All Summer Long
Chapter 12: Doubts, Decisions and Dilemmas
Thanks to the people who reviewed the last chapter! I've only pre-written a couple more chapters of this story so I really need your support and input, otherwise it's just going to be another one of the many fics I've left unfinished.
On with the story... Hope you enjoy this chapter! Xx
Back at the hotel, everyone showered and dressed again after their intensive life saving session on the hot, exposed beach. They were looking forward to a relaxing dinner, perhaps a swim in the pool and a few drinks in the bar. Sam dressed in a black halter dress, which Kerry admired from the dressing table where she was straightening her hair.
"You look really nice, Sam." She smiled, looking up.
"Thanks, Kerry." Sam smiled back, but she felt self conscious, wondering who she was really dressing up for. "I'm going to meet Andrea and Jo for a few drinks, I'll see you later."
"Have a good night." Kerry called after her, certain that Sam would certainly be popular with the guys this evening.
She finished applying her makeup and gave herself a cursory look in the mirror before leaving the room. She found Smithy almost immediately in the first bar she tried. He was looking far too good in a tight black jeans and an open necked white shirt. She took a breath, trying to remind herself of how very differently she had felt about a few days earlier.
"Hey, Kerry." He greeted when he saw her, turning and ordering her usual white wine spritzer from the barman.
"Thanks," She smiled, taking the drink and sipping gratefully at the cool, sharp liquid.
"I talked to a guy in reception," He told her, steering her towards a table in the corner where they could talk and not shout. "He can fit us in for an introductory surfing lesson at four tomorrow afternoon."
"That's great," Kerry replied, sipping at more of her wine and feeling a familiar stir low in her stomach when he knee brushed against her's.
Callum hovered around the bar in the hotel's only nightclub, hoping that Diane would appear at some point. He really needed to talk to her and he assumed she would come here eventually. After fending off the attentions of some other English girls on a hen party holiday, Callum finally saw Diane making her way through the crowd to the bar. By the time Callum had found a stool nearby, she was already downing a shot of what he guessed to be tequila.
"Hey, Di." He smiled. "Two more of those." He said to the barmaid, pointing at Diane's now empty glass.
"Callum." Her voice didn't sound like her's and he assumed that this wasn't the first place she had been drinking tonight. The barmaid put the two shot glasses down in front of them and they knocked them back.
"I've been meaning to talk to you," Callum said, having to shout to be heard. "Can we got somewhere quieter?"
"Like where?" Diane slurred, ordering another shot for each other them. Callum knew they'd both had enough to drink but the drank their last shots anyway.
"My room is free." He offered. "Dan's out with Honey tonight so at least we have some privacy for a little while."
Diane raised her eyebrows. "You really think I'm that easy, do you Cal?" Her words slurring into one another.
"No Di, I'm not asking you back to my room to have sex, I just wanna have a conversation with you." He said, as patiently as possible.
"What if I want to sleep with you?" She pouted, playing him for all he was worth.
Callum sighed. "Look, just come with me, will you?"
"Fine," Diane replied, slipping off the stool and following him to his room.
Honey and Dan were dancing in the club, at the far end from where Diane and Callum had been trying to talk. A slower song came on and Dan pulled her close, but Honey was feeling suffocated in his arms. He clearly thought things were alright between them, just because she'd let him into her bed again but for her it had been scratching an itch, not the result of her growing feelings for him. In fact, she was beginning to doubt the feelings she had. When they had stood waist deep in the sea earlier in the week, with his arms around her, she had felt complete and his very touch had ignited a fire in her. Now she wasn't sure if he was really want she wanted at all.
Andrea and Neil had decided on a quiet night in and decided to shower before their room service dinner arrived. Andrea was drying her hair on a large white towel when Neil's mobile phone began to vibrate. Neil had only just gone into the bathroom and she could still hear the water running. She picked the phone up, wondering whether she should answer it or not. The display said 'home' and she was torn. She could go into the bathroom and tell Neil but he deserved his privacy and would be annoyed if the call was unimportant. But would he forgive her if there was an emergency; if something had happened to Jake and she had ignored the call. Taking a breath, Andrea answered the call.
"Hello, Neil Manson's phone." She said as brightly as she could muster.
"Oh, hello. This is Neil's wife, can I speak with him?" Although she was polite, Philippa's tone could not have been any colder.
"He's not available at the moment, can I take a message?" Andrea asked, trying to distance herself from the fact that she was talking to her lover's wife. She had never wanted to be the other woman; never wanted to find herself in this incredibly awkward situation. It was at that moment that Neil emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, with a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Who's that?" He mouthed, and Andrea felt herself redden. She handed over the phone without saying anything.
"Oh hi, Pippa." Neil said, his voice pleasant but his eyes icy as he glared at Andrea. "Everything is fine, thanks. Having a pretty good time, we did some lifesaving skills training today. Oh yes, I'd love to talk to Jake."
Andrea couldn't bear anymore; couldn't take the way Neil was looking at her or the way he was talking to his son so lovingly, it was too much. Not caring that she was wearing only her dressing gown and slippers, Andrea left the hotel room.
Kerry's prediction had definitely been right, Sam had been getting a lot of attention tonight. She found Nate standing at the bar talking to the barmaid, he didn't appear to be flirting though and Sam was ridiculously relieved.
"Heya," She smiled, sliding onto the barstood beside him. He smiled back, looking her in the eye before letting his gaze travel over her body, taking in the classy black dress with plunging neckline and high heeled black sandals.
"Hey, can I get you a drink?" He asked, when he finally was able to form a coherent sentence.
"I'll have a martini, please." Sam replied, glancing around the bar area but not spotting any of her colleagues. She accepted her drink and Nate picked up his beer, going over to find somewhere a little less quieter.
They drank their drinks whilst talking and laughing together, Sam feeling more relaxed around him than she could have believed. Nate was almost twenty years her junior, but she still felt herself becoming attracted to him beyond the appeal of his winning smile and tight jeans.
"Do you want to dance?" Nate asked, almost shyly for him. "With me?"
Sam smiled, feeling a little reckless even though she'd only had one drink. "Sure."
They made their way among the other dancing couples, Sam finding the feeling of Nate leading her by the hand completely natural. He was a good dancer too, she noticed, better than she had expected. They danced to a couple of songs before Nate suggested that they get another round of drinks. As soon as they had reached the bar, Sam wished she had said no because the man flirting with the barmaid Nate had been talking to earlier, was Phil Hunter.
Kayla was released from the hospital that evening and she went back to the hotel in a cab with Zain. They said very little on the two mile drive back, neither of them really knowing what to say. The doctor had been by earlier to explain the seriousness of Kayla's episode and of course this meant that Zain not knew about the pregnancy. He felt partially betrayed, hurt that Kayla hadn't trusted him enough to tell him that they were expecting a baby. He hated to think that she had thought he wouldn't be open to the idea of having children.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Kayla said, finally breaking the awkard, weighted silence. "I was going to, I hadn't planned on you finding out this way."
"It's okay," Zain said, reaching for her hand. "I just really wish you had trusted me. I want this baby, I want your baby."
Kayla smiled. "I'm glad." Silence reigned again, but it was less awkward this time. "I was so scared I was going to lose it, Zain." She said, in a much softer voice.
Zain held onto her hand even tighter.
Back in hotel room, Callum made coffee for him and Diane, perching on the end of his bed while she took the desk chair. She sipped at the coffee he had made, feeling the lightheadedness fade a little.
"What did you want to talk about?" Diane pressed when Callum didn't speak.
"Us," He replied. "I don't want the other night to be just a one time thing Diane. I know you're concerned about us being together because I'm a higher rank to you, and we have to work together but I like you, really like you and I want more than just a one night stand." He looked at her to gauge her reaction. "There, I've said it." He finished, in his opinion, somewhat lamely.
Diane took a moment to digest this, drinking more coffee as she thought it through.
"I want more too." She finally admitted. "Maybe not a relationship but I want more than nothing. She set her coffee cup aside, going over to him placing her hands on his chest. "I want to be friends with benefits."
"Okay," Callum agreed cautiously. "I'm okay with that. For now."
Diane grinned, lowering her face to kiss him long and hard.
Millie lay in bed, the covers pulled up to her neck as she bathed in the afterglow of their lovemaking. She looked across at Jo, who had the same look in her eyes as Millie, and smiled. She reached for her lover under the covers and put her arms around the older woman.
"This is nice," Millie smiled, pressing featherlight kisses to Jo's shoulder and back.
"Mmhmm." Jo murmured her reply, sated but still in some ways not completely satisfied. The cracks were already beginning to show in her new relationship with Millie.
"Are you sure this is what you want, Jo?" She asked, knowing that this isn't really the right time for such a conversation.
"Of course," Jo replied, turning over so that she was now facing Millie. "Why, don't you?"
Millie laughed nervously. "Of course I do, babe." She said, reaching out for Jo but knowing that soon their physical relationship won't be enough to keep them together.
Nikki went to bed early, hoping that Diane wouldn't be out too late but knowing that she would probably be asleep before the younger woman turned in for the night. Nikki paged through a novel, trying to make herself stay awake but she was fighting a losing battle. Today's teambuilding exercise had tired her out and she could feel her eyelids beginning to flutter. Within half an hour she was asleep, her novel still resting on her chest. She awoke with a start at about four o'clock in the morning when the book fell out of bed and the spine hit the floor with a loud thud. Nikki flicked the light switch on and rescued the book, glancing across the room to make sure she hadn't woken Diane up. She need not have worried though because the other bed in the room was empty, Nikki guessed Diane must have spend the night with Callum again. She picked up her mobile phone, trying to remember if it would be earlier or later in London. Diane's distance and her repeated liaisons with Callum were making her regret her decision regarding Doug. She went back to bed, turning the light out and vowing to ring her estranged husband the following day.
Hope you enjoyed! Xx
