by Zoe Cook
‘Here comes Big Bird,’ she pointed at a girl in an unflattering yellow dress.
‘You’re so mean,’ Lucy poked Nina’s arm. ‘I don’t know why I’m friends with you.’
‘Because I’m fabulous,’ Nina replied, a piece of lobster falling out of her mouth as she spoke.
‘You’re certainly something,’ Lucy replied.
‘Hello girls,’ Tom put an arm around each of their shoulders. He was wearing a crisp white shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, his top two buttons undone, showing bronzed skin. He smelt divine, Lucy noticed, recognising the Hugo Boss cologne.
He had a mini Pommeroy champagne bottle in each hand and passed one to Lucy. She took a sip from the foil spout, bubbles fizzing in her mouth.
‘It looks good, right?’ Tom said, admiring his own handiwork.
‘It looks brilliant,’ Nina confirmed, ‘And the food’s great.’
‘Are you off duty, then?’ Lucy asked. He seemed so relaxed – he must be. There were certainly enough staff around to take care of things.
‘I sure am,’ he said. ‘I’m going to enjoy myself tonight.’
Cheers came from the beach and Lucy leant over the banister to see the bonfire erupting into flames. Children were running around the sand with sparklers, looking like the ‘what not to do’ section of a firework safety advert.
‘I’m going to find Kristian,’ Nina said, balling up the napkin in her hand and tossing it into the bin. ‘Have you seen him?’
‘He was at the bar a minute ago,’ Tom said.
Nina rolled her eyes in reply and left.
‘Sure you want to leave this place?’ Tom said loudly to Lucy, competing with the music booming from the speakers. Transfixed by the bonfire, she mumbled a response, before turning to meet his eye.
‘It is beautiful here,’ she said. ‘I’ve had the best time down here, seeing everyone again, working here, it’s been great.’
‘You could stay,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to go back. I know it’s not much, but you could work here, you could be a manager, whatever. I can pay you properly. More, I mean. We don’t close until October, we might not close at all this winter, actually. I told you Tara reckons we could stay open right through. I think she might be right – if we just change the menu a bit.’
‘I’ve taken my old job back,’ Lucy said, still watching the growing fire.
‘You have to be joking!’ Tom said, loudly. ‘Spectrum? You can’t go back there.’
‘I don’t really have a choice,’ Lucy said, disappointed by his reaction. She wasn’t in the mood to justify herself to him, and she didn’t want tonight ruined by an argument.
‘I don’t think you should,’ Tom said, he sounded deflated. ‘But you know what we all think. Even Claire agrees.’
‘You’ve spoken to Claire?’ Lucy asked, blood rushing to her cheeks.
‘Yes,’ Tom admitted. ‘A few times. She just wanted to know you were okay.’
Lucy didn’t have anything to say, it was mortifying that Claire had been speaking to Tom like he was some kind of social worker.
‘She says Anna would have stayed on in your flat if you wanted to stay down here a bit longer. You don’t need to go back next week. Have you told her your plan? Your latest, brilliant, plan.’ His tone was mocking now – she could have hit him.
‘I don’t want to stay down here,’ Lucy snapped. ‘Did you ever consider that? That I don’t want to be around you, feeling the way I feel about you, while you and Tara run around having your secret little relationship. Playing the perfect couple. God, it’s so embarrassing, Tom, can’t you see that? I feel like a total fucking idiot for having come down here. For thinking that…’ She stopped herself, furious that the words had fallen out before she could stop them. Furious that he’d pushed her to it.
She walked away, moving as quickly as she could into the bodies gathered by the outside bar, willing it to swallow her up. She moved fast through the crowd, towards the beach.
‘Lucy, stop, please.’ It was Tom; he had his hand around her wrist, trying to slow her down.
Lucy pulled away from him, determined to walk towards the beach. She wanted to go home. She certainly didn’t want a showdown here in front of the whole town.
‘Tom, drop it,’ she said firmly, stopping but not turning around to look at him.
‘What did you mean about me and Tara?’ he said, standing next to her now, trying to make her look at him.
‘Nothing,’ Lucy said, ‘I just want to go back to the house, okay?’
‘We’re not a couple,’ he said, insistently. ‘Is that what you thought? Did you think I’d invite you down here to meet my new girlfriend?’ He was almost laughing, which infuriated Lucy.
‘It’s up to you who you date,’ she said insincerely, glancing at him briefly, seeing him smile at her.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Luce,’ he said, as he put his hands on her waist now. He stepped forward towards her body and she could feel the heat of his skin on hers.
‘I saw you, together, at the café,’ she said, close to tears. What was he doing this to her for?
‘I don’t know what you saw,’ he said, stepping closer to her, ‘but it wasn’t me. I asked you to come back because I’ve never stopped thinking about you.’ He leant in, his hands rising to hold her face and kissed her, hard on the mouth. Lucy’s hands met his on her face and she kissed him back. They stood, lips touching, noses side by side, like that for what felt like minutes.
‘I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I saw you again,’ Tom whispered.
Lucy didn’t know what to say, she kissed him again, his lips soft on hers. She ran her hand through his hair. He put his mouth to her ear. ‘I love you, Lucy,’ he whispered,
‘I’ve always loved you.’
A solitary firework squealed and banged, chased by streams of smaller glittering trails into the sky. Tom and Lucy stood next to each other looking up at the sky, their bodies pressed into one another, their hands entwined. Lucy pulled hers away at the sight of Nina and Kristian approaching. Tom gave her a puzzled look as she let his fingers slip from hers.
‘Top work, mate,’ Kristian said, thrusting his hand into Tom’s in a congratulatory handshake.
‘I love fireworks,’ Nina said loudly, competing with the bangs.
The crowd at the café had shifted towards the edge of the terrace, hundreds of faces staring up at the fizzing neon sky. Down on the beach the group was surrounded by families, children on parents’ shoulders pleading to be bought the fibre-optic wands for sale at the stall by the surf school.
Lucy’s mind raced with thoughts of the kiss. She could feel the heat of Tom’s body next to her now. He loves me, she ran the words over and over in her mind. She loved him – she’d realised that not long after she first saw him again. She’d never stopped loving him. As the fireworks climaxed and finished, the crowd seemed to loosen around her. She thought, too, of her return to London, looming in just a few days’ time and tried to push away fresh question marks over just what the hell she should do. She stood, half-listening to her friends discussing the music, the beer, the crowds. Kristian had his big arms wrapped firmly around Nina’s waist, holding her against him as she talked animatedly. Tom’s arm grazed Lucy’s side, making her skin tingle. She wanted to kiss him again.
They moved, in search of beer, towards the bonfire. Stefan’s toasting sticks were being held towards the flames by happy-faced children. Lucy smiled at a girl with long blonde hair and a big gap-toothed grin of sheer, innocent joy. The cracking and banging of the bonfire was surprisingly loud. Lucy struggled to hear Nina’s story about the man she’d met on the cliff path walk that morning, but grasped something about ‘him looking like a paedo’, so risked a laugh in acknowledgement, which seemed to satisfy her friend. Tom handed Lucy another champagne, brushing her hand and meeting her eye. Could Nina and Kristian see this, she wondered? She felt exposed and unsure why it would matter if they did notice what was going on, any
way. It had been so long since anyone had kissed Lucy, had held her, put their hands on her, desire swept through her at the thought of Tom, of going home with him tonight. She remembered the last time they’d spent the night together, the night before she’d left for London; how silent and intense it had been that night; how much they didn’t say. She thought of Tom’s body, his surfer’s physique, the way his hands had felt on her waist, the anticipation of them on her bare skin. He loves me, the words ran over and over.
With the families beginning to drift back to their hotels and villas, the crowd on the beach was now mainly made up of groups of young people who’d had a few drinks and showed no signs of slowing down. From the café the music continued to get louder and in the dark of the night the DJ’s lights now swept across the beach through the glass wall of the café. The four of them had found a quiet patch of beach where Kristian had put a blanket down for Nina to sit on; she insisted Lucy joined her so she didn’t ‘look like an invalid’.
‘So?’ Nina widened her eyes at Lucy.
‘So, what?’ Lucy replied, looking away.
‘Oh come on, we saw you two on the beach. Took you long enough!’
‘I don’t know, Nin,’ Lucy said, looking down at the sand. ‘He said he still loves me.’
‘Well, yeah, obviously, we all know that!’ Nina said rolling her eyes. ‘And you still love him, right?’
‘Yeah, I do, it’s ridiculous isn’t it? After all this time. But I do.’ Lucy could feel herself smiling at the thought of it all.
‘It’s not ridiculous, it’s brilliant,’ Nina said. ‘Does this mean you’re going to stay around down here?’
‘Oh God, no. I mean, I don’t know. I’ve just accepted my old job back. And I don’t know what Tom’s thinking about the future. It’d be pretty weird for me to just stay down here and be his girlfriend and basically regress to my sixteen-year-old self, wouldn’t it?’
‘I don’t think it’d be weird,’ Nina said, ‘I think you were always meant to be together and it’s just taken you both a ridiculously long time to figure that out.’
Lucy saw Nina’s face change, forming a grimace. She clutched her stomach and bent over slightly.
‘Are you okay?’ Lucy asked, worried.
Nina seemed to be catching her breath, breathing slowly in through her nose and out through her mouth. ‘I’m fine,’ she answered eventually, forcing a smile. ‘I’ve been getting these weird pains. Apparently they’re normal, but my God, they hurt.’
Kristian returned with two beers before Lucy could ask anything more. Nina gave her a look that she knew meant she shouldn’t mention anything to Kristian. He passed a beer to Lucy.
‘Can I borrow you a sec?’ he asked Nina. She stood up and walked away with him towards the fire.
Tom sat down next to Lucy, his arm pressed against hers. He reached for her hand, and slipped his into hers on the sand.
‘Guess tonight’s a success, then,’ Lucy said, looking around at the crowds of people drinking and dancing on the beach and on the café terrace.
‘Yep, I guess it is,’ Tom said, raising his beer to hers and clinking the glass bottle.
‘We need to talk about what we’re going to do,’ he said, looking at her. ‘You can’t just go back to London.’
‘I can’t just stay,’ Lucy said, with a sigh. She thought about her job, about walking back into the production office, and it felt a million miles away.
‘We can talk about it tomorrow,’ Tom said, looking out to sea now. ‘I just want to enjoy tonight.’
Lucy didn’t reply. She followed his gaze out to the ocean as a slight breeze swept over her face. The night sky was packed with stars, glittering in the darkness. The bonfire cracked and spluttered, its orange glow seeping into the sky around it. The DJ had moved onto the house section of his set and groups of people were dancing with their drinks in the air.
‘Oh, my God,’ Tom said, taking Lucy by surprise.
‘What?’ she said, panicked.
‘Look, over there,’ Tom pointed to the left of the fire.
‘What?’ Lucy repeated, no idea what she was supposed to be looking at.
‘That’s Kristian, isn’t it?’ Tom said, still pointing.
‘Where? Where am I looking?’ Suddenly Lucy realised where Tom was looking. A figure was at half height next to all the others, and it was Kristian. Tom was right. He was down on one knee, hand outstretched towards Nina.
Tom squeezed Lucy’s hand in his. ‘I can’t believe it,’ he said, leaning in to her ear.
‘No,’ Lucy said. ‘When did we get so grown up?’ She turned and kissed Tom lightly on the cheek.
‘She said YES!’ Kristian said, almost running back towards Lucy and Tom, with Nina following him, grinning.
‘Congratulations, bud,’ Tom stood and pulled him in for a big hug.
‘Let’s see,’ Lucy held her hand towards Nina’s to inspect the ring. ‘Beautiful,’ she smiled at her friend.
‘Finally making an honest woman of her,’ Kristian said, his arm around Nina’s waist. He kissed her on the forehead and she smiled at him.
‘I’m so happy for you guys,’ Tom said.
‘And we’re happy for you two,’ Kristian said, his eyes moving from Tom, to Lucy, and back. ‘It’s meant to be; this is what life’s meant to be like.’ He gestured to the scene around him.
Lucy paused for a moment. He’s right, she thought, this is what life is meant to be like.
35
The next morning Lucy woke late, feeling a little delicate. She reached across her crisp white sheets for Tom, but there was no one beside her. She remembered their night together and smiled, pulling the sheets tightly over herself and stretching awake. Light poured through the curtains and music was playing downstairs. She must be the last one up, again, she thought. She showered and dressed, catching herself grinning in the bathroom mirror as she did her make-up. Being with Tom again felt new and exciting, totally right and somehow normal. She remembered, with a jolt, that she was booked on a train back to London in a couple of days, and pushed the thought away, unwilling to give up the feeling of total happiness that kept washing over her this morning.
Downstairs Lucy found Kristian outside reading the paper.
‘Some absolutely classic letters in here this week,’ he said to Lucy, as she sat down. The Cornish Times letters’ page had provided them with endless entertainment as youngsters, the angry locals enraged by the pettiest issues.
‘Where is everyone?’ Lucy asked. She’d hoped they could all do something together today.
‘Oh, Tom and Nina have gone on one of their walks,’ Kristian said. ‘I feel like death, couldn’t face it. Tom wanted to let you sleep in.’
Lucy tried to hide her disappointment. ‘Oh right,’ she said. ‘What are you doing then? Fancy breakfast somewhere?’
‘If, by somewhere, you mean the Beach Café, then yes,’ Kristian replied.
‘Okay, let me grab my bag,’ Lucy said, suddenly ravenous at the thought of a bacon sandwich.
The café was still partly decorated from the night before and hung-over teenagers were slowly taking down fairy lights and lanterns on the terrace. Inside had been deep-cleaned in the early hours and smelled like buttered toast after the morning breakfast rush. A few families were finishing cooked breakfasts, kids colouring in the pirate pictures on the backs of their menus with the little pots of crayons handed out to families. Lucy and Kristian chose a table by the window and Lucy collapsed into a cushioned chair with a groan.
‘You feeling as bad as me?’ Kristian asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ Lucy replied. ‘Do you feel like you drank cotton wool all night, and maybe finished off with a few swigs of sandpaper? I need a coffee.’
‘I need food,’ Kristian said, thanking Molly for the menu she handed him.
‘So,’ he said, seriously all of a sudden. ‘You and Tom, huh?’
‘I’m more interested in you and Nina,’ Lucy said. ‘You know, t
he small matter of you guys getting engaged last night. What did you say?’
‘I can’t really remember, not exactly,’ Kristian said. Lucy thought she might advise him not to tell their engagement story quite this way in front of Nina.
‘I think I said, ‘you are my whole world and I want you to be my wife’. It was something like that, anyway, but she said yes, and that’s all that really matters.’
‘It’s very exciting,’ Lucy said, scanning the menu, even though she knew she’d end up ordering a bacon sandwich. ‘Do you think you might get married here or in Bristol?’
‘I’ve got no idea. I imagine I’ll have very little say. Have you met Nina?’ He smirked and Lucy laughed.
Molly returned to take their order. ‘Have you seen Tara?’ she asked, after she’d finished writing on her pad.
‘No, why?’ Lucy asked, feeling guilty, though she had no idea why.
‘She was meant to be here to open up,’ Molly said. ‘It’s fine, I’ve got a set of keys, but it’s just pretty busy. I’m not sure how lunch service is going to go without her.’ She looked very concerned, her little brown bob framing a furrowed brow.
‘That’s not like Tara,’ Kristian said. ‘Have you called Tom?’
‘No,’ Molly said. ‘I don’t like to bother him. Tara always says not to bother him.’
‘You can’t do lunch on your own here,’ Lucy said, ‘I’ll help you, but I think we ought to track Tara down. It’s weird that she’s just disappeared.’
‘Yeah, she’s not answering her phone,’ Molly said. ‘Anyway, let me get these over to Stef.’ She raised her pad and walked away towards the kitchen.
‘Stef must be absolutely hanging,’ Kristian said. ‘Did you see him dancing at the end of the night? I mean the guy doesn’t normally like speaking to people, but he was out there throwing shapes and downing jaeger bombs. I prefer drunk Stefan, for sure.’
Lucy nodded in agreement, her mind elsewhere now with the mystery of Tara’s no-show at work. She’s probably just hung over, she tried to tell herself, but something in her gut told her there needed to be a better reason for her to let Molly down, to let Tom and the café down. It just wasn’t her style, and she remembered Tom telling her about Tara’s troubles with her ex. She wondered suddenly, irrationally, whether she’d seen Tom and Lucy’s kiss, if she’d run away upset at the sight of them back together. She felt guilty, as if she’d done something wrong, but she hadn’t. Tom and Tara weren’t a couple, that’s what he’d said. And anyway, there was almost no chance Tara had seen anything anyway. Something just felt wrong. Lucy couldn’t put her finger on it.