Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Sofia peered into their hotel bar and spotted Charlotte nursing a glass of something at the back of the room.
Her friend was staring down at her phone with such a sad look on her face that Sofia wanted to scoop her up and hug her.
Which would be pretty tricky, given Charlotte was probably twice her height – well, maybe not twice, but that’s what it sometimes felt like.
Before she joined her friend, Sofia wanted to nip to the cloakroom. Her own evening hadn’t exactly been a winner either. Rushing away from an early dinner with Charlotte at the port to meet Konstantinos, the car hire world’s answer to a young George Clooney, hadn’t been all she’d hoped for.
The bar he’d suggested turned out to be full of his friends, who were all a similar age to him and mostly incredibly loud and drunk.
He’d greeted her happily enough and spent some time kissing her thoroughly in front of his mates, which seemed more for their benefit than hers.
He tasted of rum and coke, not a drink she liked much anyway.
When she’d popped to the unisex loo, he’d been waiting outside as she washed her hands, indicating with his eyes that they should go back into the cubicle together.
She’d certainly had toilet sex as a teenager, but it was a very long time ago and she had no wish to repeat it.
Even back then it hadn’t been anywhere near her favourite location.
The back seat of a car or the woods had been way better.
A proper bed, clean sheets and preferably a bottle of champagne, or at least wine, were on her wish list now. She’d made it clear to Konstantinos that she had no desire to be shoved up against a U bend, and suggested they went back to his.
His reluctance to leave his friends was almost comical – almost – but his eagerness in the cab had her worried for the cab driver, who was so intent on checking out the action in the rear mirror that they’d almost veered into the path of an oncoming car.
Once at Konstantinos’s flat, obviously shared with several other blokes if the number of beer cans in the kitchen and crumpled clothes on the sofa was anything to go by, she’d begun to have major doubts.
Charlotte was sitting on her shoulder, telling her she was only sleeping with this guy to spite Adonis for not having enough time for her.
In a couple of days, she’d be leaving the island. She was probably as old as this one’s mother, if not older. It never usually bothered her. Age was just a number as far as she was concerned, but a crummy flat was a crummy flat.
When he’d emerged from the kitchen with two opened beer cans and thrust one at her, she’d known it was time to go.
His feeble protestations at her leaving hadn’t convinced either of them, and she’d bet he’d been back at the bar in the town with his cronies before she could say ‘very bad idea’.
Sofia reapplied the pink lipstick that had been inexpertly kissed off and studied herself in the harshly lit mirror of the hotel’s cloakroom. She wasn’t unhappy with what she saw, and her tan was coming along nicely.
Adonis had messaged again, a photo of himself looking sad and alone at the dinner table, but she’d kept up radio silence.
She’d decided to give the man one last chance, but she’d bloody well make him work for it.
Hopefully, he’d occasionally be able to tear himself away from his beloved job to spend some time with her once they got to the next island.
But right now, it was time to do some investigative work on Charlotte.
Her friend was still in the same position she’d been in earlier, staring morosely at the phone.
‘Hi.’
The phone was quickly turned over, but not before Sofia saw the name DCB as the author of Charlotte’s most recent text.
It didn’t ring any bells. But it could be code for someone. Charlotte’s eyes were somewhat glazed when they finally turned her way.
‘Hello. Where did you slope off to?’
‘I told you I was going for a walk before I came back to the hotel.’
‘Hmmm. Not sure I believe that.’
Charlotte’s voice was slightly slurred. Surely, she hadn’t been sitting there drinking on her own ever since they’d gone their separate ways.
‘Any sign of Mads?’ Sofia looked up at the clock. It was past eleven. ‘Shouldn’t she be back by now? It’s been six hours. What on earth are they doing?’
‘That’s why I was down here having a drink. I couldn’t relax in my room. Motorbikes always scare me.’
‘Me too a bit.’
Charlotte’s face dropped even further. This wasn’t helping anyone.
‘But Mads is used to being on the back of a bike. It’s not like one of us being asked to saddle up.’
‘But she’s not the one in the driving seat, is she? What do we do if she doesn’t turn up? Would we even find out if they’d had a crash?’
Charlotte was clearly having a major attack of the glumps.
‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s hardly four in the morning. We’ve only just lost the daylight.’
Charlotte downed the last of whatever was in her glass.
‘Suppose. Do you want a drink?’
‘Yes, please. I really fancy a Cointreau with ice.’
Charlotte attempted a smile.
‘Very retro.’
‘I don’t care. I like it.’
‘OK, you stay there. I’ll get them.’
‘What are you drinking?
‘Brandy.’
‘Okaaay.’
As Charlotte got up, Sofia caught a whiff of neat alcohol on her breath.
It was worse than she’d thought. Thea and Theo had told them to help themselves at the bar if the couple had already gone to bed.
And it looked like Charlotte had taken them at her word.
They were supposed to make a note of what they took in a little book.
She’d better check later that her friend had fessed up.
Charlotte’s phone was lying on the table. And it was ringing. On mute, but Sofia could see it was DCB again, calling rather than texting this time. She wasn’t spying; it was there for anyone to look at.
When Charlotte came back with the drinks and put them down on the table a little too forcefully, a bit of the Cointreau slipped over the side and onto the wood.
‘Have you got a hankie, Char? That stuff’s like sugary glue. God knows what it’s doing to my stomach.’
Charlotte pulled out a tissue from her bag and did some ineffectual mopping up. The phone was still ringing on silent.
‘Give the hankie here.’
Sofia got a small glass of water from the bar and cleaned up the mess. She indicated down at the phone.
‘Everything alright? Whoever it is, is very persistent.’
Charlotte was all too aware of who it was: her scumbag of a husband.
She was saved from answering by the arrival of Maddie coming through the door and the sound of a motorbike roaring off into the distance.
Their friend’s hair was all over the place, but she had a radiant glow that Sofia recognised immediately.
She looked nothing like the woman who’d gone out earlier that evening.
Both of them put down their drinks and rushed to her side.
As soon as they reached her, Maddie burst into tears and the three of them ended up in a group hug. It only lasted a few moments before she pulled away.
‘Don’t worry about me, honestly, I’m fine. These are happy tears. I’ve had a wonderful evening, strange but wonderful.’
Questioning Maddie would have to wait until a later date. She was obviously safe and well. Charlotte was much more of an issue. Sofia put her arm around her recently returned friend.
‘Come and sit down over here with us. Would you like a nightcap?’
Maddie shook her head.
‘I’m pretty bushed to be honest. I’d really like to go straight to bed, if you don’t mind.’
Sofia urgently mimed drinking and crying at Maddie when Charlotte turned her back for a second. She didn’t know if Charlotte actually had been crying, but she needed Maddie to understand something was seriously up. Luckily, she caught on fast.
‘On the other hand, why not? Let’s all sit and have a drink together.’
‘A Cointreau for old times’ sake?’
‘Yeah, lovely. Char, Sof and I will bring these over, you go and sit down.’
Charlotte nodded and weaved through the chairs, knocking against two or three on her path to their table by the window.
‘See what I mean.’
Sofia pulled Maddie close and lowered her voice.
‘I can see you’ve been shagged senseless, and don’t bother denying it. Good luck to you…’
‘Sof!’
‘Shhh. But there’s something seriously up with her over there. She keeps getting texts and phone calls from someone called DCB. Any ideas?’
‘No. Never heard her mention anyone with those initials. Could be one of her double-barrelled posh Surrey friends I suppose… But not sure what could be so urgent.’
‘OK, let’s tread carefully.’
Back at the table, after a mouthful of their liqueurs each to Charlotte’s three gulps of brandy, the phone vibrated again.
Sofia couldn’t stand it any longer. She put her hand on her friend’s arm.
‘Char, we’re worried about you. Who is this DCB?’
Charlotte picked up the phone and switched it off. She turned to face them both with her head held high.
‘It stands for Doug Cheating Bastard.’
Both Maddie and Sofia just sat and stared at her for a long moment. Sofia had barely ever heard Charlotte swear, let alone speak about her husband like that.
Silent tears ran down Charlotte’s cheeks as she gripped the table with both hands. The ends of her fingers were already turning white.
‘I can’t breathe. I need some air.’
Maddie recognised the onset of one of Charlotte’s panic attacks. It was hardly surprising, given what she’d just revealed, but they needed to get her up out of her seat and calm her down before it turned into a full-blown one. She nodded at Sofia.
‘Let’s take her outside. Some fresh air might help.’
Gently they took an arm each and guided Charlotte out onto the terrace and into a comfy chair. The night was warm, but Thea had thoughtfully left out a big wicker basket with soft blankets for guests to use, and they laid one over Charlotte’s lap.