I woke up early the next morning, and wandered out in my sleepshirt and some shorts to use the bathroom. When I had freshened up, I found Lucy sitting on a shady bench by herself admiring the morning sky, and I joined her.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said.
I agreed, and then took a deep breath, and came clean about the previous night in Darwin, and also Luke’s misunderstanding. To my relief, she laughed, and gave me a big hug. “It’s okay. I have a confession too. I also used the loo around then: Nadia was being quite loud, wasn’t she? I also saw you and Adam at it, although it must have been before Luke saw you. But of course, unlike him, I knew it had to be you. And — full disclosure — I went back to our room and took care of myself, and then pretended to be asleep when you came in. Thanks for telling me though, and for helping me clear the air.”
I felt a wave of relief. I had been a bad bearer of secrets, and Lucy’s response was all I needed to make my day. I hugged her back, and we sat together chatting until the others got up. However, despite our new commitment to honesty, we decided to not clear up Luke’s misunderstanding, or at least not immediately: there was some potential to have some fun with it. We just hadn’t worked out what kind of fun.
We weren’t planning on swimming today. We had a long drive to Kakadu National Park to do, and we were booked on an evening cruise, which was relatively expensive for us. The cruise was at a famous place called ‘Yellow Water’, which was crocodile-infested, and swimming wasn’t the healthiest activity there. On the way there, we stopped at a wonderful place explaining the wetlands ecosystem, which for both Adam and I was fascinating in our respective fields of study. We reached the destination with plenty of time, and checked in to our budget accommodation, which unexpectedly turned out to be three rooms with a double bed each (and no other booking available). Lucy looked unsurprised though, and said to the rest of us “let’s leave our gear in the car for now, and we’ll unpack later”, without much explanation. By this stage we knew that her organisational skills were rarely off the mark, so we didn’t ask any questions, other than noting the obvious problem of the layout, mirroring what we had in Darwin but without the couch as a circuit breaker.
While we were waiting to board the cruise, she quietly took me aside. “Are you happy with whatever we do?”
“Yes, as long as it’s safe, consensual, and transparent to all.”
She then took Nadia aside, and had a much longer conversation with her. I saw Nadia’s eyes widen at one point, and then she started to giggle: presumably Lucy was explaining what had been happening outside Nadia’s bedroom the other night. Finally, Nadia nodded her acceptance of something, and they parted with smiles.
The boys were not getting any say in this.
The cruise was extraordinary. We were all together with some other tourists in a pretty small boat, and we saw the most amazing wildlife, including birds, frogs, fish, and of course crocodiles. The plants were otherworldly, and I spent the whole time gasping and trying to remember to take photographs. It was a botanist’s paradise, and although I knew a bit about the ecosystem, I was amazed. The others were all fascinated in their own way. Adam was responding to the guide’s description of the conservation effort and the indigenous knowledge aspects, Luke was asking questions about the viability of the tourism industry, and Nadia asked about the traditional diet and lifestyle. Lucy was playing the part of the proud host, and Tim just kept taking photos, possibly destined for his social media.
We were buzzing afterwards, and we decided to celebrate with a night off cooking, and bought burgers and beer at the local bistro.
After our bellies were full and the conversation had died town, Lucy looked around us for any potential eavesdroppers, and called us to order. She put her serviette on her head in mock imitation of a judge’s wig, and proclaimed “Court is in session.”
We stilled, tittering at her ridiculous pose, but curious about what was going on.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she continued, “a great crime has been perpetrated.” She pointed sternly at Nadia. “The ringleader, Princess Nadia of Somewhere in Malaysia, was the primary instigator and has already confessed, but most of you are guilty.”
I grinned. I knew what was coming next.
“You,” said Lucy, keeping her finger pointed at Nadia, “and you,” switching to glare at Tim, “and to a slightly lesser extent you and you” pointing at Adam and me, “have been getting it. And you sir,” she said more gently, looking at Luke, “and I, have not been getting it, unless it be by our own hands.”
Luke was looking really confused, but the rest of us were in silent stitches and looking at each other, squirming a little.
“And so I propose that we remedy this situation forthwith,” continued Lucy. “As your aggrieved host, I claim the right to choose my room and companion tonight, and the conditions of their company. I will then allow Ciara to make the next choice, and then Princess Nadia will take what remains. Do I have your agreement?”
Four of us gave slow nods, but Luke was still all at sea. “What….?” he sputtered, looking between Lucy and me. I decided to put him out of his misery. “It was me who you saw with Adam the other night,” I said gently, earning a look of surprise from Adam as he realised we had been seen.
“Oh!” gasped Luke, obviously taken aback, but then he gathered himself, and gave both me and Lucy a nod of acceptance.
Lucy took the fake wig off, and smiled sweetly. “Well, that’s settled. You can come and see me for condoms if you need to, because I raided the shop earlier. Please remember that the rules still apply and consent can be withdrawn at any stage. Also, we all need to be able to walk tomorrow, so be gentle with each other.” She was looking at Adam as she said that.
After a dramatic pause, she continued. “I choose…. Luke!”
It made sense. Luke would have mixed feelings about me right now, and had also been the one to miss out the other night. However I did need to clear the air a bit. I leaned over, and whispered, “I’m sorry I didn’t confess before. It was just so awkward.” He reached down and squeezed my hand.
I sat back up, surveying my targets. I wouldn’t have minded choosing Adam, but we needed to mix things up. “Tim,” I announced, and he smiled at me, content.
“That means I get the big guy!” said Nadia, laughing, and Adam leaned over and gave her a kiss.
We finally unloaded the car, and headed to our budget rooms. As far as romantic hotels go for a night of debauchery, it wasn’t too flash, but it definitely rated above a wooden floor.
Tim and I freshened up separately in the tiny bathroom. When I came out wearing my towel from the shower, he was sitting uncertainly on the bed.
“Why did you choose me?” he asked. “You seem closer to Adam, or Luke.”
I went and sat down next to him. “Please don’t ask me to compare you three. You’re all yourselves. I do have some reasons, but what’s important right now is that Nadia wasn’t the only one that saw your face two nights ago when you were playing. You weren’t putting on an act or thinking about putting it all on YouTube. You were channelling the genius of the music. You were exultant. You were sublime. Maybe I just want a bit of the fairy dust.”