Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
B y the time I’d reached Omanu Beach and said goodbye to Mitch, and what felt like Nora too, I was well and truly ready to get out and empty my brain. I’d never heard a man go on about a woman as much as Mitch had gone on about Bloody Nora, and by the end of it, I felt like cursing her too.
The car park was small and sheltered by dunes covered with reeds that grew tall and thick behind it. There was a toilet block and cold shower on one side and some steps made out of driftwood that led down to the beach at the other, just as Bunty had described it. I stood there for a moment and pictured where she might have parked her van every night before venturing off in the mornings for her runs and naked swims.
Then I took off my sandals and made my way down the driftwood steps to the beach, counting each one as I went.
‘One, two, three, four … Jack’s penis, no, Mr O’Callaghan’s, no, ugh, fuck, trees, trees, trees. One, two, three, four, five … Jack and Emily having sex … six, seven, trees, trees, trees, breathe, trees, trees, trees, eight.’ I took the last step onto the sand and let it sink between my toes.
The beach stretched long and wide and I couldn’t see where it began and where it ended so I just started walking in the direction I imagined Bunty would have. In a strange way, I felt like she was there with me, which was nice because I didn’t feel like being alone.
The beach wasn’t empty. I’d passed a couple of people going in the opposite direction, one man running with his dog and an older woman having a conversation with what looked like herself, which was fine because I did that all the time too.
I couldn’t walk far with my bag – I’d contemplated leaving it on the beach but then what would I do if someone else decided to steal from me? I put it down on the sand, plonked myself next to it and waited for the dolphins to make an appearance. Then my phone buzzed in my pocket and when I pulled it out, I could see Jack’s name flashing back at me.
He was calling me. Jack was calling me. Jack had never called me. What did this mean? Did he want to apologise? Did he want to explain himself? Perhaps there was some explanation that would explain it all – like maybe they’d been separated for a while, at least while he was in Ireland, and he wanted to leave her but hadn’t ended things until he’d got back – after he’d met me. Maybe, possibly, probably, I could forgive him for that.
I answered the call.
‘What the hell have you done?’ His words slapped me in the face and right then all my maybes, possiblys and probablys disappeared.
‘I … I think it’s more what have you done?’ I said, far too politely.
‘I can’t believe this.’ He sounded shocked.
‘What did you expect, Jack? We spent a weekend together and you asked me to come to New Zealand.’
‘I didn’t actually think you’d do it.’
Another slap.
‘You left me a note telling me you couldn’t wait to see me again.’
‘What note?’ I could hear the confusion in his voice and it sounded real.
‘On my bed, it said I was yours, that you’d see me in Te Puke and that you’d be waiting.’
‘Oh … shit, that was from Emily, it must have fallen out of my bag,’ he said like it was nothing.
I felt my body fizz with rage.
‘Your sister, Emily, or your fiancée , Emily??’
‘She’s going to leave me,’ he said.
‘I hope she does.’
I felt bad for Emily – none of it was her fault, after all. But at least she knew the truth, which was more than I had known.
‘Where are you now?’ Jack asked.
‘I’m not telling you that.’
‘Why don’t I come to you?’ he continued as if he’d not heard what I’d just said.
I thought about it for a moment and I won’t lie, a part of me actually seriously considered it, just for a millisecond, but then my brain cells kicked in. I looked around the beach; the runner and his dog had disappeared and the older lady was now a spec in the distance.
‘No.’
‘Come on,’ he pleaded, playfully.
‘I have better things to do with my time,’ I said assertively.
‘Like what?’
‘Like kiss the sea.’
‘Is that an OCD thing?’ Jack sniggered.
I pulled my mustard dress over my head and peeled off my pants.
‘No, it’s a Pearl thing,’ I said as I glanced down at my naked body. I’d never felt so liberated in my entire life.
Then I cut Jack off, shoved my phone in my bag, and ran into the sea butt naked with only Bunty on my mind.