Twenty-three
Before they knew it, James’s last night in Sydney came around. He was all set to fly north early the next day, and Beth was beside herself. She had no idea how she was going to cope without him. It had been sad enough when Sky had moved on, but this was far worse. They headed to a bar, where everyone but Beth seemed intent on getting pissed.
After a couple of drinks, she switched to orange juice. Lisa tutted and called her stupid, but she didn’t care. She was determined James’s last night would be spent with her and not her sister.
Halfway through the evening, Michelle and Beth met up in the toilets.
‘It’s a brilliant night, isn’t it?’
‘I guess so. For everyone else, at least.’ Beth couldn’t hide her distress.
‘Oh, honey.’ Michelle gave her a squeeze. ‘I know it’s horrible that James is leaving, but you’ll see him back in England, won’t you?’
‘I don’t know. He lives up north.’
‘You must’ve talked about it, no?’
‘Not really. He just said we were together in Bondi. There was no mention of afterwards.’
Michelle seemed positive. ‘He adores you. There’s no way he’s going to just fly out of here and never see you again. I’m sure of it.’
‘I hope you’re right.’
‘Why don’t you ask him? Get it all sorted. Then you can enjoy your last night together.’ Michelle gave her a nudge. ‘If you know what I mean.’
Beth couldn’t help wondering if she was about to make love to James for the last time.
‘Come on, face ache, let’s get back out there. You’re wasting too much time in the bloody bogs!’
‘Oh, piss off, Lisa. Let me handle this my own way.’
The girls returned to the rest of their friends and the drinking continued. After about an hour, Beth became aware that she was unsteady on her legs. Shaking her head, she tried to clear the fog that had begun to cloud her mind.
‘You all right, love?’
‘No. I, um …’
‘A bit pissed, are you?’ James laughed.
‘No. I can’t be pissed. I’m only drinking juice.’ She waved her glass at him, spilling some of the orange liquid in the process.
Again, James laughed. ‘Not quite, sweetheart.’
‘Huh?’
‘Don’t get mad at me, OK?’
Beth’s mouth was rubbery and there was a ringing in her ears. ‘What did you say?’
‘I said, don’t get mad at me.’
‘Why shouldn’t I get mad? What have you done?’
‘You were so uptight about me leaving. I figured a couple of drinks would relax you. I guess everyone’s been doing the same. Sorry, love.’
Nausea began to creep into her stomach. ‘Doing the same?’
‘Vodka. It’s no big deal. I just put a couple of vodkas in each of your orange juices. I didn’t want you to be upset on our last night. This way, I get the “party Beth”. The one that’s up for anything.’ He grinned.
No. You don’t. You don’t get Beth at all. You get HER. ‘You think other people have given me vodka too?’
‘Judging by the way you’re wobbling about, I’d say “yes”.’
No, no, no!
Oblivious to her distress, James continued, ‘Listen, what time do you want to head back. I have some plans for you. I thought maybe we could go to the darkest corner of the garden and I could …’
She wasn’t listening. She was panicking. If she didn’t get this alcohol out of her bloodstream pretty damn quick, the only dark corner she’d be heading to would be Lisa’s place.
‘I have to go to the loo.’ She left him, mid-sentence, and staggered to the toilets.
Rushing into one of the cubicles, she locked the door behind her and crouched in front of the toilet. Holding her hair away from her face with one hand, she forced her fingers into her mouth, and pressed hard on the back of her tongue. She immediately gagged, but nothing came up.
I must do this. Her head was swimming.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he has a brilliant last night.’
‘Please, Lisa, I’m begging you. Don’t take this away from me. Not my last night with James.’
‘Come on. You know you want to swap.’ Lisa gave a vile laugh.
Beth began falling, backwards towards oblivion. The sound of the girls chatting in the toilets became faint.
‘NO. Please, please, Lisa. Not tonight. Any other night. Tomorrow? I promise you, you can have tomorrow night. I won’t fight you. You can do whatever you like. But please, not tonight?’ Beth pressed as hard as she could on the back of her tongue. ‘I don’t want his last night to be spent with you!’
As much as she tried, she just couldn’t seem to throw up. The last thing she heard as she was propelled at speed towards Lisa’s desolate corner, was her sister’s voice. ‘Tough shit!’