Adelise was getting frantic by this stage.
“What the hell happened?” she asked.
“It was yesterday morning, Sunday. You probably were up at Auray waiting for the tide, but it was blowing a gale here. Some kids went out in a dingy; you remember the Montpelliers?”
“Yes, what about them?”
“Stephan and Paul took the dingy out. Their parents were at that fancy lunch at the Marina, and had told them not to go out if it was windy. We were all at the beach; no one went out because of the wind. The waves were getting bigger by the minute. No one saw them until it was too late. They keep the boat at the other end of the beach, so no one was close enough to see them go out.
“I can’t remember who saw them first; it might have been the Irish girl. Anyway, we could see the dingy was in trouble, as it capsized in a very rough sea. Charles said he’d go and ring the coastguard from the direct line at the club. We were all watching as a couple of the lads decided to take out the rib with the outboard, but they had to turn back before they got swamped. We could see the hull of the dingy in the water and the two boys sitting, hanging onto the keel board.”
“What happened?”
“Charles came back and watched the guys bring the rib ashore. He then realised that Keira was missing. He went mental, searching and shouting. Shannon told him not to be an arse as she had probably gone to the toilet.”
“Anyway, we were all distracted by him, so we just noticed the dingy being pulled out of the water by the two boys, with Keira helping them. She said a freak wave pushed them towards the beach, so she had gone to help them. The mast had snapped, so they were going to have a lot of explaining to their parents.”
“Keira went out to them?” Adelise asked, surprised.
“I don’t know, no one was watching the dingy, as it all happened when the rib was coming back in. The guys got soaked and damn near overturned in the breakers.”
“What did they say?”
Not a lot; they were exhausted. They just said what Keira said; the wind and waves blew them toward the shore and she went out to them.”
“So, why did Keira dump Charles?”
“Well, after we got the dingy in and the two guys were checked over, Charles had to go ring the coast guard again to cancel them. When he got back, he delivered a stern lecture to Keira about being foolish.”
Adelise smiled.
“That would have gone down well,” she said, sarcastically.
Her friend grinned.
“Like a lead balloon. She told Charles that she was a big girl and to back off. He was stupid enough to think he could then tell her off some more. That was when she told him that she was not his property and that if that was what he felt then he could just forget any thoughts of being close to her. Judging how close they got the other night, I think that shocked him a little.”
“Then what happened?”
“Nothing; she walked off and hasn’t spoken to him again, while he’s sat in the corner of the cafe being miserable fool.”
Adelise smiled gently. This was her chance.
“Were the boys all right?” she asked.
“Tired and scared, but otherwise okay. Their parents were furious and are making them pay for the new mast.”
Making an excuse, Adleise left her friend and made her way to the cafe. Charles was still sitting there looking miserable. She went in and sat down next to him.
“Hi,” she said.
Charles vaguely looked her way without saying anything.
“I hear Keira was a stroppy cow?” she said.
“I was only looking after her welfare,” he said, petulantly.
Adelise felt bold, so she reached out and took his hand.
“I know, she’s so ungrateful,” she said. “I’d never be that nasty to you.”
“That was a bloody stupid risk!” Shannon said.
“Calculated,” said Keira.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Amber said that people see what they want to see and what they expect to see. When something doesn’t fit their expectations, they change what their memory tells them so that it does.”
Shannon couldn’t argue, as nobody actually saw Keira go out to the dingy and help the boys and the boat to shore. Fortunately the boys in the rib were being so entertaining that everyone was distracted for several crucial seconds. The two in the dingy were so grateful that they were quite happy to keep to Keira’s story.
“I still think you should have let the coastguard or lifeboat do their job,” Connie said.
“They weren’t going to get there in time. Charles had only called them, so they would be at least twenty minutes, or half an hour. These boys had less than three minutes before hitting the reef.”
“You didn’t have to snap Charles’ head off, he was just worried about you,” Shannon said.
“Maybe, but I needed to do something. He was beginning to piss me off. He was settling into a nice little domestic arrangement and talking about me coming over to live with him at his university. Amber said that relationships might be difficult.”
“You need to find Mr Incredible, or some other superhero,” Connie said with a smile.
“Like that’s ever going to happen. At least I know I like guys,” said Keira wearily.
Adelise didn’t hate Keira anymore. Indeed, she was a little grateful to her, but was never going to tell her so. Charles was hers on the rebound, and she was able to manipulate events so as he could see how much better she was compared to the feisty English girl. She had high hopes of something developing further.
Keira had outgrown the French holiday, and so when they returned to England, she felt it unlikely that she would return. Still, it had been fun while it lasted.
Twenty-one
London 2014
Shannon was late, so she grabbed a couple of bits of bread from the bread-bin, whopped a piece of yesterday’s pizza between then, and left her flat, just remembering her bag as she rushed out.
Fortunately, a bus was just pulling up at the stop across the road, so she just managed to get there before it started off again. After showing her pass to the driver, she collapsed onto the only available seat.
She sat back and gnawed her sandwich, much to the amusement of the oriental gentleman sitting across the aisle from her. He was obviously a tourist, as he wore the standard Japanese tourist’s garb, including digital camera and umbrella.
A mobile phone rang. Shannon groped in her bag for her phone, as it was hers. The theme tune to Star Wars was a little lame, but at least she knew it was hers.
It was Connie, as she suspected it might be.
“Hi, Connie, what’s up?”
“You’re late!” her friend said.
“Yeah, well, sue me. Is Keira already there?”
“I don’t know, we agreed that I’d wait for you outside; remember?”
“Sorry, but Matt didn’t leave until gone two.”
Connie rolled her eyes.
“It’s your first day, so you could have made a fucking effort!”
“I’m on the bus; I’ll be there in about ten.”
“I’ll tell Keira.”
“Ta. Look, I’m sorry, but you know what I’m like!”
“See you,” Connie said, unwilling to say something that might make Shannon cross.
In fact, the bus took twelve and a half minutes. Connie, a slimmer and very well-dressed Connie waited outside the imposing building.
“What have you got all over your face?” she asked the Irish girl.
Shannon wiped the tomato paste from around her mouth.
“Pizza, probably,” she said, her Irish brogue still evident.
“Come on; I called Keira and told her that the traffic was holding you up.”
The building they entered was neither the MI5 or MI6 buildings that the girls were expecting. This was an old building. One amongst many other imposing but very anonymous grey buildings that housed various departments of the Home Office.
A uniformed guard on reception was polite but possessed a no-nonsense manner.