CHAPTER 24

Samantha

‘Well, I’m just going to say it,’ Samantha murmured, watching from outside the terminal, ‘that was quick.’

Jaddi nodded, her eyes fixed on Harrison and Lizzie wrapped in each other’s arms. ‘Just a bit.’

Samantha waved Ben over.

‘Are you all right?’ Samantha asked as Ben dropped his backpack to the floor and repositioned his camera bag across one of his shoulders.

‘Yep.’ Ben pressed his index finger and thumb on his forehead as if he was trying to smooth away the furrows that had formed there since Samantha had seen him last.

‘Did Channel 6 arrange this?’ Samantha pointed at the media gaggle.

Ben shrugged. ‘If they did, then they didn’t tell me.’

‘Would you expect them to?’

‘Caroline’s been emailing me details of our America leg already, so if she’d planned anything here, then, yes, I’m sure she would’ve told me.’

Eventually the press gathered their belongings and left in a mass exodus.

Even though Jaddi had mentioned the astronomical number of fans growing daily on their Facebook page and Twitter account, it still seemed unbelievable, disturbing even, to see their reach on the other side of the world.

‘Hey,’ Lizzie said, striding towards them. ‘Sorry about the delay. Are you guys OK?’

Harrison lingered a few paces behind, his face bent forwards as his fingers danced across the keypad of his mobile. He looked up, catching Samantha’s eye and stepping forward.

‘Jaddi, Sally.’ He flashed a row of perfectly straight teeth. ‘Great to see you.’

‘It’s Samantha.’ She smiled.

‘Oops, sorry, Sammy,’ he said, in a stronger Australian accent than Samantha remembered from the few times she’d met him in London. She was sure he’d had an American edge to his voice when they’d met him last. Either way, he was still just as gorgeous.

He was a poster boy for the young carefree-surfer look and seemed to know it. The subtle blond highlights from the sun or a bottle (the latter, Samantha suspected, based on their too-perfect scattering) swept into a just-rolled-out-of-bed look, that probably took an hour to perfect based on the way his fringe sat just so on his forehead.

He wasn’t particularly tall, under six foot, she guessed, but he was toned and athletic, and had a bounce to his gait which made him seem bigger.

‘Are you OK with all this?’ Samantha asked Lizzie as Ben repositioned his camera bag with a stern pull, reminding her they needed to get going.

‘You mean the media circus? Sure.’ She smiled as she spoke but Samantha thought she detected more than a hint of sarcasm in the way Lizzie clipped the final letter of each word. Harrison dropped an arm around Lizzie’s shoulder and kissed her cheek.

Ben held out a hand to Harrison. ‘I’m Ben Holmes, the cameraman.’ He turned his gaze to Lizzie.

‘Oh, sorry.’ Lizzie smiled. ‘Ben, this is Harrison, Harrison, this is Ben.’

Harrison fell half a foot shorter than Ben, but if he felt uncomfortable by Ben’s height as he bounced forward then he didn’t show it. ‘G’day, mate. Welcome to Sydney.’

‘Thanks.’ Ben unzipped a pocket in his camera bag, riffled inside it for a moment before pulling out a sheet of paper. ‘I’m guessing that you’ll be joining us for some of the trip, in which case, you’re going to need to sign this waiver.’ He handed the document to Harrison. ‘It basically says that you’re fine for me to film you for the purposes of this documentary and that you won’t be receiving any payment for doing so.’

Harrison grinned. ‘No worries. Gotta pen?’

Samantha raised her eyebrows at Jaddi as Harrison signed the form, but Jaddi’s eyes were watching Lizzie. Jaddi’s forehead was creased, her mouth a thin, straight line as if she was trying to figure something out in her head.

‘I gotta shoot into work,’ Harrison said a moment later, handing back the sheet of paper to Ben and turning to face Lizzie. ‘The boss wants me to do a quick handover before my hols.’

‘Holiday?’ Lizzie said. ‘Are you going somewhere?’

Harrison leant forward and kissed Lizzie on the lips. ‘I’m going wherever you’re going. I’ve got this whole week off to spend with you. I’ll be your very own tour guide. Starting with snags on the beach tonight in your honour.’ He turned and addressed them all. ‘We’ll give you a proper Aussie welcome.’

Lizzie smiled. ‘Sounds good.’

‘Where ya staying?’ he asked, his eyes lingering on Jaddi.

‘A youth hostel just by the harbour,’ Jaddi replied.

‘Oh, yeah, I know it. The Rocks. Just hop onto one of the red and white Captain Cook ferries from Darling Harbour and head to Watsons Bay for around seven. You can get a bus but the ferry is way cooler. I’ll make sure there are enough spare seats in cars to get you back afterwards.’

Harrison collected Lizzie in his arms and spun her around a final time before bouncing off towards the exit, leaving a silence that none of them seemed to know how to fill.

Eventually Samantha spoke. ‘Shall we go find our hostel and dump our bags then?’

Jaddi nodded, but Lizzie stared off into the distance wearing an amused expression.

‘Lizzie?’ Jaddi said.

‘Yeah.’

‘Ready to go?’

‘Definitely. But can we make a detour before the hostel? I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of a fry-up.’

‘Actually, I was just thinking I could go for some noodles right about now,’ Ben said, making them all laugh and restoring the equilibrium to their foursome.

‘By the way,’ Jaddi said, ‘anyone know what a snag is?’

Lizzie laughed. ‘Not a clue, Sam?’ She pushed Samantha’s arm. ‘You must know. Surely you’ve done your usual boffin research on culture and language?’

‘Sausages, I think,’ Samantha said as Ben unzipped his holdall and pulled out his camera.

‘Oh,’ Jaddi said, ‘that makes sense.’

Ben strode three paces ahead of them and hoisted his camera onto his shoulder, and as they strolled out into the warm Australian sunshine, Samantha tried not to dwell on the potential trouble that the Australian media, and Harrison – with his all-too-perfect smile – might bring to the group, and especially to Lizzie.