Welcome to Coco Bay

by Kirsty McManus

  I don’t have much money left.

  I let out a loud sob, not caring if anyone hears me.

  Maybe I can beg the guys down at the beach to let me live with them. Not that I’ve even talked to any of them except for Lachie that one time.

  There’s a gentle knock on the door. I contemplate not answering.

  “Emily? It’s me. Can I come in?”

  Sasha.

  “I guess.”

  She pushes the door open and comes in. “What happened?”

  “Bruce fired me,” I say flatly.

  “What? Why?”

  “Because I puked in a potted plant right near him.”

  “Oh no.” She looks like she’s trying hard not to laugh.

  “Yeah, it would be funny if I actually had somewhere else to go. But I don’t.”

  “I’m so sorry. I know this is serious. It’s just, you were trying so hard around me and Noah, and then to be sick in front of Bruce…”

  “I know, I know.”

  “Well, I guess it makes sense that Cal wants to see you. I saw Bruce go into his office, but I didn’t know what they were talking about. But then Cal came out and asked me to find you.”

  “Great. So I can be humiliated by him too.”

  “I hope not. This sucks, Em. Let me go with you, and I’ll put in a good word. Noah can as well.”

  “No, no. I don’t want you both involved. I need to go face the music on my own.”

  “Well, if worse comes to worst, I can ask my sister if she’ll let you stay at her place for a while. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” Her eyes twinkle. “As long as you don’t try to get in her bed again.”

  I smile weakly. “That’s very sweet of you to try and help. I’ll let you know if it comes to that.”

  Sasha nods. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

  After she leaves, I dress in my most professional clothes. I might as well try and look good if I’m going to be yelled at by Calvin.

  I don’t have time to do a full blow-dry and straighten, but I manage to still look half-decent. After applying my make-up, I take a long drink of water from the tap and make my way back to reception. Sasha gives me a little thumbs-up as I pass her. I haven’t run into Noah since we returned, and I’m glad of that. I couldn’t bear for him to see me humiliated.

  I knock on Calvin’s door. I didn’t expect him to be the kind of guy who would work on the weekend, but maybe he knew Bruce was coming and he wanted to look dedicated.

  “Come in.”

  I go in and stand just inside the doorway. Calvin is sitting at his computer alone.

  “I heard you made quite the impression on Bruce,” he says without looking up. I think that must be his thing—to pretend he’s so important, he doesn’t need to give anyone his full attention.

  “Yes. My stomach was a little queasy this morning, and the ocean was rough.”

  He waves a hand dismissively. “It happens.”

  My eyes widen, but I don’t say anything.

  He turns to face me. “Bruce told me he fired you.”

  I nod.

  “How do you feel about that?”

  “Is that a trick question?”

  “Well, I guess you haven’t started working here properly yet. I thought maybe if you didn’t like the place, it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

  “I love this resort! And I’ve got so many ideas for when we reopen! I know you said you didn’t want to see me for a few weeks, but I was going to make an appointment with you on Monday to see if you were interested in looking at the files I’ve put together. I’ve got initiatives to discuss with Dash for promotional events…possible campaigns to entice the locals over…”

  “Stop. I get it. You’re passionate, and that’s fine, but I’m not interested in any of that. I meant what I said when you arrived. You’re just here to look after the place at night. Everything else is being taken care of. And if you’re okay with that, you can stay. I talked Bruce down. He’s always making rash decisions, and they’re usually not very well thought out. You probably should know that he has a fear of anything to do with vomiting, so never let him see you do it again.”

  My head is spinning. “Wait. You’re letting me stay?”

  “If you want. You make the best coffee of anyone else here on the island.”

  I almost laugh out loud. “You talked Bruce into keeping me because of my barista skills?”

  “I guess I figured if you were that good at making coffee and you’ve been working in tourism for as long as you have, you must be okay at that too.”

  I’m not sure I follow his logic, but I don’t care. And while I wish he was more open to my strategies for the resort, I’m not going to push the issue right now.

  “Thank you. I promise I will never give you or Bruce another reason to question my professionalism.”

  “Okay. Off you go, then. You still have a few weeks before I actually require that professionalism.”

  I leave before he can change his mind.

  That was a close call. Should I try and find Bruce and apologise? Or just steer clear?

  I think perhaps I’ll steer clear for now. But I’ll be ready if I see him again.

  I never make the same mistake twice.

  At least not in my career.

  SEVENTEEN

  Noah

  After I finished mooring the boat, I went off to give the paperwork I picked up from Kai to Cal, but Sasha mentioned that she had seen Bruce around and advised me to avoid the area for a while.

  I’ve never liked Bruce, so I happily obliged. Besides, I wanted to check in on Mum and Dinah. I wouldn’t want them accidentally running into Bruce and having a heated encounter. Dinah is definitely not one to hold back.

  Jeez. Between Bruce and Lani, today is the first day in a while I haven’t felt completely at ease on the island.

  I find the women lying on recliners on the back deck of their villa, overlooking the bay. They don’t seem to mind that the weather isn’t perfect.

  Mum looks up when she sees me. “Hey, honey. How’s everything going?”

  “It’s okay. I thought I’d just give you a heads-up that Bruce is here. He wouldn’t mind you visiting, but I think we should stay out of his way. Especially if he’s been portrayed in the newspaper in an unflattering light this week. That couldn’t have put him in a good mood.”

  “Fine with me. We weren’t thinking of doing much anyway. I did like the idea of snorkelling later, but I’m not sure the visibility is any good today.”

  “No, it’s probably not great. But we could go fishing on the open beach later if you like?”

  “That sounds lovely.”

  Both Mum and Dinah love fishing. I’m not the hugest fan myself, but I’ll tolerate it to spend time with them.

  “How are you enjoying the villa?”

  “It’s gorgeous. Thank you for organising it for us.”

  “It’s my pleasure. I’m, uh, sorry it hasn’t all quite gone according to plan.”

  The women exchange a look. “Did you sort everything out with Lani?” Mum asks.

  “Not exactly. But I’d rather not talk about it now.”

  “You know we’re here for you anytime you need us?”

  “Of course. Hey, do you want to come see where I live?”

  Mum smiles. “Sure.”

  “We’ll go via the restaurant so I can make us some more coffee.” The staff quarters don’t have a proper coffee machine, and I need a double-shot espresso to keep me going for the rest of the day.

  “Great.”

  I figure at least they won’t run into Bruce once they’re at the staff quarters. He would never step foot in there. He’s worse than Cal that way.

  The only person I do worry about them seeing, and who I worry about seeing, is Lani. Still, there’s not much I can do about it. I just hope she’s decided to hang out at a different part of the resort today.

  The three of us drop by Monty’s, where Mum and Dinah gush over how appre
ciative they are of the time he spent showing me how to cook. He seems pleased. I quickly make us some hot drinks so we can sip them on the way back to the staff quarters.

  When we arrive, Sasha and Emily are downstairs. Emily looks much better than when we returned less than an hour ago. She’s preparing a meal of some sort, with Sasha retrieving ingredients for her.

  “Hey! Sasha, I think you might have met Mum and Dinah once before, but Emily, you wouldn’t have.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Hawkins, Ms. Fenton,” Sasha says.

  “Hi,” Emily says, smiling at each of them. “Sasha and I are making a curry for lunch. Would you like some?”

  “That sounds great. Thank you.” Mum and Dinah exchange another look, which I interpret as the complete opposite to how they felt last night at dinner with Lani.

  “Do you want some too, Noah?” Emily asks.

  “If there’s enough to go round, yes please.”

  “Will Lani be joining you?”

  “Uh, probably not. I think she’s got some other stuff to do today.”

  “Thank God for that,” Dinah says, making herself comfortable on a nearby couch.

  “Dinah!” I admonish her. I mean, I’m also glad Lani isn’t here, but no one knows we’ve broken up yet, so I have to at least present the illusion that I care about her.

  “Sorry. I just want to enjoy my day here in peace.”

  I sneak a glance at Emily and Sasha. They do a great impression of pretending they aren’t listening.

  “So, Emily, you seem a lot more…”

  “Yeah, I’m so sorry about this morning. I had a weird night and probably drank a little more than I should have. But I’ve learnt my lesson, and it will never happen again.”

  “You weren’t even that bad,” Sasha says. “Jeez, if you’ve seen half the staff here coming back to the island after a big night, you would understand how normal it is.”

  “I see things haven’t changed since we were young,” Dinah jokes. “When Noah’s mother and I finished high school, we worked on one of the other islands, and I’m telling you now, some of those boat trips after a night out were horrendous.”

  I laugh, surprised. “I never took you both as little party animals.”

  “Sweetheart, we haven’t always been this age.”

  “I know. And I can maybe see you going a little wild, Dinah. But Mum! You always seem so well-behaved.”

  She chuckles. “Well, I couldn’t be raising a boy on my own and show any weakness, could I? I would never have gotten you to do what I wanted.”

  “Maybe. But it’s nice to know you’re human.”

  Sasha pipes up. “Hey, how’s this?” She points at Emily. “Can you believe this woman has already been fired and rehired since you last saw her?”

  I stare at them. “What?”

  “Yeah, Bruce basically sent her packing within five seconds of meeting her. Just because she was a little unwell.”

  “I told you to watch out for that guy,” Dinah says. “Totally unhinged.”

  “But he changed his mind?” I check.

  “Calvin convinced him to let me stay,” Emily says awkwardly. “Apparently, my coffee-making skills are worth keeping me around for.”

  “I think it must be more than that. Cal fired the last night manager for a lesser offense than making Bruce angry, so he must at least see a little of what we see in you.”

  “What did the last night manager do?” she asks.

  Sasha answers for me. “The official reason was non-adherence to uniform policy.”

  “But you didn’t even have an official uniform policy until I came along,” she points out.

  “Exactly. But apparently, Cal couldn’t handle the perfume she wore and claimed it stank up his office.”

  “And so he just fired her?”

  “Yep. She refused to stop wearing it, but we suspect something else was going on behind the scenes. She was always making Cal look stupid in front of everyone, and while he probably deserved it, it wasn’t exactly helpful.”

  “Ah.”

  “Anyway, Em, we’re glad you’re here now and you’re staying. You’ve been a huge help to me, and I know the others feel the same.”

  “Yeah, I even heard Dash talking about how excited he was to look at some of your ideas after we reopen,” I say.

  Her face goes redder. “Well, I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance to implement much. Calvin made it clear I’m only around to make sure the place doesn’t burn down at night.”

  “I know he can be difficult, but I have faith you’ll find a way to break through eventually.”

  “Thank you. I hope so.”

  Emily and Sasha finish up making the curry and serve it with some rice. We all sit at the table to eat together, and I can’t help but compare the relaxed vibe with the five of us to last night with Lani. Mum and Dinah seem to really like Emily, which I have to admit, makes me weirdly happy.

  I think it’s just because I’ve had enough drama for a while, and with me about to be spending more time with her in a professional capacity, it’s reassuring to have confirmation from people I care about that she’s a nice, normal person.

  I take a bite of the curry and groan in appreciation. “Oh my God. This is delicious.”

  Sasha, Mum, and Dinah all agree that the food is amazing.

  I look around the table and smile.

  This is what life is about.

  EIGHTEEN

  Emily

  After lunch, I excuse myself and go upstairs. It was sweet that everyone was so complimentary of my cooking and my contribution to the island so far. It also felt a little strange. I’m not used to people being nice for no reason. Since Ryan was one of my only friends in Canada, and with him not being the kind of guy to ever dole out praise unless asked, I kind of got used to it.

  I’m still feeling completely betrayed by the way he threw me under the bus. Thinking back now, I probably should have kicked up more of a fuss and demanded Aurora Marketing’s HR department show me the ‘proof’ they had that I was guilty. But I was so defeated, and with the awkwardness surrounding the situation with Emmet, it didn’t seem like there was much left to hang around for.

  And I don’t think I could ever forgive Maya, the stupid PI working undercover at the company, who put two and two together and got five. But then I wonder if maybe she suspected Ryan was the one guilty of selling trade secrets and he paid her off or something.

  I tried to contact the office once I returned, but apparently, the people on reception were instructed not to engage with me, and my emails went unanswered.

  Anyway, the more time I spend away from Canada, the more its hold over me fades.

  I sit down at my laptop, now feeling almost normal. Having thrown up and consumed a wholesome lunch has done the trick.

  I’m going to continue with my plans to help the resort, even if Calvin thinks I’m only good for making coffee.

  But then I open up my email and freeze.

  There’s a message from Alexis, my old fashion photographer friend from Brisbane.

  The subject header only says ‘hi.’

  I hover my mouse over it, wondering if I should just delete the thing. After all, do I really want to dredge up the past? Do I actually want to know for sure how Seb ended up in a photo with her?

  And then I decide yes. I need to know.

  I click on it and slowly read the message.

  Hi Emily,

  How are you? Are you still in Canada? I haven’t heard from you in forever!

  Life is good here. I’m down in Sydney working freelance for a bunch of fashion designers. It’s a lot easier to get jobs here than in Brisbane.

  I don’t really see anyone from Brisbane anymore, although I did go back recently for my sister’s thirtieth. That photo you saw was from there.

  I pause. Okay. So, she ran into Seb at her sister’s birthday? How does her sister know Seb?

  Seb doesn’t like social media, which is why he isn’t normally on my profi
le.

  Uh-oh.

  But he and I have been together for two years now, and we recently got engaged. I know you two dated a long time ago, so I apologise if this makes things awkward, but I assume you would have moved on by now. Last I heard, you were a fancy tourism director in Vancouver!

  Anyway, I hope you’re well. I’d love for us to catch up for a video chat sometime. Or if you’re ever back in Oz, let me know.

  Hopefully talk soon!

  Alexis XOXO

  I sit there, staring at the screen. Seb and Alexis are engaged? And how recently is recently? In the past week? Month?

  And then I shake myself. Should it even matter? They’ve been together for two years! So basically, there was another two years after he and I lost contact where he could have been with any number of women.

  The one thing that bugs me, though, is that if Alexis is living in Sydney, that means Seb is too. And if that’s the case, what was so special about her that he chose to move away from his job, family, and friends? He never once considered coming to see me in Canada.

  I open Facebook and find the photo again, studying his face. He’s still ridiculously attractive. Definitely not overweight or balding as Sasha suggested. In fact, he’s probably gotten better with age.

  But after a couple of minutes of wondering what might have been, I close my email program and make a decision.

  I am going to forget about Seb and move on.

  I have a lovely new life here and a bright future.

  The past is in the past.

  ***

  On Sunday, I start the day slowly, hanging out with Dash for an hour and finalising his plans for the grand reopening. We brainstorm a few ways to cut costs but still maintain quality, and I offer to go with him when he next talks to Calvin to clarify funding for the next month.

  Sasha and I also go around the resort, making a checklist of how everything is progressing and noting which areas require the most attention. We decide that the swimming pools should be the next facilities to focus on. Especially the lagoon pool in the centre of the property.

  As we remove branches from the ground and scoop leaves out of the water, I look up at her.