Page 4 of One Hot Summer

I joined him by the double doors. I didn’t want to upset the managers by dragging furniture outside. One glance behind me at Sarah and Jamie smooching on the bed quickly changed my mind though. Joe and I managed to pull the couch out, and closed the door behind us, leaving Sarah and Jamie to it.

“We’ll leave them alone for a while I think.” Joe seemed embarrassed by his friend, or perhaps gutted that he didn’t get to the bed first. “So, you’ve got a very nice view.”

I laughed as I looked out into the darkness. I could hear waves crashing into an invisible beach, but had no idea where it was, or what our room was looking onto. I guessed nothing as there were no lights to be seen anywhere, besides the one shining down on us. It was a very private balcony.

“Shall we…” I hesitated. “Do you want to sit down?”

“It’d be rude not to, seeing as though I made you drag it out here with me.” He laughed as we sat down together. I suddenly had butterflies in my very empty tummy. I felt like a fifteen-year-old girl about to kiss her first boy. Sarah had said I was shy with guys, and I guess I was, but only with guys that I liked.

“So, you said you were leaving tomorrow. What time do you need to go?” I was struggling to find something interesting to talk about. The more he looked into my eyes, the more I panicked. Has my make-up smudged? Do I look fat?

“Early,” he said, looking down at my lips, getting closer to my face.

“So, you’ll be needing an early night… right?”

“Yeah, I probably should…”

As soon as his lips met mine, there was no stopping us. Clothes, the small amount we had on, were pulled off. Things moved very fast. Luckily, that tiny amount of soberness still inside me made sure he had a condom, which he pulled out of his pocket and put on whilst I glanced out into the darkness on the other side of the railings.

This was it. My first one-night stand. Popping my Zante cherry.

We found ourselves competing with the noises coming from inside, not caring that there were rooms on either side of us, or lights shining down on us. After all, this was a very private balcony. After a few surprisingly satisfying minutes, we fell asleep together, still interlocked and naked.

Tap, tap.

Jamie’s knocking on the glass door woke us up. Sober, and cold, I used Joe’s shirt to cover myself up. The sky was orange as the sun was coming up across the way, and shining directly onto us, but I couldn’t focus on anything. The sudden light was hurting my sensitive eyes. A holiday hangover was not intended so soon.

“Mate, we should go. Coach’ll be here soon.” Jamie slid the door open. He stretched as he yawned. “Got to go grab our bags.”

“Comin’ mate.” Joe rubbed his eyes and quickly put his pants on. I stepped inside, picking up a neatly rolled towel, which had fallen to the floor, and wrapped it around me, handing Joe his shirt back. “Thanks. So, do you want to swap numbers or something?”

It might have been nice, but given the distance and his upcoming venture to the other side of the world, I felt there was probably no point.

“No, don’t worry about that. I hope you have a great time in Australia.”

“It was nice meeting you,” he said, blushing as he smiled at me. “Make sure you enjoy the rest of your holiday, Yorkshire girl.”

I allowed him to kiss me, but the confidence I’d had the previous night was long gone and I didn’t want to look at him. I just wanted to climb into bed. Once the balcony and room doors were closed, and both guys had left, I climbed in and joined Sarah in a long, dehydrated, hung-over sleep.

Bang, bang.

Either my head was about to implode, or someone was at the door. I hoped it was the latter, although it felt like the former.

“Jenny…” Sarah’s weak voice called out. “Jenny, the door.”

“I know.” I could barely lift my head off the pillow.

Bang, Bang.

“Hang on,” she called to the impatient visitors whilst struggling to sit up. “Goddam cleaners.”

“Not today!” I shouted at the door.

“Can you let me in, girls?” Gaz’s unmistakable voice called through the door. “We need to talk.”

“What does he want?” I asked.

“Hopefully telling us we were given the wrong room and that we’re being relocated.” She flung back the bedsheet and threw on her kaftan. “I’m coming,” she called.

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