Sunrise in Bali - Across the Pond Trilogy (Book 1) (11 page)

As
the afternoon wore on they decided to get back to the group. Andy had
arranged for them all to get together for dinner and they needed a
bit of time to freshen up. Before long they were back in their rooms,
where Jenny found Sarah lying on her bed with a wet towel over her
head and the fan raging in her direction. It seemed she was still
nursing her hangover and hadn't exactly made the most of the day. To
Jenny she also seemed a bit 'off', perhaps owing to the fact that
she'd spent the entire day with Henry.

After
having a cold shower Sarah seemed to perk herself up a little bit,
and they both walked off to the bar for dinner. There, they found
Todd, Mark, and Andrew jovially recounting the previous nights
mishaps. It looked as though there were no grudges held about any of
it and Andrew seemed happy to have helped. Todd and Mark also
appeared to have recovered and were back on the beers, laughing and
joking as the girls turned up. Sarah, perhaps having hit a watershed
moment sometime during the day, seemed to have decided to give up on
Mark, for which Jenny was relieved. A few moments later Henry
arrived, gave Jenny a kiss on the cheek from over her shoulder, and
rounded the table to sit next to Mark. He issued him to lean back
before having a few quiet words in his ear. It looked to Jenny as
though they were sorting out their differences and clearing a few
things up, but it didn't take long before they both rejoined the
conversation. Once Miley, Eno, and Andy had all turned up, the group
settled in for a relaxing dinner as the sun gave its final bow.
Emily, Miley informed the group, wasn't feeling up to it, but her
absence was hardly noticeable, to Jenny at least.

The
party seemed in marked contrast to their earlier lunch, where nerves
seemed frayed and tensions were mounting. Now everyone seemed chatty,
buoyant, and in high spirits, with stories of the previous night
abounding around the group. Andrew told of Henry's heroics with the
group of Aussies who were harassing Sarah, while Todd and Mark had
some highly amusing anecdotes to tell about their mushroom induced
hallucinations. According to Mark, the sofa he was sitting on tried
to open up and eat him at one point, which largely contributed to his
paranoid state when Andrew stumbled upon them at the end of the
night. It was the best dinner of the trip so far for Jenny, not least
because of Henry. He talked and smiled and joked to the group, and
seemed to have broken free from his shell once more. They caught eyes
regularly across the table, sharing little looks and winks, to which
the group were becoming increasingly aware. Before long, Andy and
Todd were chiming in with a few suggestive remarks in their
direction, to which they both just shrugged and smiled. Jenny found
it hard to subdue her happiness, but there was always that nagging
feeling that it would be fleeting. The days were ticking by quickly,
and Henry was scheduled to leave for Singapore in a few days time.

At
the end of the evening Jenny and Henry left the group once more,
walking down onto the beach to watch the stars. They talked for a
while, finding out more about each other with each passing moment,
before kissing and embracing as the water trickled up between their
toes. “I don't want this to end,” Jenny said, unable to restrain
her feelings any more.

“
Neither
do it.”

With
that, they returned to their rooms, Henry stopping with Jenny outside
her door to give her a goodnight kiss. “It's been a special day,”
he said, brushing her long brown hair to one side, “the best of my
life.”

She
smiled up into his hazel eyes and returned the sentiment without any
hint of a lie: “mine too.”

The
next day the group left the island and, despite Jenny's reservations
upon leaving for Gili Meno two days earlier, she was now very sad to
see it go. After a quick breakfast the group packed their bags onto
what appeared to be the same boat they arrived on and began the short
journey back across to Lombok. Jenny and Henry sat together at the
back of the boat, watching the Gili Islands gradually become more
faint and merge into the background. For Jenny it seemed somewhat
symbolic, as if the island and boat represented the parting of
herself and Henry, and a sadness began to grip at her chest.

Before
long they were coasting back into Bangsal Harbor and disembarking the
boat, transferring their luggage straight onto a waiting minivan, and
setting off down the western coast of the island towards Senggigi.
Here they would spend their final night of the tour before taking a
short flight back over the Lombok Strait to Denpasar in Bali.

As
the van bumped along the windy coastal track, Jenny began to feel
increasingly melancholic. Her feelings for Henry were growing more
intense by the day, and her heart pounded at the thought of leaving
Lombok and, soon after, seeing Henry leave her. She lay with her head
pressed against the window, watching the light blue sea twinkle under
the sun, a gloomy frown etched across her forehead. Next to her,
Henry seemed equally quiet, perhaps reflecting on the past couple of
days. He had his journal out, and was furtively scribbling away, keen
to make sure no-one could see what he was writing. When Jenny turned
to talk to him, he quickly shut the book, or turned the page to
reveal a half-drawn picture from the view from their bed on the beach
on Gili Meno. Jenny had no idea Henry had been drawing that night: it
must have been when she fell asleep before the sunset.

After
an hour or so they arrived at Senggigi, one of Lombok's primary
regions for tourists, according to Andy. Along the coastline
stretched some spectacular beaches, bordered by tall palm trees
overlooking the sand and imposing hills drifting inland. After
quickly checking in at their final hotel, a 5 star palace after the
huts and guesthouses of the previous few nights, they all took to the
beach to enjoy the warm sea and take some pictures. Andy was keen to
get some group shots done, something that seemed to be a custom at
the end of each of his tours. After everyone took turns taking
pictures of the rest of the group, Andy appeared with a picnic stored
away in the van. They all ate and laughed on the beach, with the odd
drop of wine being passed around as well. After two weeks together,
there was a cohesiveness to the group that Jenny could never have
expected when she started the tour: even Emily had begun to show a
bit more of herself, seemingly propped up by the motherly Miley.

After
an hour of stories and confessions, Andy pitched the rest of the days
itinerary to them. The afternoon was to be taken up by a short
bicycle ride following by some forest trekking, a visit to a local
monkey sanctuary, and then some sea kayaking for the more
adventurous. Once the night drew in, Andy had arranged for the group
to experience a traditional Lombok dinner at the house of a local
family, just to give the group a truly authentic meal before
returning to Bali. To Jenny it all sounded like the perfect way to
round off the tour.

A
few minutes later they had packed the remainder of the picnic into
the van and were setting off to rent some mountain bikes for their
short ride into the forest. Henry seemed delighted with the planned
day ahead, and was raring to go as soon as he jumped onto his saddle,
jetting off along a dirt track up into the hills in a race with Andy.
The rest of the group followed sharply behind, Eno and Miley bringing
up the rear as had become customary with any of the more active
pursuits the group had undertaken. After a lively winding ride they
locked up their bikes in a lodge and continued on foot, exploring the
beautiful hills and forests of West Lombok in the company of a Sasak
guide who, along with Andy, provided the group with a wealth of
information about the region.

Along
the way they came upon a monkey sanctuary inhabited by hundreds of
long tailed macaques who, despite their friendly appearance, were
slightly more overzealous around the group than Jenny might have
liked. The guide warned them not to hand food directly to them for
want of keeping their fingers intact, so Jenny made sure to keep any
snacks she had in her bag to herself. Todd, brazen as he was, didn't
heed the guide's warnings, and got a bitten finger as a reward, much
to the amusement of the group.

The
rest of the afternoon continued in good spirits: Jenny and Henry
joking together and sharing the odd kiss when no-one was looking.
They walked behind, holding hands and musing on the events of the
previous couple of weeks. Not once, however, did they mention the
future: the fact that Henry was leaving in two days. Beneath Jenny's
happy exterior, there was an undercurrent of sadness, a numb feeling
in the pit of her stomach that she'd met someone, someone unlike
anyone she'd met before; someone who, in two days, would probably
leave her life forever. With every little kiss, every stroke of her
hair, every look of Henry's eyes, it was becoming more difficult to
part with him. She felt stupid for feeling like this, and weird that
the thoughts of Trent that were previously dominating her mind were
now a distant blur; an irrelevance in the face of this new romance.
The intensity of seeing each other all day, every day, amplified the
two weeks they'd known each other: to her, it felt like she'd known
him for a lifetime.

After
a few hours the group had returned to their bikes and made the ride
downhill towards the beach. This time, Henry chose to ride slowly
along with Jenny, talking as they slid down the dirt tracks towards
the coast. Not long after, they were out on the water, each in their
own kayak drifting about on the calm seas. Henry and Andy continued
to compete with any physical challenge they came across, racing off
towards a buoy several hundred meters out to sea. As they came
cruising back, Jenny could hear Andy mocking Henry over his victory
on what appeared to be something of a photo finish. Henry looked less
than pleased, but asserted that it was 1-1 after he'd beaten him on
the bike ride earlier. After a quick to and fro, they shook hands and
agreed on a tie, both happy enough with the result.

After
half an hour or so, Jenny paddled back into shore to join Eno and
Miley on the beach. She watched as Henry, Mark, Todd, Andrew, and
Andy crashed about on the water, splashing each other with their oars
and trying to capsize each others boats. She laughed as they all
ganged up on Todd and sent him crashing down into the depths,
something that got a round of applause from those watching on the
beach. After the tomfoolery had drawn to a close, they paddled a
little further out before slipping over the side of their kayaks and
duck diving under the waves. Jenny could see Andy talking to the
group before gesturing them to follow him under. They did this
several times, talking animatedly each time they resurfaced. This
continued for a while before they all returned to shore, chatting
away excitedly about the fascinating marine life they'd witnessed
beneath the waves.

Once
they'd returned their kayaks, Andy said they'd have another hour
before meeting in the lobby of their hotel before dinner. Everyone
headed off to freshen up except Jenny and Henry, who lay on the warm
sand a little longer under the fading sun. Henry stroked his hands
across Jenny's soft stomach and up over her shoulders, caressing her
neck gently and guiding her hair back over her head. “I can't
believe this is ending,” he said, before kissing her. Jenny didn't
know whether he was talking about the trip or their relationship, but
she suspected both.

They
returned to their rooms and prepared for dinner, Sarah questioning
Jenny over her flourishing new relationship: “you two seem to be
getting along very well,” she said suggestively. “Anything
major
happen yet?”

“
What
do you mean...like, did we sleep together?”

“
Well...yeah!”

“
Sarah,
you know what I'm like, that's not gonna happen. Anyway, when would
we have done that?” she almost sounded annoyed at the intimation.

“
Oh,
I dunno, maybe when you spent the entire day yesterday on your own
around the island? There's plenty of secluded spots on that island
you could have used,” she joked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.
“Or when you spent the night together on the beach....that'd be a
good place to lose it Jen.”

Jenny
had never felt comfortable talking about sex with Sarah, especially
the fact that she was a virgin. They were so close and such good
friends, but very different in many ways. While Jenny had never found
anyone she felt comfortable enough with to have sex with, Sarah was
at the other end of the promiscuity spectrum, and it was something
she just couldn't understand. “Yeah I suppose, but...I've only
known him a couple of weeks...”

“
Who
cares Jen, you really like him, I can tell....time means nothing,
it's about how you feel. Just go for it I say, you might regret it if
you don't.”

Jenny
was starting to get a little uncomfortable talking about this with
Sarah: she just didn't understand it from her point of view, how
could she. “Well maybe....I need to shower.” She was quick to
shut down the conversation and darted off to the shower to avoid any
further questioning. The idea of having sex with Henry had only ever
been a thought, a lustful daydream that she'd enjoyed. Sure, she'd
thought about sex a lot over the years, but actually taking the step
to do it was another thing altogether. To Jenny, sex was something
that you did when you were in love, and she was waiting for the right
guy...