Her hand clutched an ice-cold beer and the condensation dripped down her wrist. She was so tired she felt as though she was hallucinating. The music thumped in time to the pounding in her head. She could feel the bass thudding from the speakers, the lights flashing in time to the music.
‘Maddie?’ Johnny was introducing her to the others. She smiled at them one by one. There was Adity, a beautiful Indonesian girl with pigtails either side of her head and a purple bandana tied around her neck; she lived in Bali but was hoping to go to Jakarta to university the following year. Then there was Po, a music teacher from Korea who was travelling for a year; he was on his way to Perth, Australia. He was short and squat with a killer smile and close-shaven head.
Johnny handed her a napkin and smiled at her. He was wearing a black T-shirt, faded blue board shorts and a silver chain round his neck. His blond, dreadlocked hair was tied back in a ponytail and his incredibly bright, blue eyes fixed on Maddie as he swivelled several leather bands and bracelets around his strong, tanned forearm. He was much older than the others. Maddie looked away as she realised she was staring.
‘So you met the main dude at the surf school up the road?’ Po offered, grinning at Maddie and Johnny.
‘Yes, thankfully he was with Ed.’
‘Yeah, he’s got a lot of experience.’ Po was nodding.
‘Yup, it’s cool running the place.’ Johnny smiled at her. ‘I worked in one in Brisbane, but – I don’t know – I wanted something more. I turned the big four-oh last year and wanted to do something with my life.’ He shrugged. ‘You know? Anyway, the red tape was a nightmare in Oz, so to run my own show, it was easier to come here. I’m learning heaps, and I’ll take my business back to Brissie eventually.’
‘And he’s very popular.’Adity smiled at him. ‘Ed’s been working there, at the shop. Johnny’s been showing him the ropes – in and out the water.’
‘So, Mads – you don’t mind if I call you Mads, do you?’ Johnny grinned at her. ‘Fancy a spot of sightseeing? Day after tomorrow? It’s my day off, from the surf school.’
‘I’ll need to make sure Ed’s all right.’ Maddie straightened up in her seat, a slightly odd sensation running down her spine.
‘Yeah, course you do. And when he’s all tucked up safe in his room resting, reading English newspapers, then you can come with me. I do an occasional food blog and there’s a new menu at a place in Ubud I want to try.’ Johnny winked at her.
Is he flirting with me? She was so tired, she was worried she was dreaming. She began to say something about not being sure when something hit her square in the eyes: she needed to be sure.
‘OK,’ she said and took a huge gulp of beer.
After an hour in the bar, her head was throbbing. They were all talking about carrying on to another ‘joint’.
‘I’ll walk you back to the hostel.’ Johnny was on his feet.
‘You don’t need to do that.’
‘I do and I will.’ He looked down at her and something made her decide to quit arguing as he nodded to the door.
She was aware of the slap of his flip-flops as they shuffled along the pavement in silence. They had to move in and out of the throngs of tourists, people selling jewellery and asking if they wanted to buy it. A small boy with an earring stopped her in the street and held out a book.
‘You tell me.’ He smiled a dazzling smile at her. He was terribly cute!
‘What’s that?’ She bent down to take a closer look at the notebook he was showing her, but just then Johnny yanked her arm and pulled her away.
‘What are you doing?’ She stood up, annoyed. ‘That young boy looked a bit helpless.’
‘Helpless?’ Johnny laughed. ‘You need to watch out. Kuta can be a tricky place. They target newly arrived tourists.’
‘What do you mean “they”?’
‘Pickpockets.’
‘But that boy wasn’t a pickpocket!’
Johnny turned to look at her and cocked his head to one side. She studied his strong jaw, the way his T-shirt stretched across his arms. ‘Wasn’t he? They make the best ones: young, vulnerable boy asking if you can look at some English word on his “notebook” – then with the other hand carefully unzipping your money belt