‘Hi, Cee, how’s it going?’
‘Fine,’ I said to Jack, who was placing glasses on a long trestle table. He looked far perkier than last time I’d seen him a few days ago, propping up the bar with his umpteenth beer. The reason why appeared behind him and put a possessive hand on his shoulder.
‘We short of forks,’ Nam said, glancing at me and giving me her usual death stare.
‘Think I got some spare ones in the kitchen.’
‘Go get them now, Jack. Wanna set up our table for later.’
‘On my way. You coming tonight?’ Jack asked me.
‘I might pop down later on, yeah,’ I replied, knowing that ‘later on’ he wouldn’t know if Jesus Christ himself was ordering drinks at the bar.
Jack began to follow Nam into the kitchen, then paused and turned back. ‘By the way, a mate of mine thinks he knows who your mystery man on the beach is. He’s gone off to Ko Phi Phi for the New Year, but he’s gonna tell me more when he gets back.’
‘Right.’
‘See ya, Cee,’ he said as he trudged off towards the kitchen, following Nam with his tray like a little lamb behind Bo Peep. That big, butch man who could scale a rock face faster than anyone I’d ever met . . .I just hoped I never treated any future partner of mine like that. But I’d seen so many men being bossed about by demanding females, maybe they liked it.
Did I boss Star around? Is that why she left?
I hated my brain for planting the thought in my head, so I decided to ignore it and get on with a day that was meant to herald new beginnings. I comforted myself that whatever Jack’s mate had to tell him about Ace was bound to be nothing. Out here, on a peninsula in the middle of nowhere, the fact that someone had eaten an ice cream instead of a lolly was news. Small communities thrived on gossip and people like Ace who kept to themselves sparked the most rumours. Just because my host hadn’t sounded off to anyone and everyone during a drunken conversation didn’t make him a bad person. In fact, I thought he was a very interesting person, with intelligent things to say.
As I walked back down the alleyway lined with stalls that led to my other life, I realised I was starting to feel defensive about Ace, just like I’d felt about Star when people had asked me if she was okay, because she was so quiet and didn’t say very much.
I arrived back in my room and after showering and creaming – which I was worried was becoming a daily habit I must lose before it took hold for good – and then dressing in my old kaftan, I wandered out onto the terrace. Ace was already there, wearing a crisp white linen shirt.
‘Hi. Good day?’ he asked me.
‘Yeah, except the art’s still going nowhere. I can’t draw a square at the moment, let alone anything else.’
‘It’ll come back, CeCe. You just need to get all the negative stuff they said out of your head. That takes time.’
‘Yeah, it sure seems to. What about your day?’
‘The same really. I read a book, then went for a walk and thought about what it said. I’ve realised that none of these “self-help” books can help, really, because at the end of the day, you’ve got to help yourself.’ He gave a wry grin. ‘There are no easy solutions.’
‘No, there never are. You’ve just got to get on with it, haven’t you?’
‘Yep. Ready for dinner?’ he asked me eventually, breaking the silence that hung over the table.
‘Bring it on.’
An enormous lobster appeared in front of us, accompanied by numerous side dishes.
‘Wow! Lobster is my absolute number one favourite seafood,’ I said happily as I tucked in.
‘For a traveller whom I met sleeping on the beach, you seem to have seriously ritzy taste,’ he teased when we’d both cleaned our plates and moved on to a dessert of fresh fruit and homemade sorbets. ‘From what you’ve said, I presume your dad is rich?’
‘Was, yeah.’ I realised I hadn’t told Ace about Pa’s death, but now was as good a time as any, so I did.
‘Sorry to hear that, CeCe. So, this is the first Christmas and New Year without him?’
‘It is.’
‘Is that why you’re here?’
‘Yes and no . . . I lost someone else close to me too, recently. Like, my soulmate.’
‘A boyfriend?’
‘No, my sister actually. I mean, she’s still alive, but she decided to go her own way.’
‘I see. Well, we are a pair, aren’t we?’
‘Are we? Have you lost someone too?’
‘You could say I’ve lost just about everything in the past few months. I’ve got no one to blame but myself.’ He took a gulp of water. ‘Unlike you.’
‘It wasn’t my fault Pa died, no, but I think I drove my sister away. By being . . . bossy.’ I finally voiced the word. ‘And maybe a bit controlling. I didn’t mean to be, but she was really shy as a kid and didn’t speak much, so I spoke for her and I guess it never changed.’
‘So she found her own voice?’
‘Something like that, yeah. Broke my heart actually. She was my . . . person, if you know what I mean.’
‘Oh yes, I do,’ he said with feeling. ‘When you trust someone implicitly and they let you down, it’s very hard.’
‘Has that happened to you?’ I watched as he looked upwards and saw real pain in his eyes.
‘Yes.’
‘Do you wanna talk about it?’ I asked him, realising that he was always encouraging me to tell him my troubles, but whenever he started to talk about his own, he’d suddenly clam up.
‘I can’t, I’m afraid. For all sorts of reasons, including legal ones . . . Only Linda knows the truth,’ he murmured, ‘and it’s best you don’t.’
There he went again, being the mystery man, and it was really starting to irritate me. I decided it was probably something to do with a woman who was taking him to the cleaners for his millions in a divorce and I wished he wouldn’t feel so sorry for himself.
‘You know I’m here if you ever want to talk,’ I offered, thinking that this was turning into a fun evening so far. Not.
‘Thanks, CeCe, I appreciate it, and your company tonight. I was dreading spending New Year’s Eve alone. As you said, it’s just one of those nights, isn’t it? Anyway, let’s toast to your dad. And to friends old and new.’ We clinked our glasses of water. Then he glanced down at his watch – a Rolex, and definitely not picked up from one of the fake stalls in Bangkok. ‘It’s ten to midnight. How about I pour us both that glass of champagne we’ve promised ourselves and we’ll take a wander down to the beach to see in the New Year?’
‘Sure.’
While he was gone, I took a moment to text Star and wish her a Happy New Year. I was tempted to tell her about my new friend, but thought she’d probably get the wrong end of the stick, so I didn’t. Then I texted Ma and sent a round-robin message to my other sisters, wherever they all were in the world tonight.
‘Ready?’ Ace stood there with a glass sparkling in each hand.
‘Ready.’
We walked to the gate and Po jumped up to open it for us.