Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Sam pushed through the door, a rush of sound enveloping her as she stepped inside The Wharf. The old hotel was a short drive at the other end of Karkalla Beach, sitting on the corner of their local main street overlooking the ocean. It had been a pub, a captain’s quarters, an orphanage, then back into a hotel again; the history preserved in its bluestone walls, now balanced by the warm wooden trims and modern furnishings.
Groups of people sat around at tables, laughter and conversation competing for airtime in the crowded space. She looked around for Alex, spotting her on her phone, hunched over in their favourite corner booth. She zig zagged her way through the crowd.
“Champagne for the lady in green?” Sam asked with a smirk.
Alex looked up, the phone clattering to the table as she jumped up to give her a hug.
“Hey stranger,” Alex replied, giving an extra squeeze, her curly black hair tickling Sam’s nose.
“Hey yourself.” Sam smiled then let go. “It’s so good to see you.” She realised just how true that statement was. Even though they messaged a lot on the phone, it was always so much better when they were chatting face-to-face.
“You too,” said Alex, smiling back at her.
“Now, please, let me grab us some bubbles.”
“I’m not gonna say no to that!”
Sam popped over to the bar to grab a couple of happy hour specials. Cheap house bubbly was always their drink of choice.
“That was quick!” Alex exclaimed as Sam slid a glass in front of her.
“Derek was on,” Sam replied in explanation.
“Ah.”
Derek was their favourite bartender. He knew their order by heart and had the cork popped out of a fresh bottle before she’d even made it to the bar.
The bubbles bit at her tongue, a welcome sensation she loved as much as she loved this tradition with Alex.
“So what’s new?” Alex asked, taking her own sip and closing her eyes in bliss. “Oh, that’s good. Extra crisp tonight.”
“Mhmm,” Sam hummed in agreement. “As for news…” She drummed her fingers on her chin in thought. “Oh, I found someone to finish off the wiring on Manny.”
“Nice. Shop regular or one of Matt’s friends?”
“Surprisingly not with Dad’s help this time; it’s actually that Taylor I told you about.”
“Coffee girl?”
“Yup. That’s the one. Turns out she conveniently knows a thing or two about boats. And caravans. She starts this Thursday,” Sam finished, taking another sip.
“You trust her work?” Alex questioned, her eyes narrowing slightly.
“She definitely seemed to know what she was talking about. I even saw her up the top of Larry’s mast the other day, and that’s no beginner’s job.”
“Good,” Alex said with a nod, seemingly satisfied with her answer. “That actually sounds great. You must feel good to be making progress again. Any more thoughts on the big trip?”
Alex was well-versed in Sam’s big plan to take off and sail away on Manny. She’d done a lot of travel herself and always had good ideas when it came to planning. Of the two of them, she was definitely the organiser in the friendship. They’d gone on a few trips together over the years, mainly local getaways to their favourite wine regions or up in the hills, but they’d never been overseas together. Alex usually did that by herself, preferring solo trips from Morocco to Johannesburg. Her tales were always so captivating, making her Sam’s most intriguing friend by a long shot. Sam sometimes felt a little boring in comparison, so it was refreshing to have a big exciting thing happening in her life for once. Time to solidify those plans.
“Yes, actually. So you know how I was contemplating heading around Australia first?”
“Yeah.” Alex sat bright eyed, leaning forward, clearly loving the topic.
“Turns out Mum wanted to do the same thing with Dad before she got sick.”
“No way!”
“Yes way. So now I feel like it’s some sort of fate that I’m meant to do this trip. Except for?—”
“—your Dad. And the shop,” Alex finished for her. She knew the situation all too well, nodding along solemnly at the usual roadblock with this conversation.
“About that.” Sam paused. “I spoke to him.”
Alex’s eyebrows flew so high, they almost disappeared into her voluminous hair. “No!”
Sam laughed. “Yes! I know, I can’t believe I did it either; I’ve been complaining to you about it long enough.”
Alex flattened her hands on the table. “Tell me everything. What happened? What changed?”
“Well, you know I can overthink things…”
“Uh-huh…” Alex replied with a knowing smirk.
“I feel like it was getting to me more than usual lately, like it was constantly on my mind.” That, and it also felt like it was coming up in conversation more and more from her dad, until it all but felt inevitable.
“In the end, I randomly blabbed everything to Taylor while she was meant to be quoting my boat. For some reason, her response put things in perspective and there I was on Dad’s boat the next morning telling him my plans.”
“Wow, it must’ve been some conversation. How did he take the news?”
“Oh, it’s super awkward right now at work.” Sam laughed again before growing serious. “He took it about how I expected—quiet, disappointed, frustrated. It would’ve been a lot for him to take in, so I’m not surprised. And while it’s good he knows now, it doesn’t fix the issue yet. We still don’t have anyone to run the shop or take over from him.”
“You’ll sort it. I know you will. Taylor must have some magical powers though, getting you to act so quickly. Proud of you for finally telling him.”
“Thanks, Alex,” Sam said, giving Alex’s hand a quick squeeze. “I’m glad I opened up and took the chance, as scary as it was. Poor Dad was completely blindsided though. I really thought I was a bit more obvious and that he would’ve hopefully had an inkling or something, but he was shell-shocked.”
“Give it time for him to adjust and keep those conversations up.”
“I will. Promise. But enough about me,” she said, changing the subject. “How are you? How’s things at work and with Will?”
Will was Alex’s long time work crush. You’d think they were back in high school the way they acted around each other. At least that’s the impression Sam got from Alex’s stories.
“Work has been great. Vanessa is on annual leave, so yay!” Alex said, fist-pumping the air. “And I’ve almost finished clearing out the storeroom with Will so we can fit in even more archive boxes. I swear that room is going to implode with the amount we try and pack in there.”
Alex worked at a large insurance company, conveniently covering boats in the mix, which Sam took full advantage of.
“Sounds very productive. How was it being in a confined space with Will?” Sam replied, waggling her eyebrows.
“Oh, stop it,” Alex said, brushing it off, her pink cheeks telling Sam the complete opposite. “It was fine.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, it was great. We got a chance to talk a bit more about his golfing and comic book collection. Did you know he has the first series of the Wolverine comic?”
“I did not,” Sam replied dryly. She’d rather a tool-belt-laden guy any day. An image of Taylor wearing one snapped into her head. Weird . “He sounds truly riveting Alex.”
“Har har. I know you think he seems boring, but he just has this way about him. I’ll find any excuse to talk to him, and it feels like he does the same. I can’t explain it, other than I feel like we can just talk for hours. Although I think if anything was to happen, it’s going to have to come from me.”
“So do it!” Sam replied, her eyes lighting up.
“He’s technically my boss.”
“And technically he’s into you.” Sam snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it!” she declared. “You don’t ask him on a date. You ask him to hang out with you and some friends. Do something super casual, like, I dunno… oh! Mini-golf!”
She could feel her excitement building.
“You’ve said countless times how much he likes golf, so I’m sure he wouldn’t miss the opportunity to do his two favourite things.”
“Hey!” Alex cried, slapping her arm at the innuendo. Sam laughed, sitting back in her chair to take a quick sip of her bubbles. Alex paused, looking thoughtful.
“You know, that might not be a half-bad idea,” Alex surmised after a minute. “I like this, Sam-I-Am; I like this very much.”
“Of course it’s a fantastic idea. I came up with it. Sam-I-Am at your service.”
She gave a sarcastic bow, almost knocking her glass over and catching it just in time, with a few drops sloshing over the edge. “See, I even give free entertainment,” Sam said, chuckling at herself. Alex just shook her head.
“Can it be Monday already?” Alex asked.
“Am I too boring for you?” Sam replied with a wink. Alex ignored Sam almost completely, a faraway look on her face. “Now all you’re doing is sitting there thinking about Will showing you his favourite strokes.”
That snapped her out of it. Alex flipped her off and picked up a menu, smiling. “Maybe… All right, what are we eating?”
“Our usual? Sharing, yeah?”
“Of course. Umm…” Alex took her time perusing the menu as if she didn’t already know every item like the back of her hand. They always played this game, never changing what they actually ordered.
“Half kilo of spicy chicken wings, ranch on the side?” she asked.
“I thought you’d never ask.” Sam batted her eyelashes at Alex, both of them cracking up laughing.
“You got the drinks; I’ll grab the wings,” Alex said, getting up from their table and making her way over to the bar.
“Thank you!” she called out over her shoulder.
She loved this ritual with Alex; they tried catching up here at least once a month. So many of Sam’s other friends from school or university had eventually petered out, busy with growing families or moving interstate, but Alex always stuck around.
Sam’s phone vibrated in her pocket, she wriggled it free and saw a new message from Taylor. Speaking of friends petering out, it was nice to have new ones popping in. She smiled and opened the message. It was an image of, she assumed, Taylor’s dog in the life jacket from the shop, standing proudly up the front of a paddleboard. Well if that wasn’t the cutest thing. A text followed.
Taylor 7:27pm:
Belle approves of the jacket! She’s a natural on the SUP too.
Sam 7:28pm:
Jealous! Looks like it was a good day out on the water. How’s those sparkles?
Also, Belle looks super cute in the jacket, I’m so happy it fits.
Taylor 7:29pm:
Yeah, awesome afternoon. Might have to get you out one day.
Just as Sam went to reply, Alex slid back into the chair, so she flipped the screen over.
“All ordered. Who’re you texting? Any guys I should know about?” Alex enquired.
Sam scoffed. “Yeah right. You know me. Manny is my one and only.”
“I thought you were trying out an app or two. No luck?”
“Nothing. I feel like it’s probably more me than them, though. I feel like half of it is me just not putting in the effort, and the other half hopes I could just meet someone old school, in the wild, so to speak, rather than on these things,” she said, shaking her phone for emphasis.
“True that. There’s so many creeps and weirdos on there anyway; it can definitely be a time suck just trying to sort out the schmucks from the real deals. Here’s hoping something happens with Will because I am so over blind dates. Can we please just find our forever people already?”
“I know right!”
“Speaking of… mini-golf. Would you come with us?”
“I am not third wheeling on your first ‘not date’,” Sam replied, making air quotes.
“So bring someone else along.”
“Like who?”
“Well, who were you just texting?” Alex shot back, eyebrow raised.
“Taylor.”
“This is perfect. You bring your new friend so I can vet her, and you won’t be a third wheel. Win-win.”
“Hey! I’m perfectly capable of vetting my own friends… but… fine. I’ll see if she’s keen. You ask your future husband on this date—err , friendly hangout—and we’ll make it happen. Otherwise, if she isn’t free, I could always invite Sausage Fingers,” she said with a mischievous grin.
Alex’s glass stopped mid-sip, she dropped it back down on the table.
“Gross. You’re going to put me off my wings before they’ve even arrived.” She sat back and folded her arms, a smile playing on her lips.
“Ha, I would never,” Sam said. “He’d put me off my own food!”
“Oh, timing,” Alex said, looking up as the waiter brought over their chicken.
“Yum!”
Sam was already reaching for an extra crispy wing before the guy had even let go of the plate.
“Damn, I was going to grab that one,” Alex pouted.
“First in, first served,” Sam singsonged, biting into the wing. She shut her eyes as the flavours hit her tongue. “Ugh, why are these SO good.”
Alex hummed in agreement, chowing down on her own piece. “Seriously.”
Sam shut the car door, waving to Alex as she drove off. She sank into the seat, letting her head fall back. She was so full; there was sauce all down her shirt and she could still hear Alex absolutely losing it when a wing had slipped out her fingers mid-bite and seesawed all the way down her top.
She scoffed out loud at her clumsiness, grabbing her phone and snapping a photo of the chicken’s artful crawl. She shot it off to Taylor, then saw the last message she still hadn’t responded to as well as two more she’d completely missed.
Taylor 7:31pm:
If you like paddleboarding that is, I just figured with your boat and all.
Taylor 8:22pm:
Also, if you don’t, that’s cool too.
She chuckled at Taylor’s clear discomfort, thinking she’d been left on read. It really was awkward navigating new friendships when you didn’t know enough about the other person yet. She quickly typed out a response.
Sam 8:57pm:
Hey! Sorry, I was out with a friend.
I took a leaf out of your book and decided to glow up my own shirt tonight. And I’m def keen to try paddleboarding, I’ve never been! But only on two conditions…
1. You have to bring Belle so I can see her skills.
2. Would you be keen to try mini-golf with me and some friends?
Taylor 8:59pm:
Wow. And I thought my shirt was bad. You should frame it. Pretty sure I have an IOU for one clean shirt, so yell out if I need to make a mercy dash.
Taylor 9:00pm:
As for your conditions - yes and hell yes! I LOVE mini-golf.
Sam 9:01pm:
Ha thank you for the kind offer, I am however about to be on my merry way home and I’ll be out of these clothes in no time!
Taylor 9:01pm:
Okay then . Someone have a fun night planned?
Huh? Her eyes bulged as she realised what she’d just sent.
Sam 9:02pm:
TO PUT ON PJS! Sorry, should’ve finished with that.
Also, yay, looks like we have a lot to plan then. I’m off, enjoy the rest of your night. X
Taylor 9:03pm:
Night! Enjoy your no clothes PJs. Xx
Sam 9:03pm: