Sunrise in Bali - Across the Pond Trilogy (Book 1)

by L. A. Shorter

  Sarah, thankfully, had stopped pining over Mark and was now fairly normal around him: “well, we're booked into a hotel in Seminyak, a Contiki Resort, for the next week. Is that on your route?”

  “Yeah its close but not where we are....we're slightly further down back in Kuta, got a hotel booked there for a couple of nights, then off to Singapore.” Jenny's heart shrunk as Henry's imminent departure was voiced.

  “Ah cool,” Sarah continued, “if it's close maybe you guys wanna come join us at our hotel for dinner or something, from what I've read it's one of the best resorts for young people in Bali.” There was no sense of boasting in her voice.

  “Yeah, we'd love that,” it was Henry, “we'll check in at ours and then come see you later.”

  As Mark and Sarah went about hailing their respective cabs, Henry turned to Jenny: “like I said last night, I want to take you out tomorrow evening. Tonight we can enjoy our time as a group, but I want tomorrow to be special for you.” He gave her a light kiss on the lips. “I'll see you later,” he said, before sliding into the awaiting cab that Mark had summoned.

  As Mark and Henry sped off towards the coast, Jenny and Sarah entered their cab and gave the name of the hotel they were staying at: “Contiki Resort in Seminyak please,” Sarah issued to the driver. The hotel was only a few miles away, so it didn't take them long to get there. As they pulled up, it was clear that their stay here would be a cut above the other hotels they'd experienced so far: the entrance was far grander, and the inner lobby was beautifully clean and polished. They approached the front desk and checked in, before being led up to their rooms. There were several floors, all with long balconies overlooking a massive inner courtyard consisting of an enormous pool, loads of space for sunbathers, and a large outdoor restaurant/bar. Their room was light and breezy, with two single beds, a large television, and a luxury en-suite bathroom. They lay down their bags and stepped out onto the balcony, looking down at the many young people eating lunch at the restaurant, relaxing by the pool, or playing in the water. It was totally different from what they'd experienced so far: the touristy beach holiday side of Bali that was known for its great nightlife, shopping, and relaxed atmosphere.

  After a bite to eat Jenny and Sarah spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool. Following an active two weeks, they were both happy for the change, but it certainly felt a bit odd being only the two of them. Jenny's thoughts strayed to Henry as she lay under the hot afternoon sun listening to her iPhone, and she wondered when he'd show up. They both lay there for hours, chatting and joking away, Jenny spilling a few details about her and Henry after much coaxing from Sarah. At about 6 pm, when the sun's heat was beginning to wane, a familiar figure strolled across the carefully manicured lawns beside the pool towards them. It was Henry, flanked by Mark, and Jenny couldn't contain her smile at seeing his.

  “Evening ladies,” he announced as he arrived, bending down to kiss them both on the cheek. Mark followed suit, both of them looking smart in nice shorts and shirts. “This place is pretty amazing isn't it, I love the pool. So, what's going on, you girls gonna get ready for dinner, or are you gonna wear those?” he gestured to the girls bikinis.

  Jenny and Sarah laughed before setting off up to their room to get ready, leaving Mark and Henry down at the poolside bar. After having a short shower, Jenny could see them smoking their cigarillos from the balcony as she got dressed and put her make up on. She thought back to two weeks ago in Ubud: it felt odd that it had only been that long since they all met.

  After about 30 minutes the girls joined Mark and Henry in the bar for a quick drink before moving into the main restaurant for dinner. For the next couple of hours they went through several courses, drinking copious amounts of wine as they did. Jenny could tell that the drink was slowly getting to Sarah, her eyes beginning to wander towards Mark once more who, similarly tipsy, seemed to be reflecting her interest. Jenny could sense something in the air, and this was confirmed shortly after dinner when the two of them quickly absented themselves from the table and dashed off up to the girls room. “We'll be back in 20 minutes,” Sarah had whispered into Jenny's ear as she got up to leave. Jenny knew what she meant.

  Jenny remained at the table with Henry for a while. They talked further about their lives back home, about their families and their ambitions for the future. Eventually, they got round to talking about their past relationships, a sore subject for them both. Jenny started, describing her relationship with Trent: how she thought they might have had a future, how she found him in bed with her roommate, how she later discovered that he'd been cheating on her the entire year. “I guess he seemed to be the best guy I'd found, or that's what I thought at least. He was sweet to me most of the time...I just think he wanted more from me that I wasn't ready to give him.”

  Jenny could see that Henry knew what she was talking about. “That's the cowards way out,” he said. “If you want more from someone, you've got two options: you either wait until they're ready, or you end the relationship first and then look elsewhere. You don't do both at the same time. If you truly care for someone, you should be willing to wait.”

  Jenny agreed with what Henry was saying. He had a very mature attitude, and his tone of voice and seriousness made it clear to Jenny that he was utterly against cheating. Jenny couldn't help but ask: “have you ever cheated on anyone?”

  Henry's response was very matter of fact: “no, and I never would. If you feel you have to cheat, the relationship isn't right. I know it's not as simple as that, but that's how I see it. If you're in a position where you want to cheat, you need to either work on the relationship or end it. If you love someone, cheating should never be on your agenda. You might have feelings for other people, or might think about them in that way, but it's easy enough to just not act on those feelings. It's about self control.”

  “You really do seem heavily against it...which is obviously good.”

  “Well...” Henry paused.... “my dad cheated heavily on my mum. It broke our family up. I'd never want to inflict the sort of pain my mum suffered on anyone. Never.”

  They sat for a moment in silence before Henry spoke again. “That's also why my last relationship broke down.” Jenny could see that there was a deep river of emotion running through Henry that was starting to bubble to the surface. “I lived with my girlfriend at university,” he said slowly. “By the time we got to our final couple of months, things were getting more difficult. I found out that she'd been seeing someone else but....but we had to carry on living together. It was hard....” he began to trail off.

  “But,” he continued after a few moments, “that's all over now. My feelings for her are gone, they've been taken....by someone else.” He locked eyes with her as he spoke those final words, leaning in closer and stroking the hair out of her eyes. “You've changed things for me Jenny.”

  Jenny could relate to everything he was saying. It was as if he was describing her own feelings, her own thoughts. She looked straight back into his solemn eyes, “and you me.”

  As they were about to kiss a sudden laughing and flurry of feet could be heard behind them. “Alright you two lovebirds, save it for a private setting,” it was Mark, bounding along with Sarah, both looking somewhat disheveled.

  Jenny and Henry drew back from each other as the other two sat back down. “Apparently there's a cinema here....a private cinema,” Mark carried on, rushing his words. “We've booked us in to watch Titanic at 9, so in like 10 minutes....it's all just us, no-one else in there. Cool huh?”

  Despite the badly timed interruption, Jenny liked the idea of it. “You can bring food and drink in as well if you want, or get it delivered...like room service,” Sarah had added.

  With that, they all got up and headed to a small convenience store next door to the hotel to grab a couple of drinks and snacks. Soon after they were stepping into the mini-cinema and settling in to watch the film. There were about 6 rows of seats, 3 on either side of the walkway down the middle, each of
them large and comfortable. They sat at the front, Sarah and Mark on one side and Jenny sitting with Henry on the other. She wanted to sit closer to him, but the large chairs were like armchairs, and there wasn't space for them both to sit in one comfortably. Shortly into the film, however, Henry reached over to Jenny's chair to grab her hand, giving her a kiss on the cheek as he did. He seemed deep in thought though, and not totally focused on the film. She could only assume he was thinking about his ex.

  After a mammoth 3 hours during which several more drinks were drunk and Mark and Sarah disappeared to the 'back row' to make out, the film finally took its bow. The ending always got to Jenny and she couldn't help but keep a few tears from rolling down her cheeks. Henry turned to her and smiled consolingly, wiping the tears from her eyes with his big hands. They all left as the credits were rolling, Henry holding Jenny's hand as they walked up and out of the room. “Mark,” he shouted forward to Mark and Sarah, who were already stepping out of the door, “we'd better get going.”

  He then turned back to Jenny. “I'd love to stay longer but we've got a few things we need to do tomorrow morning. I know what he's like as well....if we stay any longer he'll get more drunk and will be nightmare tomorrow.”

  Jenny nodded. She knew that they'd be leaving early the following morning and so tomorrow would be their last proper day on the island. “OK, that makes sense.”

  “I'll be back here tomorrow though, I'm excited about our first 'official' date.” He said it with a bit of sarcasm, and Jenny knew it was because it would probably end up being their only date. “I can't wait as well,” she responded.

  With that Henry gestured to Mark to head off to the lobby where they'd be able to order a cab, although Sarah was putting up a bit of a fight to keep him with her. After telling her that he'd be back to see her tomorrow though, Mark managed to extricate himself from her grasp, and he and Henry disappeared off to the front of the hotel to make their way back to Kuta.

  Jenny and Sarah wandered back to their rooms, Jenny hoping that it wasn't too badly ransacked following Sarah's inevitable antics with Mark: thankfully, only Sarah's bed had been used. Jenny didn't ask what had happened - in all honesty she didn't want to know the details - but Sarah couldn't help but enlighten her anyway. They talked for a little while before Sarah eventually passed out, leaving Jenny alone with her thoughts. She lay there, finding it hard to sleep, a mixture of excitement about the following day, and sadness at what it represented filling her mind. With her mind tumbling in both directions, she finally succumbed to sleep as dawn approached.

  Chapter 14

  By the time Jenny woke up it was already the afternoon. She drowsily looked over to the twin bed on the other side of the room to see Sarah still purring away in her sleep, arms and legs sprawled everywhere. She hadn't slept until late: the last time she even checked the time it was 4.30 am, and she didn't think she got to sleep for a little while after that.

  Her head ached a little bit, partly due to dehydration, partly lack of sleep, so she rummaged around in her bag for some medication. As she filled a glass with water and downed a couple of pills, she could hear Sarah stirring. She knew she'd need something for her hangover, so left the pills and water next to her bed before heading off down to the pool to read. After a few minutes of trying to re-engage with Thomas and Charlotte's burgeoning love affair, however, she gave up, her mind preoccupied with her own dramas. She didn't know when Henry would arrive later, but hoped it would be soon: the more time she'd get with him, the better.

  By about 1 pm Sarah appeared looking groggy, and suggesting they get some food. “Fried food, that's what I need,” she said, before gingerly walking to the beach bar to check the menu. Minutes later she'd ordered a place of chicken wings, fries, and onions rings, to be washed down with pepsi. It was her classic hangover cure, and tended to work more often than not.

  The afternoon wasn't a particularly productive one. Except for a short trip down to the local beach, they did little more than relax by the pool. Jenny didn't want to go too far, seeing as neither Henry nor Mark had taken down either of their numbers, and she had no idea when they'd appear. Being restricted to the hotel and pool area, however, wasn't overly problematic for them, and they were both happy to recuperate where they were.

  By 5ish they decided to check if the cinema was taken. The boys hadn't arrived yet and they were confident they'd check the cinema if they couldn't find them by the pool, bar, or in their room. As soon as they found out that it was free, they got a classic rom-com – How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days – up on the big screen to keep them entertained until Henry and Mark pitched up. Jenny was starting to get strangely nervous as each minute ticked by: a mixture of classic nerves she felt on any first date, and concern that maybe he wouldn't show up. As the film began to draw to a close, she was beginning to think that maybe he'd decided to cut their relationship short where it was...maybe he didn't like goodbyes? Maybe he couldn't find her and had already left?

  With irrational thoughts circulating through her mind, she returned with Sarah to their room. She walked out onto the balcony and looked out over the pool: it was sparkling bright under the darkening sky, with only a smattering of people still enjoying its warm grasp.

  She looked down and then saw him: Henry, looking up at her from below, clasping a beautiful bouquet of flowers in his hand. He smiled, his bright white teeth shining against his dark skin and five-o-clock shadow, set within a strong dimpled jaw. His brown wavy hair was swept to one side, set back in place by a pair of sunglasses. He wore a white shirt, a couple of buttons down, sleeves rolled up, and a pair of dark blue jeans, hoisted up around his hips by a brown leather belt. He quickly stepped forward, disappearing beneath the balcony and up the staircase. She turned and walked to the door and within moments he was there, rounding the top of the stairs and marching quickly towards her. When he reached her he slowed his step, stopping two feet from where she was. “There are for you,” he said, handing her the flowers, “they were the best I could find.”

  “They're beautiful,” she replied, smiling, a tear of joy...relief...sadness, creeping from the corner of her eye. “I...I need to get ready...I didn't know when you'd come,” she continued.

  “That's OK, there's time. I'm sorry I took so long....I'll be down at the bar waiting for you. Sarah, Mark's hungry for some dinner at the restaurant if you're keen.”

  He left, and wandered back down to the beach bar, sitting over a quiet beer with Mark. Sarah didn't take long to get ready, and was soon headed off with Mark to the hotel restaurant, leaving Henry alone at the bar. Jenny could see him once more, writing in his journal, as she prepared herself in the room above. After a further 10 minutes, she appeared in front of him, wearing a beautiful summer dress.

  “You look stunning,” he told her as she walked towards him, catching the attention of everyone who remained near the pool. He stood up and clasped both her hands, “truly stunning.”

  He led Jenny off towards the lobby, where a car was waiting, “oh no, has that car been waiting the entire time....won't he charge for that? You should have told me...I'd have been quicker.”

  “Jenny, don't worry. It's not a problem. I'd rather you take as long as you want and pay extra for the car than have you rush.” He opened the back door for her and she stepped in, noticing the lavish leather interior and bar. He appeared at the other door, and signaled to the driver to get going. As they set off he opened a small cabinet door to reveal a bottle of champagne and two chilled glasses. This was far more than Jenny expected. He poured them a drink as they cruised along, mopeds rushing by, colorful lights guiding their path.

  It wasn't long before they came to a beautiful bar overlooking the beach just beyond the main hustle and bustle of Kuta. Henry got out, walked round the car, and opened Jenny's door before paying the driver. He then turned and led Jenny up into the bar, climbing the stairs to find a small table on the balcony with beautiful views of the coastline. They ordered some drinks and chatted for a
while, both commenting on the view down to the beach and beyond. Henry spoke so eloquently about what he saw, the words trickling so easily off his tongue: Jenny was sure that his ambitions to become a writer were set on good foundations.

  After about an hour they moved off, Henry guiding Jenny back along the beach. After 10 minutes they came to a glass fronted restaurant, once again looking out towards the ocean. Inside was a magnificent fish tank dominating the center of the space, filled with tropical fish, waterplants, and corals. Above, a series of mounted lights set the mood, pouring a romantic glow all over the room, while a band casually played in the corner. Henry stepped inside and announced his booking, and they were quickly led by a waiter to a beautifully set table near the window. A red candle burned slowly between them as they set about scouring the menu. Jenny couldn't help but feel a little bit out of place. She'd never been treated like this, and wondered whether this was all just a big effort by Henry, or something he was used to.