Charlie's Web (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 28

Now they were back on Scottish soil, Charlie had a decision to make. Did she go to the work party on Friday or not? She was pretty torn. She wanted to see a certain person, obviously, but she also knew it was hopeless as he was taken; and even if he was still interested despite this, she didn't want him on those terms. She'd definitely had enough of love triangles.

By the time Friday afternoon rolled around she was still undecided. She was lazing in the garden, trying to keep her tan topped up when her phone vibrated. It was a text from Josh.

So, please tell me you're coming tonight? You'll be the only one who isn't there if you don't!

She ignored it for now, propping herself up on her elbows and scrolling through her social media. Her holiday photo album had done well, she noted, loads of comments and likes. Aaron had of course liked it. She hesitated over his name, much as she had that very first time she'd looked him up on Facebook before she gave in to having another wee nosey on his page.

He'd been tagged in a photo just the previous night, she noted immediately. The tagger was Kkaayylla Wd, which was obviously Kayla, doing that thing some folk do on Facebook to make them harder to find. She rolled her eyes but forced herself to look at the photo.

"All the Wards in one place at last," Kayla had captioned the photo, which was a group photo of an older woman along with three younger women and two younger men. All dark haired, dark eyed, and very attractive. One of the girls was Kayla, one of them she recognised as Aaron's sister Carmel. And one of the guys was Aaron.

And that's when the penny dropped.

"Three older sisters and a younger brother," Aaron had replied when she'd asked about siblings.

And considering she'd already made the mistake with Carmel, she couldn't believe she hadn't realised that Kayla was also one of his sisters too.

And to be fair to him, he'd never actually said Kayla was his girlfriend. She'd just assumed.

Things were making more sense now. Sasha's PS had seemed weird but Kayla was clearly Sasha's friend. And Kayla asking her if she wanted to come for a drink wasn't her being inappropriate, it was... actually what was that? Had that actually been Kayla trying to set them up?

She'd been such an idiot.

She glanced at her watch. It was half past three, and if her memory served her right, the boat was leaving at half past five. She had better get a move on if she wanted to get there on time.

"What are you up to?" Thea asked as Charlie came hurtling through the back door. She was lying on the couch reading a book. She'd just returned from spending the last two days at Dave's and was a new woman. The tension of the last few months was completely gone.

"No time," Charlie cried, chucking her unlocked phone at Thea in lieu of an explanation. Thea sized up the situation far quicker than Charlie had and followed her to her room.

"So what are you going to wear?" She asked as Charlie started flinging clothes on her bed. "And can I come? I want to see this guy in person."

"I can probably sneak you on board if you really want," Charlie puffed. She held up a strappy turquoise maxi dress. "How about this if I stick a belt on it?"

"Perfect." Thea clapped her hands. "Right I'm away to get ready and then I'll come back and do something about your hair."

"What's wrong with my hair?" Charlie called after her, then spotted it in the greasy mane she hadn't washed since Crete in the mirror and realised her friend had a point.

Two hours later they approached the boat. "Do I look okay?" Charlie asked Thea nervously.

"How many times do I have to tell you; you look amazing!" Charlie was a golden goddess tonight. Thanks to her tan she was glowing and Thea had managed to blow dry her hair in a way that made her feel like she was in a nineties sitcom - in a good way.