Page 65 of Benidorm Again

‘I’m not,’ says Cherry wearily. ‘I just think that having children is a terrible thing to do, never mind surprise ones.’

‘But you have children,’ Tash accuses, yanking her cases from the roof.

‘Yes. And don’t think a day goes by that I don’t regret having them.’

There’s a collective gasp as her words sink in.

‘What? Don’t judge me. I’m allowed to change my mind.’

‘They’re not shoes, hun,’ says Big Sue, her voice full of empathy. She works in Social Care for families and is dead high up. ‘What’s going on with you?’

Cherry’s eyes fill with tears. ‘Nothing.’ She points to the biggest suitcase. ‘Boys. That one has all the Barbie and Ken outfits in,’ she says, changing the topic. ‘Take it with you so that you can try them on for size. But don’t get them mixed up or get any stains on them, it’s taken me days of work to customise them.’

‘Which one has the pink glitter cowboy hats in and the whips?’ Liam asks, casting his gaze to the piles of bags still on the bus.

‘Cowboy hats…’ Cherrywhispers to herself. ‘Oh God. A pink glitter cowboy hat and sunglasses. Oh Christ.’ She chews her lip before her face suddenly drops as though she is having a terrible flashback.

‘They’re in that one,’ Tash says, pointing to the roof rack buckling under the weight of all the oversized cases. ‘I refuse to lift any more cases because I’ve just had my nails done.’

‘Me too,’ says Liberty, wiggling her sharp talons at us.

‘My arm is still in recovery,’ adds Big Mand doing a shoulder roll.

Jorge, with an air of quiet defeat, silently retrieves the remaining cases just as Nacho, or Enreeky as The Dollz call him because he reminds them of a young Enrique Iglesias, arrives. He is the villa owner and Matteo’s half-brother. He pulls up on his moped to greet us with the keys. He is still as devastatingly handsome as we all remember. He gives us a wide smile, casting a confused gaze around the grumpy group. This is the exact opposite of how we welcomed him the last time. There’s no queue to line up for our kisses. No giggling over whether he’s packing a substantial piece. Instead, Cherry takes one look at him, inhales loudly and bursts into tears.

Liberty tuts loudly. ‘Oh my God, could you be any more attention-seeking?’

Tash isalso unimpressed with Cherry, and instead of going to pieces over her crush on Nacho, says a curt hello before following Cherry through the main gate.

‘Enreeky, pet. Lovely to see you,’ says Liberty, recovering. ‘How have you been? Still a filthy slut, I hope?’

Nacho laughs at her flirtatious behaviour. He will not have understood a word she just said. He shakes hands with Ged and Liam, who are trying hard not to swoon. I give him a hug, and he kisses everyone else’s cheeks in greeting.

‘You have heard from Matteo, non?’ he asks me.

I blush instantly. ‘Yeah. I’m…. like, going out to Las Vegas to… like, erm, go and visit him.’

Why? Why am I like this?Matteo and I are an item. A bone fide item. I should be embracing it, not acting like I can’t believe it’s not butter.

‘That’s so good. He likes you a lot,’ says Nacho which causes my face to go full furnace.

‘We’re all going,’ interrupts Liberty, sounding jealous. ‘It’s a work trip. She’s not the only one who jet-sets around.’

Nacho smiles quizzically at me before he hands out the keys, and because we already know where everything is, he says he will catch up with us at Voices tonight.

As we wave him off, Big Mand has an idea. ‘Liberty, babes. Enreeky could be just what you need to get over Luke.’

For the first time today, Liberty perks up.

‘Hello?’ Ged interrupts. ‘One dance isn’t that much to get over.’

He sounds catty. And the finger quotation marks have not gone down well. Big Sue flings him some keys before her and Big Mand pick up their cases and head into the villa.

‘Don’t leave me to drag everyone’s cases in,’ yells Liberty.

Jorge gives me a pleading look. He has sweat dripping down his cheeks. It is almost forty degrees. He is clearly exhausted and deeply disappointed that we aren’t half drunk and making a huge fuss of him like last time, by fluffing his hair and pinching his cheeks.

I glance at the mountain of cases abandoned on the path outside the villa gate. ‘Let’s go,’ I say. ‘For once, they can sort their own stuff out.’ I glance at the time. I have ten minutes to get across town to my apartment, to charge up my phone, and make myself look beautiful before Matteo video calls.

---