Jealous Storm

by Jack Stroke

  Three - live out his days in this bathroom. The house was that big, maybe no one would ever notice him.

  Three wasn’t really an option, of course. At least it made him smile.

  Maybe there was a hybrid somewhere between the first two options. Could he ride the party out? See where he ended up? Shake couldn’t be too mad at him. After all, he had tried. Twice. Done his best. There wasn’t much more they could ask for.

  He settled with that. Hide out here in the bathroom until it was time to leave and then tell Shake he’d done what he could. It wasn’t much more of an option, but it was marginally better than running away.

  Ignoring Shake’s voice in his head, reminding him failure was not an option, he settled in. It was better than the alternatives. The plan lasted a good three seconds before someone knocked. Ben’s heart jumped into his throat. Was it Shake? He put an ear to the door. Light singing drifted in through the door. Ben couldn’t imagine Shake to be a singer. They knocked again. Bad luck. How many bathrooms did this place have? Whoever it was could find another. They would give up eventually.

  Except they didn’t go away, knocking again.

  “Occupied.”

  An older male voice replied. “Sorry, buddy, but I really need to go.”

  “There are plenty of other bathrooms.”

  “Sure. I’m just not sure I’d make it to one in time.”

  Ben couldn’t be that mean, could he? Deny some old guy a bathroom when he really needed one? He decided to let him in. Ben could wait outside. Once whoever it was had finished, he could go right back to hiding. Not terribly dignified, but still.

  He opened the door to an old guy standing there.

  “Thank God,” the old fella said. “Thought you were never coming out. Don’t know how much longer I could hold on.”

  Ben smiled and stood in the hall to wait.

  It was quiet up here, the party a distant hum. The minutes dragged on. How long was this old guy going to take? The corridor left Ben exposed. The bathroom felt more secure.

  A flush sounded from inside. That was a good sign.

  More singing drifted through the door. He couldn’t be much longer.

  Then there was a loud crash.

  32

  “Hello?” Ben knocked. “Hey, mister. Are you all right in there?”

  No response. Ben tried the bathroom door. It wasn’t locked. He opened up, not sure what he would see.

  The old guy lay sprawled on the tiles. He wasn’t singing now.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I… I slipped. Think I hit my head,” the guy said. A large gash ran across his forehead, blood spilling everywhere.

  “It’s okay,” Ben said. “Can you stand?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Ben helped him sit up and tore some paper from the toilet roll, mopping up the blood. It quickly turned red, so he grabbed some more.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. Old age. Don’t get old, young fella.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  The bathroom floor, clean as it was, was not all that pleasant a place to sit.

  “Can you stand?”

  “Not by myself.”

  Ben helped the guy up.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t know. Somewhere more comfortable.”

  Supporting the old guy’s weight, Ben made sure he moved slowly. The old guy’s arm shook Ben’s as they moved.

  “What’s your name, sonny?”

  “Ben.”

  “Thank you, Ben. I could have been stuck there all night.”

  “Yeah, I know how you feel.”

  They found a sitting room with a couple of armchairs. Ben lowered the old guy into one.

  “Let’s have a look at that wound.”

  Ben moved the toilet paper as gently as he could.

  “How bad is it? Be honest with me. Will I have a scar?”

  “Do you want to scar?”

  “Sure, if it’s a sexy scar. Not so much if it’s ‘an old guy fell over in the bathroom’ scar.”

  “Sorry, buddy. No sexy scar. Doesn’t look too bad actually. More like a scrape. It’s just bleeding a lot.”

  Perched awkwardly on the arm of the chair, Ben dabbed the old guy’s forehead as lightly as he could before holding the toilet paper in place.

  “It should stop soon.”

  “Okay. Enjoying the shindig?”

  “Me?”

  “No one else here, sonny.”

  “Not really.”

  “Me either. I only come for the free alcohol. Of course, they don’t like drinking. That’s why I have to hide up here.”

  “Should… Do you want me to take you somewhere?”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Not really. I’m fine right here.”

  So, they sat.

  “Did Gloria tell you about the seagulls?”

  “Seagulls? I don’t believe so, no.”

  “Damn nuisances. Crapping all over the house. We called in this guy, supposedly an expert, but the guy was just a putz. You know what he told us? Get a cardboard cutout of a falcon. Idea being gulls are scared of falcons. Seriously. That’s what this guy’s expert advice was. Couple hundred bucks to tell us to get a cardboard cutout. Putz. Gloria said we should do it. Yeah, because that will help… a picture of a bird.”

  “A bit like a scarecrow, maybe?” Ben asked.

  “Yeah, I suppose. But stupider. You ever go to Venice?”

  “Venice?”

  “It’s in Italy.”

  “Yeah, I know. No. I’ve never been to Venice.”

  “You should go. The gulls there are huge. Hang around the fish markets. They look the same as the ones we get here, but twice as big. Like they’re on steroids or something.”

  “Okay.”

  “I always thought I would go back to Venice one day. Not sure I’ll get the chance now. Shame.”

  The door to the sitting room opened, and Nicole burst in with one of her friends.

  “Uncle Jimmy. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.” She scowled at Ben. “What did you do to him?”

  “Me? Nothing…”

  “Oh, Nicole. He hit me.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “Whacked me right in the face. Can’t you see?” He pointed to his still-bleeding head.

  “You hit him?!”

  Uh oh. “No… No…”

  Nicole turned to her friend. “Go get Francis.”

  The friend ran off. Probably wasn’t a bad idea. Ben should probably run off too.

  33

  For whatever reason, Ben didn’t run. He didn’t try and defend himself either.

  “Why would you hit him? He’s an old man.”

  Uncle Jimmy cackled. “Nicole, you’re so gullible. Just like your mother. Of course he never hit me.”

  Confusion crossed her face. “What happened?”

  “I fell in the bathroom. This young fella was nice enough to help me.”

  “What were you doing up here?”

  “I was falling. He was helping me.”

  “Okay,” she said after a moment. Not thankful yet not aggressive either. “Have you been drinking, Uncle Jimmy?”

  “No,” he said with an exaggerated wink to Ben so obvious there was no way for Nicole to miss it.

  “You’re not supposed to be drinking, Uncle Jimmy. You know that.” She turned to Ben. “He’s not supposed to be drinking.”

  Ben nodded. She was even prettier up close. She had a small nose and brown eyes that perfectly matched her hair.

  Nicole’s friend appeared with Francis and Jakob Baumer in tow.

  “What’s going on here?” Baumer demanded in a booming voice, immediately taking control. He was all jaw.

  “Uncle Jimmy had a fall in the bathroom. This guy helped him.”

  Baumer nodded. “What’s your name, son?’

  “Ben,” he said not thinkin
g.

  “Thank you, Ben.” He wrapped Ben’s palm up in a firm shake. “Good man.”

  “He’s got a bit of a bump to the head, but he seems okay,” Ben said.

  “All right, Jimmy, let’s get you downstairs.” With Baumer on one side and Francis on the other, they hoisted Jimmy off the couch.

  “Thanks, Ben.”

  “No worries, Jimmy. Good luck with the seagulls.”

  Nicole gave him a sideways glance. “Seagulls?”

  “Don’t tell her,” Jimmy said. “It’s our little secret.”

  The others gone, Ben stood awkwardly with Nicole and her friend.

  “Seagulls?” Nicole asked again.

  “Sorry,” Ben said. “Nothing I can do. Jimmy asked me not to say anything.”

  “Right.” A hint of a smile teased Nicole’s lips. He hadn’t seen her smile yet. It made her even prettier. “Thought your name was Dash.”

  “Dash? That’s a stupid name.”

  “It sure is.”

  “No, just Ben. Nice to meet you.”

  “Right,” she said to her friend. “Let’s go get a drink.”

  As they left, Ben realised he’d done it. Mission accomplished. He’d made contact and she didn’t hate him. Time to quit while he was ahead. Nicole stuck her head back in.

  “You coming or what?”

  Several hours later Ben was one of the last to leave. The rest of the party had been a whirlwind. What undoubtedly began as pity or thanks for what he had done with Jimmy blossomed into a genuine connection. Nicole’s friends were a bit stuck up and standoffish, but she was cool. Ben really liked her.

  Slowly it became just the two of them talking and laughing and having fun. Ben was honest, that may have been the key. Not honest about why he was there. More about who he was and his life. None of the Dash secret agent rubbish. They were different, he and Nicole, with vastly different upbringings and yet similar with their views on the world and life and friends. Talking to her felt natural. Why weren’t there any girls like Nicole in Port Simmons? There were no girls at all in Paradise Cove.

  They sat close beside each other on a couch, legs touching, exchanging numbers. It was a little awkward, Ben having no clue what his number was. He explained it away as a new phone and SIM card, which wasn’t entirely convincing, but Nicole seemed to find it cute.

  “Can’t believe I am giving you my number. I thought you were such a sleaze before.”

  “Yeah, sorry. I was just trying to talk to you.”

  “You don’t seem to have any problem talking to me now. Anyway, I’m sorry too. I was a cow. You don’t know how many guys I have trying to sleaze on to me. Like, guys my Dad’s age, which is just gross.”

  “Aren’t they scared to? With your Dad here?”

  “They do it when he’s not watching. And men are men. They do whatever they think they can get away with. They’re not like you though. Or you’re not like them.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder, and Ben decided it was about the greatest thing to happen to anyone ever.

  “I should… probably go,” he said, no idea if it was actually true or not.

  “Oh, okay. I’ll walk you out.”

  She held his hand as they made their way towards the main entrance.

  “Thanks again for all your help with Uncle Jimmy.”

  “No worries. He’s a good guy. Hope he’s okay.”

  “He’ll be fine. Just needs to lay off the drink.”

  “Isn’t he a bit old to be your uncle?”

  “He’s not really my uncle. That’s just what everybody calls him.”

  They reached the main entrance. Ben wasn’t sure if he would just have to walk away or where Shake might be. To his surprise, the Tesla was sitting in the driveway waiting.

  “That’s me.”

  “Thanks, Ben. I wasn’t looking forward to this evening. But you made the party bearable.”

  “Yeah, you too. Well, yeah. You know.”

  She flashed a bewitching smile. “We should hang out sometime.”

  “Yes. I’d like that.”

  “Cool.”

  He smiled and strode away, but she pulled him back.

  “What? No goodnight kiss, Dash?”

  He didn’t need to be asked twice. The kiss was magic, lighting up his soul like fireworks.

  Ben all but floated down the driveway to the waiting Shake.

  “Nice. Mission accomplished, hey?”

  It didn’t seem possible, but the mention of the mission quickly bought Ben crashing back down to earth.

  34

  Amber ran along the sand. It was the second half of her run, so she upped the pace. Always move faster on the back end of a run to improve fitness.

  She had been lying low, hiding out in her cabin, not wanting to see a soul. Hideous embarrassment tugged at her skin. Humiliation at what had taken place at the Park Inn. Confusion too. She struggled to make any sense of it. It wasn’t Megan’s number on Ellis’ phone. He had definitely been sexting someone else. Someone else that he’d agreed to meet. Amber hadn’t imagined that.

  In which case, what was Megan doing there? About the only thing Amber knew with any certainty was that she should have listened to Vaughan. If she had invited him in yesterday and talked it through with him, he would have attempted to talk Amber out of it and possibly prevented her from doing something so incredibly stupid. Why hadn’t she listened to Vaughan?

  She was supposed to be the new Amber. Chill Amber. Surely that meant letting others into her life and not being so closed off. Well, time for a change. From this moment she was going to let Vaughan in fully, no matter how difficult she found it. This was important.

  Rather than head back to Paradise by the Bay, she detoured via the pier. She had attempted to get straight in her head what she would say, but the words just wouldn’t come. She was going to have to wing it. That hardly mattered. It was Vaughan. No need to practise for that.

  Amber heard them before she saw them, and yet she kept approaching. Loud voices, chatting and laughing, having a grand old time. She didn’t fully process what it actually was until she saw them.

  There in the deck chairs on Vaughan’s boat was Grubby and Vaughan and Ellis, having a few beers. Not only was Ellis on board, he was sitting in Amber’s chair. It was invasive and stung.

  Grubby spotted Amber first. “Oh, look out,” he said, having the time of his life. “Your woman’s here, Vaughan. Now you’re in trouble.”

  “Shut up, Grubby,” Vaughan said, standing. He at least had the decency to look sheepish, aware he had been caught out.

  “Whoa, can’t keep having a good time then.” Grubby made a sound like a whip cracking.

  “Looking good, Amber,” Ellis said. “Been for a run? Meegs was saying you’re some kind of crazy fitness freak these days.”

  Meegs. It was like a spike digging into Amber’s eyeball. She hated it when Ellis called her that back then, and she hated it now.

  “Good run?”

  To his credit, Ellis did a pretty good impression of a polite person, if you didn’t know him. If you weren’t aware of the reality of what he really was like. Amber didn’t trust herself to respond. Instead she simply turned and strode away.

  “Amber, you don’t have to go,” Ellis said. “If you want me to, I can leave.”

  He may have continued talking. Amber couldn’t hear him anymore.

  She’d made about halfway back to Paradise by the Bay before Vaughan caught up with her.

  “Amber… Amber… Wait.” He grabbed her arm and she stopped. “Are you okay?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

  “That wasn’t… That wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “What did it look like?”

  “Be serious. No games. Grubby just showed up with him and the beers. There was nothing I could do.”

  “Nothing?”

  “No, I mean, sure. I could have done things, but I didn’t want to be rude.”

  “Well
, as long as you weren’t rude, Vaughan. I would hate you to be impolite.”

  “Amber…”

  “It’s fine. You can have beers with whoever you like.”

  “I wasn’t having… I mean…”

  “I said it’s fine.”

  “It doesn’t look like it’s fine.”

  “What does it look like?”

  He studied her. “It looks like everyone within a five-mile radius better take cover.”

  She chuckled and kissed him on the cheek. “Go back. I wouldn’t be leaving those two alone on your boat if I was you.”

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  “I won’t be if you ask me again.”

  She strode away, leaving Vaughan standing dumbfounded where he was.

  Vaughan was correct about one thing. Amber wasn’t about to let this stand. There was no way.

  35

  Over time, Amber had evolved into a compulsive stretcher. The older she got, the more she stretched, doing so religiously after every run or physical activity. She could count on one hand the amount of times she hadn’t stretched after exercise in the past few years and attributed her lack of injuries to her devotion. However, she didn’t warm down at all after her beach run. She returned immediately to her cabin and located her phone.

  “Diamond Logistics,” said the voice in her ear.

  “Hey, Tony,” Amber said, doing her best to keep her voice light. Strictly speaking she wasn’t supposed to call. Tony preferred messages. Amber had to balance making this seem important enough to call, yet not sound like she was in trouble.

  “Wow, how does she do it?” Tony said.

  “Who?”

  “Mother. It’s uncanny. She told me you’d call. I didn’t think you would, but here we are. Guess that’s why she’s the big boss.”

  “What? Why would I —”

  “Sorry, Amber. I can’t tell you anything.”

  “Tony, you’re not making any sense.”

  “About Ben. Where he is, what he’s up to.”

  “Oh. Right. Of course. That’s not why I’m calling.”

  “It’s not? Okay. Is everything all right?”