Chapter Seven #2
‘Look at this place,’ Trip said beside her. ‘This is like … everything I thought a British pub would be but better. It’s like we stepped into a movie.’
‘That’s Fox Bay for you,’ Ivy said wryly, as Old Bill belched loudly on the bar stool beside her. ‘Movie material. The quaintest small town that ever was.’
Trip was looking around delightedly. ‘It sure is,’ he said. ‘There’s even a dog. A golden retriever.’
‘You’ll get along well,’ Ivy muttered.
‘Ivy! You’re back!’ Ivy could see Simi waving them over from behind the bar. She beamed at Ivy as they approached. ‘I thought I noticed a certain pre-Raphaelite beauty walking around Fox Bay.’
‘I wish,’ Ivy said, smiling in spite of herself. She always appreciated a compliment from elegant, intelligent Simi. ‘Simi, this is Trip. He and his sister are staying at Josie’s for the holidays. He’s come all the way from California.’
Simi leaned across the bar and held out her hand. ‘Of course. My saviour from the other day. One of Josie’s latest guests. I didn’t catch your name?’
‘I’m Trip,’ he said, offering his hand with one of his wide, sweet smiles. ‘Ivy let me come along tonight. She’s been stuck with me at the shop.’
‘Poor girl,’ Lou chimed in, appearing with a wooden board of pizza and looking Trip up and down. ‘I’m sure it’s been a terrible hardship for you, Ivy.’ She smiled innocently at her and Ivy shot her a look. ‘The usual, Ivy? Lemonade?’
Ivy nodded. ‘Yeah, I still hate beer.’
‘I’m trying to persuade Simi to make the place a bit more upmarket, given all the tourists.
More mocktails and bar snacks and things.
’ Lou held out the tray. ‘Cornish pasty pizza? It’s a new one for me but I thought some of these tourists might go for it.
’ She frowned at it. ‘I’m trying to persuade them it’s a Cornish delicacy. ’
‘Er, no, thanks,’ said Ivy, recalling Josie’s warning about carrots and cheese.
‘I’ll have some,’ said Trip, taking a piece. He took a bite, blinked and started to chew fast. ‘Are those … peas?’ he asked, through the mouthful. ‘And potatoes? And ground meat? On a pizza?’
‘Yup,’ said Lou. ‘Do you like it?’ she asked hopefully.
He gave her a thumbs up as he chewed, seemingly unable to swallow. ‘It’s like nothing I’ve ever had before,’ he said sincerely. As Lou turned away, he widened his eyes desperately at Ivy. She bit back a laugh.
‘It’s disgusting, isn’t it?’ she said, handing him a napkin.
Then she swiftly took the remaining pizza from him and dumped it in a flower pot.
‘Thanks,’ he whispered, looking a little pale. ‘I think Josie’s right. I don’t know that carrots work on a pizza.’
‘Lou’s an amazing cook,’ Ivy said. She thought Lou looked a little tired. ‘I think the pressure of catering to all these tourists might be getting to her. She should stick with what she does best, which is pizza without carrots.’
Ivy took in the scene as Lou poured their drinks.
It looked like the same old pub night – the benches full of people crammed elbow to elbow, the regulars huddled by the dartboard, Old Bill holding forth to a large table of tourists with some real or imagined sea exploits.
But the closer Ivy looked, the more she was certain that there was a subtle shift.
More unfamiliar faces. She could see a couple of women taking a selfie with their pie and mash.
‘Isn’t this cute? Just like the pub in Ocean Deep,’ sighed one.
‘I know. We should go down to the beach tomorrow and find that adorable old sea captain …’
Ivy felt a flicker of panic. This didn’t feel real, somehow – not like the Fox Bay she knew.
Once, these oddities and quirks had felt normal, all Ivy had ever known.
Now they seemed a bit pretend, like a collection of picturesque sights filtered through Instagram rather than the real place she had grown up in.
Ivy had a sudden urge to sketch the scene before her, before it was swept away altogether.
The one night I leave my sketchbook behind, she thought ruefully.
‘Ivy, Trip, hi!’ Erin arrived in a camel coat and ankle boots, her hair glossy and freshly waved.
‘Lou! Simi!’ She rushed round the bar to hug Simi.
The others came in behind her, ordered their G+Ts and pints and located a snug in the corner.
Ivy found herself wedged between Callum and Mei, while Trip and Erin sat opposite.
‘How’s things?’ Ivy asked awkwardly, deciding to be the one to break the silence.
‘Callum, are you at Exeter now?’ Callum had been the star of school football and had even been scouted for Manchester United’s Youth Team.
He’d decided he wanted to stay closer to home, which had always seemed pretty inconceivable to Ivy.
‘Yeah, I’m studying product design and running the student radio station there too,’ he said.
He seemed even taller and broader than he had been at school.
‘It’s great. We have to play all the regular stuff of course but we’re allowed to play one song every hour that is unsigned so that’s really fun.
And I’m first-year head of the student union. ’
‘Wow,’ said Ivy. ‘I didn’t realise you were such a joiner.’
He laughed. ‘I found my thing, you know? Music. And I’m dating someone too.’ He blushed. ‘He’s called Lucien. He writes poetry.’
Poetry? Ivy didn’t remember Callum so much as opening a book outside lessons, what with all the football and beach parties.
‘Congratulations. What about you, Mei?’ asked Ivy, turning to the pretty girl at Callum’s side, praying that just one of them was having a terrible time or even an average one.
‘Well, you know I’m doing law at Bristol,’ said Mei, swishing her elegant bob. ‘Which is going really well. And I’m working part-time at the Clockwork Rose. Have you heard of it? It just won a mixology award.’
‘I’ve heard of that,’ said Trip. ‘This travel blogger I follow was recommending it. Apparently it’s one of the UK’s coolest bars.’
Mei smiled up into his face. ‘You should try it if you ever come to Bristol,’ she said sweetly, fluttering her lashes.
‘Isn’t uni a blast?’ sighed Erin, taking a large swallow of her drink. ‘I really feel like I found myself there, you know? Like I became the person I was always meant to be.’
‘Absolutely,’ said Mei.
‘Totally,’ agreed Callum.
Ivy sat back, feeling more crushed than ever before, as they chattered away about the trips they were taking, the clubs they were joining and the adventures they were having.
She and Raye had always rolled their eyes at the gang behind their backs, but now they seemed …
happy. Fulfilled. Living rich and interesting lives.
Whereas Ivy, in her paint-spattered DM boots and oversized cardigan, was the one who seemed lame.
‘And how’s the art going, Ivy?’ Callum asked at last, when there was a lull in the conversation. Ivy had just taken a gulp of lemonade and she choked on her drink as everyone turned to look at her.
‘Oh, um, it’s great, thanks,’ she managed. ‘It’s great to be around so many other creative types. To be challenged artistically, you know?’
Callum nodded politely. ‘You’re at the Cornwall Art College, right? My friend is there,’ he said. ‘Imogen, do you know her?’
‘Oh yeah,’ said Ivy, flushing. ‘Imogen. She’s … nice.’ Imogen was friends with Raff. What if she had told Callum about the loser at art college?
‘She was pulling her hair out over her final coursework. Apparently you don’t pass the first year without it?’ He shook his head. ‘That’s seriously harsh.’
‘Yeah, wow,’ said Trip. His wide brown eyes turned to her. ‘How did yours go, Ivy?’
‘Well, it’s a very competitive course,’ Ivy said, fiddling with her paper straw.
She thought of her empty sketchbook and Jess’s worried expression at her last tutorial, the blank faces of her classmates as she had mumbled about impermanence.
‘I’m still adding some … finishing touches. But I’m very nearly there.’
‘The details are important,’ said Trip. ‘So what’s the story with Lou and Simi? I haven’t spoken to them much.’ Ivy glanced at him. Had he realised she was floundering and changed the subject?
‘One of the top love stories of Fox Bay,’ said Erin. ‘Simi was some high-flying management consultant till she gave it all up for this.’
‘My parents say she and Lou are being really mysterious …?’ whispered Mei. ‘They keep driving to Truro and giving vague excuses.’
‘Yeah and Mum said they’ve been sneaking off a lot lately and getting people to cover shifts,’ Erin said. ‘Do you think they got married? Eloped?’
‘Or maybe they’re house-hunting,’ added Callum. ‘And they’re planning to move.’
The attention moved on to Fox Bay gossip and Ivy sank into herself. She felt like a ghost. A sad, shadowy, drab ghost.
Trip, on the other hand, seemed like the brightest person in the pub.
Ivy kept sneaking glances at him, wondering how anyone could look so impossibly perfect.
His sweatshirt clung to him in all the right places, his hair was tousled like he’d just come from the sunlit beach (despite it being pitch-black, damp and freezing when they had walked over) and he seemed to draw people to him.
The gang clearly loved him. Other customers stopped to chat, asking about his accent.
Even the pub dog loved him, resting his head on Trip’s knee under the table and looking at him adoringly, while Trip stroked his ears.
‘And what about you, Trip?’ Mei said at last, leaning forward. Ivy had forgotten how pretty Mei was, with her glossy black hair and long lashes. ‘What brings you to Fox Bay? Shouldn’t you be surfing in California?’
Trip laughed. ‘At this time of year? I don’t want to be a Californian stereotype.’
‘Oh?’ Mei leaned in still closer, clearly enjoying herself. ‘So you’re a rebel?’
‘I’ve been taking a year off,’ Trip said, and again Ivy caught that hint of discomfort she had sensed earlier, the slight flush on his cheeks. He was normally so easy that the reserve jarred.