In the Fifth Season
Page 13
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Toni was not impressed by Rob throwing his weight around and assumed his rudeness was more to do with a hangover than Kylie's delaying tactics. Now alone, Toni drifted into daydreaming. Meeting the old man in the cove had upset her. He must have watched her through his binoculars. If she had given into her urge to skinny dip, it would have been horribly embarrassing at the very least. Toni shuddered at the thought of being spied on while naked. That's why she hadn't told Rob about it. Then Andy had phoned as she was tramping along the beach, not a care in the world, high on ozone and endorphins – on a working day. This had completely flustered her. Sure, Andy was so cool when she tried to explain why she'd answered Rob's phone. She'd prayed he couldn't hear the ocean and seagulls in the background. She would laugh about it in time, but not yet. Toni also felt a pang of nostalgia for Johnny.
For all his faults, Johnny had followed the events of Toni's work with a fan's fascination. Sure, the better she did the better he did but he did have a genuine curiosity about her career, if only because he'd never had one himself. If she’d told Johnny about Andy phoning her, he would slap his knee and shout, "Fuck me!" – well, "Heck!" these days – and then he would analyse the situation and tell her what he would have done in her place. And they had an understanding: when he gave her advice and told her what he would have done if he’d been in her place, she wouldn't point out the obvious – it could only have been a wrong number if someone like Andy Wu had phoned a loser like him.
Toni had told Rob about Andy phoning when she was out walking, but he just asked what the hell Andy had wanted. Andy was always phoning Rob and sometimes Rob didn't even bother to phone him back.
Toni sighed and stood. She followed the others through the opened double doors.