The water in Majorca

Chapter 11

  A taxi had gotten them home from the airport not long before midnight.
Moses had slept the whole way and was carried into the house by Noah, who'd laid him down into his own bed before he too went to get some sleep.
Charity had laid awake for an hour or so, staring up at the ceiling, too tired to switch off, before being woken up by the gentle rumbling of a bus passing by.
Morning had come and day was dawning, even though it only felt like mere minutes since she'd slipped into her pyjamas and crawled into bed.
Her under eyes were dark from lack of sleep and she couldn't stop yawning as she came around and flicked the kettle on.
The kids were still sleeping when she curled up on the sofa with a hot cup of tea in her hands.
Readapting to the cold of the Dales was always the hardest part of returning from a holiday abroad. The drastic drop in temperature had Charity shivering upon the sofa as she blew into her mug. But despite everything, she was glad to be home.
In the familiarity of Emmerdale village, she knew who she was and what she stood for. And being surrounded by her possessions and family, she hoped that she would be able to switch her feelings off and get back to normal.
Vanessa was gone.
The holiday was over.
And thirsty punters awaited her return to The Woolpack, which she usually wanted to avoid for a few extra days, but now she couldn't wait to get behind the bar to distract herself.
Maybe there would be village gossip to catch up on and all thoughts of the last week would take a backseat for a little while.
But probably not.
She sipped her tea.

"Welcome home" Chas enthused as Charity stepped into the back room of The Woolpack.
"Easy," Charity warned as she was squashed in a tight hug, suffocating under her cousin's breasts as she rocked her back and forth in a loving embrace.
"What did you get me?" She asked, palms up and ready to receive a tacky gift from the beachfront, as she always did whenever Charity returned from some time away.
Charity shook her head.
"What, no 'How was your trip?' or 'Show us your white bits'?" she scoffed as she slipped her coat off her shoulders and let it fall onto the sofa.
Chas rolled her eyes, then squeaked as she was given an obnoxious, rude fridge-magnet-come-bottle-opener.
"Oh, it's hideous. I love it" She giggled, admiring the Mallorcan Penis before putting it on display right in the centre of the fridge. "So, how was it? What did you get up to? Tell me everything".
Charity sighed.
"There's not a lot to tell. It was your typical getaway with kids. We went to a water park, to the beach, on a boat trip. Moses made friends with another kid. The usual"
"That's nice, and boring. Any hunks about?" Chas asked.
"No,"
"No, don't say no"
"Well, there wasn't any"
"Make it up then. I need to indulge in some excitement, absolutely nothing of interest has happened whilst you've been gone"
"What, no drama? No trouble at all?" Charity was shocked, and disappointed.
"No, cause you weren't here to cause any" Chas cackled.
Charity slapped her arm but smiled, until it faultered.
"What was that?" Chas pounced.
"What was what?"
"That look on your face"
"There's no look on my face" Charity insisted.
"Oh, yes there was. You're not telling me something"
"I don't know what you're talking about"
"Yes, you do. And you know I'll get it out of you one way or another so you might as well just tell me now. Come on, spit it out"
"It's nothing, Chas, just leave it, alright?" Charity barked, and she got up to find a glass and a bottle of wine from one of the cupboards.
"Bit early for that"
"I'm still on Spanish time" Charity replied, sarcastically.
Chas chose to ignore her attitude but watched like a hawk as her cousin poured a full glass of white wine at barely eleven o'clock in the morning.
"Oh my God. You met someone" She suddenly gasped.
Charity threw back a large gulp of her wine.
"You did. You met someone. Who was he?"
"Chas" Charity warned again, taking another large mouthful as she pointed sternly at her.
"Was he English? Was he Spanish? He wasn't German was he?"
"He wasn't anything, cause there was no He. Who's watching the bar?" Charity replied, trying to change the conversation.

Before she'd come over to work, she'd showered and scrubbed her skin, washed her hair and applied a full face of makeup for the first time in a week. It was nice not to feel sticky with spf clinging to her pores. And as much as she'd liked dressing up in her strappy tops and dresses, it was comforting to be back where she belonged in her blue jeans and button ups.
Marlon was serving Paddy when she walked into the bar.
"You're back then?" He shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at her as she waited to squeeze past him.
"Well spotted, Marlon" She replied, rolling her eyes at his statement of the obvious.
"Did you have a nice time?" Paddy asked, feeling it was the right thing to do as he waited for his pint.
"Yeah, you know, same old. You?" Charity breathed,
"I'm just waiting for Rhona. We have a meeting in an hour with our new-" Paddy began, but Charity started waving her hand as if she were already bored of the conversation and wanted him to stop talking.
"Figure of speech Paddster. Now, can I get anybody anything? Jimmy, same again?" Charity asked, looking around the room for someone to serve.
"I already have a pint," Jimmy replied, pointing at the barely touched ale in his glass.
"No? Right, well, I'll just help myself then" She groaned, grabbing a clean glass from under the bar.