CHAPTER31
‘Was it busy?’ Erin asked as Alex dropped the shopping bags on the table. She had already started prepping for the evening meal. ‘You guys were gone for ages! I was about to send out a search party.’
‘It was mobbed,’ Alex lied, feeling uneasy that they’d drawn attention to their time away together. ‘Place was jam-packed. Busy morning in Waterville.’
‘My bad,’ Aiden interjected. ‘I made Alex stop so I could look at the Chaplin statue.’
‘Ah sure, I forgot he was there,’ Erin replied. ‘Maybe we should all have taken a drive, it’s a lovely wee place. We could have had afternoon tea there.’
‘Sorry if I held you up,’ Aiden apologised. ‘Typical tourist. But I’m at your disposal now if I can help out?’
‘It’s no problem at all,’ Erin replied, ‘and I’m grand! Becky gave me the world’s greatest massage so I’m relaxed as hell with everything under control. I think Tara was looking for you anyway. Give her one of those ice lollies to appease her.’
Alex started to unpack the shopping, handing Aiden an ice lolly which was now ninety percent melted. He retreated towards the patio. She could still feel the warmth of his hand on hers and the way he looked at her still lingered—
‘So, I was thinking that since it’s our last evening, we’d have a picnic on the beach tonight,’ Erin announced while Alex began unpacking the shopping. ‘What do you think? Food, a little music, too much booze. Sand in your hoohah.’
‘Sounds great,’ Alex replied, snapping back to reality. ‘Looking forward to it. Just let me know how I can make myself useful.’
‘Hmm,’ she replied, ‘You can attack some salad vegetables with a knife if you like, apart from that not much.’
‘Yep, I can do that.’
‘Paul is in charge of the barbecue tonight, bless him. I hope he’s up to it, he’s still looking a little green around the gills. We’re having surf ’n’ turf: jumbo prawns, steak, some veggies, corn on the cob and I’m doing sweet potatoes in the oven.’
‘This really is too much,’ Alex replied, secretly delighted at the prospect of grilled prawns. ‘I’m going to look like the size of a house when I leave, not that I don’t already. I swear if I stand still long enough, Banksy will start drawing on me.’
Erin stopped loading the cranberry juice into the fridge. ‘Alexandra Moran, are you really still making fun of your weight? Look at you in your little sundress, you’re gorgeous altogether, I don’t want to hear another word about it.’
‘I know,’ she replied. ‘Force of habit. But back then, you lot were tiny wee women, all midriffs and peplums, while I was snapping on the Spanx. It was a challenging time for me.’
Alex clearly remembered how she envied her friends back then. She never felt like the fat friend exactly, she just owned more shapewear than anyone else. She had always been just that bit bigger than the others. According to her mother it was all down to her father’s side of the family.
‘Your granny Alexandra was a plump woman – big bosom, huuuge arse but she carried it well. I expect you will be the same, given that you take after the eejit of a father of yours.’
Erin smirked. ‘You have no idea how much I wanted your figure when we were younger. You reminded us all of Nigella Lawson, before she went all meecro-wavy.’
‘You’re kidding? I looked nothing like her.’
Erin opened the window and stuck her head out. ‘Who did we think Alex looked like at uni?’
‘Nigella,’ the voices chorused back, including Paul.
‘See,’ Erin said, closing the window. ‘We all thought it. You were all hair and boobs and effortless.’
‘I can’t believe it,’ Alex replied. ‘I wish you’d all told me back then; my ego could have used a boost. I might have even learned how to cook.’
‘I’m pretty certain we did, but you probably didn’t hear us over the sound of your own self-deprecation. I would have killed for your boobs. I still would to be fair, I’ve never been blessed up top. I swear when they were making me, they just whispered my tits on.’
‘Now who’s making fun of their body?’ Alex laughed. ‘What are we like? Your tits are perfectly fine by the way and I have no idea why I complained about my body back then, I was half the size I am now!’
Erin spooned some sundried tomatoes into a bowl. ‘Half the size? Hardly,’ she replied. ‘But even if you were, what does it matter? You should see what we all see, and we’re the only ones that matter. Now wash up and grab some lettuce.’
Alex obliged, cleaning her hands at the kitchen sink.Nigella Lawson, eh?she thought.How did I not know this back then? Do I still resemble her? Even if I do, probably more like I’m more like Nutella Lawson. She chuckled quietly at her own joke as she opened the salad drawers at the bottom of the fridge. Erin was right though. She was hard on herself and to what end? To be the butt of her own jokes?
She missed having someone around to give her a reality check. The friends she had back home didn’t tend to do this; everything was purely superficial. She missed this. She missed friends who didn’t coddle or bullshit. Friends who would champion her. She knew she would never have friends like this again and she’d almost ruined it all.
