasses, she surveyed the pool, watching the families with pre-school age children splashing about in the water, carefree and laughing, and couples canoodling on the sun loungers. She flicked her iPod onto shuffle and regretted it seconds later when Alik's voice whispered in her ear as he sang ‘The Girl From The Blue’. Ripping the headphones out, she picked up her book instead and tried to concentrate on that. Despite Jackie Collins weaving a plot line that was only slightly less complicated than her current life, she soon found her mind wandering: Alik and Edie, the baby...

  The book soon went the way of the discarded iPod and she sipped her freshly-made margarita instead and returned to watching the children playing, something so easy and so innocent.

  A shadow fell over her from behind, blocking the sun, and she glanced up, expecting to see Mariella.

  But it wasn't Mariella.

  “Hello, Caro.”

  Edie was dressed in a simple broderie anglaise maxi dress, her head covered with a large straw hat. She looked slightly ethereal and angelic, her golden blonde hair pooling around her shoulders.

  For a moment, Caro wondered if she were hallucinating and the apparition in front of her could simply be put down to too much sun and margaritas. When Edie placed her bag on the floor and gently sat down on the end of Caro's sun lounger, she knew it was real.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” said Caro, pulling herself into an upright position.

  Edie took a deep breath. “Poppy and Olivia tracked you down and Mariella said you were here,” she said. “There are some things that I need to tell you.” Her voice cracked as she spoke.

  “Like what, Edie? What could you possibly have to say to me?”

  “I don't really know where to begin.”

  “Then it looks like you've had a wasted trip, Edie.” Caro reached into her bag and pulled a navy blue lace shirt dress over her bikini, suddenly feeling a chill.

  “Wait.” Edie placed a hand on Caro's arm. “It’s about the baby.”

  “I'm sure you and Alik will be the best parents ever.”

  Edie swallowed. “Alik isn't going to be involved.”

  “You're doing this on your own?”

  “It isn't fair to Alik. He isn't the baby's father. Billy is.” A single tear trickled down Edie's cheek.

  “Sorry, what? Did I just hear you say Billy is the father? After everything you said at the hospital and at the funeral? How could you lie to Alik like that? It wrecked our relationship, what we had, everything!” Caro's voice rose as her anger increased. “Why would you do that?”

  Caro was pleased to see that it took a moment for Edie to gather herself before she replied.

  “I was jealous, Caro,” said Edie. “I have been since the day I met you. You had everything - a successful business, a brilliant best friend, and you had Alik's attention. From the first time we met at The Vegas, I knew that something had happened between the two of you, although he never told me where or when. When Billy started flirting with me at the festival and showed some interest, it was nice to know that someone else could be attracted to me.”

  “Why didn't you finish with Alik then?”

  Edie shrugged. “I liked the attention.”

  Caro took off her sunglasses and fixed Edie with her violet eyes. “What happens now? We just hug it out and become best friends?” Caro chewed thoughtfully on the arm of her sunglasses. “What do you want to happen now?”

  “I don't know.”

  “You spent a lot of time creating this mess, but have no clue as to how to sort it out. That's brilliant, Edie, just brilliant.” Caro couldn't work out how to feel. She was desperate to find out how Alik was, how he wanted to move forward. Then she remembered that she had been the one to push him away, once she'd found out about the baby.

  “I know we can never go back to the way things were.”

  “It's not as if we were friends in the first place.” Caro's tone was deliberately harsh. She didn't want Edie to have an easy time of it. She wanted to make her suffer as much as she had. She wanted to know where Alik was. “You ruined my relationship. I can't just forgive you like that.”

  “I'm not expecting that. At least not yet.”

  Caro's laugh was hollow. “Not yet? Can you hear yourself, Edie? I'm not sure I can ever forgive you.”

  They fell silent, the only sound being that of children splashing around in the pool and screaming with pleasure as they played in the sun. Edie struggled to her feet. Without saying goodbye, she walked away.

  Caro watched her retreating figure and slumped back into the sun lounger, exhausted after everything she had just heard. She drained her glass and signalled to the waiter that she needed a refill. She scrolled through photos of her and Alik on her phone. Pictures of them at gigs, in Mallorca with Mariella, at The Indigo Lounge, at Poppy and Nate's wedding. Before things had gone wrong. She called his number, but it went straight to voicemail. She hoped it wasn’t too late to make things right between them.

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Caro had finally been persuaded by Mariella to go out and they had gone to Juju's for a few drinks, in the vain hope that the familiarity of the bar would relax her. Caro had told her everything about Edie's visit to the pool, but she was in a dark place and didn't know what she should be feeling. There was obviously some relief at finally knowing the truth, but she didn't know what she should be doing with that information.
>
  Caro took a long sip of the glass of rosé in front of her, the delightfully-chilled Rosé Mortitx wine that she had missed while being back in North Ridge. She'd certainly been drinking enough of it since her return to Mallorca.

  “What are we doing here anyway?” she asked Mariella, as the host started preparing the evening's entertainment.

  “Hey, I know how much you like this place, we just thought it would be good to get you out of the apartment.” Mariella wrapped her arm around Trent, her Australian Adonis. The couple had been so good to Caro since she landed on their doorstep, and she was eternally grateful for their love and understanding. It can't have been easy for them, in the first flushes of romance, to have a blubbering wreck turn up and basically live on their couch. She really did need to start thinking about what the future held.

  It was open mic night again, with person after person getting up and covering a recent chart hit. A lump formed in her throat as she thought back to the last time she had been there.

  Mariella tapped her on the shoulder and rolled her eyes at Caro as a bunch of teenage boys took to the stage and attempted to sound something like One Direction. They certainly had the looks, however it wasn't a sound that was likely to have Simon Cowell losing any sleep over signing them any time soon. Caro smiled weakly in return. She knew they meant well in trying to get her out, but all she could think about was curling up on the sofa with another bottle of wine and trashy TV that didn't require her to think.

  The sound of an acoustic guitar caught her attention, but she had her back to the stage. She recognised the chords instantly.

  Spinning around, she saw Alik on the stage, leaning towards the mic. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a tight-fitting indigo shirt, unbuttoned to show off his tattoos.

  “I remember being here some time ago,” he said. “And I tried this song out on an unsuspecting crowd. There have been some changes since then, both to the song and to my life, but I'd like to try it out again.”