Dismissed Read online

  ‘Please don’t blindfold me and throw me in the boot.’

  Taylor laughed. ‘Actually, I didn’t think of that. That would have been cool! But come on. We’re going to be late otherwise.’

  Lizzie didn’t like surprises. And she suspected tonight would not be an exception.

  CHAPTER 18

  The cab dropped them off at Eagle Street. Lizzie hopped out of the vehicle and walked beside Taylor down the stairs to the waterfront.

  So far everything seemed OK. There were a lot of classy restaurants along the pier, so Lizzie was hopeful they were in for a chilled out meal. Yet something told her she was being a bit too optimistic.

  They stopped at the edge of the water.

  ‘OK, here is where I will actually be blindfolding you,’ Taylor said, pulling a red satin bandana from her purse.

  ‘Is that completely necessary?’ Lizzie asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  Lizzie sighed. ‘OK, but I’m trusting you to be nice to me.’

  ‘Relax! It’s your eighteenth! We have the perfect evening organised.’

  She took Lizzie’s small handbag from her.

  ‘I’ll hold onto this too so you have a spare hand to balance if necessary.’

  ‘Why would I be balancing?’

  Lizzie soon found out. Taylor was leading her down a gangplank and onto a boat. She could feel it bobbing gently underneath her feet.

  ‘Can I look now?’

  ‘No. You just have to wait a minute. But you can sit here.’ Taylor pushed her down onto a seat. ‘I’ll be back in a minute. No peeking!’

  Lizzie sat for a moment before surreptitiously lifting the corner of her bandana.

  ‘I said no peeking!’ Taylor yelled from a few metres away. Lizzie quickly dropped her hand. She hadn’t seen anything except for some scratchy-looking boat carpeting.

  After a few minutes, she heard a whole bunch of squealing, and then felt the boat pulling away from the jetty.

  ‘OK, you can look now.’ Taylor pulled the blindfold off. ‘Ta-da!’

  Lizzie looked around, bewildered. They were on a two story boat, surrounded by dozens of giggling women. Cara and Heather were standing nearby, sipping glasses of wine.

  ‘What is this?’

  ‘Abs Afloat,’ Taylor beamed, looking quite proud of herself.

  ‘The stripper cruise?’ Lizzie asked, shocked.

  ‘Yep!’

  ‘Where’s Zoe?’

  ‘She couldn’t come.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It’s for over eighteens only.’

  Lizzie was aghast.

  ‘What did you do to her? Taylor, where’s my phone? I need to call her!’

  ‘Relax. She’s fine. She understands, and she wants you to have a good night.’

  ‘But I don’t want to see strippers!’

  Taylor pouted. ‘You’re not acting very grateful. This was super expensive, you know.’

  Lizzie felt even worse. Not only had she inadvertently ditched one of her friends, but another had shelled out a lot of money in what she thought was a thoughtful, though very misguided gesture, and she was being a brat about it.

  ‘I’m sorry. Thank you, Taylor. I do appreciate you organising something so elaborate for my birthday. But can I just ask where my purse is?’

  ‘Safe in the cloak room. Don’t worry, you can get it at the end. Everything is all paid for.’ She thrust a glass of wine into Lizzie’s hand. ‘Drink up! It’s going to be a wild night!’

  Lizzie took a tentative sip. She was feeling weird. Like her brain couldn’t catch up to her surroundings.

  A tanned and oiled man who looked a bit like George Michael in the eighties sidled up to their small group. ‘Who’s the lucky birthday girl?’ he asked, grinning.

  Taylor pushed Lizzie forward. ‘Here she is!’

  ‘Great. Would you like to come with me? We’re getting ready for the show.’

  ‘Show?’ Lizzie mouthed at Taylor. Taylor just shrugged.

  The man grabbed Lizzie’s hand and dragged her upstairs.

  ‘We’ll be ready in about five minutes,’ he called back to the others.

  Lizzie shuddered. This was so not how she wanted to be spending her night.

  ‘I’m Johnny,’ he said, displaying a set of overly bright white teeth.

  ‘Lizzie.’

  ‘So I hear it’s your eighteenth tonight?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Are you excited?’

  ‘I think so.’

  He laughed. ‘Not quite the answer I was going for, but OK.’

  He led her to a stage area where four other girls were also being introduced to the boat by their own personal stripper.

  ‘You five will be sitting up here,’ he said, pointing to a platform containing a bunch of cheesy gold and red velvet thrones. You’ll be the centre of attention.’ He grabbed a silver plastic tiara and plonked it on Lizzie’s head. ‘Your friends will be down that end with everyone else. At some point during the show, we’ll call your name and you’ll come over for a private dance.’

  ‘Private, as in full view of everyone?’

  He chuckled. ‘You’re a tough nut to crack, honey. Just enjoy yourself. I’ll try and make it as pleasurable for you as possible.’

  Lizzie didn’t like the way he used the word pleasurable. He had to be at least thirty for a start. That was a bit older than Lizzie normally preferred. Her usual cut-off was around say, twenty-three.

  She couldn’t help it. Brandon would often pop into her head at the most inopportune moments. For some reason, she now imagined him here, all oiled up and about to perform a striptease for her. Now that would be pleasurable.

  And then she tried to imagine Gabe doing the same thing and laughed to herself. All she could see was him rippling his stomach like on the first day of school.

  Johnny mistook her private joke for something else.

  ‘Hey! I’m glad you’re finally thawing out. Good to see!’

  Lizzie frowned. ‘Hey, how long is this whole thing?’

  ‘Three hours. But don’t worry, the time will fly by!’

  Three hours? Lizzie looked at her watch. That meant she was going to be late seeing Gabe afterwards. She’d have to talk to Taylor. This night was not going at all according to plan.

  She was about to go off and find the girls, when a siren sounded and Joe Cocker’s You Can Leave Your Hat On started blaring through the speakers.

  Lizzie groaned. There was no escaping now.

  Johnny pushed her into a throne. The other guys did the same to their girls in what was obviously a well-choreographed move. One of the girls looked even more shell shocked than Lizzie, but the remaining three were obviously very drunk and ready to get started. One of the strippers even had to pry a woman’s fingers from the waistband of his pants.

  Lizzie looked down to the other end of the boat where Taylor, Heather and Cara were perched on bar stools near the railing. They wolf whistled when they saw Lizzie and the strippers. Taylor gave her a thumbs up. Lizzie smiled back weakly.

  She wanted to enjoy herself, but this just wasn’t her style. Taylor clearly didn’t know her as well as she should for a friendship spanning almost five years. It was just another sign that Lizzie had outgrown her. She couldn’t wait for school to finish so she could start her life afresh without Taylor.

  The strippers all gathered in the middle of the stage to perform a group dance. Lizzie sipped the wine she was still carrying from before. Maybe if she drank enough, the whole thing wouldn’t seem so horrifying.

  She ushered a nearby waiter over.

  ‘Could I get a Long Island Iced Tea?’ she asked.

  ‘Certainly honey. I’ll be back in a jiffy.’

  Lizzie downed the rest of her wine and winced. It did not go down smoothly. The waiter returned with her cocktail, and she started quickly sucking that down.

  ‘Lizzie White!’ Her name was called over the speaker, and Johnny held out his hand to help her d
own to the stage. She finished the Long Island Iced Tea in a couple of gulps and then took a deep breath.

  When in Rome…

  ***

  Lizzie tried to look like she was having a good time, but it wasn’t easy. She was sitting on a small chair in the centre of the stage while Johnny gyrated his hips in front of her, clad only in a sparkly g-string. He then made her lie on the ground while he kneeled over the top of her, his crotch worryingly close to her face.

  This was not sexy at all. These guys could do with a bit of a lesson in subtlety. Maybe if they went to an Orion’s Head gig, they would learn what real sexiness was about.

  Oops. There she went again, thinking about Brandon when she shouldn’t be.

  Live in the moment, Lizzie! Live in the moment!

  Unfortunately, that moment was when Johnny grabbed her hands and shoved them against his sweaty butt cheeks. At least they were smooth. But it was frightening that this strange guy’s butt was the first one she had ever touched without a layer of clothing in between. Now she kind of wished that she had been a little less reserved and gone for it with one of the guys she’d dated in the past. She was also kind of angry that Taylor was responsible for taking that away from her now.

  She half-heartedly played along with the rest of the routine, which felt like it went for hours, but may only have been a couple of minutes. She then hurriedly retreated to her throne.

  She watched as the next victim was dragged onto the stage. Lizzie felt a pang of sympathy for the terrified looking girl.

  She glanced back up at Taylor and the girls. Heather and Cara were cheering away, but Taylor was looking at something on her phone. She then looked up at Lizzie in disbelief.

  ‘What?’ Lizzie asked, holding her hands up in question.

  Taylor’s face went dark and she glared at Lizzie. Lizzie didn’t get what was happening, but she had to wait for the end of the five routines before she could escape. It was an excruciating fifteen minutes. She wondered what she could possibly have done to deserve a look like that on her birthday.

  As soon as the last dance finished, Lizzie rushed over.

  ‘What’s going on?’ she asked Taylor.

  ‘You fucking little bitch!’ she screeched.

  Lizzie was taken aback. ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘You fucking told him!’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘I can’t believe you fucking told him!’ she screamed, her voice getting louder and louder.

  ‘Told who what?’

  ‘Brandon! And you know very well what!’

  Lizzie’s heart sank. Oh. She’d expected this reaction right after it happened, but because it was now almost a month later, she had assumed she was in the clear.

  ‘I didn’t actually tell him,’ she started.

  ‘Don’t even try to lie to me,’ she hissed. ‘You are no longer my friend. From now on, consider your social life over!’

  She turned to Heather and Cara and whispered something to them. They looked at Lizzie as if she was something nasty they’d stepped in.

  ‘Guys, I didn’t do anything wrong!’

  ‘Come on ladies, let’s go downstairs and enjoy the rest of the evening without this two-faced cow,’ Taylor said.

  Lizzie stood frozen as they walked away.

  It took a minute for the shock to kick in before she burst into tears.

  Johnny came over. ‘Honey, we can’t have you crying on your birthday. Especially here on Abs Afloat. How about I get you a drink?’

  ‘No thanks,’ she whimpered. ‘Where’s the bathroom?’

  ‘Just at the back there.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She raced off and locked herself in a cubicle. She sat down on the closed toilet seat and bawled her eyes out. It felt really unfair. She hadn’t technically done anything wrong. And bloody Brandon! If only he could have kept his mouth shut.

  She sat there feeling sorry for herself for almost half an hour. At one point she thought she felt the boat stop, but a few minutes later, it started again and Lizzie wondered if she’d just imagined it. The cruise definitely wasn’t over yet. They still had dinner and more dancing to go. According to the itinerary printed on the back of her cubicle door anyway.

  Eventually she calmed down enough to go back out. Her first step would be to retrieve her purse and call someone.

  She splashed cold water on her face and wiped away the smudged mascara that had dripped onto her cheeks, before going in search of the cloak room.

  It was located on the lower deck right at the front. A bored looking woman was leaning against the wall nearby.

  ‘Do you mind if I get my purse please?’

  ‘Can I grab your token?’

  ‘Sorry, what token?’

  ‘The numbered token that you were given when you handed in your purse,’ she said robotically.

  ‘My friend did it for me,’ she explained. ‘I don’t have a token.’

  ‘Well, then your friend will have to get your purse.’

  ‘What if I describe it to you? You can check the ID inside.’

  ‘Nope. Sorry. I need a token.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Those are the rules. If she hasn’t claimed it at the end, then we’ll talk. But for now, I’m afraid I can’t give it to you.’

  Lizzie almost broke down again right there. But instead, she looked around the lower level to see if she could find Taylor. There was no sign of her.

  Lizzie went back upstairs and searched the upper level. It was crowded, but not crowded enough that she wouldn’t be able to spot the three girls she came with.

  They weren’t there either.

  Were they in the bathroom? Lizzie went back to the bathroom and peeked inside.

  Nope.

  Where could they have gotten to? The boat wasn’t that big. She did one last check, examining the small smoking area at the back of the boat, followed by the captain’s quarters. She then returned to the cloak room.

  ‘I can’t find my friends,’ she told the woman.

  ‘Was it two blondes and a brunette?’

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘They got off when the boat docked before.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘We have a quick stop scheduled during each cruise for anyone who needs to leave in an emergency.’

  Lizzie wished she had been aware of this fact, because she certainly would have taken advantage of the facility.

  ‘Did they say they had an emergency?’

  ‘I dunno. I suppose. I’m not responsible for that bit.’

  ‘Well, can I get my purse back now?’

  ‘What colour is it?’

  ‘The same colour as this dress,’ she explained.

  The woman went back to a shelf behind the counter and looked around.

  ‘Is this it?’ she asked, holding it up.

  ‘Yes! Thank you.’

  ‘Sorry hon. You’ll have to wait until we get back to port before I can give it to you.’

  ‘What? Why?’

  ‘You’ll need to fill out a form with the office. We can’t go handing out stuff without tokens willy-nilly. We have to be mindful of security.’

  ‘For God’s sake! Please! It’s my eighteenth birthday and I’ve been ditched by all the girls I came here with, and I didn’t even want to come on this freaking cruise in the first place!’

  ‘Look, I do feel for you, but I could lose my job if I don’t follow protocol. Why don’t you go upstairs, enjoy some food, and before you know it, you’ll be back on land.’

  Lizzie held back a scream. ‘Thanks for your help,’ she said sarcastically, and stomped off.

  CHAPTER 19

  It was a very long evening, made even longer by the bureaucratic red tape Lizzie had to go through back at the office when they returned to the pier.

  By the time she got everything sorted out, it was after eleven thirty. She grabbed her phone out of her purse and saw that she had three missed calls from Gabe. He’d also texted several times w
ith increasingly worried messages.

  The last one read Where are you? Call me please!

  That was half an hour ago.

  She quickly phoned, but it went to messages.

  ‘Hey Gabe, it’s me. Sorry, it’s been a stupid night. Taylor stole my phone and then ditched me. I’m only just back at Eagle Street now, but I think I might go home if that’s OK. We can hang out tomorrow. I’ll call you in the morning. Again, I’m so sorry.’

  She hung up and wondered where he was. Could he still be out somewhere and not have heard the phone? Maybe he’d given up on her and gone home to bed.

  Well, that was exactly what Lizzie felt like doing. She was done with Taylor, Cara and Heather. And poor Zoe. Lizzie would be calling her first thing tomorrow too to apologise.

  She trudged up the stairs and towards the cab rank. She hung her head as she walked. What a crappy eighteenth. If this was what adulthood was going to be like, the adults could keep it.

  She was so absorbed in her own misery that she didn’t notice someone coming in the other direction, almost ploughing right into her.

  ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled, and stepped to one side.

  ‘Lizzie?’

  Lizzie’s head shot up. ‘Mr Thomas?’

  He laughed. ‘You can call me Brandon outside of school hours.’

  She was so surprised to see him out of context that she forgot she was kind of mad at him. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Catching the city cat home. I’ve just been out with some friends.’

  ‘Oh, right. Isn’t it a bit early to be heading home?’

  ‘I’m going hiking on the Sunshine Coast tomorrow, so I want to make sure I’m not too tired. What are you doing? Hey, isn’t it your birthday today?’

  Lizzie stared at him, stunned. ‘Yes! I can’t believe you remembered!’

  ‘I was, um, going through some school paperwork the other night and it reminded me,’ he said awkwardly.

  Lizzie smiled. ‘Well that’s really sweet. It partially makes up for this total fuck-up of a night. Which you are actually a little bit responsible for.’

  ‘Me? What do you mean?’

  Lizzie sighed. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  ‘It does matter.’ He looked at his watch. ‘I have exactly twenty-four minutes. You want to talk while I wait for the city cat?’