Sanditon Melodies

Chapter 11: Back in Sanditon

Charlotte was having a wonderful time in Sanditon. Agreeing to stay here for the summer was truly one of the best decisions she had ever made. She had been to the beach nearly everyday – and even swam in the sea once which was invigorating. As it wasn't the school holidays yet, weekdays at the beach were fairly quiet and in the mornings Charlotte had it all to herself. She used the time to think, reflect and feel inspired... Well, that was the intention anyway, but Charlotte still hadn't had the breakthrough moment with her dissertation yet. Thankfully her chat with her tutor had been positive though - so her gobbledegook must have made some sense after all. She hoped that her light bulb moment would happen soon...

Charlotte had, however, found inspiration with her song and as it was now complete, she was intending to perform it at the bar on Saturday night. Tom had told her that Sidney and his mates were visiting for the weekend, so this would be perfect opportunity to show him how she had got on. She wasn't sure why, but she knew she would value his opinion about it above all others. Writing songs, however, had not got her any closer to working out what she wanted to do with her life! All Charlotte knew right now was that it was good to be here and she fully intended to enjoy herself while it lasted.

The days seemed to race by and before Charlotte knew it, it was Friday evening and she was working a shift at the bar. The lighter evenings and warm summer weather had encouraged a decent amount of people out. Various groupings of people were sharing big jugs of Pimms and Pina coladas. Edward was sat the bar in what was becoming his usual spot. He had visited the bar frequently over the past couple of weeks and Charlotte had to admit that he found his lively conversation stimulating. In fact, she found he, Esther and Clara were fast becoming more than just acquaintances or work colleagues, but in fact bordering on friends. This has realisation had been segmented by the fact they all arranged to go out for dinner next Tuesday night.

"So what are you weekend plans Charlotte?" Edward asked as she served him his usual pint of Estrella.

"Oh. Well Sidney and his mates are visiting this weekend, so Mary's planned a barbeque on Saturday afternoon... but to be honest, I feel a bit awkward about going."

"Why?"

"I dunno... it just sometimes feels that I'm in the way... or a spare part if you will." Charlotte answered.

"Well, if you need to escape you're welcome to hang out at ours. We have a hot tub." Edward said mischievously.

"Oh really? Tempting. I'll bear that in mind."

As they were talking, some more people entered the bar. Both Edward and Charlotte looked up to see who it was. And Charlotte froze to the spot. She hadn't expected to see him until tomorrow...

"Parker!" Edward said jovially and gesturing the three gentleman towards him. "We were just talking about you!"

Sidney looked at Charlotte curiously and noticed the flush of pink in her cheeks which he found so endearing. He had seen her and Edward talking together when he entered the bar, and found himself wondering if there was something going on between them. "All good I hope?" He said, more to Charlotte than Edward. She'd forgotten how deep and sexy his voice was and it caught her off guard for a moment. Thankfully she didn't have to reply.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Edward said. Then turning to Sidney's companions said. "John, Matthew... good to see you here again. Are you here for the surf?" He asked.

"That's the plan. Weather's looking promising." Crowe replied.

"Pretty busy in here." Babington said, looking around.

"There's a free table in the corner if you want it." Charlotte said nodding in the relevant direction. "I'd grab it while you can."

"Want to join us Edward?" Crowe said.