Dudes Down Under (11 page)

“
But … “

“
Shut your damned fool mouth and listen! You think you are the only female on the fucking planet that has ever lost a man? You are so fucking selfish. Karen is my wife and, believe me, having Vanessa to compete with as my ex doesn’t make her any too secure. The fact that it was Vanessa’s bungalow, and that Vanessa was the one that helped me out with you and your disgusting drunken ass, has flipped Karen out. Her relationship with Vanessa has been cool but polite. I will not lose my wife, and have my ex-wife punished, all because you are too fucking stupid to open your damned eyes and see that you are making him hate you. You are alienating everyone around you. So you need to grow up, little girl, move on, get past your stubborn refusal to give up Tristan. He fell in love with Izzy. She has had his babies. He doesn’t belong to you anymore. In fact, you are making him hate the very sight of you. Do you get it?”

Kylie felt as though she had been punched in the gut, deservedly so. The tears fell unchecked down her face until she began to sob.

Tony took a deep breath. “Dammit, don’t cry. I can’t stand to see a woman cry.” He walked over to where she was sitting bent over and sobbing. He placed his arm around her and held her while she cried it out.

The noise abated and she sat upright. “I have been a fool all this time, haven’t I?” She hiccupped and shuddered at the memory of some of the things she had done. “I’ll talk to Karen, straighten this out. Okay?”

Tony stood up and grinned at her. “Good, that’s fine. What about Tristan and Izzy?”

“
I’ll … I … I will talk to them …,” she laughed sadly, “… if they let me.”

Tony gave her a quick hug. “Okay, it will get better for you, Kylie hon, but you have to give people a chance to see more than the spiteful bitch you have been.”

“
Thanks, I … thanks, Tony.”

He gave her another quick hug, “Can I ask Karen to come over a bit later, or do you want to come see her at our bungalow? How about you come over around seven? We’ll sit outside and have a few drinks - a few, that’s all, okay?”

“
That would be good. I’ll clean myself up and go see Tristan and Izzy. Do you know what bungalow they are in?”

“
Yeah, they are over on the east side of the complex. It’s a good walk from here. Bungalow 3.”

“
Okay … and thanks again, Tony.”

“
Okay, catcha around seven.”

“
Yep, catcha.”

Tony felt a little better. Now it was up to Kylie. He could only hope that Karen believed her.

Kylie sat for quite a while after Tony had gone, quiet and calm. She felt drained. God help me, I have been such a complete fool. And a complete bitch. I don’t think I can face Tris, or her. I need some time. Maybe I should just go home.

Chapter 12

Skeet needed to talk to someone about this sex-object thing. He wasn’t too certain why it bothered him. It was not like he was in love or anything.

He spotted Charlie Danvers walking on the sweeping pathway near the lagoon.
I wonder if I could talk to Charlie about this. He’s an Aussie and he knows the people over in the States. Maybe this is normal behavior over there or somethin’.

Lucy spotted Skeet, “Hey you, come join me. Grab a tinnie, and one for me, okay, Skeet?”

“
Love to, mate. Giz-a-sec and I’ll be with ya.”

Skeet couldn’t think of a nicer way to spend his time. Lucy looked so beautiful. He grabbed a few cold beers from behind the bar and wandered back outside in the shade and joined his boss. “So, me lovely, whatcha been up to?”

“
I’m being bone lazy, Skeet. Just sitting here thinking over the past couple of days. What have you been doing?”

Skeet blushed and Lucy grinned. Ah, so she had guessed correctly. Well, well, good old Skeet. This could get very interesting.

“
So, you Casanova you, what did you do with little-miss-I’m-so-rich?”

“
Do? I … nothing, Lucy. Well nothing I care to share, that is,” he grinned.

“
Just don’t go getting your heart broken, my friend.”

“
No, it’s not a worry. That young lady don’t believe in complications.”

“
Good to hear, buddy of mine. Now, we need to round up everyone and get ‘em all in the ballroom tomorrow morning. The tsunami alarms are fitted and working. I just want to go over the evacuation procedure once more. I have a note tacked up on the doors of the bungalows and have invited them all to a big Aussie breakfast tomorrow. Then we have parasailing and reef trips. I don’t want to frighten any of them but we both know what could happen if we get caught unprepared. So we’ll just run it by them and leave it at that, okay?”

“
Good idea, Lucy. Shit, I’d be crapping me pants if that thing went off and I didn’t already know how well prepared we are.”

“
Okay, so I’m off in an hour or so. When are you back on duty?”

“
Not till early tomorrow morning.”

“
How about we take a walk up to the Tops and do a double-check on everything, grab an esky full of goodies and have ourselves a picnic in the sky?”

“
Sounds great to me. I’ll have Doc feed Cyril for me.”

“
Great. Meet you outside my bungalow in, say, two hours?”

“
Gotcha. I’ll go and line things up with Doc and have a quick chat to Cyril.”

“
See you then.”

Skeet nodded and headed down the pathway to ask Doc about Cyril. Well, what a nice way to spend the rest of the day. Lucy was such good company.
I wonder if I can ask her about this sex-object thing? Dunno, maybe not such a great idea. She was a female after all.

*  *  *

Lana Peters decided on a swim before lunch. So many places to choose from. She wanted to be alone.

She decided to take the buggy, and a picnic, and head off to the northern side of the island.

The buggy pathway was wide and winding, curving in to almost touch the water, and then it wound its way up and through the rain forest.

Lana had her camcorder and sang to herself as she meandered along. Fifteen minutes or so into her trip she came upon a group of kangaroos that were resting together in the cool shaded areas of the tall gums. The trees were covered in glorious colored strands of bougainvillea, a painter's smorgasbord. Skeet had covered the topic of kangaroos and their behavior during Orientation, and he’d mentioned that the island roos were so used to people that they were almost tame.

Lana reached into the esky and pulled out the fresh bread. She tore some up and watched in fascination as the roos hopped over to the buggy and waited. She held her hand open and flat, as instructed, and felt the cold noses and gentle muzzles seek out the treats. They were so damned cute. She filmed them and watched as they bounded away when they realized the food supply had run out.

She was delighted, and again marveled at the odd creatures and people that populated this ‘Eden of the Pacific’. The hospitality and good humor of these folks wasn’t being conjured up as a trick to lure money. They were without a doubt some of the most straightforward and delightful folks she had ever met.

The film crew were due to arrive in another week or so, although the interviews weren’t scheduled till the final week of their stay. Lana knew that the crew would need time to do background filming of the island and all the amazing scenery before the A-listers completed the deals already made.

Should work well. All of them had been interviewed before the draw. It would be so interesting to see if they had changed their points of view after spending three weeks here.

The buggy rounded a sharp turn and Lana almost gasped aloud at the scene below her. The beach was curved around the lagoon, with the palm trees almost kissing the azure blue waters. Another island rose out of the ocean on the horizon. She pulled the buggy in under the palms and grabbed the cooler and the recorder. How beautifully and utterly peaceful. God, this was indeed heaven.

The sand was white, silky under foot and soft. She stood transfixed. A sudden movement in the water startled her and she watched in fascination as a pod of dolphins arched playing in the tranquil glassy clear ocean. The recorder was started and she forgot all about swimming, for a while at least.

Chapter 13

Skeet was ready and waiting as Lucy emerged from her home. He hoped she didn’t mind one extra. Skeet had asked Charlie as one Aussie bloke to another about this sex-object stuff.

Charlie was so damned funny, but he’d been cool. He had asked Skeet where he was heading off to with the fully-packed esky, and Skeet had told him a little about the Tops. Charlie had asked if he could come along, so he had. Lucy looked so damned gorgeous. Skeet just didn’t understand why she was always alone.

Skeet worried about just how isolated she kept herself. The staff adored her, and why not? She was generous and fair, although she maintained a distance necessary to create a strong work ethic. She didn’t socialize much, although she could be counted on to be on board for birthday or other such celebrations. She knew how to enjoy herself.

However she was either the most discreet woman he’d ever known or she hadn’t had a man near her in the past 3 years of creating and building
Dudes
. Far too long for a woman like Lucy to stay celibate. He wasn’t brave enough to ask her why.

If Lucy was surprised to find Charlie Danvers with Skeet, she was much too polite to let it show. She greeted him with a warm smile and friendly, “G’day, Charlie, how are you?”

“
Just fine, Lucy. Hope you don’t mind me tagging along. Skeet mentioned the Tops and I would love to take a peek as long as that’s okay with you?”

“
Geez, I don’t know, Charlie. Might have to charge you another $500,000 for the privilege.”

Charlie cracked up laughing. “Shit, mate, it’s so good to be home with the abnormal folks.”

Lucy flashed him her 1,000 volt smile and they were both grinning like idiots. Skeet was watching the little exchange with interest.
Well, well, well, Lucy is awfully coy. Hmmm, this could be interestin’.

Charlie was so pleased he had this opportunity. Lucy fascinated him. “So what exactly is the Tops? Or do I have to wait till we get there?” he asked.

“
It’s a castle in the sky, sort of. I can’t exactly explain it. It’s like … well, wait and see. Okay?

The three of them began walking, the pathway curving gently up, around, and through denser and cooler rainforest. The sound of water rushing somewhere close and the flash of iridescent bird wings gave the walk a surreal quality.

Charlie noticed wooden platforms every few hundred yards and a stairway that was reasonably steep was cut into the hillside. The tinkle of a bell-bird rang out. “God, I haven’t heard a bell-bird for years. I didn’t think we’d find ‘em so far north.

“
They love the rain forest, but once the big wet sets in, they head further south. We have dingoes up here as well.”

“
Saw a few of ‘em when Vanessa and I were working on the movie. They got ‘em on Frazer Island as well, hey?”

“
Yeah, do you know I’ve lived up here most of my life and I never ventured down to Frazer. I hear the fishing’s good there?’

“
Lucy, I swear they have the biggest barramundi I have ever seen, and that’s fishing from the beach.”

“
Dunno, Charlie.” said Skeet, “They’d have to be pretty bloody big to impress our Lucy, mate. She goes bloody Marlin fishing.”

“
You’re shittin’ me? Do you, Lucy? Seriously? That’s wonderful, I love deep sea fishing. Went fishing for those big boys off Cairns a coupla years back. Thrilling stuff, isn’t it?”

Skeet watched this little exchange with interest, noting that they both seemed to have forgotten his existence. For the hour remaining of their walk they wandered on ahead, laughing and chatting like they’d known each other forever.

The rainforest opened out in front and Charlie stopped and looked up. “Well, I’ll be damned. This is unbelievable.” He was gazing up high into the gum trees. There were rounded huts built around the trunks of the trees, all inter-connected with rope and wood-planked walkways. “Tarzan, eat your heart out,” he said and let out a whistle, “Lucy, this is amazing. Who thought of it? A genius, by the look of it.

Skeet said, “Lucy did.” And could have bitten his tongue out. He looked over at her and grimaced. “Sorry, Luce.”

“
Accident, Skeet. It's all good,” said Lucy.

She turned around and grinned at Charlie who was trying his best to not look curious. “I could lie and tell you I had suggested this to the owner, but I won’t as long as I can trust you not to flap your gums like some people I know. Can you promise me that? Please, Charlie?”