On the other side of the hot tub, Alicia was on her phone. Julia found herself on the sidelines of a chat between Hamish and a couple of other guys from the street, the fellow dads who’d sidled over with their beers, about a possible men-only cycling trip in the summer. Hamish was stretched out, arms wide, his hand resting just behind Julia’s neck. She was uberaware that if she leant back they would be touching, so she was sitting slightly forward, a touch uncomfortable, as she tried to shuffle imperceptibly along so she was out of reach. Really she wanted to get out of the hot tub, but she hadn’t yet been able to locate a towel. Hamish was busy expounding on the merits of cycle routes around Croatia. As she listened, Julia found herself wishing that Charlie could be part of this inner-circle trip. Part of all the in-jokes and the antics. But she knew that Charlie thought groups of weekend cyclists like Hamish and co. were idiots who just cycled round the park and showed off expensive kit. He liked to cycle solo. So even if he was invited, and somehow they conjured up the money for him to go, he’d probably turn it down anyway.
‘And what are we supposed to do while you’re bombing round Zagreb?’ Alicia asked, glancing up from her phone, one perfect brow raised. Her husband was one of the other dads, a clean-cut city banker who looked like he could still be in the office even in casual clothes, leaning against the edge of the tub.
Hamish looked nonplussed. ‘Go to a spa? Like you always do.’
Alicia grinned. Her husband rolled his eyes.
Julia found herself wanting to be invited to the spa. They made life seem so effortlessly exciting. But she knew Alicia would never include her. If Lexi had still been in the hot tub she would have done. Since it was now just Julia, Hamish and Alicia in the pool, the lack of invitation made her feel even more awkward so she made the excuse of needing another drink and climbed out.
She hunted for a towel but realised there were none. And since there was no chance she was going to stand around in just her swimsuit, the only option was to pull her dress on over her soaking wet costume. Her fingers were shrivelled like prunes. The material went immediately damp and see-through. Hamish and Alicia were still talking about the holiday. Julia felt invisible. She suddenly envied Charlie his forsaking of the whole hot tub malarkey.
The afternoon was getting hotter. Clammy and close. The music had got louder. More and more people had arrived. To get anywhere was a squeeze. There was a queue for the cocktails. The sun poured through the wispy clouds giving everything a hazy edge. Julia looked around for Charlie but saw just a sea of faces, some of them she recognised from the street, she waved a few hellos but the groups were so tightly packed it was hard to get involved in the chats as she squeezed through the gaps.
Finally, in the far corner, sitting on a low children’s picnic table, she saw Charlie. He was animatedly chatting with Lexi’s weird old neighbour who had clearly only been invited to fend off any complaints about the noise.
‘Hey, Julia,’ Charlie said as she approached. ‘You know Harry?’
Julia nodded as the old man in the flat cap sitting by Charlie smiled his gappy grin at her. He looked like he’d dressed up for the occasion in his tweed trousers, old cream shirt and threadbare waistcoat.
‘She always lets me go ahead in the Costcutter,’ said Harry, taking his cap off and nodding his head at Julia.
‘Well it’s just you’re only ever buying a paper,’ Julia replied, itching to get Charlie away, to go and socialise with – she cringed with shame at herself for thinking it – better people on the street.
Charlie took a swig of his almost full pint. ‘Harry says Mountain Magics always get blight.’
Julia frowned. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Tomatoes,’ said Charlie, bemused that she hadn’t remembered.
‘Oh.’
‘Dixie Golden Giants,’ said Harry, waving a shaky wrinkled hand, ‘they’re the best tomatoes on the market. You can pop round whenever you want to see mine.’
Julia smiled politely, but had to back away when Charlie turned his attention once again to Harry and said, ‘And what was it, never beetroots and carrots together?’
Julia left them to it, feigning interest in a limbo competition that was just starting, not that Charlie noticed she’d gone.
The bow-tie wearing waiters were in charge of the limbo pole. Alicia had hopped out of the hot tub to have a go and was currently contorting herself with ease, dressed in just her bikini while sipping a martini, to the heckling cheers of the semi-naked waiters.
Julia’s phone beeped. It was a WhatsApp from Meryl. It was quite a relief to look away from the spectacle to read it.
Meryl: How’s the party?
Julia: There’s semi-naked limbo-ing and Charlie’s talking to an octogenarian about tomatoes!
Meryl: Time to run off with Hot Hamish then ;-)
Julia: I never wanted to RUN off with him!! I just wanted to have SEX with him!!
Meryl: Haha, my mistake!
Julia put her phone away, first laughing, then immediately feeling bad for making out that Charlie was a disappointment. Then she suddenly panicked that she’d sent the WhatsApp reply to the right person and got her phone out to double-check it had been to Meryl. Christ, that could have been embarrassing.
After that, Julia went in search of Lexi who she found in the kitchen dealing with a canapé crisis still wearing just her bikini.
‘Oh Julia, darling, I was just going to come and find you. Could you do me a massive favour?’ Lexi took hold of Julia’s arm and gave it a squeeze. ‘One of Vanya’s waitresses has just sliced her finger open and has had to be taken to the walk-in clinic to get a stitch. We’re down two of the waiting staff. Is there any chance you could just hand a tray or two around? I’d do it myself but I’ve had a complete blonde moment and lost my dress,’ she tittered. ‘God knows where it is. I’m going to pop upstairs to find something else to wear and then I’ll take over.’
‘That’s fine,’ said Julia, ashamed that she was secretly pleased that she was one of the friends Lexi would be comfortable enough to ask for help. ‘Absolutely, no problem.’
‘Oh you’re a lifesaver!’ Lexi sighed. ‘Here, this tray of smoked salmon blinis needs to go out before the fish starts to stink in the heat.’
Julia put her phone down on the counter and took the tray.
Lexi looked a touch less flustered. ‘Right. Now to find something to wear.’
Julia held the silver platter. ‘Are you sure your dress isn’t over by the hot tub?’
‘Well I thought it was,’ said Lexi, ‘but I just WhatsApped Alicia to have a look and she said it’s not there. I think someone might have picked it up for me, I don’t know.’ She shook her head, and grinned. ‘Only I’d be able to lose my dress at a party.’
Julia laughed. A couple of people trouped through the kitchen, one of them, a chiselled guy with a beanie hat, aviators and a white vest top on, plucked a salmon blini from the tray with a vague nod of thanks to Julia as he chewed it whole. ‘Kitchen’s looking good, Lexi,’ he said, mouth full, as he carried on out the front door where a break-away party had started round the olive tree.
‘Thanks hun!’ Lexi called.
Julia recognised the guy from an Instagram story of Lexi’s at Christmas. She’d taken a screenshot of it and studied it intently, amazed that someone could have such a good-looking, picture-perfect Christmas. He was Lexi’s cousin, she’d deduced. They’d all posed wearing matching Christmas jumpers and pulled it off with ironic cool.