Oceans Apart (Ocean Dreams Book 1) (29 page)

She started bobbing her head up and down but then slowed and changed it for the opposite answer. “Nothing a shower and a shot won’t cure.”

“Bourbon or vodka?”

“Neither. I think this calls for tequila.”

Kirby’s eyebrows shot up toward her hairline in surprise. “Okay, but not too much. We can’t have you boarding the plane legless, can we?”

Annie had no idea what Kirby meant and she wasn’t going to ask right now. Giving her friend a half smile in reply, Annie continued to climb the stairs. She just wanted to get in the shower as soon as possible.

Annie had packed most of her things in her suitcases. An outfit to change into was all that remained out. Annie entered the bathroom and locked the door swiftly behind her. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t as if Kirby would barge in. Maybe it was just a way to stop the outside world and all her problems from flooding her sanctuary. Shedding her clothes and leaving them in pile on the floor, Annie ran the shower until the water temperature was warm. Stepping in, she let the water run down her head and over her body. Standing there in the glass cocoon, which was the shower, nobody could hurt her. The only thing able to do that were her own thoughts as well as the memory of the way Cam looked at her when she broke his heart.

Silent tears rolled down her cheeks, washing away with the warm spray from the shower. Annie hugged her arms around her chest before slowly sliding down the white tiled wall so she sat on the floor. Leaning her arms on top of her knees, Annie let out all of the emotion, which was pent up inside. The anger, hurt, frustration, and anguish. All of those feelings had troubled her every thought over the past few days. She had kept it pretty well together while she talked over the pros and cons with Kirby. This was the time to release all those feelings and wash them away. Getting onto a long haul flight across the Pacific Ocean feeling like utter shit wasn’t something she wished to do.

When all the tears had washed away and she could no longer stand to think of her meeting with Cam, she pulled herself up and stood directly under the spray. Before getting out, she turned the shower faucet to cold and let it stream onto her in one long, cold continuous spray. Her body immediately awoke with surprise at the sudden coolness of the water.
That certainly makes your senses wake up
, she mused to herself.

Annie wrapped her hair up with a small towel before toweling down the rest of her body. Awaiting her on the back of the bathroom door was the snuggly bathrobe Kirby had lent her during her stay. Encasing her body in the comfortable garment, she hung up her towel before making her way back downstairs. Annie padded her way to the kitchen, where Kirby had everything set up to go.

“Humph. You really are organized aren’t you?” Annie said as she looked at the breakfast bar. Lined up in front of two places were three tequila shots for each of them, all accompanied with a wedge of lime. A small glass bowl of salt was by the side of the shots. ‘Bowls of salt?” she questioned Kirby.

Kirby just shrugged her shoulders. “I only had one salt shaker. I figured we could just sprinkle it on.”

A smile broke out on Annie’s lips. “Whatever works,” she said as she sat on the closest stool and made herself comfortable. “Right then. Let’s do this.”

Kirby sat beside her but swiveled her chair around to face Annie, and then swiveled Annie’s chair so they were face to face. The look on Kirby’s face was still one of concern for the well-being of her friend.

“Do you need to talk first?”

“No. I’ve talked enough. I’ve listened to you, Chelsea, Carol, and Cam. More than anything, I need to listen to myself. I’ve made my decision and now I need to stick to it.” Annie was adamant this was the time to forget what had happened and to move on.

Before Annie could start with shot number one, Kirby reached over and embraced her. The friendly hug was one of reassurance that she had made the right decision and of comfort that she could rely on Kirby if she ever needed to.

Releasing Annie back to herself, Kirby sat up straight and turned back to face the alcohol awaiting their consumption. Kirby looked at it quizzically. “How long has it been since you’ve done shots of tequila, Annie?”

Annie tapped a finger on the side of her face as she tried to remember but she couldn’t recollect it. “Beats me, but I’m ready to do this now.” She licked the space between her pointer finger and her thumb before taking a large pinch of salt between her fingers and sprinkling it on the moistened area. Not bothering to look in Kirby’s direction, Annie said, “On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

Both girls licked the salt from their hands, picked up a shot, placed it to their lips and threw their heads back. The liquid trickled down Annie’s throat, burning slowly as it went. Annie swallowed the potent drink quickly and made a grab for the lime. She jammed it between her teeth and sucked the life out of the green citrus. Pulling it away from her lips, Annie let out a, “Whoa.”

Kirby coughed a little. “Yup, I would have to agree with that statement.” Both girls had a chuckle before Kirby said, “Let’s get this over. No stopping in between shots. Deal?”

Nodding her head in agreement, Annie licked two areas on the inside of her wrist and covered them with a sprinkling of salt, with Kirby following suit. Annie counted again. “One. Two. Three.”

The girls went through the same routine. Lick, tequila, lime. Only this time they had a quick suck of the lime before doing it all over again.

Groaning loudly after she swallowed the last shot of tequila, Annie shoved the lime in between her lips and sucked hard. Kirby removed the lime from her mouth and looked over at Annie. “My God. There is a very good reason why I don’t do tequila shots.”

Annie giggled in amusement. “Then why do you have tequila in the house?

Kirby had stood up and started clearing the glasses and leftover rubbish away. “Margarita’s, of course. Tequila mixed with anything is drinkable but on its own—” She scrunched her face up and made it look just like the one that appeared there after taking the shots.

Annie let out a loud laugh before calming herself down. She was going to miss Kirby. It had been so great to have a true girlfriend. One you could open up to and have no fear of judgment being placed upon you. She gave her opinion and thoughts on whatever subjects had arisen, but she never told Annie what was the right or wrong thing to do. She was the sounding board everyone needed occasionally. Annie was so appreciative of this. Getting her thoughts out of her head helped her to see things clearly over the past few days. The ending definitely wasn’t what she had secretly wished for, but it was necessary. Cam needed space to get his head around his new family situation while Annie needed to figure out what her plans were and how she was going to bring them to fruition.

“You don’t have to go, you know?” Kirby broke through her silent thoughts, as she stood with her palms flat against the counter, leaning in a little on her arms.

Annie sighed. “I do. I just up and left things at home. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to live in Nashville anymore, so I will sell my apartment and move on. Nashville holds little for me anymore.” Annie grew sad at that statement but it was true. Her sister didn’t live there and didn’t want anything to do with her anyway. Her parents’ house had been sold the previous year, so it was time she did what she wanted to do. There were no restrictions or confinements. Annie was free to do as she pleased.

Moving around to the other side of the counter, Kirby came to a halt in front of Annie. “Just know you have an open invitation to visit or stay. No advance notice is necessary. I’d be more than happy to see you come back to Australia, but I understand you need to find out what makes you happy.”

Annie smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Kirby. That means a lot to me.”

“Of course, sweetie. Just know I’m here for you no matter what and make sure you take all the time you need. You only get one shot at life, so make it a good one.” If there was one thing Annie was aware of, it was that fact. She had been given a second chance at life and was going to take it.

Those pesky tears Annie thought had dried up in the shower, reared their ugly head again as they pricked the corners of her eyes. Annie pulled Kirby in for another hug. “I’m going to miss you, my friend,” she whispered.

“I’ll miss you, too”

Annie stepped back and smiled through the tears. “I better go, change, and get my hair out of this wet towel. How much time until we have to leave for the airport?”

Kirby looked at the stainless steel sunburst clock, which adorned one wall in her living room. “You’ve got an hour until we leave. I’ll have to drop you at the curbside drop-off point because I need to meet a client directly after. That will leave you about three hours before your plane leaves for L.A.”

“Okay then.” She started down the hallway for the stairs. Leaving Australia was going to be one of the toughest things she had ever done. Especially knowing she was leaving her heart behind, too.

The deep decelerating revs from Kirby’s classic car announced their arrival at the airport departures terminal. Annie got out of the car and tried to straighten out her white long sleeved cotton shirt that had bunched up a little in the car. She flipped her sunglasses on top of her head and noticed people were checking out the gorgeous piece of motoring machinery behind her. She turned to get her suitcases out of the back of the car. What she saw was Kirby, her body bent and the top half of her torso inside the trunk of the car, trying to pry the stubborn piece of luggage out. Annie chuckled and realized the oglers were now looking at the perky, denim-clad backside of her friend, sticking out the rear of the car and wiggling from side to side. When she stood up and heaved the suitcase out of the trunk and onto the curb, Annie was sure she saw people’s mouths drop open at the sight of the tall, statuesque red head wearing skin-tight dark denim jeans and a black tank.

Annie giggled and quickly bit her lip to stifle it when Kirby looked at her and questioned, “What’s so funny?”

“You put on a bit of show which stopped the traffic.” Kirby frowned confusedly at Annie. “Or your ass did anyway.”

Kirby looked over and saw a couple of men who were obviously a little overawed by the sight of her. She just shook her head at them and said, “In your dreams, fellas,” before she moved in front of Annie and embraced her in a tight hug.

“Let me know when you get back to the States. You can call or Skype me anytime.” She released Annie from the friendly hug. “Don’t feel just because we are on opposite sides of the planet, you can’t call on me for anything.”

“You’re going to make me cry.” Annie sniffed and sucked her lips in. She exhaled her short breath and smiled broadly at Kirby. “Thank you for everything but most importantly for your friendship. I will treasure it always.”

Kirby just returned the smile, her lips wavering a little with the emotion of saying goodbye to her friend. She pulled down her black ‘Jackie O’ sunglasses and said to Annie, “Go on. Get outta here. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Kirby quickly kissed Annie on the cheek, leaving a bright red mark where her lips had been, and hurried back to her little classic car. She revved the engine and pulled out into the traffic, raising her hand up behind her and waving back at Annie.

Annie collected her bags together and found the nearest trolley to put them on. Pushing her luggage inside, she lined up at the ticket counter, ready to make her journey back to the United States. There was something very familiar about the emotions running through Annie’s mind while she waited to be called up. Anticipation and anxiety were rearing their ugly heads with the unknown facing her once again. The only thing she knew for sure was she loved Cam and leaving him was the hardest thing she had ever experienced. It was harder than losing her parents, quitting her job, and making a trip halfway around the world.

She had fallen head over heels for this amazing man. A man who never thought he would get a second chance to love completely again, and Annie felt privileged to be the one to open his heart again and show him everyone deserves love. Nodding to herself, Annie knew deep down she was doing the right thing. Giving Cam the space to work out what direction his new life would take would only help them. She truly believed they were meant to be together and one day…

“Next customer, please,” called the airline agent from behind the tall desk.

Looking around, waiting for the next person to move, Annie then realized it was she who was being called. Pushing the trolley over to the counter, Annie handed over her passport and smiled at the blue-eyed middle-aged woman. Her white blonde hair was perfectly swept up into a French twist and her makeup applied flawlessly. If it weren’t for the laugh lines around her eyes, Annie would have believed she was a lot younger.

Without looking up at Annie, the clerk asked, “Where are you travelling to?”

“Nash… No. Uh…Los Angeles.” Annie hesitated, forgetting she wasn’t actually going back to Tennessee at all.

The clerk looked up at her with pursed lips and eyed her peculiarly. “Do I know you?” she asked. “You seem awfully familiar.”