Driftwood

[Ludub]

9 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

My outlines are written on paper.Gotta use all those notebooks for something.

Fairplay to you! I can't write on paper because I'm a bit obsessive about scribbles and I'd have to keep starting again with a clean sheet of paper. Sad but true 

[Inactive User]

13 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

My outlines are written on paper.Gotta use all those notebooks for something.

5 minutes ago, Ludub said:

Fairplay to you! I can't write on paper because I'm a bit obsessive about scribbles and I'd have to keep starting again with a clean sheet of paper. Sad but true 

I always type out a chapter of my fanfiction on my laptop and paste it into a new post.  Better than scribbling it on paper, lol. But the worst part I hate it when I can't spell out a long word so I have to google it.  Because the spelling checking won't show the red x under the incorrect words anymore on Microsoft Word which is really weird! 

[pembie]

I was going to say what a sweet sort of scene Matt and Maddy were having at the start of the chapter but then Maddy went and tried to kiss Matt.. Dave's a wally

Like the idea of Maddy and Jett Shame Jett didn't take the plunge and go in for the chance to kiss Maddy but probably a good job because she might of puked on him

Spoiler

This Lawyer guy does sound like Aden that's cool I liked him. Not sure if his here to cause trouble for Matt and Roo though..

Oh and I don't make any notes when I write so no paper for me either just good memory Only time I made notes is when I wrote the Star Wars spin off stories with Red and JT on here..

[Red Ranger 1]

On 10/3/2016 at 9:14 PM, Ludub said:

Fairplay to you! I can't write on paper because I'm a bit obsessive about scribbles and I'd have to keep starting again with a clean sheet of paper. Sad but true 

My handwriting, which was never brilliant, has got worse and worse over the years, probably through lack of practise, so I'm trying to improve on that so I don't find myself staring at the ineligible scrawl going "What's meant to happen in the next chapter?"

[Inactive User]

21 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

My handwriting, which was never brilliant, has got worse and worse over the years, probably through lack of practise, so I'm trying to improve on that so I don't find myself staring at the ineligible scrawl going "What's meant to happen in the next chapter?"

I always type out a chapter of my fanfiction on my laptop and paste it into a new post.  Better than scribbling it on paper, lol. But the worst part I hate it when I can't spell out a long word so I have to google it.  Because the spelling checking won't show the red x under the incorrect words anymore on Microsoft Word which is really weird! 

[Ludub]

On 04/10/2016 at 3:08 AM, pembie said:

Like the idea of Maddy and Jett Shame Jett didn't take the plunge and go in for the chance to kiss Maddy but probably a good job because she might of puked on him 

Haha! Yeah, timing is everything, and Jett's timing could have been pretty awful!  I do actually think they could work as a couple bit you'll have to wait and see where the story goes  Thanks as always for the feedback. x

[Ludub]

As Always, thanks so much everyone for the very kind feedback. Much appreciated. Really hope you like this chapter x

 

Chapter 13

 

 

“I just don’t understand” said Maddy, leaning her head on Oscar’s shoulder as they sat side by side on the sand, “He told me he loved me, like two days ago…”

“I’m sorry” said Oscar, giving her shoulder a little rub as he sat there with his arm around her, “I know it doesn’t help, but for what it’s worth… I think he’s an idiot!” He’d managed to track her down at Matt’s request. It hadn’t been difficult. All he’d had to do was walk along the beach a little bit, and there she’d been, sitting huddled on the sand feeling very sorry for herself. At least she was sober this time, he thought to himself.

She gave a snort and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “I probably deserve this” she said, giving a frustrated little huff as she started to cry again, “After the way I treated you…” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye with a decidedly guilty expression on her face, remembering how their relationship had ended, and then added, “…I’m sorry.”

“Ah come on, Maddy! You don’t deserve this!” exclaimed Oscar, shaking his head at her and giving a nervous little laugh, “You don’t deserve to have your heart broken… or get cheated on… No-one deserves that…”

She gave a derisive little laugh and shook her head in a way that said she didn’t believe him. Fresh tears erupted from her eyes and began streaming down her cheeks. “Why would he say that?! Why would he say that he loved me… when all the time he was…” She’d stopped herself mid-sentence because she couldn’t bring herself to say it. The thought of him in bed with Carly was just too much for her to take. Although, in truth, that’s all she’d been able to think about since she’d gotten the phone call. She couldn’t stop picturing the two of them in bed together. Carly’s body where hers had once been. Her with her pale freckled skin and red hair, and him with his dark, smooth muscles. She couldn’t get it out of her head. How could he do this to her?! Why would he tell her that he loved her and make plans to move to Australia if he really just wanted to be with Carly?! She unlocked her phone and held it up so that Oscar could see the last message that she’d received from him. It read ‘Miss you so much. Can’t wait for next week, Love you x’

“I guess he got caught out” said Oscar, frowning as he read it. “Sounds like he just thought he could have his cake and eat it… but now there’s a…”

“A baby!” she blurted, making a pained grimace as she stared out to sea, “Now there’s a baby… I know, I know, okay?!” The thought that Carly was going to get to be a mum hurt more than the fact that she’d stolen Dave off her. It was everything that she’d ever wanted in life. A husband and a baby. A family of her own. She knew now that she wasn’t going to get to have any of those things. Carly was going to get to have the future that was denied to her. Carly was going to get to have Dave’s babies. His beautiful beautiful babies… Carly was going to get to play happy families with him, and have that life that she’d always fantasised about. His big extended family would probably welcome her with open arms once they found out that she was pregnant. A grandchild on the way?! Why wouldn’t they be excited? She could just see the look on his mum’s face now. Grace would be over the moon. Those trips that she and Dave had planned, out to visit his grandparents in Jamaica, were Carly’s now. She’d be the one who got to go and meet his whole extended family. His aunts and uncles, and cousins… She’d be the one welcomed into the fold. Maddy hadn’t just lost Dave, she’d lost his whole family too.  People that she’d grown to know and love. In one fell swoop, all those ties had been severed, and now she’d never get to see any of them again. She couldn’t help feeling like part of her had died. “It’s just not fair, Oscar! …It’s not fair!” she cried.

“I’m so sorry” he said again, pulling her into a tighter hug and holding her for a moment as she shook in his arms. He’d been there for her every step of the way through her cancer treatment, and he knew how much she’d struggled, and how hard a fight it had been. They both knew how lucky she was to be here, and to be so well, but her recovery had come at a heavy price. Having to have a hysterectomy at such a young age had been absolutely devastating for her. It was especially sad because he knew how much she’d wanted to be a mum. Life was pretty cruel sometimes, he thought to himself. “I’m so sorry, Mads…” he sighed, giving her a little kiss on the cheek, “I know how much this sucks.”

“It just hurts so much” she said, nodding at him and pulling away from the hug in an embarrassed sort of way. She wished more than anything that he didn’t have to see her like this. Not again! He’d seen these little pity parties too many times now. He’d seen her at her absolute worst but he’d stood by her like the kind and faithful friend that he’d always been. Like so many times before, he’d been the one to give her the strength to go on. The one who’d given her the kick up the backside that she’d needed and told her to stop feeling sorry for herself. The one she’d turned to when she’d needed support or a friendly shoulder to cry on. He’d seen her fall apart completely when Matt and Roo had disappeared, and he’d had to pull her back from the brink yet again, and make her see that she owed it to them to survive and to make them proud. How many times had he come to her rescue now, she wondered? How many more times was she going to expect him to pick up the pieces for her?! When was she going to stop being this pathetic mess?! When was it going to stop?! Up until yesterday, she’d actually thought that things were finally on an even keel, but somehow it had all just fallen apart again. How on earth had that happened?! She’d wanted to bring Dave over to let Oscar see that she was doing okay now. She’d wanted him to see that she was standing on her own two feet and that she’d made something of herself. That she’d finally pulled her life together. She glanced at Oscar, looking a little shamefaced, and said, “He’s such a jerk!”

“Yeah” agreed Oscar, “You know what?! He is… he is a jerk!” He looked at her, as she sat there looking miserable and a slow smile began to creep its way across his face as though an idea was slowly taking shape. “How about…?” he said, raising his eyebrows at her in a quizzical way, “How about you tell me the things that you didn’t like about him… I mean, the things that really got up your nose about him?!”

She wiped at her eyes and grimaced a little. “There isn’t really anything.” she said, shaking her head sadly, “I loved him… I still do.” She drew her knees up towards herself and hugged her arms around them. It was still hot here on the beach but somehow she’d never felt more cold and alone.

“Oh come on, Maddy!” coaxed Oscar, as he gently tucked her hair behind her ear so he could see her face better, “Everyone’s annoying, one way or another…” He looked over his shoulder in a theatrical kind of way as though he was checking that no-one was within hearing range. He wasn’t sure why he was about to tell Maddy this but he thought it might help, and if nothing else, it would make her laugh. “I’ll tell you one of mine…” he said, whispering in a conspiratorial sort of tone and starting to giggle, “Callie? Callie leaves socks all over the house… dirty socks just balled up on the couch… stuck in between the cushions, on the floor, in the bathroom… I even found a pair under my pillow!” He wrinkled up his nose in mock disgust. “It’s disgusting!” he complained, shaking his head in exasperation, “And no matter how many times I ask her not to… she does it anyway…   and you know what?!” He looked around again to make sure that there was no-one else there, before cupping his hand around his mouth and whispering in her ear, “Her feet stink!”

“They don’t?!” laughed Maddy, looking at him with big incredulous eyes, “That’s terrible, Oscar! Why are you telling me this?!”

“I have to tell someone!” he giggled, waving his hand in front of his nose in an exaggerated way, “Smelliest feet of any woman I know! …I could do with a gas mask!”

“You’re terrible!” she laughed, elbowing him playfully in the ribs. “I don’t think I’d ever forgive you if you went around telling people about me having stinky feet… Poor Callie!”

“She’s kind of proud of it” he said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes in wonder, “She’d probably stick her foot in your face if she was here right now… She’s done it before.” He smirked at Maddy, thinking how different the two girls were from each other, and wondering at the fact that they seemed to get on so well.  They both seemed to find each other funny for very different reasons. “Besides” he said, shaking his head at her in a knowing sort of way as he stared at her bare feet that were resting in the sand, “You don’t have smelly feet… as far as I remember…” He started to pick one of her feet up as though he was going to sniff it.

“Get off!” she squealed, pulling her foot away and kicking sand at him. “You leave my feet alone!” she laughed.

He just laughed, and shrugged his shoulders at her, with a silly grin on his face.

She blushed a little red and bit her bottom lip in embarrassment. “I had other bad habits though” she said, feeling like she needed to stick up for Callie in some way. Over the last 24 hours, she’d behaved pretty inappropriately with, not one, but two men! She didn’t need Callie to think that she was trying to steal Oscar too! At this rate, she’d end up getting herself a reputation!

“C’mon then!” he said, giving her a little wink, “What did this ‘perfect’ Dave do that really wound you up? …I know there’s something…” He raised his eyebrows at her twice, in a mischievous sort of way. “There’s always something!” he laughed.

She shrugged, giving a sad little smile, and looked down at her feet again in the sand. “Well…” she said, starting to massage at her neck with her fingertips, “It was just lots of little things… I mean… He… He used to make himself tea and not offer to make me one.”

“That bastard!” said Oscar, giving an exaggerated gasp and covering his mouth with his hand as he laughed a little. “That was weak!” he said, shaking his head at her, “Come on… I want the juicy stuff!  …I’m sure there’s much worse than selfish tea-making habits…”

“He never let me watch what I wanted on the TV” she said, frowning a little as she began to think of the little niggles that she’d had about him. “He talks with his mouth full, like all the time… He never once put the seat down on the toilet no matter how many times I asked him to… and he farts all the time…” She turned to look at Oscar, as he nodded for her to go on, and she began to smirk a little. She would never have told anyone this when she was still with Dave, but now that he’d hurt her so much, she wanted to humiliate him. Not that Oscar would ever get to meet him now. “He… um…. He…” she began to say, with her face flushing bright red, “I can’t believe I’m gonna tell you this…” She pursed her lips together and tried to stop from laughing. “He’s kinda small” she said, glancing at Oscar to make sure that he was following her meaning, before looking away again, “He wanted me to tell him that he was… that he was huge… like all the time… and he just wasn’t!” She glanced at him one more time and shook her head emphatically, “Like… really not!”

“See?!” he said, laughing a little nervously in response and giving her a playful little nudge, “Not so perfect, eh?!”

She nodded, doing her best to laugh, but slowly her laughter turned to tears again. “I loved him” she said, hanging her head again and hugging her arms around herself, “It didn’t matter… I loved him.”

He gave a little sigh and looked at her again with his head tilted in sympathy. He couldn’t help feeling bad for her. There was something so lost and broken about her in this moment. He put his hand gently under her chin and turned her face to look up at him. “Look at it this way…” he said, giving her a gentle little smile, “If you hadn’t broken up with me all those years ago, I might never have met Callie… and I can’t imagine my life without her now… You never know what life has in store for you…”

“Yeah, like more cancer, probably” she sighed, looking up into his eyes with a look of despair. It was something that was never far from her mind. The thought that it could come back was an ever present worry in the back of her head. Every little pain, every little ache… The question was always there… Is it back? Am I sick again?!

“No… C’mon Maddy, don’t do that!” he said, giving her a scolding look before continuing. “Right now” he said, “It feels like your whole world has fallen apart… but the way I see it, you’ve just had a lucky escape… This ‘Dave’ guy obviously wasn’t the right guy.” He gave her another little smile, raising his eyebrows and shrugging his shoulders at her, “I mean… He really wasn’t! …But maybe the right guy is just about to walk into your life and you’ll be thanking your lucky stars that Dave isn’t on the scene…” He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for another little hug. “I reckon Mr Right is just around the corner… You’ll see…” he said, giving her a cheeky little wink before leaning in and whispering in her ear, “…and maybe he’ll have a bigger one!”

“Oscar!” she squealed, looking at him in shock and amusement, and elbowing him a little in an embarrassed way, “I wish I’d never told you that now!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone…” he laughed, pretending to zip his mouth closed just like Callie would and throwing her a little wink. “This is just between you and me…” he said, giggling a little, “…and Dave!”

 

*****

 

 

"Stone the flamin' crows!" exclaimed Alf, getting to his feet and striding towards the door. "Aden Jefferies!" he called out as he met the young man in the doorway and held out his hand to him. He couldn’t help noticing the striking change in appearance from when he’d last seen him. Gone was the young baggy-jean wearing deckhand that he’d once known. No leather bracelets either and no bleached blonde surfer hair. This was a very different Aden Jefferies, even if the grin on his face, and the cheeky look in his eyes was still the same. The man standing before him now looked every inch the big city lawyer and no-one would ever have guessed that he came from somewhere like Summer Bay. His expensive tailored suit, his manicured fingernails, his tidy but stylish hair… Anyone would have been forgiven for thinking that he came from money. That he’d had a private education and that daddy was someone important. He looked like he’d been born to wear these clothes. He certainly didn’t look like that small town boy now. “What’s big city life done to you?!” chuckled Alf, looking noticeably impressed.

"Ah y'know" laughed Aden, shaking the older man's hand and giving him a big broad smile, “I had to grow up sooner or later…” He looked down at his clothes, almost as though he was reading Alf’s thoughts, and gave a little smirk, “Bit different, eh?!”

“I’ll say!” agreed Alf, putting his arm around Aden’s shoulder to shepherd him into the living-room. 

Matt and Roo were nervously standing around, watching the scene unfold in front of them, and wondering who this young man really was. Alf had simply told them that he was a local boy who’d become a successful lawyer after leaving the Bay, and that he’d had a very close relationship with Morag once upon a time. It seemed highly unlikely, but he’d said that she’d been a sort of mother figure to Aden at one point in time, and helped him get through some very difficult personal problems of his own. He was back in the Bay now because he needed to speak to them urgently. As far as Alf understood it, he was trying to build a case against the parent company that owned the cruise liner. The families of the three that were lost at sea had come to him and asked him to file a class action suit against the cruise company for criminal negligence and the endangerment of lives. With the other three still missing, Matt and Roo’s testimony was going to be key to the case, because they were the ones who had suffered most as a result of the shipwreck. They were the only ones out of the five who had gone missing who had lived to tell the tale. Four years of hardship and deprivation on a desert island was going to be hard to ignore, so having their first-hand accounts would be key to swaying the court’s decision. He needed them on-board, so to speak.

Alf led Aden over to Roo, and simply said, “This here is Roo. This is my daughter”

“Nice to meet you, Roo” said Aden, holding out his hand to her with a gentle little smile as she took hold of it. She was much more attractive in real life, he thought to himself, and much younger looking. The newspaper and tabloid articles had portrayed her as some sort of aged cougar, and Matt as an innocent little boy caught helplessly in her claws. They’d obviously spun the story to create the biggest splash possible and ignored the reality of two consenting adults lost and alone on an island for four years. They’d ignored what was clearly a tender and very touching love story. Roo had been painted as a ruthless predator, and Matt the hapless victim. He was going to have to work very hard to undo that public perception of them if he was going to have any chance of winning his case. It was a strange feeling to stand here now and look into their faces. It felt as though he’d met them already! He knew so much about them. Or at least he thought he did. Who knew what was true, and what the papers had simply made up?! That was what he was here to find out!

“You too” said Roo, looking noticeably nervous.

Alf beckoned with his head for Matt to come over so he could introduce him. “And this is… eh… well, this is Matt… He’s Roo’s… um…” he said, looking a little embarrassed, “Well, he’s Roo’s partner.”

Aden gave a little smile as he turned to look at Matt. Again, he looked quite different from what the papers would have had him believe. This was a young man, true, but there was a maturity about him that couldn’t be ignored either. Maybe it was the beard? Or maybe it was the expression in his eyes? This young man had experienced a lot in his short life and something about the way he carried himself told that tale in no uncertain terms. He was the oldest 24-year-old that he’d ever laid eyes on, that was for sure!

Matt glanced at Alf, as he approached Aden, and gave a little half-smile. He knew that Alf had nearly choked on his words right there, but he appreciated the fact that if nothing else, he was now acknowledging the relationship. Up until now he’d refused to say to anyone that he and Roo were together, as though the problem might simply go away if he ignored it for long enough. Matt put out his hand to Aden, and said, “Good to meet you.” He was surprised to see that Aden seem unfazed by the obvious age difference. That was refreshing. He was the first person that had greeted them with respect and hadn’t started looking back and forth between them and unintentionally wrinkling his nose in distaste. People just didn’t seem very good at hiding their true feelings about things. Either this guy had a very good poker face, or he genuinely didn’t see a problem here.

“Coffee?” asked Roo, glancing at Matt and widening her eyes at him. She couldn’t hide how nervous she was about this whole thing. Talking about the shipwreck was something that she tended to avoid like the plague and she really wasn’t looking forward to reopening old wounds. It was something that her dad wanted them to do though, and she felt like she owed it to him to do it. Some part of her also felt like she owed it to the three who were still out there.

“That’d be good” said Aden, with a little nod. He picked up the briefcase that he’d set down just inside the doorway and took a seat at the table. Alf sat down on a seat beside him and shook his head at him again with an incredulous smile. “What?” laughed Aden, opening the briefcase and pulling out a small electronic Dictaphone.

“You just look so different” said Alf, leaning back in his chair and shaking his head in wonder. “Morag told me you’d become this big city lawyer… but…”

“But you didn’t expect the flash suit?” he asked, smiling to himself as he took out his case file and set it on the table. He gave a little shrug and tugged a little theatrically at the cuff of his shirt, “I guess… well, you’ve gotta look the part haven’t you?” he said, flashing him that grin that was more than a little familiar, “Couldn’t see me getting many clients if I turned up in a pair of my old jeans and a singlet, could you?!”

“Yeah… I reckon you’ve got a point there” said Alf, giving him a little smile, “Still, it’s good to see you looking so well”

“Thanks… It’s been a long time” he said, staring around the living-room of Summer Bay House and wondering at how different it looked now, and yet how much it looked the same, “I have a lot of people that I need to catch up with.” He glanced out towards the kitchen and watched as Matt and Roo got the coffee and biscuits ready. He could see how nervous they were from the way that one seemed to be constantly in the other one’s way. They kept bumping into each other and whispering frustrated little complaints at each other.

Eventually the coffee was ready and Roo carried the tray with shaking hands towards the table. Everything was shaking so much that the cups and teaspoons were rattling. She sat down and ran her hand through her hair, massaging her scalp for a moment in an attempt to calm herself down. “So… now what?” she asked, looking at Aden with big worried eyes.

Matt sat down beside Roo and reached for her hand. He stared down at the table and waited for Aden to speak. He was beginning to feel incredibly panicky and he was finding it increasingly hard to hide that fact. He could feel his whole body shaking already and he felt like his heart could leap out through his chest at any moment. Why had they agreed to this?! What had they been thinking?!

“Hey, guys!” said Aden, looking back and forth between them with a sympathetic little head tilt. He was trying to use a calm and soothing tone of voice and not stress them out any more than was absolutely necessary. He was used to dealing with victims. He was used to dealing with traumatised individuals. It was his area of expertise. This particular field of law required a certain level of understanding that very few people had. Only someone who had been through true pain and suffering themselves could truly advocate on another’s behalf. It was why he was so good at his job. It was why he won so many of his cases. “This is just an informal chat” he explained, “I’m just a local kid and we’re just having a chat about what happened… Nothing more… If you don’t want to answer a question… or it’s too difficult, you don’t have to.” He looked over at Matt who seemed determined to avoid eye contact and gave a little sigh. “Maybe I should tell you a little bit about myself first? Do you think that might help?”

Alf gave him a questioning sort of look. “Do you want me to leave you to it?” he asked, feeling a little unsure of what Aden was going to tell them and wondering whether he wanted an audience for this.

“You can stay if you want” said Aden, giving a little shrug and beginning to play with the gold band that he now wore on his right ring finger. “It’s been a long time, Alf” he said, staring off into the distance in a distracted sort of way, “I try to talk about it a bit more now… In some ways, it helps.”

 

*****

 

“So how’s Matt doing?” asked Kyle, sitting down beside Brody on the decking out in the back garden. He clinked the neck of his bottle off Brody’s and gave him a questioning look. “How’s he working out at Salt? Any more meltdowns?”

It was a rare occasion when they both had the evening off but they’d decided to take advantage of it and have a barbecue. Evie was fussing over baby Joe, and trying to keep an eye on an over-excited Lucy, as she turned fairly unsuccessful cartwheels over by the patio table. Billie was inside getting salads and things ready for dinner, and the two boys were supposed to be on barbecue duty. Neither of them had been that keen on cooking on their day off though, so they’d enlisted Andy’s help and then basically left him to it. They glanced over every now and then and offered unwanted cooking tips to an increasingly frustrated and flustered Andy.

“Yeah” said Brody, frowning a little as he took a slug from his beer bottle, “He’s doing okay… I guess…”

“Such a glowing endorsement!” laughed Kyle, shaking his head at him a little disapprovingly. When it came to Salt, it took an awful lot to impress Brody and he was never known to offer much praise to anyone. Even his second in command, who was covering tonight’s service, rarely got a kind word in his belly. ‘He’s doing okay’ was probably the equivalent of ‘he’s amazing!’ in anyone else’s book. “Don’t let Matt overhear you!” he teased, rolling his eyes at him, “Wouldn’t want to make him blush!”

“Is it so wrong that I expect a high level of professionalism from my staff?!” he asked, looking at Kyle quite seriously, “I mean… I’m trying to run a high end restaurant here! I can’t go holding everyone’s hand and asking them how they’re feeling all the time!” He took another swig from his beer bottle and frowned down at the ground. “I can’t do all that touchy feely stuff… He’s doing okay… He hasn’t messed up badly enough for me to fire him… okay?!”

Kyle laughed again. He couldn’t help it. Brody always seemed to get his knickers in a twist any time people asked about the restaurant. For such a chilled out, fun and friendly guy, he didn’t half go through a personality transplant when it came to that restaurant of his! Kyle just couldn’t resist winding him up about it, like any good friend would… He didn’t understand why Brody took this stuff so seriously. At the end, of the day, it was just food. “That good, huh?!” he laughed, “What would he have to do to get a gold star?”

Brody looked at him sideways, sensing that he was being mocked, and began to smile a little. Somehow he always got drawn into these conversations. “Maybe not turn up late when I specifically asked him to be early?!” he answered.

Evie eyed him from the table across the way and gave him a withering look. “You know why he was late” she scolded him, “He explained that.”

He nodded, and gave a loud tut, before turning his attention back to Andy who was cursing at the barbecue and looking pretty stressed. “You need to move things out a bit to the edge” he suggested, as he saw plumes of black smoke rising up from the grill. “It’s too hot in the centre there. You’re just going to burn everything!”

“You’re welcome to come here and do this yourself!” growled Andy, wiping at his forehead with the back of his hand and scowling in Brody’s direction, “I’m not the chef! Why am I doing this?!”

“You’re doing fine!” laughed Kyle, glancing over at Andy’s hot and bothered face, “I don’t mind my snags a little blackened... It adds flavour!”

“Speak for yourself” grumbled Brody, wrinkling his nose up in disgust as he reached for another couple of bottles of beer from the nearby cooler.

“I thought I was” chuckled Kyle, accepting the beer bottle from Brody and taking one for Andy. He got up and walked over to Andy, choking a little on the smoke as he approached him. “Here” he coughed, holding the bottle out to him and peering down into the barbecue at the blackened objects piled up on the rack. “Nearly ready?” he asked, with a mischievous smirk on his face. Part of him couldn’t wait to see the veins bulging in Brody’s neck when he saw how badly Andy had ruined all the food.

“Yeah... I think so” nodded a very red-eyed Andy, “Hope everyone’s hungry?!”

Kyle laughed a little and patted Andy gently on the back. This was going to be fun.

Andy carried a big tray of unidentifiable black objects over to the table as though he’d just returned from a hunting trip and this was his fresh and bloody kill. He set it down and then plopped down on the seat opposite Brody with an exhausted sigh. He hated any form of cooking but barbecue was the worst! Why did people enjoy it so much?!

“Uh... okay” said Brody, eyeing the blackened shapes in front of him with suspicion and disgust. He pierced one of them with his fork and held it up for Andy to see, turning it round and round in his hand.  “What is this?” he asked, looking thoroughly perplexed.

Andy tilted his head and squinted at it. “Um...” he replied, not entirely sure what he was looking at, “I think that’s a chicken thigh... maybe... Uh... yeah, I think that’s white meat you can see underneath...”

“Lovely” muttered Brody, dropping it onto his plate and giving Kyle a scathing look, “Charred chicken thigh... my favourite.”

Everyone else dug in and soon everyone was doing their best to choke down overcooked chicken and blackened sausages without complaint. Andy was happily tucking into his sausages and looking around all the others with newfound pride. “S’good, isn’t it?” he asked, nodding at Brody’s uneaten burger.

“Uh-hmm” agreed Brody, chewing his first bite of burger with a forced smile on his face, “Very nice”.

Kyle smirked at him across the table and gave a little wink that he knew was sure to infuriate him.

“Oh, by the way” said Andy, still talking with his mouth full and then reaching for his beer to wash everything down, “I wanted to ask you something...”

Brody looked up at him and swallowed the charred mess currently polluting his mouth with great difficulty. “Yeah?” he asked, placing the burger back on the plate and hoping that he wouldn’t be expected to eat any more of it.

“Josh was thinking about bringing Tam to Salt for their anniversary” he said, glancing around the table and feeling a little sad for a moment that he was the only one that was still single. “Thing is” he said, sitting back in his seat and looking at Brody with concern, “Matt says the food is sort of... well, sort of ‘visual’ …and he kind of told Josh that they might not get as much out of it as people who can see.” He shrugged and said, “What d’ya think? Is he right?”

Brody furrowed his brow and considered this for a moment. “I guess it is pretty visual” he agreed, thinking of the ‘special effects’ that he’d created for some of his dishes. There was one where they lifted a dome off the plate to reveal a cloud of rosemary scented mist. It probably wouldn’t seem as impressive if they couldn’t see it. The dessert that looked like a vegetable garden would be lost on them too, as would the micro-herb salad with all the pretty flowers. A lot of his dishes had a very strong visual element to them and people who were blind probably would find them a lot less interesting. He’d never really given much thought to the matter before but suddenly gears were whirring in his mind and all sorts of ideas were sparking off each other. What if he could create a multi-sensory experience? What if he did one of those blind restaurants like he’d read about?! He felt a wave of excitement crash over him. Maybe this was the thing to put Salt on the map?! Maybe this was it?! “Uhhh...” he stammered, staring past Andy into the distance as an idea began to take shape. He had to get back to the restaurant now and start developing a new menu! He’d never been so excited. “Oh my God! Andy!” he said getting to his feet and leaning across the table to plant a kiss on Andy’s forehead. “I think I love you!” he exclaimed, smiling like a maniac at a very shocked looking Andy. “I have to go!” he said, turning and walking away from the table and disappearing into the house.

“Sorry” said Evie, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at Billie in an apologetic way, “He does this sometimes... He just gets an idea in his head and that’s it! ...That’s why I call him 'Kaiser Söze' sometimes...” She lifted her hand, holding it out flat, and pretended to blow something off the palm, "‘And like that, he was gone!’”

[hward]

Aden!  Oh how I used to love Home and Away back then!

Brody trying to eat Andy's crispy cooking made me laugh

[Guest]

Great chapter

Liked Oscar comforting Maddy.

Aden as a lawyer was a nice touch.

Update again soon

 

 

[Ludub]

10 hours ago, hward said:

Aden!  Oh how I used to love Home and Away back then!

 

4 hours ago, Kristen said:

Aden as a lawyer was a nice touch.

 

Thanks hward & Kristen!  Aden is my all-time favourite character and that era of Home and Away was probably when I was most invested in the show. I've been writing fanfic for nearly a year now but I've been reluctant to bring him into any of my stories for fear of not writing him well (and disappointing myself) so this is a bit of a gamble. Hope I don't make too much of a mess of it!