He came over to Gracie and kissed her.
‘I’m so sorry, beautiful. I ended up drinking and had to leave the van in Newquay and it’s taken an age to get a taxi.’
‘You could have called.’Keep it together, Gracie’s inner voice said.This is the first night of your holiday you don’t want to ruin it.‘And why Newquay?’
‘Skye lives there. Skye, meet my friend Gracie.’
‘Hi.’ Gracie could have spat feathers.
‘And this is Glyn, a uni mate, and his girlfriend, Leah.’
‘Hi.’ Gracie smiled as sweetly as an angry woman could.
‘Another wine?’
‘Actually, no thanks. I’ll leave you all to it. I’m a bit tired after the journey.’ Gracie knew if she stayed it wouldn’t be a pretty ending and she didn’t want to embarrass herself.
‘Oh, OK. Suit yourself. I did try to call but the signal is shite down here.’ Ed turned back to his friends. Gracie marched to the next pub. More alcohol was required. She bought a bottle of wine to take back to the flat. It was an amazing summer evening, still warm in the darkness, with a gentle breeze. From the balcony, she could hear the pub crowd talking animatedly and laughing. At eleven o’clock she took herself to bed for fear of throwing the now-empty bottle of wine at them.
Feigning sleep, she could see from her mobile phone that it wasn’t until 2 a.m. that Ed slipped into the bed beside her. When she heard whispers from outside their room, she couldn’t keep her anger in any longer.
‘What the fuck are you playing at, Ed?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Don’t act the innocent. Is everyone staying over? Who’s that girl anyway?’
‘Who? Skye, you mean? She’s just a mate of Glyn’s. Don’t tell me you’re jealous. Don’t be ridiculous, Gracie.’
‘I can’t believe you’ve asked people to stay.’
‘Just Glyn and Leah; Skye had to get home and feed her dog. Glyn’s boat is here. I thought we could all have a little day trip tomorrow.’
‘Ed, I thought this was going to be our holiday.’
‘Take a chill pill, Gracie. We’ve got a whole week to have some fun and they are great people to hang out with.’
‘Why didn’t you mention this before?’ Gracie huffed.
‘I didn’t think. Glyn’s back at work on Monday, anyway. It’s just for the weekend.’
‘I’m more hurt that you were so damn late, and introduced me as your “friend”, to be honest. Why did you do that?’
‘Well, you are my friend.’
‘Well, that’s my bad, assuming I am your girlfriend then, isn’t it?’ She wriggled herself to the edge of the bed and pulled the duvet around her so that he couldn’t touch her. Not that he even noticed. Within seconds he was snoring as loudly as Gracie’s heart was beating in anger.
The seagull cries accentuated Gracie’s hangover as she marched to the cliff top as soon as she woke up. Her disappointment had not subsided. She found a place where she had some signal, then phoned Noms.
‘Come home, Grace, sod him. He’s acted like a twat.’
‘I know he has, but maybe I need to loosen up a bit? I mean, they are his friends.’
Noms tutted. ‘And some random girl in her twenties. I’d have gone mental, too.’
‘I think I should be the bigger person, take back brunch supplies and see what the day has in store. They were all drunk and it really is beautiful down here, you know. I’ve just had a cup of tea in the Fowey Hall Hotel. It has breathtaking views and the waiter told me that Toad Hall was based on the building.’
‘Sounds lush. But if he treats you any less than perfect from now on, he’ll have me to answer to.’
