Chapter 2.12 – Party Girl

I spent the entirety of our second day in Egypt fishing in the pond, and ended up catching more frogs, crocodiles and Alley Catfish than I knew what to do with.

In the evening, I had arranged to meet James at the restaurant in the marketplace for our second and final dinner for the trip. He insisted on ordering the most expensive dish on their menu, which meant my favourite meal, grilled salmon, for both of us.

In spite of the incredible dinner, I couldn’t help feeling like something was off between us tonight. James seemed quieter than usual, and seemed to be having trouble looking me in the eye.

“Is everything all right?” I asked him, concerned.

“What?” he dropped his fork, and sat up straighter. “Yes, everything’s fine. How’s your salmon?”

“Really good, thank you.” He was definitely behaving strangely. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

James made a visible effort to relax. “I’m sure,” he said, with a smile that seemed a little forced.

I nodded, popping a final forkful of fish into my mouth.

I stood up from the table and waited for James to join me. “Shall we go back to camp, then?” I suggested.

“Actually…” James looked away, scratching the back of his head nervously. “There’s this place I wanted to show you. Could we go there instead?” Yep, definitely something going on.

I shrugged. “Sure, lead the way.”

The place James brought me to turned out to be a small lake, similar to the one I had been fishing at, but surrounded by lush grass and palm trees. I stared at it for a few moments, speechless.

“Do you like it?” James asked hesitantly from behind me.

I turned around, and took both his hands in mine. “It’s beautiful,” I told him earnestly. “How did you find this place?”

“I just stumbled across it when I was exploring today,” he said offhandedly. He let go of my hands, walked a few feet away and sat down on the grass in the middle of a patch of lilac flowers. He seemed much more relaxed now that we were here. Smiling, I wandered over and sat down beside him.

I felt his hand brush against mine as he passed an arm around me and we both leaned back, gazing up at the Egyptian night sky. Here, away from the city lights back home, the stars seemed brighter, closer, more dazzling.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, James spoke.

“Do you remember the first time we looked at the stars together like this?”

I smiled at the recollection. “Of course! It was the day you first opened up to me about what was really going on with you and Tyler.”

He sighed. “I remember… you told me you loved me. I still can’t describe the way that made me feel. I knew you didn’t mean it like that… but I was crazy about you, even then.”

“Even when I was upset with you?”

He chuckled, and kissed my cheek. “Especially when you were upset with me.”

Smiling, we both fell silent again.

A few moments later, James withdrew his arm and stood up. Confused, I followed suit.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No,” he assured me, reaching out to stroke my cheek. “There’s just something I wanted to ask you.”

I watched curiously while he reached down, fumbling with something in his pocket. When he dropped down on one knee and opened the tiny box, I felt my eyes start to well up with tears of joy.

James took a deep breath before he spoke. “Bianca Hunter,” he began, while I fought to keep my emotions under control, “the first time we met on the beach, you won my heart with your kindness, quick mind and generosity of spirit. You were my first and best friend since arriving in Bridgeport, and as I grew to know you better, I realised just how lucky I am to have you in my life. I have loved you since the moment I met you, and more every day since. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. Will you marry me?”

I nodded, finding myself momentarily speechless. “Yes!” I managed to gasp. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you.” I had never been more sure of anything in my life.

With the biggest smile I had ever seen, he carefully lifted the ring out of the box and threaded it onto my finger.

The moment he stood up, I threw myself into his arms. Everything was perfect… I would never, ever forget tonight.

As soon as we got home, the best frog and the best Alley Catfish I caught in Egypt went into bowls in my display room. The rest I kept to stock the garden pond, so with any luck I would be able to keep catching and selling the same species, without having to travel overseas again to do it.

Winter had well and truly set in back home while we had been away. It was an unusually cold year and the pond was frozen over, so for the first time ever I could go ice skating in my own yard.

The ocean, in fact, was the only water in town that wasn’t frozen solid. In my determination to learn more about the winter marine life of Bridgeport, I was down at the beach most evenings with my rod and tackle, dressed to brave the cold weather.

Ordinarily under such circumstances, Mum would have called me crazy, but as it happens she was even more fixated on her career than I was. She was still striving to reach the top as a singer, and was performing gigs year-round at various locations all over town.

Tyler, meanwhile, was steaming ahead in her relationship with Aron, despite James’ and my obvious disapproval.

He had been her date to the Junior Prom a few days previously, which of course we never heard about until James caught the two of them sneaking out together. Tyler had looked very pretty in her dress… I just wished she had someone more worthwhile to share a special night like that with.

Ever since our return from Egypt, both James and I had been spending a lot of time reading up on our respective hobbies. While I poured over fishing manuals, James sat beside me and studied recipes like his life depended on it.

One morning a week after we had returned home from Egypt, I was feeding my fish when my cell phone rang. The name on the caller ID was my sister’s.

“Hey Bridie, what’s up?”

“Bianca! Not much, I was just calling to check up on you. How was Egypt? Tell me all about it!”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little. My sister had always been a bit excitable.

“Egypt was great. I got engaged,” I added with a grin.

“Engaged! That’s amazing, Bianca! It’s to James, I hope.”

I giggled. “Of course it is.”

“Well, okay! So obviously we’ll need to start planning your bachelorette party right away.”

Oh, no. “Um, Bridie, I wasn’t planning on having a bachelorette party…”

“What?!” she gasped. “You have to! Come on, Bianca, it’s traditional, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event! Well… hopefully.”

“I don’t know… it’s not really my thing.”

It took several minutes for her to convince me, but eventually I caved. “As long as you’ll be there,” I reminded her.

Bridie scoffed. “Of course I’ll be there, I wouldn’t miss it! Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the guest list and everything, you just have to be there and look good! Oh, and we’ll have to have it at your place, mine’s nowhere near big enough.”

I sighed. “Okay, Bridie. I’ll see you later.”

I wasn’t sure quite what to expect from a bachelorette party, but I wanted to trust Bridie when she told me it would be amazing, and I reminded myself it was good for me to get out of my comfort zone once in a while. James and Mum preferred to stay out of the way, but I allowed Tyler to come to the party on the condition that she stayed away from the alcohol.

The big day arrived, and according to Bridie’s instructions, I let my hair down, put on showy make-up and slipped into a minidress for the first time in years. I almost didn’t recognise myself in the mirror.

As I came downstairs, I was shocked to find my house already full of guests, in various states of undress. I recognised most of the girls from high school, but there were also a few men there that I guessed Bridie had taken the liberty of inviting herself.

“Strippers?!” I yelled over the deafening music. “Bridie, really?”

“She’s here!” my sister squealed, ignoring my comment. Giggling, she grabbed my hand and dragged me into the middle of the room. “Break open the booze! Let’s get this party started!”

Someone passed Bridie a bottle of champagne, and she popped the cork with practised ease. Holding her thumb over the opening, she began to shake the bottle vigorously with a wicked grin on her face.

“Bridie…!” I realised a second too late what she was doing, and the next thing I knew, I was dripping in champagne.

“Bridie! Oh my god!” I couldn’t help but giggle. The wild atmosphere was starting to get to me.

In spite of my best intentions, I ended up enjoying the evening immensely – which may have been helped by the fact that my sister was continually plying me with drinks all night.

I stumbled upstairs to the bedroom well after midnight, drunk and exhausted. Thank god for Bridie, who helped me remove my make-up and get changed before she left. “Never wear that stuff to bed, unless it’s to bed with a cute guy,” she told me with a wink. I had giggled uncontrollably at the time.

Exhausted, I fell onto the bed, not even noticing that it was already occupied.

“Hey,” James said with a grin as I fell into his arms. “Fun night?”

I giggled and nodded. “Better than expected.” At least that’s what I think I said, but judging by the bemused look on his face, it probably wasn’t quite what came out.

James shook his head. “Damn, Bridie really got you into the alcohol, huh?”

I giggled again. “Uh-huh.” Linking my hands in his, I slid forward and pulled him towards me for a kiss.

James grinned as he pushed me away. “Bee, I love you, but your breath reeks of alcohol and you need to get some rest. Let’s just sleep tonight, okay?”

I nodded, without really knowing what I was agreeing to, and rolled off him onto my side. The last thing I remembered was the weight of James’ arm resting protectively on top of me, as I drifted into unconsciousness.

---

Some Bonus Pictures from Bianca’s bachelorette party: