Page 50 of An Island in the Sun

‘It’s ancient history,’ he said. ‘I’m the one who has a hell of a lot of making up to do. You have nothing to be sorry for.’

Tabitha nodded, knowing she didn’t. ‘I’m trying to move forward and not look back on things with regret. I don’t want us to not talk or see each other.’

Although he’d been the one to break her trust and disappoint her, her anger at being let down in front of her family and cheated out of a life-changing moment had diminished over the years. Even if an apology wasn’t necessary from her, it was a weight off her shoulders to say sorry as much as it was appreciated to hear it from him.

22

A radio station producer arrived, someone Tabitha didn’t know, someone who took Ollie’s attention away. Of course she’d been right in thinking he wouldn’t spend the whole party with her, even if she’d come on her own. Long gone were the days when they’d be clamped to each other’s sides, when he’d look out for her. It was expected and inevitable, but her heart ached for their lost friendship and that they’d never again share the closeness they once had. Reconnecting with him was always going to be emotional.

She tore her eyes away from Ollie chatting animatedly to the radio producer and searched the sea of faces. Most were strangers, a handful she recognised, like Ollie’s bubbly and efficient PA, but mainly because she’d seen them on Ollie’s social media rather than in real life. The one person who was conspicuously absent was Ollie’s model girlfriend, which made Tabitha wonder if they weren’t intending to keep up the pretence of being together. She no longer knew all the ins and outs of his life. Tonight was a stark reminder about how much their lives had diverged.

Tabitha looked for Raff, eventually finding him by the bar, still talking to the beautiful blonde. The stab of envy took Tabitha by surprise and she had to remind herself that although they’d come together, they weren’t together in the other sense, exactly as she’d pressed upon Ollie.

Picking up her drink, she decided to be brave and mingle. She could hold her own in a room full of Ollie’s friends. As she introduced herself as a songwriter and witnessed people’s reaction to her songwriting credits, it dawned on her just how far she’d come from that devastating night when Ollie had shunned her for a glittering career of his own.

Ollie did the rounds too, being a good host and chatting to everyone, lapping up the attention as he’d always done. He was a born performer, whereas Tabitha had always been happy to be in the background. She kept a lookout for Raff, although he seemed perfectly comfortable mingling too, no longer talking to the blonde, which Tabitha couldn’t help but feel relieved about, but drifting between groups and chatting with Ollie as well.

Three glasses ofponchalater, Tabitha went to the bar and ordered a gin and tonic. She felt nicely tipsy, with the buzz of being out at a club still there. The barman slid the drink to her. She leaned on the bar, looking past the VIP area to the pulsating mass on the dance floor, wishing she was down there.

An arm around her waist tugged her from her daydream. Raff’s breath tickled her cheek. ‘Since getting here, I’ve been offered cocaine and propositioned by a twenty-three-year-old blonde model. How’s your night going?’

Tabitha laughed and looked from the dance floor into Raff’s amused eyes. ‘By the sounds of it, not quite as exciting as yours.’

‘Ah, there’s still time.’

‘What? To snort cocaine and hook up with a model?’

He shrugged. ‘If that’s your vibe.’

‘Is it yours?’

‘Used to be. The drug bit at least; would have been hellishly lucky to have pulled a model back then. I was a bloody mess.’

‘Being here isn’t too much of a temptation then?’ Tabitha asked tentatively, hoping he wasn’t going to take offence.

He shook his head. ‘Nah. Although I don’t profess by any stretch of the imagination that I have my shit together as much as I should by now, that kind of temptation is a big no. I’m never going back to those days.’ He looked at Tabitha intently and waggled his glass. ‘Drinking I can manage – believe it or not, I do know when to stop. With drugs, it was a whole other story.’

‘And the model? She didn’t tempt you?’ Tabitha smiled in a way she hoped wasn’t too suggestive, although his gaze and close proximity was making her insides do that fluttery thing again.

Raff smiled broadly and leaned even closer. ‘Truthfully, I much prefer redheads…’ He left the words hanging and swigged his beer. ‘You had a good chat with Ollie boy over there?’

It was Tabitha’s turn to shrug.

‘Bit like that, eh?’

‘I’m not really sure how I feel. One minute, it’s like time’s rewound and it’s exactly like it used to be, the next minute, it feels as if I’m talking to a stranger. I guess it’s early days and he’s surrounded by new friends. I need to move forward and not dwell on the past. That’s what this whole last year has been about.’

‘Sounds like good advice – for myself too.’ Raff’s hand fell from her waist. He pointed across the club. ‘There’s an outside bar if you fancy getting some air?’

Tabitha nodded and they escaped with their drinks to a terrace where the music wasn’t quite as loud and the back wall of the bar was covered in leafy fronds nestled between shelves filled with bottles of spirits. After the heady heat and pulsing lights inside, outside was refreshing, the air warm but sweeter, the night broken up by the city’s lights glowing far up the mountainous terrain all the way down to where the Atlantic Ocean lapped the bay.

‘Honestly, what’s the deal with you and Ollie?’ Raff asked as they squeezed onto the end of a cushioned sofa, their thighs touching.

‘What do you mean?’

He nudged her arm. ‘You know what I mean. I’ve been chatting to him and he seemed rather keen on knowing what our relationship is.’

‘He did?’

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