Two Years After ; Friends Who Lie ; No More Secrets

by Paul J. Teague

  ‘You could leave her, you know. It’ll be horrible and messy, but eventually things will return to normal.’

  ‘I just don’t think I have the strength. She’s threatened to harm herself more than once. I couldn’t live with myself if she did that. I have to go through with it, Harriet. I just wish we’d done this five months ago instead of keeping a polite distance.’

  ‘It’s my fault too. When you ran off to Becky, I was furious with you. I know I was cold. But when you made your engagement announcement at Cait’s dinner party, I had to have one last try.’

  The others had noticed that she’d been silent when Becky made her big announcement. It caught Harriet completely off guard. She’d assumed that Matt was only using Becky to get back at her, that it would end and they’d start over again. But unknown to everybody else around that table, Matt had become caught up in a deadly trap. In his mind, there was no getting himself out. He’d convinced himself that Becky would have to leave him of her own accord – if she ever did that. He would never be able to leave her, she wouldn’t let him.

  Harriet had made sure they got a moment in the kitchen alone.

  ‘I’ll make the drinks,’ she’d announced. ‘You sit down, Cait. Enjoy your moment. How many teas and how many coffees?’

  She’d looked at Matt directly when she spoke. It was probably the first time their eyes had met since he’d stormed off in a huff. It had been six months of avoidance, evasion and polite greetings at occasional social events. When she looked directly into his eyes, she wondered if they were the only ones that could see the spark that had just shot across the room.

  After Harriet had gone to make coffee, Matt gave it a moment, then made an excuse.

  ‘I’ve changed my mind. Actually, I think I’d prefer a filter coffee. I’ll go and tell Harriet.’

  He’d stood up to walk through to the kitchen and Becky’s hand – the one sporting her new engagement ring – shot up to stop him. Caitlen sensed what was happening and distracted Becky with some wedding talk. Matt sneaked into the kitchen. As he walked up to Harriet, she spun around and they began to kiss. It was deep, passionate and urgent. Their bodies pressed close together, comfortable and familiar in spite of what had happened. They were going to make love there and then in the kitchen. Matt pushed Harriet up to the worktop, she hoisted up the bottom of her dress and parted her legs as Matt’s hand worked its way towards her panties. His other hand knocked a cup which went crashing to the floor.

  Like an alert guard dog, Becky’s voice could be heard shouting through from the dining room.

  ‘Everything all right in there?’

  ‘Sorry, Cait, I just dropped one of your mugs!’

  Matt moved away, Harriet hopped off the worktop and smoothed her dress. Their faces were red, it was obvious what they’d been doing.

  ‘We have to speak, Matt,’ she whispered. ‘You can’t go ahead with this.’

  Even as she said the words, he knew there would be no way out. But he had to see her, one more time. He had to try to tame the fire that Harriet had lit within him.

  ‘I can get away Wednesday. The King’s Hotel on Warwick Road. I’ll book a room. I’ll tell Becky I’m away on business.’

  Matt looked behind him to make sure the coast was clear. He kissed Harriet one more time, then made a commotion about heading up the stairs to the bathroom. He was hard and aroused, there was no way he could join them in the dining room, not until he’d had some time to cool down.

  And so there they were, sharing a bed together for what was possibly the last time. Matt needed time to stand still, he wanted to be stuck in that moment forever.

  ‘If I’d come into some money like Caitlen, perhaps we could make this all work. We could just run away, disappear and never see her again. In many ways I think it would be better for Becky that way, to completely vanish and never be seen again. I think that’s the only thing she’d accept.’

  ‘But we don’t have Cait’s money and we can’t just walk away. I have my mum to visit in the home and how would we make a living if we went to another country? I just shuffle papers for the council. You’re a sales rep, although I suppose that might be useful abroad – if you can find something that you can sell.’

  ‘I hate what I’ve done. I despise the way she’s cornered me like this. If we had that money, we could dig ourselves out of this hole. I could get away from her poison.’

  ‘We don’t have her money and we never will, Matt. You’ve made your bed and you’ll have to lie on it now if you’re not prepared to end it with her. I know about people like Becky. It can only end in death. Either her death or the death of the person whose life she’s ruining. It’s how my mum escaped from my dad. If you can’t end it now, if you don’t have the guts for the shitstorm, you’re going to have to see it through to whatever bitter end it comes to. And you and I will have to try our best to walk away from each other.’

  Harriet moved closer towards him. Her breasts brushed across his chest and he could feel her breath on his face. He could wait no longer. He pulled her close into him, his hand touching the small of her back and they made love until Harriet had to leave for work, her face flushed and her hair dishevelled. As Matt watched her walk through the door of the hotel room, he vowed that some way and somehow, they would be together again. Whatever power she held over him, Becky had to go. Whatever it took, he was going to be with Harriet.

  Chapter Seven

  Benidorm: June

  ‘Sorry, Caitlen, she’s insisting that the booking is only for five rooms. Two singles and three doubles. They must have mixed it up.’

  Wes was letting her save some face. He was the only one who spoke any Spanish, and he was being very generous with his translations. It was Caitlen who had messed up the booking, Apartamentos Tres Torres was full because of some event that was taking place in the town and somebody was going to have to share a room. The look on Naomi’s face told her that at least one member of the party had managed to figure that out for themselves already.

  ‘They’re sure that they haven’t got any more rooms? What about after the weekend? Will people check out then?’

  Wes spoke to the man at reception. Caitlen didn’t need to understand the words, she picked up on the sentiment.

  ‘He says it’s possible, but it’s a busy time of year. You’ve paid for the apartments in full and he says that you can move everybody around as you please.’

  Caitlen was too hot. The shuttle bus had been refreshingly cool, but she’d become overheated and sweaty dragging the suitcase along the path up to the entrance of their block. At least it looked nice. There was a lovely pool, the other residents looked civilised and it had a plush, modern interior. The online blurb had said that it been given a full makeover for the new season and it looked like they’d been telling the truth. It was time to bite the bullet.

  ‘Thanks Wes, I’d better see if we can shuffle these rooms without pissing off anybody too much!’

  As Caitlen walked over to the group of chatting friends, she ran through the configurations in her head. She thanked her lucky stars that none of them had kids – that would make what she was about to do even more combustible.

  ‘Okay everybody, sorry to keep you waiting. They’ve cocked up the booking, I’m afraid.’

  She decided to tell a white lie about that. If Wes was happy to collude with her and maintain an untruth, she would go with the flow.

  ‘Somebody’s going to have to share a room. Harriet has a single room with twin beds, so does Kasey. Wes is moving in with Kasey for the week, but Harriet gets to keep her room because everybody else is a couple. Fair enough?’

  ‘Somebody might want to take that spare bed in Harriet’s room. Especially if they’ve been in the toilet after my morning visit!’

  Terry laughed out loud at his own joke, making a German couple who were checking in turn around and look at their party. Caitlen was embarrassed to realise that they were probably fearful of getting stuck in an apartment
block packed with drunken British louts. She wished that Terry was capable of laughing more quietly.

  ‘That leaves the couples,’ she said, ignoring Terry’s remark. He was right though, nobody would be very enthusiastic after a night sharing an apartment with Terry. She was struggling to remain enthusiastic herself.

  ‘I’m going to suggest that Naomi and Rhett come in with me and Terry. Sorry Naomi, but I think that’s fairest, don’t you?’

  ‘I don’t mind sharing with you and Terry,’ Emmy offered. ‘We all rub along well enough.’

  ‘Well, Matt and Becky are just engaged, so they’re definitely not sharing!’ Rhett offered, kindly. ‘I say the engaged couple are out of bounds. That’s fair, isn’t it?’

  Becky took Matt’s arm and pulled him into her, protectively.

  ‘I’ll go for that!’ she said. ‘Thanks, Rhett.’

  ‘At least everybody’s on the same floor, they got that right,’ Wes said, as he rejoined them from the check-in area, a handful of plastic key cards in his hand. ‘So, how are we carving it up?’

  Caitlen examined Naomi’s face. She looked like she’d just been told she had one week to live. Rhett whispered something in her ear and she perked up.

  ‘Okay, Cait, we’ll come in with you and Terry. And if we all get on each other’s nerves, I guess we always have spare beds in Porter and Emmy’s apartment and Harriet’s room if anybody needs a bit of space.’

  Caitlen was relieved. Her sister could be a bit of a cow sometimes, but it helped her considerably if she didn’t make a fuss. Rhett was an easy-going guy and as for she and Naomi – well, they were sisters, they were stuck with each other, they’d figure it out.

  Wes handed out the key cards as if he was giving away the last of his food. They’d been a bit tight with the cards, Caitlen thought, bearing in mind how many of them there were in the party.

  ‘All the apartments should be the same inside, so it doesn’t matter who takes which one. And you can swap before we all unpack if you don’t like your view!’

  They picked up their cases and began to move en masse towards the lifts.

  ‘If I can get an extra apartment after the weekend rush, I will,’ Caitlen tried to reassure them.

  As far as she could figure out, that was the best configuration of people. She and Naomi would be fine, they were like chalk and cheese, but they always figured it out. Besides, she needed to speak to Naomi. They’d not had time to talk properly since the meal. There’d been so much going on what with her news and Becky’s surprise announcement. They needed to catch up and sharing the apartment would push them together.

  There were two lifts serving the apartment block and they had to make the trip in groups of three and four, depending on the sizes of their suitcases. They gathered on the landing of floor five. It was a long marbled corridor with six doors evenly spaced around the hallway. The single apartments were at either end, which meant the doubles were spaced two along either side. Caitlen felt a pang of anger as she realised that they’d have had a full floor to themselves if she hadn’t messed up the booking.

  Harriet made her way towards her own door at the opposite end of the corridor to Kasey. It was a bit of a shame that Wes had come along, she and Kasey got on well as the two singles in the group. Now Wes was getting in the way a bit. She’d be fine though, the peace and quiet would be nice after being surrounded by people all day. Besides, she needed to try and get Matt out of her system, although perhaps coming on a holiday with him wasn’t the best way to go about it.

  There was a problem with the rooms. Becky was making a fuss.

  ‘I’d really like a sea view if somebody else doesn’t mind swapping?’

  She let her request hang in the air, awaiting a response.

  Caitlen saw the real reason why she wanted to swap rooms. They were right next to Harriet’s apartment. She knew that things were tense between her and Harriet, so she immediately stepped in to help out.

  ‘Take our room!’ Caitlen said, a little too quickly. ‘You’re welcome to it – you are the happy couple, after all.’

  Becky’s face lit up. Matt looked up the corridor towards Harriet’s room, but considered that it was probably for the best. Having Harriet there would be a constant temptation for them both. Maybe too much of a temptation. But they had to be there for Caitlen’s sake. It would have looked odd to refuse her treat in Benidorm.

  Terry was on the wrong side of the hallway, clumsily attempting to open up the door to the room which Caitlen should have booked. He gave it a shove, banging his shoulder hard against the wood.

  ‘Damn it, Terry, it’s a holiday apartment, not a police bust!’ Rhett teased. ‘We’re on the opposite side, mate.’

  Terry had made so much noise, it had brought the apartment’s occupant to the door. It was a young woman, probably no more than twenty-five years old, Caitlen thought, standing in a bikini. Terry’s jaw almost hit the floor, Porter turned to gawp and Rhett, as a man who was accomplished at staying married, took a crafty peek then looked back at his wife.

  ‘Hi, is everything alright?’ she asked.

  ‘It just got better!’ Terry said, sounding more and more like Sid James by the day.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Caitlen intervened, moving towards the woman and indicating that Terry should step out of the way.

  ‘We got our rooms mixed up, sorry to disturb you.’

  ‘So, you’re my new neighbours.’

  ‘Yes, we are. And I promise we won’t always cause this much disturbance. We’ve just fouled up the room bookings and we’re trying to figure out who goes where.’

  ‘It’s no trouble, honestly. It was a bit quiet up here to tell you the truth, it’ll be nice to hear other people coming and going.’

  Terry had started to move their cases into the opposite apartment, encouraged by Naomi and Rhett who wanted to get in and unpacked. Becky and Matt also went into their room, eager to get showered and changed.

  ‘I’m Gina Saloman, pleased to meet you!’

  ‘Caitlen Brinkley. That’s my ... my partner, Terry. Sorry, he can be a bit of a fright sometimes.’

  Gina laughed.

  ‘It’s fine. How long are you here for?’

  ‘Just the week. And you?’

  ‘Oh, I’m here for the summer. I live and work out here, I can’t stand the weather in the UK. All I need is a laptop and a wireless connection and I’m good to go. I was just heading to the pool, it’s wonderful down there when the weather is like this. I’ll see you around, you’ll love it here, the apartments are fabulous.’

  For a moment, Caitlen felt a pang of envy. It was a craving for a new and freer life, like the one Gina was leading. She worked in software, all she needed was a laptop and an internet connection, just like Gina. The only thing that was stopping her from dropping everything and moving somewhere nice like Spain was Terry. He was her biggest encumbrance. He was her only block now that she had the money. As Gina smiled at her, pulled her door shut and walked confidently along the hallway with the boldness that only a twenty-something could enjoy, Caitlen decided that she wanted to be Gina Saloman. She wanted her life to be just like hers.

  Chapter Eight

  Benidorm: June

  At least Caitlen had managed to get something right. The apartments were fresh, modern, clean and beautifully furnished.

  ‘No minibar, though!’ Terry had said, after searching the kitchen and lounge as if it was some forensic examination.

  ‘It’s an apartment block, that’s why,’ Caitlen replied, still preoccupied with the stunning Gina Saloman. She could hardly blame the men for gawping. If she’d had a gay bone in her body, she might have chosen Gina to express it with. She was amazing. Terry, meanwhile, seemed unchanged by the wonderful environment in which they were now immersed.

  ‘All we need is a fridge full of John Smiths and we’re away!’ he said conspiratorially to Rhett.

  ‘There’s bound to be a British supermarket close by,’ Rhett suggested, not wanti
ng to get in Terry’s way so soon in the day. Naomi was more antagonised by Terry’s behaviour – she’d made herself scarce, feigning another headache. At least they had separate bedrooms. Terry had made a fuss about the twin beds.

  ‘They’re getting pushed together!’ he’d declared. ‘There’s no way I’m spending a week on holiday and not getting my leg over. Bloody Spanish and their separate beds. It’s a wonder any of them stay married.’

  Caitlen would have preferred a single bed in a separate room. She was anxious to speak to Gina and find out more about her lifestyle. She wondered if she’d be able to sneak away to the pool and join her new friend. She didn’t want Terry in tow when they spoke next. His bad habits seemed accentuated abroad. She was finding him more and more embarrassing.

  ‘I’m going out to find some beers. Are you coming, Rhett?’

  Rhett nodded, thinking that it was probably the course of least resistance. Besides, he was anxious to get a look at the beach. He was certain that once Terry had got his precious John Smiths, he’d be amenable to reroute along the beach. Caitlen was grateful for the headspace once they’d shut the door. She’d just realised how little time she and Terry had spent together in recent months.

  Naomi was out of the bedroom the moment the two men had gone.

  ‘I thought you had a headache, Naomi?’ Caitlen said.

  ‘No, just a pain in the arse.’

  Naomi looked at Caitlen and they burst out laughing. Whatever the tensions between them, they were still sisters. They could always make each other laugh, even when they were pissed off with each other.

  ‘He can be a bit much, can’t he?’

  ‘You’re saying! I don’t know how you’ve put up with him as long as you have. I mean, he doesn’t really fit in, does he? With our group, I mean?’